Joshua Kusnick with Indians Michael Brantley
Hobby Musings: An agents-eye view into trading cards – When opening packs and boxes, we often think only about the cards in front of us. Have you ever thought about the process that goes into getting a player, or his autograph for that matter, onto the trading card? Like many other products, there’s a process involved before someone can appear on an official trading card.
I reached out to player agent Joshua Kusnick for information on how a player achieves the cardboard distinction. Kusnick, who represents Indians outfielder Michael Brantley and Mets pitcher Seth Lugo among others, was also kind enough to share his knowledge and experiences in other facets of the hobby. The following interview was conducted via email.
KS: From the business side of things, what actually goes into getting a player onto a baseball card?
JK: We’re at the mercy of the companies to a degree. There are basically three windows to get a card; draft, big MiLB season and as a rookie. Everything after that is totally the companies’ call. The companies have their targets and I do my best to help them fill their sets with my clients.
KS: How does it differ for basic trading card agreements to things like certified autographs and memorabilia cards?
JK: Players with unsigned cards are always just randomly picked by the companies. Autograph deals take a lot of time and effort, literally months and years and after all that work is done, if the stars align and the player has a good season, your odds of securing a deal go way up. With that being said, Seth Lugo never had an MLB card in his life. His first card was his Topps rookie.
KS: How does a player’s card contract compare to some of their other business endorsements like baseball equipment or local appearances?
JK: They’re standard contracts. It’s all I can really say.
KS: From what you’ve seen with your clients, how do they react to having trading cards, especially their first card?
JK: After 15 years that experience never gets old. It’s always a wish fulfillment scenario and it’s usually emotional to a degree. It’s kind of on everyone’s bucket list who plays. I was with Sean Gallagher in 2003 at a card store where he was buying boxes of UD to try to pull his own card, and then it happened. It was absolutely surreal and that feeling of accomplishment and pride never goes away. It’s just so damn cool.
Hobby Musings: An agents-eye view into trading cards
KS: As an autograph collector, I’ve occasionally run into players saying they can’t sign Card X for a certain reason. For collectors like myself who wonder why that happens, can you shed some light?
JK: One company creates a card set that MLB granted a license to that essentially classifies the nationally sold product as a team set MiLB card and there player is not paid. Don Larsen doesn’t sign his UD cards without a donation as he claims he wasn’t paid for the cards and this falls in line with that kind of thinking. Another reason is guys sometimes sign one card for mom, dad, wife, kids etc. and never sign it again. Gretzky, Jordan and others have done this. It’s frustrating but I get it. I have 196 of 200 cards signed from the 99-00 Topps Stadium Club NHL set signed. It has probably 40 all-stars and 25 legends, yet two of the ones missing are Martin Straka and Harry York. Straka signs everything except this one card. If a player is signing but not one certain item, you can’t get mad because the player is signing regardless. It’s a very small issue I’d imagine.
KS: As an avid autograph collector yourself. How difficult is it to balance your love of graphing against your professional duties as an agent?
JK: Not at all. The only autograph I want of any current player is on my contract. I still collect when I have time by doing TTM requests for the NHL, politicians and pre-1990 MLB guys who are retired.
KS: Do you have a favorite autograph or memorabilia item in your collection?
JK: Game-used Dominik Hasek 1993 Sabres playoff home jersey or Pedro Martinez game-used signed and inscribed Red Sox grey jersey from his first and historic Cy Young season in Montreal.
Actually, it has to be the Cal Ripken Jr. game-used flapless signed batting helmet I permanently borrowed when I was 14 when I was his spring bat boy. He signed it the next day in a huge crowd and didn’t notice it was his from the day before. I’ve since apologized to Cal too LOL. He thought it was crazy I’m an agent now, which was cool.
Auto-wise, it’s my ’60 and ’61 Fleers, of which I have 80 or so signed. Cobb, Hornsby, Foxx, Cochrane, Lombardi, Wheat, Home Run Baker etc. I also have a totally complete 1988 Pacific Legends set signed by every player who was alive when the set was released. The only possible one that may exist I don’t have is Roy Campanella. Oddly the last three for me were Vic Raschi, Sal Maglie and Bucky Walters. I think the most scarce autos I have are Kid Nichols and Ken Hubbs, or my two 8x10s of Kurt Cobain.
KS: On the flip side of that, do you have a dream item you’d like to add to your collection?
JK: Gretzky Oilers gamer or a Jordan signed gamer.
KS: Autographs are as popular as ever, perhaps even more so now. How do you think the autograph world has changed, both for your clients and as a collector, since you started representing players?
JK: It’s devolved to the point where it saddens me see it happening every time I’m at the field. If I went to a game 20 years ago, I knew I’d get some autographs at a game. Now it’s Hell. First, players are stalked at airports by dealers daily. They call airlines and impersonate the player or his management to secure their ff# to get the flight info to bug them at the airport, which isn’t only gross, it’s likely identity theft.
Hotels are rough too because so many people call the rooms to crosscheck where the teams in the area are. It’s not okay to graph at hotels or at airports beyond a random encounter. I graphed hotels as a kid but looking back, I wish I hadn’t. I never called a room however, thank God. The venue pregame nowadays seems like the best place to get an autograph, which is how it should be. And if you can’t make it to a game or you’re out of state, you’re far better off buying an authenticated auto from the team or league than risking a fake with a dealer online.
Also, hundreds of people mostly are dealers demanding things get signed a certain way on a certain spot in a certain pen. It’s so transparent and terrible. The players aren’t dumb, so it just is bad form. Being honest probably increases your chances of getting an auto as opposed to lying about what it’s for.
Also when a player personalizes an auto so it cannot be resold. dealers now erase the inscription to resell the item anyways. So players either sign less now or loop their auto through the inscription so it can’t be erased, but it looks horrible. It’s a lose-lose and I blame the rabid, stalkerish dealers. Not all of them, but many of them. I see it firsthand all the time.
KS: What advice would you give to anyone looking to receive an autograph from a player?
JK: Just be nice and polite, wait until the player’s work is done and if they sign great, and if not, still be gracious. Nobody is owed an autograph but fans and players alike always deserve respect.
I encourage every client I have to stop and sign every single day but just be smart about the items they’re signing. Or if they genuinely don’t mind the resale, just sign as much as you can but one item of each. Greed also kills the hobby. Traders can be as tough as dealers, especially MiLB. They’ll hand a guy 18 cards on a page and they will literally get mad if all 18 don’t get signed. I just never understood that line of thinking.
Hobby Musings: An agents-eye view into trading cards
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