Minnie Minoso, actually named Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso, has finally and rightfully been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Minoso was a Cuban born player who dominated for the White Sox through much of the 1950s. His vintage baseball card prices were lower for decades than many of his MLB peers, but the interest and pricing has been much stronger around the HOF induction. Card collectors will want to know — is that sustainable?

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. This means collectibles are attracting the same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds. Investors are competing with collectors to own the prized gems in the hobby, but just like stocks and bonds — no buyer should expect any guarantees of profits, and they may even lose money when they resell the card.

Minnie Minoso is a player who has been underappreciated, which implies that the price has been undervalued, when compared to peers for many years. One simple reason that Minoso has been so overlooked by fans nationally is that his career is mostly with the Chicago White Sox, and finding White Sox fans outside of Chicago’s South Side would be entirely different had Minoso been wearing a Yankees, Cubs or Dodgers jersey.

We wanted to look at some of Minoso’s top baseball cards that have been seen ahead of and after his Hall of Fame news.

Minnie Minoso retired with a .299 batting average in his career. He had 2,110 hits, he scored 1,225 runs, brought in 1,093 RBI and had 216 stolen bases. Minoso was also a master of getting on base and hustle, and his batting average was .300 or better in 8 of his 11 full seasons. Here are some of the other highlights that the Baseball Hall of fame noted about Minoso.

Between 1951 and 1957, he led the league in triples 3 times, stolen bases 3 times, scored 100 or more runs 4 times and recorded at least 100 RBI 3 times. He also served on 5 All-Star teams and finished in the top 10 of the AL MVP voting 4 times in that 7-year period. Minoso also won a Gold Glove Award for his defensive play in the outfield in 1957, which was shown as the first year Gold Glove Awards were awarded.

AUCTION HOUSES HAVE MAJOR SALES

One key auction sale that was seen was from Memory Lane, Inc. on December 5, 2021, where a rookie 1952 Bowman #5 Minnie Minoso graded with a PSA 9 designation for a sale price of $9,758.40. Image below by Memory Lane, Inc.

Memory Lane had previously auctioned that same exact card with certification #90354747 for $1,501.20 back on August 12, 2017. And Memory Lane also recently had a 1954 Red Heart Minnie Minoso PSA 9 sell for $1,171.20 in December 2021.

Heritage Auctions had a 1952 Topps Orestes Minoso #195 PSA Mint 9, with the designation that no cards were graded higher, sell for $5,880.00 on December 10, 2020. The next highest Minosos sale at Heritage was a 1953 Topps Minnie Minoso #66 graded PSA Mint 9 (also none higher) for $2,220.00 on December 5, 2019. (Image below by Heritage Auctions)

Goldin’s Spring 2019 Premium Auction (May 11, 2019) saw a 1952 Topps #195 Minnie Minoso rookie card sell for $3,690.00. That card was graded PSA MINT 9.

SCP Auctions’ top Minnie Minoso sale was a 1961 Topps #42 AL BATTING LEADERS card that featured Skowron, Smith, Minoso and Runnels graded as a PSA 10 in the Fall 2021 auction. That sale price was $3,259.00 but we would attribute that to the perfect PSA 10 grade more than anything else. SCP also sold a PSA 9 Minnie Minoso #380 from the 1961 Topps set for $710 in that same auction.

EBAY SAW MANY 1952 TOPPS SALES

eBay shows a 1952 Topps Orestes “Minnie” Minoso #195 PSA 7 NM that was listed as a $3,499.99 Buy It Now price, although it is possible that the price was less than that. That was December 4, 2021. A PSA/DNA Autographed 1952 Topps Minnie Minoso sold on December 6, 2021 with a $1,499.99 “Buy It Now or Best Offer” listing. Other 1952 Topps sales were shown as follows on eBay “sold” items:

• $1,918.00 for a PSA 6 (Buy It Now) on December 5, 2021.
• $1,299.00 for a PSA 5 (Buy Now or Best Offer) on December 7, 2021.
• $1,249.99 PSA 4 (Buy It Now) on December 6, 2021.
• $1,200 PSA/DNA Autographed (Buy Now or Best Offer) on December 5, 2021.
• $1,100.00 PSA 4.5 (Buy It Now) on December 10, 2021.
• $1,000 PSA 4 (Buy It Now or Best Offer) on December 6, 2021.
• $999.99 Autograph ungraded (Buy Now or Best Offer) on December 6, 2021.
• $995.00 PSA 6 (Buy It Now) on December 3, 2021.

OTHER EBAY CARD SALES

eBay also shows a 1954 Red Heart 22 Minnie Minoso White Sox PSA 9 which was listed as sold but the $2,475.00 Buy It Now price also came with a “or Best Offer” designation for a December 7, 2021 sale date.

eBay also showed a 1952 BERK ROSS MINNIE MINOSO graded PSA 8(OC) sell on December 11, 2021 at a $899.00 Buy It Now price.

eBay listed a 1953 Bowman Color #36 Minnie Minoso PSA 8 sale taking place before the Hall of Fame news at $764.99 (Buy It Now) on November 19, 2021.

eBay showed a 1954 Bowman #38 Minnie Minoso PSA 8 NM-MT sell for $536.00 in an auction format with 34 bids that took place well ahead of the vote. That sale was on September 15, 2021.

One card that also stands out among highest Minnie Minoso card sales was a 1964 Topps Minnie Minoso #538 sale. This card would not be a standout in other grades, but the pristine PSA Gem Mint 10 graded “Pop One” designation sold for $1,260.00 on June 18, 2020.

The 1952 Bowman “Sold Listings” did have multiple cards graded by PSA and SGC all of which sold for under $500.

A TRIBUTE TO MINNIE

If this doesn’t sum up what a great player Minoso was, and just how important he was to the game for Latin American and Caribbean players, then what does? Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda has an autobiography and the Hall of Fame’s two quotes from that autobiography:

“Minnie Miñoso is to Latin ballplayers what Jackie Robinson is to black ballplayers.”

“Minnie is the one who made it possible for all us Latins. He was the first Latin player to become a superstar.”

After his play in the MLB ended, Minoso went to play and manage in the Mexican League. And the Hall of Fame noted another feat here as well:

In 1976 at the age of 50, Minoso appeared in three games with the White Sox when team owner Bill Veeck brought the Chicago hero back to the South Side. Minoso recorded one hit in eight at-bats to become a four-decade player, then became a five-decade player when he appeared in two games for the Sox in 1980 at the age of 54… Minoso appeared in games in the Northern League in 1993 and 2003, making him a seven-decade pro baseball player.

A SIMPLE REMINDER: COLLECTING VS. INVESTING

While Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class, there are many investors who have grown to only expect surging profits like what had been seen from 2020 into early 2021. Many cards saw their values scream higher, only to come crashing down. This happened more in modern cards than in vintage cards. Just do not think that many of the vintage cards did not fall since the early 2021 zenith.

Hall of fame collectors have also seen a similar interest in cards of Gil Hodges based on his recent election into the Hall of Fame as well. Hodges was on a more popular team, and it took him this long to finally get elected.

True collectors are buying these cards as items they want to own for a long time rather than to sell in the near future for a profit.

Here are just some basic lessons that should remind card buyers why they may lose money if they are just thinking about investing rather than collecting…

Considering a player’s card as “undervalued” should only be relative to peers rather than undervalued in the sense that its price has to rise.

Considering card populations does not include the ungraded cards and the cards which either will be graded or are already waiting in line to be graded.

If you won an auction, remember that you were the highest bidder of everyone who was interested.

If you buy in an auction, on eBay, and the like, you have to factor in auction fees, shipping and handling and likely sales taxes into your purchase price. Those all adjust your net purchase price.

When you go to sell your card, you will either have auction house or eBay fees to consider. This also comes with shipping costs.

If you buy player cards heading into or after key events (an HOF vote is one) then the interest and prices tend to be higher than the prices for those collectors who owned the cards long before the news came. In stocks they refer to a “Sell the News” because of the increased interest.