Back in the Game

By Daniel Kadlec

Baseball memorabilia is having an MVP year. Last week three new treasures were made: Mark McGwire's career homer No. 500, and Tony Gwynn's and Wade Boggs' career hits No. 3,000. Grab one of those balls, and it will be the biggest hit of your life too. The McGwire ball is a certain smash. Months before Big Mac launched his historic bomb, memorabilia dealer Mike Barnes of Festus, Mo., offered $100,000 as an immediate cash advance to the fan who recovered it. Barnes plans to auction the ball. The fan will get the proceeds, which Barnes estimates at $500,000; he'll keep a 10% fee.

This isn't kid stuff. McGwire's 70th homer ball last season fetched $3 million. The famous Barry Halper collection, which includes Ty Cobb's dentures and a lock of Babe Ruth's hair, will rake in an estimated $45 million at auction next month. Baseball memorabilia has never been more dear, owing to a tidal wave of enthusiasm for the sport that stems in large part from last year's Sammy and Mark show--airing again this year.

If you've got anything baseball related tucked away in the attic and want to get rid of it, now is a good time to clean house. The memorabilia market runs hot and cold. In the early '90s, only truly special mementos brought big money. In today's bull market, though, collectors recently had a chance to bid via online auctioneer eBay for a McGwire jockstrap with a listed price of $1,500. Game-used bats, balls and uniforms tend to be the hottest items. Baseball cards are back. Signed balls and photos are big.

Tempted by memorabilia madness, I dusted off my own modest collection a few weeks ago. I'm a lifetime Cardinals fan, so I lugged my stuff to dealer Barnes, in the heart of Redbird country. Lesson No. 1: most baseball junk is exactly that. My scorecard from the day Lou Brock hit No. 3,000 and my 1964, 1967 and 1982 World Series commemorative glassware apparently have little value. Lesson No. 2: mint condition means perfection, and nothing you have qualifies. My Topps '85 McGwire rookie card had been touched by human hands only two or three times before I had it professionally graded and sealed. It scored an 8, not a perfect 10. That makes the card worth about $150, not $2,500. I can only imagine what little value cards once clothespinned between my bicycle spokes have.

I had better luck with other items, though, and found that should I so choose, cashing in without getting ripped off is easier than you might expect. Do not take collectibles to the neighborhood memorabilia dealer, who will give you half of retail value. For items worth a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, online auction sites like eBay or Amazon.com are a great place to sell. For more valuable items, sports auctioneers, such as Leland's, Mastro and Superior Sports, are worth a try.

Regardless of how you sell, Step 1 is to have autographs, uniforms, bats and balls authenticated and cards professionally graded and sealed. At $5 to $10 a card, it's not cheap. But it's the only way to know what your things are worth on the market. For help in doing that, see Professional Sports Authenticator's website psacard.com or Sportscard Guaranty's website sgccard.com) Now if only they'd help me get back the ball signed by Bob Gibson that's sitting on my son's desk.

More on collectibles at time.com Dan is featured on CNNfn Tuesdays at 12:45 p.m. E.T. and BNN radio Mondays at 5:40 p.m. E.T.