Baseball Cards

For many Baltimore-area collectibles dealers, there are just two words this holiday season -- Cal Ripken.The Orioles' All-Star shortstop, who broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games record last summer, was a big seller during the baseball season, and his popularity with collectors hasn't abated."

Pizza shop employee foils, holds armed robberA pizza shop employee thwarted an armed robber's attempt to rob him early Saturday and held onto the man until a passing police officer arrested the suspect, county police said yesterday.Police said Zulfiqar Ahmed Ali, 39, had just closed Pizza Boli's in the 300 block of N. Crain Highway in Glen Burnie about 2:30 a.m. when a man with a handgun approached and demanded money.The two struggled and the man hit Mr. Ali in the forehead with his gun. But a passing officer noticed the fracas and intervened.

There was always something special about Mickey Mantle. It was a mystique that captivated a generation of young baseball fans.His baseball cards have always been special, too. They seemed to be harder to get than those of other stars. And, in those days when cards were traded for cards and not cash, a Mantle was worth a stack of other players' cards.Even though Mantle's rookie card was a 1951 Bowman (No. 253), his first Topps card (No. 311 in 1952) has become the most valuable of the post-war era. The Topps carries a Beckett book value of $25,000, while the Bowman is listed at $8,200.

Baltimore collectors can't get enough of Cal Ripken. They've been buying his cards for years and, according to area dealers, are a big part of the buying frenzy as the Orioles shortstop nears Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games.Hit and Run Baseball Cards in Aberdeen is across the street from the Ripken Museum, which will open next year."Everybody comes up here looking for the museum," says Jerry Schweiger, who estimates that 70 percent of his business comes from local collectors. He has two shelves devoted to Ripken items and says best sellers are cards, pennants, pictures and autographed balls.

Mickey Mantle is pictured on one of the most popular -- and expensive -- baseball cards, No. 311 in the 1952 Topps set.But it was his autograph that collectors were seeking last week, shortly after the Hall of Famer's death.Joe Bosley, who specializes in vintage cards at The Old Ball Game in Reisterstown, says he has a good supply of Mantle cards. His store is closed on Mondays, and he says on Tuesday his answering machine had about half a dozen requests for autographed balls he couldn't fill.

Jeff Rosenberg is an autograph collector. He understands the fun of the chase. He used to try to collect a set of baseball cards -- and then get them autographed.That's why everyone attending the 16th National Sports Collectors Convention this week in St. Louis will get a free autograph (it could be Stan Musial, Dick Butkus, Bob Feller, Bobby Hull, Bob Gibson, Bill Walton or any of several dozen retired stars)."Our goal is to bring the fun back to collecting," says Rosenberg, president of Tri-Star Productions of Houston, a promoter of the convention.

During the baseball strike last summer, milk caps continued their inexorable eastward march from Hawaii. Milk caps is the generic term; POGs is only for those made by the people who had the foresight to copyright the name.Many hobby dealers saw sales of milk caps take off, especially among young collectors, often at the expense of baseball cards.Milk caps are in New York, and Major League Baseball Properties (which is also there) has noticed and is ready to cash in.Two companies have been granted licenses to produce milk caps with the logos of the 28 major-league teams.

POLICE LOG* Elkridge: 6700 block of Old Waterloo Road: Baseball cards, sports clothing and jewelry were stolen from a home's bedroom closet Thursday. Police said the home's front door was found unlocked.

Michael Jordan's unretirement is a week old, and it hasn't sent Baltimore area collectors stampeding to stores in search of cards and other Jordan-related items.Hobby dealers are prepared, though, with materials and advice."I think his baseball cards will be going up because there won't be any more," says Nick Hershan of Fielder's Choice in Arbutus. "His [basketball insert] cards have been steadily going up. . . . Since he quit baseball, people have been asking about Michael Jordan -- and buying."

Because the earth has not shaken and my younger sister has not come out of her many-month funk, I am assuming that the baseball strike has not been settled.Which makes it conceivable, if only barely, that the baseball cards now in print will be the only baseball cards ever in print.What a boon to St. Andrew's United Methodist Church in Edgewater, which is holding a baseball card show Saturday.The show is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tables are available for rent. The church is at 4 Wallace Manor Road, adjacent to Gingerville on Route 2 South.