Will Sox Move For Gonzales, Martinez?

With the non-waiver trade deadline just hours away, fans and baseball memorabilia collectors are eagerly awaiting to see if a big name like Roy Halladay, Victor Martinez or Adrian Gonzalez could be on the move before 4 p.m. One possible destination for any of the three players could be Boston. The Red Sox have looked rather pedestrian offensively for the last three weeks, and with questions now surrounding David Ortiz’s mental state, there has to be some cause for concern in the Back Bay. Some fans and Red Sox memorabilia collectors have vocalized their need for a big bat in the lineup like a Victor Martinez. Also valuable is the fact he’s fluent at both catching and first base, valuable in the playoffs when you can move Kevin Youkilis to third and get even better defensively.

On the Padres side, it seems the San Diego team is reluctant to part ways with the slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Though the Padres won’t be good (or even decent) for many years, the front office is reluctant to trade away a player so popular with the fan base for both his talent and Mexican-American lineage.

White Sox To Hold Charity Auction Next Week

A week after their ace Mark Buerhle made national headlines by throwing the 18th perfect game in Major League Baseball history, the Chicago White Sox are keeping sports autograph and MLB game used collectors happy with an charity auction starting next week. Starting August 4th, fans and White Sox memorabilia seekers will be able to bid on baseball items during the team’s home series against the Indians and Angels. The auctions and one-time buys will benefit the White Sox Charities, who raise money throughout the year to help over a dozen different Chicago-based charities.

Phils Land Lee

The World Champion Philadelphia Phillies have landed reigning Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for four prospects. It seemed that while the Phils cooled on their hunt of Jays’ ace Roy Halladay, their front office was hell bent on landing an ace leading into the final two months of the season. Voila! With Cliff Lee autographs being a new range of items for Phillies memorabilia collectors, one has to wonder if this is the deal that will ultimately help produce baseball’s first repeat champions since the New York Yankees of the late-1990s.

Great Sale On NFL Gear

If you’re looking to do some NFL shopping as your team’s training camp opens up, check out SportsMemorabilia.com’s sale on all autographed football items! The sale runs through this Friday July 31st and includes savings on everything from signed football photos to NFL jerseys.

Most training camps are opening this week! So don’t pass on an early chance to gear up for 2009 at a great price.

Montoya’s Gaff Costly at Brickyard

Usually speed is a good thing in racing. Sunday, it cost Juan Pablo Montoya a victory. After leading a career-high 116 laps at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Montoya was caught speeding on pit road with 32 laps remaining and would fall all the way back to 12th. After the dust settled, two Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets driven by Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin would duke it out in a classic nose-to-tail battle for the final 20 laps, with the three-time Cup champ Johnson taking the checkers. It’s no surprise that Jimmie Johnson autographs are a high-selling sports memorabilia item this morning as the 32-year old became the first driver to win back-to-back Brickyard 400s in the event’s 16-year history.

With the victory, Johnson now pulls to within 192 points of championship leader Tony Stewart as the Sprint Cup Series now turns to the triangle-shaped Pocono Raceway for next Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500.

Buerhle Tosses 18th MLB Perfect Game

It’s safe to call him possibly the greatest overachiever in recent baseball memory. Mark Buerhle took 27 up and set 27 down as the 30-year old threw his second no-hitter and took his American League-leading 11th win of the season in the form of the first perfect game thrown in five years. It should be no surprise that White Sox autographs, including Buerhle signed baseballs, were popular search terms this morning.

Despite his normal-guy persona, the Chicago ace is anything but. With a perfect game, a no-hitter and a 2005 World Series ring on his resume, the nine-year veteran is one of the truly great stories of the game.

At 50-45, the Chicago White Sox are now tied with the Detroit Tigers for first place in the American League Central.

Past Mantle, Manny Looks Ahead To Schmidt

Controversial, outspoken and dreadlocked, Manny Ramirez continues his torrid pace since returning from his 50-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. With the Dodgers comfortably in first place, Ramirez is hitting .319 with four home runs and 11 runs batted in in the 14 games since his return. While he’s belted some memorable shots in his days in a Red Sox jersey and even going back to his days with the Indians, Manny’s 537th career blast moved him past legendary Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle and into sole possession of 15th place on the all-time home runs list. The next up for Ramirez and all residents of “Mannywood” is Mike Schmidt, who sits 11 homers ahead with 548 career dingers.

Ichiro and Mauer Duel For Title

With down-to-the-wire division races on the horizon, one of the battles I’m most looking forward to is the battle for American League batting champion. The top two contenders: Minnesota’s Joe Mauer and Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki are hitting .372 and .362 respectively and seem destined for a showdown the final weeks of the regular season. Two must-have autographs for the modern baseball memorabilia collector, Ichiro is a sure-fire Hall of Famer while Mauer has rose as simply the best catcher in the game. Both own two batting titles (Mauer the reigning champion) and are playing on teams that will have to scrap to keep playing come October (both four games out of first place).

Ichiro entered the All-Star break on a tear: batting .366 with nine stolen bases and 17 runs scored in the last 20 games.

AL Takes All-Star Game

One of the league’s great franchises hosted the event for the first time in over 40 years, but it wasn’t enough to break the American League’s 13-year dominance in the All-Star Game. The American League pennant winner will have World Series home field advantage yet again as the AL defeated the National League 4-3 in a game that showcased great pitching and defense. What else would expect from a team managed by Rays skipper Joe Madden? Highlighted by Carl Crawford’s home run-robbing catch and Curtis Granderson’s 8th inning triple, the real story was the AL bullpen setting down 22 of the final 24 batters faced and President Barack Obama’s appearance at the game. An unmatched piece of memorabilia for any game used baseball item collector would be the ceremonial first pitch the President threw to hometown hero Albert Pujols. Give it to the President and to the stars of the game for a great night for baseball, but what made the night truly great was the people of the city of St. Louis, who not only did a great job of hosting the events but flooding the new Busch Stadium in red for Tuesday night’s game.

A Night For A Prince

It might have been a better story if last night’s Home Run Derby if hometown hero Ryan Howard met St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, but the duel between Nelson Cruz and Prince Fielder put on quite the show for the All-Star fans at Busch Stadium last night. While Nelson Cruz isn’t the most in-demand player for baseball memorabilia collectors to add to their sports autograph collection, his fourth deck shot in last night’s first round showed off his light tower power for fans around the world. The show of the night was the fans of St. Louis, who showed off it’s much talked-about love of baseball by loudly cheering each and every player that came to bat. While Albert Pujols looked like he might sneak into the final round, it was Prince Fielder’s night to prove he might be the second-best hitter in the National League behind the Cardinals’ first baseman. The Brewers slugger belted an awe-inspiring 503 shot into the Missouri night in the final round, and ultimately out-slugged Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz 6-5 to take home the trophy.

Fielder’s 76 runs batted in are the most in Brewers’ franchise history and if it wasn’t for the aforementioned Pujols, the 25-year old Fielder may be the front runner for the National League’s MVP award.