Dude Gonna Do Time In Federal Pound Him In The Ass Prison

There is a story in the Sports Card Daily that is a perfect example of a scammer ripping off a naïve collector. The scammer has been grabbed and is awaiting trial, but as I re-read the story something additional caught my attention.

What happened is Thomas Martin Beatty Jr. from Omaha, Nebraska was selling four cards; a 1952 Topps Mantle, a 1957 Topps Mantle, a 1957-58 Topps Bill Russell and a 1965 Topps Joe Namath, on eBay last year and eventually made a deal with a buyer out of Massachusetts last August for $117,500 for all four cards. The buyer paid through wire transfer and Beatty sent the cards through the USPS. This is information that is all fact. Now on to the troubling part.

In the end it turned out that all four cards were reprints and Beatty was knowingly selling them as original and graded cards. The US Attorney’s office got involved and an investigation was done and during the investigation the authorities found that Beatty had more than $2,000 in counterfeit bills in his home. He has been charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and possession of counterfeit money. I do not know how the US Attorney's office got involved.

I have two questions; first, how as it that the buyer purchased original and graded cards without knowing?  Unless the grading company was a fly by night (looking at you GMA) who couldn’t tell the difference or the flips from a PSA or BGS was fake. If I were spending $117k on four graded cards you can be certain I am going to verify each cert # to make sure it is listed, and it is the same card that PSA or BGS has in their registry.

Second, how long do you think he will get? I looked in to it and this guy is going to do serious time all for selling reprint cards as original cards.

Mail fraud is up to $1 million in fines and/or 30 years in prison

Wire fraud is up to $250k fines and/or 20 years in prison

Possessing counterfeit money is up to $250k fines and/or 20 years in prison

Money laundering is up to $500k fine and/or 20 years in prison

+1 if you got the Office Space reference in the title.

How To Get Banned From Baseball In 3 Easy Steps

In less than one year’s time (now former) Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejia went from being the team’s opening day closer to permanent ban under the MLB’s drug testing policy.

Beginning with his first suspension on April 11, 2015, which was 80 games, for testing positive for Stanozolol. He returned on July 12, 2015 and appeared in 7 games for the Mets before failing another test, this time Boldenone, on July 28, 2015, which led to a 162 game suspension. Today it has been announced that the 26-year old Mejia failed his third test within 10 months and since this is his third positive test, again Boldenone, he has been banned from baseball.

He is able to apply for reinstatement after a year but what are the chances that happening when he has showed that he obviously doesn’t work within the rules. Mejia is now the first player to permanently be banned under the leagues anti-doping policy.

I would normally say it is time to dump Jenrry Mejia cards but he really has not made too many appearances on cardboard since he was drafted nearly a decade ago. Out of the roughly 425 listing, most of which are BIN, there is only one lonely bid. I think the Mets will miss him but collectors probably not as much.

Insert Stupid Hand Joke Here

The New York Daily News was able to catch a photo of the damage to Jason Pierre-Paul’s hand that he damaged in a firework accident over the Fourth of July and they posted it online today.

With damage like this do you think that Jason Pierre-Paul will get back to football this season?

Index finger amputated completely, thumb partially amputated, multiple skin grafts to the four remaining fingers and palm, surgery to repair bone in his middle finger (currently in a cast) and thumb.

I think that he is done for the season but with his rehab and protective gear for his hand he will be able to return next season. Since he has not signed franchise player tender with the Giants ($14.8 million) he will be a free agent when he returns next season.

Looking at a record of his twenty-five highest single cards sales this year twenty-one of them came after his injury so obviously collectors have reason to believe he will be back.

Not The Way To Spark A Career

Holidays are supposed to be fun, time you spend with family and friends. They are not for destroying your career, though someone apparently did not tell NY Giants DL Jason Pierre-Paul or Buccaneers DB CJ Wilson, who both were injured in fireworks accidents this past weekend.

 In the case of Jason Pierre-Paul, who is still in the hospital, the Giants pulled their $60-million long-term contract offer. No information has been released about his injury and he refuses to see anyone from the team so beyond the initial announcement stating he had injuries to both arms and possible nerve damage nobody knows if he will be able to play this upcoming season which would mean he will play under the "Franchise" tag.

CJ Wilson may have just sunk his career with his accident, where he lost two fingers. He played in two games last year and has an unguaranteed $585,000 salary that runs through this upcoming season. If he does not play, he doesn’t get paid and he does not prove he is worthy of a future contract.

JPP had a solid year last year so his cards are holding their value for now. If he needs to take off a season or gets cut his prices will dip but if the damage turns out to be limited he can continue and his cards will rebound. Wilson has no cards, that I can find any way, so as far as his collectability goes it can not get any worse.

Hopefully both men will come out of the situation as best as possible under the circumstances and stand as a cautionary tale for people in the future.

The Heat Is Nobodies Friend

Today I am taking a moment for a PSA about living in Arizona.

 

Everyone knows that summer months in the Valley get hot, we have been hitting in the 108-112 degrees lately and it isn't even the hottest part of the summer. I have lived in Arizona more than half my life so I can deal with the heat, though these hot days do make me wish I was back in Seattle. But every so often you do something where you don’t think and the heat burns you literally.

Today I got a flat tire and while I was changing it I laid the tire wrench down on the ground and when I picked it up I got a nasty surprise. It was 110 degrees today and a solid black metal tire wrench sucks up heat quite quickly. Here is what a tire wrench burn looks on my left hand.

Not satisfied with one burn when I was sliding the jack under my Tahoe I set my right hand on the ground. This is what a burn on my fingers and right hand look like. Four fingers and the upper part of my palm were all burned, the dark red spots are blisters making this one a second degree burn (four blisters on three fingers). This from setting my hand on the pavement for a matter of seconds. The heat dried my skin so quickly it wasn’t funny, though really none of this was funny... at least not yet until the burns heal.