Update on Greg "Toe" Nash

Sad story, I hope he can take it and do something with it. Back in the early days of 2001 Bowman Chrome, he was the story, not Pujols...

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11145027&categoryid=2521705

Topnotchsy said:

Back in the early days of 2001 Bowman Chrome, he was the story, not Pujols...

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What? Bowman Chrome comes out near the end of the season. Pujols was wrapping up a historic rookie season and the demand for his cards was incredibly hot, second only to Ichiro.
Nash was a great human interest story, but after a week of stories on the news, he was known only by prospectors and diehard baseball nuts.
Pujols was a national household name by the time Bowman Chrome came out.

I had no idea who he was until I won a large lot of autographed cards several years back and he was one of the cards in it. I was looking up each player that I had not heard of to see if they had a decent season or played for the Dodgers at any point when I came across his story. I think I picked up another 1-2 of his certified autos because of the story. Too bad…maybe he gets another shot someday at a cup of coffee in the bigs.

Austin said:

What? Bowman Chrome comes out near the end of the season. Pujols was wrapping up a historic rookie season and the demand for his cards was incredibly hot, second only to Ichiro.
Nash was a great human interest story, but he was known only by prospectors and diehard baseball nuts.
Pujols was a national household name by the time Bowman Chrome came out.

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Seriously? You completely ignore the point of the post and nitpick on a minor detail? For the record, while Pujols had already established himself by the end of 2001, he had a myriad of RC Auto's already, and Chrome was the not the behemoth that it is now, so it did not get an unbelievable amount of attention. Meanwhile Nash's story was spread far beyond prospectors and "diehard baseball nuts." It was a fascinating human interest story that got a ton of attention at the time, and for a while, his story and Chrome RC Auto likely got more attention than Pujols' Chrome RC Auto. (And yes I know the Pujols card was worth more at release than Nash... for those who care the Pujols was listed in the first Beckett at $300 and the Nash $125, that was not the point...)

I'll be listing my Nash stuff tonight.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Freedom Card Board mobile app

Topnotchsy said:

Seriously? You completely ignore the point of the post and nitpick on a minor detail? For the record, while Pujols had already established himself by the end of 2001, he had a myriad of RC Auto's already, and Chrome was the not the behemoth that it is now, so it did not get an unbelievable amount of attention. Meanwhile Nash's story was spread far beyond prospectors and "diehard baseball nuts." It was a fascinating human interest story that got a ton of attention at the time, and for a while, his story and Chrome RC Auto likely got more attention than Pujols' Chrome RC Auto. (And yes I know the Pujols card was worth more at release than Nash... for those who care the Pujols was listed in the first Beckett at $300 and the Nash $125, that was not the point...)

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Oh, I understood the point of the post. It's certainly interesting and I kind of feel bad for Nash now because he takes full responsibility for his actions. I do appreciate the update and I apologize for my aggressive response.

Nash is hardly a sympathetic figure and people seem to forget what a terrible person he was (and maybe still is). He got kicked out of school twice, then dropped out without knowing how to read or write, was very violent and arrested for battery several times, arrested for domestic violence, then imprisoned for statutory rape, committed several armed robberies, got busted for drugs, broke parole and had at least two stints in prison.

Why does this piece of garbage get glamorized? Because he could hit against scrubs in a semi-pro sugarcane league?

And yes, he was a very short-lived story in the national (not hobby) media.
I've been a television news producer in the industry since 1996. No offense, sincerely, but weren't you about 10 years old when this happened?
I was working for WFAA in Dallas during the time and his story was big for a week when he was discovered and signed.
Then he kind of vanished from the national spotlight as he stunk it up against developmental league players in the minors, hitting .240 with 70 Ks in 170 at bats and a horrific .925 fielding percentage.

Sure, ESPN would run a monthly highlight, or a short blurb when he was arrested several times, but the hype ended very quickly.
I guarantee 99 out of 100 people on the street could not tell you who Toe Nash was at the time.

I think, 13 years later, a lot of people have memories that he was famous on the level of Yasiel Puig or something, when he was just a national footnote for a brief instant, outside of baseball card collectors who looked forward to the debut of several upcoming cards from Topps and Upper Deck.

Austin said:

Oh, I understood the point of the post. It's certainly interesting and I kind of feel bad for Nash now because he takes full responsibility for his actions. I do appreciate the update.

But he's hardly a sympathetic figure and people seem to forget what a terrible person he was (and maybe still is). He got kicked out of school twice, then dropped out at age 12 without knowing how to read or write, was violent, committed statutory rape, committed several armed robberies, got busted for drugs, broke parole and had at least two stints in prison.

And yes, he was a very short-lived story in the national (not hobby) media.
I've been a television news producer in the industry since 1996. No offense, sincerely, but weren't you about 10 years old when this happened?
I was working for WFAA in Dallas during the time and his story was big for a week when he was discovered and signed.
Then he kind of vanished from the national spotlight as he stunk it up against developmental league players in the minors, hitting .240 with 70 Ks in 170 at bats and a horrific .925 fielding percentage.

Sure, ESPN would run a monthly highlight, or a short blurb when he was arrested several times, but the hype ended very quickly.
I guarantee 99 out of 100 people on the street could not tell you who Toe Nash was at the time.

I think, 13 years later, a lot of people have memories that he was famous on the level of Yasiel Puig or something, when he was just a national footnote for a brief instant, outside of baseball card collectors who looked forward to the debut of several upcoming cards from Topps and Upper Deck cards.

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No offense taken. I recall him getting a ton of attention (albeit for a short period of time) though as a member of the media you likely had a better perspective than I did (and while not 10, you are correct that I was barely a teenager). I was more frustrated that you chose to focus on that point which may have been a bit of hyperbole, but was certainly not the point of the post.

Regarding Nash, we have different views. I've been a high-school teacher for a few years, and dealt with troubled kids both within school and outside school and I know the power of a healthy family environment, the ability to read (and therefore expand your perspective) and more generally a safe place to grow up when it comes to development of ethics, morals and self-control. I've seen the incredibly damaging impact of poor friends, lack of money, mental illness etc. Nash was abandoned by his Mom at 12 and was illiterate and had few of the opportunities that most of us grew up with, not imagining life otherwise. While I am not saying that he was not responsible for his actions, I have far more sympathy for him than many might. He had far less of a chance at success than most of us...

Thanks for the understanding response, Topnotchsy. I admire your work with underprivledged kids and it gives you a unique perspective that most of us don't have.
Hopefully Nash was as sincere as he seemed in this story and he becomes a better man. It would be cool if an independant league team signed him and gave him a chance. Maybe he can beat the odds and become the next Josh Hamilton.

Good discussion going on here. I still have my "Toe" Nash signed ball I pulled back when he was popular (can't remember the issue but think it was a Topps product). I look forward to keeping up on his affairs and hope for the best.

Austin said:

Thanks for the understanding response, Topnotchsy. I admire your work with underprivledged kids and it gives you a unique perspective that most of us don't have.
Hopefully Nash was as sincere as he seemed in this story and he becomes a better man. It would be cool if an independant league team signed him and gave him a chance. Maybe he can beat the odds and become the next Josh Hamilton.

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I appreciate that. And I am with you in hoping that Nash has become a better man. Based on the video I wonder if he can share his message with others with similar backgrounds and help them make better decisions than he did.

mrmopar said:

I had no idea who he was until I won a large lot of autographed cards several years back and he was one of the cards in it. I was looking up each player that I had not heard of to see if they had a decent season or played for the Dodgers at any point when I came across his story. I think I picked up another 1-2 of his certified autos because of the story. Too bad…maybe he gets another shot someday at a cup of coffee in the bigs.

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At 32, seriously?

r2d2 said:

At 32, seriously?

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I don't think Austin was saying that Nash was ever going to be anything significant in the Bigs, but based on his unbelievable raw talent, he might be able to play in the Minors again, and grab a "cup of coffee" in the Bigs. Josh Hamilton was younger but also had a major history of drugs working against him and he was able to make it back. As another freak athlete, who knows...

Just another sad story of a guy who threw it all away over dumb mistakes.Saw the video this morning.

It's possible. Let me share a story about another 30+ year old player who might have even been a hall of famer had his story been a bit different. Although from another era, Nash still has a CHANCE to make it to the bigs. i didn't say a great chance, but….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5jNnDMfxA

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/o'doule01.shtml

r2d2 said:

At 32, seriously?

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Sad story, but the odds were stacked against him. Growing up with next to nothing. No education. Illiterate.
Beating that can be done, but it's hard - and Nash made the wrong decisions when it came down to it.

Juan Gris said:

Good discussion going on here. I still have my "Toe" Nash signed ball I pulled back when he was popular (can't remember the issue but think it was a Topps product). I look forward to keeping up on his affairs and hope for the best.

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I think Topps Reserve had signed baseballs in them.Damn, that Nash autograph booked $125 then.

My dad took me to watch him play in Princeton, WV. He hit all three balls to the warning track. The crowd was average, but thought it would be packed with the PR he got. I was bummed when he lost control of those temptations that led to his demise from baseball.