As the 38th overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, Brandon Martin appeared headed for a short ride to the major leagues.
Now, he might be headed to death row.
On Thursday, a Southern California jury convicted Martin of murdering his disabled father, his uncle and another man with one of his old baseball bats in September 2015.
A five tool prospect, Martin was featured in several minor league-oriented sets while in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, including Bowman Chrome Draft. The back of his card touted one of his attributes as a “positive clubhouse influence.”
The penalty phase of his trial begins Monday.
Certified Collectibles Group, which will soon launch its new sports card grading division, CSG, has promoted two executives. Michael Browne has named chief operating officer for the Florida-based company while Max Spiegel becomes president.
Browne had been Senior Vice President of Operations.
Spiegel, formerly a marketing VP with the company, has been directing the launch of CSG.
Certified Collectibles Group also authenticates and grades other collectibles including comic books and coins.
“My ambition has always been to make the collectibles markets larger, safer and more diverse by expanding CCG’s global presence, improving our services and reinforcing our position as the world’s leading independent authority on collectibles,” Spiegel stated.
Long-time vintage autograph dealer Jim Stinson, who went into semi-retirement in 2017, is once again actively buying and selling. Stinson is one of the most knowledgeable autograph collectors in the hobby.
He’ll be sharing some of that knowledge on rare autographs in our pages when he can including an article that appears in these pages today.
Autographed hats from 25 members of this past season’s draft class are now at NBA Auctions.
Zion Williamson, Tyler Herro, RJ Barrett and others put their signatures on the bills during the Rookie Photo Shoot last in Parsippany, NJ back in August 2019.
Bidding opens at $25 each and the auctions will continue through November 19.
Collectable is hosting a free sports trivia entertainment night, with $3,000 in prizes.
The fractional shares app provider is bringing in former HQ Trivia host and collector Scott Rogowsky to emcee the online event, which is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10 at 9 PM Eastern time.
More info is available here.
