Am I the only one who is skeptical of the Paul Skenes hype?
Recently I sold a few base cards of Skenes from 2023 Panini Stars and Stripes for over $5 each, something that isn’t seen too often when it comes to pitchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates who are only 22 years old.
Skenes has the rare type of appeal that baseball hasn’t seen in a while. His acumen on the field is exceptional and he routinely puts up remarkable numbers on the radar gun while maintaining a strong off the field persona thanks to who he chooses to spend his free time with.
At only 22, a fireballer like Skenes is easy to become a fan of even if you’ve never cared about the Pittsburgh Pirates because you’re going to see an exceptional performance when he pitches every five days.
My biggest concern with Skenes is his long-term health. He has the talent to have a career like Justin Verlander if he can stay healthy but too often we’ve seen fireballers flame out by 30 a la Matt Harvey.
Given how few Skenes cards are available at this point, I understand why the demand is so high but paying a premium for base cards remains a bananas thing to see.
I hope I’m wrong but I’m waiting until 2029 to see if Skenes will actually have a chance to live up to the hype.
—
Y’all, when was the last time you went to a sporting event where there were zero merchandise stands?
I went to the Leagues Cup Showcase exhibition at Soldier Field in Chicago between Liga MX’s Club América and the Premier League’s Aston Villa as a media member and I was shocked when I didn’t see a single merchandise stand in the entire stadium when I did my pre-match walk through the concourse.
Sure, there were only just over 25,000 supporters (a poor showing for América in Chicago, tbh) at the match but I heard a few fans asking stewards for merchandise options only to be told there weren’t any.
That’s a massive money-making opportunity squandered by the organizers of this Leagues Cup Showcase.
Less than a week earlier, Soldier Field was sold out for Real Madrid vs AC Milan and the organizers managed to find a company that sponsored split scarves that commemorated the match and were given out for free in the stadium.
The point is: if you’re holding a major event that’s not a competitive match, you need to bring the commercial elements to the stadium so fans can continue to be, well, fans.
Comments