I
moved out of my mom’s house the summer before I was married. Since that time my
belongings have moved with me, sometimes in large hauls, other times in small
doses. At this point, thirteen years
later, nothing of mine is left there except my baseball card collection.
It’s
not that big. It only takes up the space of about three large bins, and
yet, it remains at my childhood home.
Part of me feels like it belongs there.
When
I went back to my mom’s to look through my collection, it felt like little time
had passed. The motion with my hands was still automatic—deck of cards in one
hand, push with my left thumb, pull with my right middle finger so each card
whisks by and the deck moves to my other hand. However, I didn’t just see cards
and players and lines of stats. There were memories attached. I suppose that’s
why the cards stay in their current location, and maybe why I’ve kept them all
these years, rather than selling them for the cost of a pizza or using them as
fire-starters while camping.
The
collection is organized chronologically and by set, and within each set by card
number. Not only does that make my essay easier to write, it speaks volumes
about me as a child (and the anal retentive adult I would grow up to be).
1980—Being
only four years old at the time, I have no recollections about this year, but
the 1980 Topps set did contain my white whale, Ricky Henderson’s rookie
card. By the time I was seriously
collecting, it was too old and too pricey to enter my collection. I just checked eBay to find that I could
probably snag one near-mint for twenty bucks. At the height of the card craze,
there was an extra zero on that twenty!
1981—It
all started with the Pete Rose card.
That guy’s head was huge! I mean, look at that noggin. My older brother
told me he was the best. His hat was red. He was larger than life. Might as
well have been a superhero. These cards were
a great introduction to baseball. They
seemed to comfort with simple text and primary colors, and to entice with those
hats (nonspecific as they were).
The
Fleer cards by comparison looked bland, with an even more generic baseball
graphic and washed out pictures. But I did have the Danny Ainge card,
which is significant on several fronts. I liked Danny Ainge because he came up
through the Syracuse system, which led me to liking the Blue Jays. (My first
MLB game ever was at the Sky Dome.) Furthermore, about a decade later when I
started watching basketball, I chose to root for the Phoenix Suns because of
Ainge! Two-sport athlete!
Best card: Pete Rose
1982—At
this point I was familiarizing myself with players and teams. I still had
little clue who was good, just who was cool. The card that means the most to me
now is Charlie Hough. I remember my dad seeing this card and saying,
“Charlie Hough? He’s a knuckleballer. I
remember him from years ago.” I didn’t realize it back then, but the idea of baseball
connecting generations couldn’t be clearer now.
I
really like the look of the Topps cards. Team and player names are simple but
in nice coordinated colors, and I love the sports cars-eqsue “speed lines” on
the side that curve down around the bottom corner. The other great thing about
these cards is they had the player signature on them.
Fleer
on the other hand didn’t come off so well. Usually this brand has a bit of
spice to the design, but this year they looked pedestrian in comparison to Topps.
A somewhat unfocused picture of Dan Quisenberry doing stretches just
about sums it up.
Coolest signature: Jim
Kaat
1983—A
leap forward for Topps. Not only did
they have a main “action” picture, they also had the portrait in the
corner. So if one were to say “Hmm, I
wonder what Mike Scioscia looks like under that catcher’s mask?” the
card would solve that mystery.
Most treasured card: Ryne
Sandberg (rookie)
1984—This
is around the time when I started following my favorite player, Rickey
Henderson. He had regular cards, and
“Record Breaker” cards for his base-stealing prowess. I wasn’t a huge Oakland fan yet but I did
really like Henderson. Considering 90% of the cards were pictures of hitters or
dudes just standing there, seeing someone on the basepaths was cool and
different.
Choice card: Richie Zisk!
And not only that, it’s an O-Pee-Chee card, so on the back I get to read his
career highlights in French! I’m kind of
amazed at the joys these cards can bring all these years later. Back then it was about collecting players,
and then at some point it was about collecting cards that had monetary value.
As I comb through these now though, there’s lots of oddball details that bring
a smile to my face. Sure it might all be
built on nostalgia, but I’m ok with that.
1985—This
is the first year I remember watching the playoffs and the World Series. My
Cardinals and Royals cards were given special attention. I could see the
players on television, and then hold them in my hand. It was a miniscule
tether, but the fact that I owned a piece of a superstar was thrilling. I
remember laying them on the carpet, basically reenacting the game as I put
players into position on the field, and at the plate when they hit.
Best Decision: Topps and
Fleer went with “Dennis.” Donruss made
the right choice and printed “Oil Can Boyd” on the card!
1986—It
was a bland looking card back then, and it hasn’t aged well since. It looks
like the work of two 10-year-olds in their “Hey, let’s design our own baseball
card set” phase. They looked big and blocky. Not even Pete Rose’s huge skull
could save these cards. I’m pretty sure
at some point I got the Athletics team set but the rest just passed me by.
Best Name: Mookie Wilson
1987—Ahh,
’87. The “home team” had won the World Series the previous season, my interest
in baseball cards was high, and my card collection exploded. This was also the
year I most likely started my subscription to Baseball Card Monthly. I
wish I had saved an issue or two if only to be reminded how they managed to
fill an entire magazine with baseball card articles. I do remember there being
a price guide included, which was an extremely important reference when trading
with friends. It was sometimes used as a checklist but more often it became a
wish list.
But
wow, those Topps cards with the wood paneling border! So soothing, so unique!
(Note: My card collecting rarely went backwards, the cards of the 1960s were
outside my realm for the most part.) I
devoured these cards. I remember a game I would play with my friend. He’d show me the card and cover up the name
and I had to say who it was. Obviously the stars were easy, but at 700+ cards,
it was a great game to wrack my brains with.
I also really liked those Rookie All-Star cards with the little trophy
on them.
Looking
at my collection now, I’ve got twice as many 1987 cards as any other year. At
some point you’d think I’d say to myself, “Hmm, I guess I have enough.” Maybe I’m underestimating/misremembering the
11-year-old-me’s obsession with collecting these cards.
Card I had a hard time finding for some reason: Ray Knight
Funniest Name: Paul
Assenmacher
Card with the smallest text on the back: Phil Niekro
1988—Topps
exec: “Hey guys, remember 1986? Let’s go
with a similar attitude, but update it for the modern collector. They
definitely want to see more block letters and plain banners.” Not the best of decisions and Donruss didn’t
fare any better. Even back then those Diamond Kings cards gave me a “hrrmm”
feeling, but looking back now I’m just amused. I like baseball, and I like art,
but the combination here looks like paint-by-number Dogs Playing Poker, except
that not even ironic hipsters would want to partake.
That
being said, I still have a bunch of these cards too, so either my tastes were
different then, or I was too addicted to gaining cards to bother to think about
how ugly they were.
Nerdiest Looking All-Star: Tom
Henke
1989—I
was entering my teenage years and had allowance to blow. The baseball card
craze was in full effect. There were five major companies making cards (Topps,
Donruss, Fleer, Score, and Upper Deck). Put this together with the fact that
Topps had a cool design once again and it was the perfect storm for me
acquiring a ton of cards (Note to self: Weigh collection some time.) I’m pretty
sure I completed this set, and even got the Topps Traded bonus set, with Rickey
Henderson in the A’s uniform. The Bash
Brothers were hot, and I liked Eck, Dave Stewart, and Bob Welch. Throw in Carney Lansford, Walt
Weiss, and veteran Dave Parker and I began to really root for this
team. Henderson’s amazing performance during the playoffs pretty much cemented
my love for the Athletics. When they won it all I was on top of the world.
Best card to play “Caption This Photo” with: Braves Leaders
Having
a favorite player or team is a natural part of being a sports fan, but during
the late 80s and early 90s baseball card boom, it was a great way to focus
one’s efforts. Sure those Stadium Club
cards looked cool, but I didn’t really need them all (especially at the price
they were asking). I only needed
Henderson. Then of course there were
cards and sets that I didn’t want at all: Sportflicks, Bowman cards, Kay Bee
Toys All-Stars, minis, stickers, and whatever else could be found in random
pharmacies across the state. It all could be skipped over, as long as I could
scrounge Henderson from the card shop or one of my friends. Eventually the bubble was so big I couldn’t
even grab every Henderson card, but I was happy while on the chase.
A
few years went by and my interest faded in the cards. They started to look better (and today, with
my punk rock standards fully embedded in my psyche, I’d say they look too
good) and got more expensive. By 1994 I
was in college, out of the baseball card game, and literally have not looked
back until now. It’s crazy to think that
all the players that I loved and collected as a kid are now retired. I’m sure I could get online and look up all
their stats (some of which could be presented in weird, Sabermetric ways that
were never near a baseball card during my era) but I’d rather look at the old
cards. Having spent some time with them
recently, it’s like looking at a scrapbook.
Worthless to anyone else, but to me, the value is incalculable.
Player that for some
reason I always got multiple copies of, infuriating me to no end: Rob Deer
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