How Well Can Museum Glass Protect Baseball Cards? The Field Test

I’ve decided to conduct a field test to determine just how well Museum Glass with 99% UV protection really protects baseball cards and other collectable memorabilia. I wanted to see how fast UV rays from the sun could fade colors so I picked up a comic book knowing that they’re typically made with cheaper materials. I also used a Juan Rivera Heritage card from Topps. Many of the premium baseball cards today have a protective UV coating but I wanted to test something that more closely resembled vintage baseball cards in materials without damaging anything of value – sorry Juan. With the summer solstice at hand this is the perfect time of year to test the affects of UV rays as they’re at their most powerful right now.

I’ve affixed the comic book and card to a board. In the picture above I’ve used arrows to point out the three different areas for comparison.

1) direct exposure to UV rays
2) areas protected with Museum Glass
3) control area – I flipped over a Bill Hall baseball card to block out all light – don’t take it personally Bill, it’s in the name of science

I plan to log the days and amount of time that I leave the cards exposed to direct sunlight. This may not be the perfect scientific experiment but I’m really looking forward to seeing some first hand results of the sun’s damaging UV rays and how well Museum Glass helps to protect memorabilia. Check back for periodic updates.

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Johan Santana Topps Co-Signers Baseball Card

So I got sucked in to buying a pack of baseball cards when I was at the mall for lunch. I decided to pony up for a pack of Topps Co-Signers because I’m a total sucker for the shot to score an autograph and they claim 3 autos per box.

Although I didn’t get an auto, I did get a Johan Santana Mets card which, outside of rookie cards, would have to be my first choice this year. Overall it’s a nice enough set of baseball cards and I do like the feel of the mat finish on the back. I think the key is to save my money and just buy an autographed card off eBay – when will I learn.

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Tru Vue Museum Glass Looks Good for Vintage Baseball Card Display Case

I reached out to Tru Vue for some samples of their museum glass for use in the development of my vintage baseball card display case prototype. They responded with a sample pack that included three different types of UV protective glass.

• Conservation Reflection Control – really diffuses light and eliminates reflection, it will tend to blur fine details
• Conservation Clear – has a crystal clear appearance
• Museum Glass – similar to Conservation Clear but also has a glare reduction coating

According to Tru Vue’s website here are the top 5 reasons to use Museum Glass
• Enhances the true color of your art
• Truly looks invisible
• See every detail of your art, no matter how fine
• Helps protect your artwork from fading for generations
• Blocks 99% of harmful indoor and outdoor UV rays

All 3 of the types of glass provide 99% UV protection so it really a matter of which displays best for a particular piece of art work – or in this case baseball cards. I think the museum glass offers the best overall clarity which is important with vintage baseball cards. Due to the age of my T206s I think it’s important to maximize clarity due to the imperfections and existing wear and tear on the cards – lots of details to ogle over.

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Kev Hute Breaks Down Detroit at San Fran Game 3

Kev Hute has a breakdown of tonight’s baseball showdown between the Giants and Tigers

I said Detroit would bounce back from that game 1 coaching blunder when Jim Leyland pulled Justin Verlander after just 96 pitches and 6 innings. The timing in that decision was terrible since Verlander clearly wanted to go out for the 7th, and he felt as though he was just getting settled in. Leyland put in Freddy Dolsi for a perfect 7th, and let him start the 8th where Dolsi gave up two leadoff hits. Then Leyland brings in Fernando Rodney, for his big return to the set-up role, once two guys are already on base. It doesn’t make sense to me. I’m a firm believer in not messing with the bull pen’s psyche, as they are the only guys who affect the game a great deal over a tight span of 1 or 2 innings. 1/3 inning to them is a lot different than 1/3 inning to a starting pitcher. Though it is uncharacteristic for me to say this, you can give Jim Leyland the blame for that one.

As a result, Detroit won game 2 when K-ROG looked like his old self for the 5th time in a row. He’s allowed only 4 earned runs in his last 5 starts. I’m interested to see what kind of pace the Tigers can maintain with all that beef in their line-up.

Today the game’s key stats are as follows:

- The value is with Detroit (-1.5/-120) as Gallaraga is hot, and Barry Zito is Barry Zito.
- SF is 4-9 in game 3’s after a loss
- Armando Galarraga is 3-0, 1.96, 1.04 in day starts this year, and Zito is 1-4, 7.88, 2.08
- Road team has won 10 of 16 games that Jerry Crawford has called, including 5 of the last 6
- Crawford also favors the UNDER frequently
- The Tigers record is 8-2 when Armando Galarraga pitches.
- Clear and calm weather conditions

I really like Detroit SU at -154 in this game even more so than the run line.

By: Kevin Hute

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Bartolo Colon Could be for Real, says Heater Fantasy Baseball Magazine

I have to admit I had no interest in Bartolo Colon from a fantasy baseball perspective. A weakness of mine is that I tend to favor younger guys with upside (e.g. Jair Jurrjens, Andy Sonnanstine, John Danks, etc.), unfortunately this tendency tends to bite me in the butt at least a couple of times per season and Bartolo Colon’s performance is taking a nice chomp.

According to online fantasy baseball magazine, Heater, Bartolo Colon might be “for real”. I use the quotes to emphases that their in depth piece on Colon doesn’t call for a return to his Cy Young days of 2005 but there is hope that he can eat some innings and consistently pick up some wins for a contender like the Red Sox. Here’s why:
• Colon’s four-seam fast ball is averaging 93.7, and two-seamer 91.5
• 22 Ks against 7 walks in 29 innings – better than 3 to 1 ration
• check out the chart above, all four of his pitches have great movement

At this point if you have Bartolo Colon on your fantasy baseball roster congrats, if you don’t I wouldn’t break the bank to get him. If you need pitching help you might be able to find someone in your league that’s will to trade high on Colon and if it doesn’t cost anything too meaningful it looks like a smart move.

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Vintage Baseball Card Display Tip – Rotate Your Cards

I was doing some research this weekend for Safe at Home, the new wiki that I created about baseball card display and preservation, and came across something pretty darn effective – rotate your cards! It sounds so simple but makes all of the sense in the world. I found an article which suggested rotating display materials every 3 months or so. It might even make sense to display your best baseball cards at times when you know you’ll be having company over. For example, the holidays get pretty busy for me a few months from mid-November on so it might makes sense to break out my Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Cy Young T206 cards for those 2 months and keep them stored away the rest of the year. I could rotate any number of T206 common players a couple of time during the rest of the year. The long term reduction of UV exposure will go a long way to preserving your vintage baseball card collection.

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Baseball Analyst Kev Hute on the Giants Tigers series and Tim Lincecum

Kev Hute has been writing about baseball for 9 years and we recently ran into each other via the blogosphere. He’s currently working on a new site for his fantasy baseball and gaming analysis and since I like his work we’ve agreed to syndicate some of his predictions on Bloop Single. Although I received this post a tad past my bedtime, Kev Hute did provide an interesting breakdown of Lincecum vs Verlander in last night’s Giants Tigers game. He missed the mark by a bit but unlike me he didn’t have the box scores in front of him – check out the flavor of his writing.

Lince-Comin to an End

The Giants are 3-13 in their last 16 home games. The UNDER is 8-1 in Detroit’s last 9 inter-league games. They just finished getting swept by Oakland. The O/U is 7 (-110) for both teams, -1.5 San Fran (+170,) the money line sits at (-110) for each team as well. Where does the value lie?

I would say since the Tigers have won 8 straight, the value lies with them until proven otherwise. If you traded for Justin Verlander (3-9, 4.65 ERA, 1.30 WHIP,) who remains a great buy-low candidate in fantasy leagues across the board, you know that he was rock solid in his last start against the rival White Sox. He went the distance on June 11th, with 0 BB, 1ER to get the 5-1 win over Vasquez.

Giants’ righty Tim Lincecum (8-1, 1.99, 1.22) has been impressive, and remains a candidate for the N.L. Cy Young. I can’t imagine how painful this is to watch for Matt Cain, who pitched out of his mind last year yet couldn’t get a lick of run support. He’s bashing his head against the wall this year when he can’t get run support. Cain’s main problem this year is the big inning late.

That being said, not only will Lincecum be 8-2 after tonight, the bonds-less Giants really should get swept again. My guess is that Detroit extends it to 11 straight. That would shut some people up.

By:Kevin Hute

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