As baseball's regular season ends this weekend, two teams will enter the offseason on historically sour notes.
Fans and collectors of the Chicago White Sox, currently tied with the 1962 Mets for the most losses in a season in modern MLB history, and the Athletics, who said a tearful goodbye to Oakland with their final game in the city Thursday, found themselves experiencing the very worst of sports fandom this year.
Both situations, while quite different, lead one to wonder: Is there anything collectible from a season of sadness?
Is misery collectible?
For the White Sox, the easiest answer is no, certainly not. All of collecting history points to the precise opposite. It’s greatness, joy, success and triumph that make for a collectible. Not losing 120 games in a baseball season.
Ranging from a Michael Jordan championship jersey to a rookie card of a legend such as Derek Jeter, collectors chase the pieces which connect them to the fondest of memories.
But, just as one man’s trash is another’s treasure, one collector’s junk is another’s grail.
The first collectible of failure that comes to mind is a rookie card of a highly touted player later decided to be a bust.
Darko Milicic, the failed No. 2 pick in the stacked 2003 NBA Draft, selected by the Pistons over the likes of Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, remains highly collectible. It doesn’t hurt that his rookie year coincided with the most celebrated basketball card product of the century in the inaugural 2003 Exquisite Basketball.
Nonetheless, collectors have paid more than $1,000 for his RPA, with one selling for $2,249 as recently as last month. For obvious but ironic reasons, his most expensive card ever sold was a dual rookie autograph card with LeBron James, which sold for $9,600 in 2021. His most expensive solo card is a 1/1 Logoman, which nabbed $8,520 in 2023.
Few NBA fans have fond memories of the Serbian big man, who, despite playing 10 seasons in the NBA, never averaged more than 8.8 points per game or the career-high 6.1 rebounds he snagged for Memphis (one of six teams he played for over his decade in the league), despite his 7-foot height and 7-5 wingspan. Collecting Darko is, with the exception of set completion purposes, an exercise in the remembrance of unfulfilled potential.
The A’s, however, are quite a different story. This season matches the depths of despair of the White Sox, yet it comes through as a far more nostalgic ache. Yes, just as White Sox fans were forced to endure a season of unmitigated disaster, A’s fans had to struggle with the impending catastrophe of a lost franchise.
But as we saw a team grounds crew member give fans dirt from the Coliseum to take home during the penultimate home game, it became more about the history of the team than a singular season.
Commemorative tickets for the final game of the team’s tenure were a hit among fans, selling on eBay for $50 or more within hours of distribution. With baseball leaving the city for the foreseeable future, such mementos are likely to remain a coveted piece for fans seeking to remember their team. Though lacking the abject failure of the White Sox season, it is, unequivocally, collecting a moment of anguish.
Seattle has yet to get over the loss of its beloved SuperSonics in 2008 — though there remains hope for a return — with eBay chock full of vintage jerseys, tickets and more pieces attached to the team that once captured the heart of the city.
Even franchises of the greatest pedigree with reason for celebration appear to have fans and collectors willing to relive painful moments through collecting.
Former Yankees No. 1 pick Brien Taylor, chosen ahead of Manny Ramirez, entered the 1992 season as the top-ranked prospect by Baseball America, poised to anchor the Yankees pitching staff for years to come. Yet, an offseason altercation at a bar in North Carolina resulted in a devastating labrum injury and a misdemeanor assault charge.
Despite toiling for years in the minors, Taylor would ultimately wash out of professional baseball, becoming one of two first overall picks to never make it to the big leagues.
Just last week, a card signed by Taylor, Russ Davis (who played a forgettable two seasons in New York) and Derek Jeter, sold for $344. His most expensive solo card is a signed 1992 Topps Gold rookie which went for $197.99 in 2022 — over 30 years after his draft.
Will we see White Sox fans opting to buy game-used balls or jerseys, tickets or other memorabilia from 2024 in three decades?
It seems a near-certainty we can expect that from the A’s, but their heartbreak sits differently. The White Sox will get another crack at it next year. The A’s won’t. At least not in Oakland.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.