The Super Bowl is over and it's almost time for baseball. Spring training is starting; pitchers and catchers reported today. You wouldn’t know that looking out my window seeing at least a foot of snow covering the ground. And half of the country is freezing. But I digress since I am involved in a baseball-related activity: going through my baseball card collection. Like many my age, I started collecting in my youth during the mid-1960s, starting at age 7. The cards had been stored safely in my childhood home and for the last 30 years dutifully kept in shoe boxes within plastic bins in my basement. And they probably would have been left alone but for another event in my house.
In a nearby area of the basement, I noticed an amount of water had accumulated on the floor. I had no idea where it came from, but quickly realized in horror that a small plastic tube that drained furnace condensation had come loose right above our record album collection. Drip, drip, drip. And the leak, apparently, had been going on for a while. Yes, record albums were ruined, even though they were kept in hard shell cartons. It turns out that there were tiny little holes on the tops and bottoms of these cartons; the perfect conduit for a drip from above. The vinyl is fine – mostly - but the jackets didn’t make it. About 100 album jackets met this fate. I was not about let that get to my baseball card collection.
I am happy to report that the cards are in good shape and unharmed. Some were shuffled around, but I managed to get them sorted back together by year. My main collection is from 1965 through 1969. By 1970, I apparently wasn’t into as much. I’m not sure why, but I guess is my interests moved elsewhere, to walkie talkies, radio and electronic nerdy stuff.
The great players of the mid and late 1960s are in the collection: Aaron, Banks, Clemente, Mantle and a very young Reggie Jackson. But mostly, there are many not so famous ones. Topps, the card manufacturer, always guessed who the rookie stars for each team would be for the upcoming season. There were two faces on the front of the card. Most times they missed but other times they hit the jackpot, with at least one becoming a star, maybe even a Hall of Famer, and if you were really lucky, two would become big names. Jerry Koosman and Nolan Ryan were paired for the 1968 Rookie Stars card and is in my collection.
When I started collecting, I remember being offered a bunch of cards from older kids on my street. But these cards were from the 1950s – who would want them? Yes, it was very bad decision on my part. Another bad decision was to use my Dymo Labelmaker to cover the team name if a player was traded and perhaps using a magic marker to black out the logo on his hat. Clearly, I had no idea about the long term investment of a ten cent expenditure. If I ever get a DeLorean with a flux capacitor, I will travel back to tell myself not to do that.
You might think my collection was for the bubblegum, but no; it was never about the bubblegum. That was prohibited in my house. Trident was the only one my mother would allow. My gum was given to friends and helped promote silver filings.
I briefly returned to collecting in the last 1980s, thanks to work colleagues who were still into it. But by then, other manufacturers, like Score and Fleer, had entered the baseball card business, and the long term value of collecting newer cards plummeted. When you could buy an entire set, 792 cards, at the check out line at K-Mart, the magic was over. I still have those, too. If I had to guess, I have well over 3,000 cards.
My collection is secure. I ordered a supply of playing card boxes to keep the cards in perfect shape. In fact, I didn't order enough the first time and had to order more. The boxes will sit inside a plastic bin which will be in another plastic bin. I might even look into filling out the collection for each year to keep myself busy and assuming I can afford it. Plus, there is a place where you can send cards to be “graded”; a higher grade means a higher value. That Koosman-Ryan card is probably worth something. Thank goodness it was never used for bicycle spokes.
Like most things nostalgic, it was fun looking back, even if the reason was damaged records.
One pf the more amazing things about your Mickey Mantle card is that he is listed as a first-baseman -- heresy to those of us who saw him in centerfield at the Stadium. Great rookie cards of Bench, Koosman, Ryan. Ah, baseball cards! The year I was most into them was 1957. I had a Mantle card but that was a casualty of the clean-up of my room when I went away to college. From 57 I do still have Hodges, Snider, Erskine, Reese, and Sal Maglie. My prize holdings include a '65 Koufax.
Thanks for the post. "If winter comes can spring training be far away?"
Posted by: David Lehman | February 18, 2021 at 04:16 PM
Spent my afternoon organizing and cataloging my baseball card collection. It's a therapeutic way to connect with both the sport and my personal history. Whether they're worth a fortune or just sentimentally valuable, these cards remind me why I fell in love with baseball in the first place.https://www.uplaay.com/baseball/
Posted by: Erika Hamilton | August 22, 2023 at 06:29 AM