ShareThisMajor League Baseball Properties has settled its lawsuit with Upper Deck over the company's issuing unlicensed 2010 baseball cards. The announcement came March 3.
The settlement terms appear to be a complete victory for MLBP with Upper Deck agreeing to pay $2.4 million (the total in dispute) to cover previous debts with MLBP along with an undisclosed amount as compensation for the unlicensed cards.
Although it wasn't expected this soon, Da Babe did predict the lawsuit would never go to trial.
"Our settlement in the case against Upper Deck is a clear and decisive victory for Major League Baseball,'' said Ethan Orlinsky, senior vice president and general counsel, in an MLBP press release. "Upper Deck will be unable to release baseball trading cards that incorporate Major League Baseball's intellectual property in the future."
As UD did when it came out on the bottom end of another recent lawsuit settlement over the printing of counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, the company put on a happy face, saying in its press release that UD and MLBP were pleased to announce they had mutually agreed to settle.
"Upper Deck is pleased with the settlement, including the amount the company paid as it relates to the trading cards released in 2010,'' said Jason Masherah, Upper Deck's director of Sports Brands. "As a company, we are changing the direction of Upper Deck's baseball products going forward."
Upper Deck founder and CEO Richard McWilliam said: "We'll just have to see how innovative and creative we can become now."
UD said that as part of the settlement, it can and will continue to sell three recently released baseball products currently on store shelves: 2009 Signature Stars, 2009 Ultimate Collection and 2010 Upper Deck Series One.
When you combine the money spent on the license with the Major League Players Association (which probably won't generate much of a return), the multi-million settlement by Upper Deck with Konami over the counterfeiting of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and the multi-million dollar payout to MLBP, the future would appear to be anything but rosy for UD.
Complete details on the non-confidential portions of the settlement along with more of Da Babe's thoughts on the matter can be found on my blog www.scrippsnews.com/waxpak.
Dear Babe: I have a baseball signed by Roberto Clemente and others. -- Sharon Shown, Thomasville, N.C.
While condition is always a key, the baseball's year is vital when it comes to determining value, especially in this case. One can make a big difference. The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates captured the World Series title over the favored Yankees, thanks to Bill Mazeroski's dramatic Game 7 walk-off home run. A baseball in average condition signed by that team is worth around $1000-$1500, said Mike Gutierrez, consignment director for Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com) in Dallas. Naturally, a really nice baseball would be worth several times that amount.
While many signatures on your baseball are faded, you can see that in addition to Clemente, Bobby Shantz signed the ball. He pitched for the Pirates for just one season -- 1961. Gutierrez said a baseball like yours with Clemente readable and others faded would probably sell for $200-$250. An average ball, thanks to Clemente's signature would sell for two or three times that amount, but still far less than one from 1960.
BABE NOTE: Kevin Youkilis, the Jewish Major Leaguers (JML) top player for the first decade of the 21st century, highlights the 2010 Deck of Decade set. It will be the final JML set. The 50-card set, produced by Topps, features every Jewish Major Leaguer from 2000-2009 along with career leaders, stats of the decade and other oddball cards. The set is available for $29. For details and to order, visit www.jewishmajorleaguers.org.
(Send card questions to Babe Waxpak, PO Box 492397, Redding, CA 96049-2397 or e-mail babewaxpak(at)charter.net. If possible, include card number, year and brand or a photocopy. Please do not send cards. For Babe Waxpak's blog, see www.scrippsnews.com/waxpak. Babe Waxpak is a feature of The Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
