Fancy Boys Club

For his career, Dwight Gooden was a good pitcher, amassing nearly 200 career wins and four all star game appearances, a Cy Young award, and the 1984 Rookie of the Year award. How he came into the baseball conscious though is what makes this card so iconic. That it wasn’t a card that was as readily available made it more desirable. Released in the 1984 Topps Traded set, the card didn’t have as wide of a print run as it’s base set doppelganger that would be released in 1985. When Gooden came in and won 17 games, striking out 276 batters that season, it sent collectors looking for any item they could find of the phenom Mets pitcher. Topps added him to their late season subset, and this card became the hottest item on the market.
While his career would ultimately fall short of what people believed it could be after his first three seasons in the league, the chase for this card was one of the first prospector chases of the 80’s that would come to define a large community of sports card collecting to this day.

Random Dwight Gooden Fact: In 1985, Gooden had 16 complete games. Combined, the top four National League complete game leaders in 2018 and 2019 pitched a total of 14 complete games.

Cal Ripken’s credentials in Major League Baseball history are among the most well regarded of all time. His rookie card is desirable, while still being easily findable. His rookie came out in the early days of the of the junk wax era, a generation of baseball cards that were so mass produced that their value will forever be suppressed due to how many are in existence. In terms of all time greats, this is a great collecting entrance point. The upside of the junk wax era is that it allows you to be picky about the condition of the card you are looking for. In raw condition, you can still find this card for good value, and even graded out at an 8 or higher won’t break the bank.

Random Cal Ripken Fact: Ripken has the fourth most All Star Game appearances in MLB history, trailing only Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Stan Musial.

Caris LeVert is one of my favorite players. Last season was the best opportunity to watch him as the lead guy on a team, given Durant and Irving’s injuries. Now, as the third option for Brooklyn, the pressure is off and his basketball intellect will be on display. I don’t know what kind of offense Steve Nash is going to push out there every night, but given his pedigree of playing under Mike D’Antoni and as Steve Nash’s assistant, I’m going to assume a high-paced offense that will look to overwhelm the opposition quickly. If that is the case, LeVert will be given outside looks whenever a team makes the mistake and gambles on trying to stop Kevin Durant. Look for him to be open and moving around near the baseline this season, where his athleticism can take over and punish a team too preoccupied with the superstars. He will also be a BIG catch-and-shoot candidate, especially if Nash tries some “7 Seconds or Less” style offense.

Daniel Theis is going to take the lion share of minutes at the 5 this season, and the German national is going to be a heavy target inside for a team that loves to spread the floor. Last season, he made the jump from 13 minutes per game to 24, and responded with 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. On any given night, the Celtics are going to be fun to watch, but if you pay close attention to the big 27 in the middle, you’re going to notice just how well the Boston offense flows.

John Collins was suspended for 25 games on 11/5 last year for testing positive for a growth hormone. He returned and played 41 games in total, leading the Hawks in true shooting percentage as well as rebounds and blocks, again, despite missing a large amount of games. Collins is a certified stud, and is on the cusp of becoming an All-Star. The Hawks are bad, and will spend the season struggling to make the play-in tournament, but with the addition of Bogdan Bogdanovic (another guy you should watch), look for Collins to have more space inside to dominate and take the next step.

Collins has star potential, unlike many guys on my list, but being on a bad team and playing alongside Trae Young, he’s not given the proper attention by more casual fans. Just watch this and see what I’m talking about.