This site provides an outlet to share my baseball card collection with the world without being constrained by formatting rules and the ephemeral nature of social media platforms. It also provides a place in which I can record my thoughts and research on specific cards and players.
My sports card addiction began in 1990 when my grandmother bought me what she described as a “pack of baseball cards” for Christmas. What I opened that morning was a package of 25 penny sleeves with a 1990 Topps Rich Gedman card on top. I had never held a card before and remember thinking, “So this is what the all the older kids are always talking about.” I was hooked.
Over the next half dozen years I built a collection out of whatever packs the local Rite Aid had available and whatever low/mid-grade cards could be scrounged up at local shows. A regular dealer at these shows and the discovery of mail order catalogs allowed for a decent accumulation of low-grade stars from the 1950s. A combination of junk wax fatigue, girls, and refocusing income towards upcoming tuition needs led me away from collecting later in the decade. In the late 2010s I began using baseball statistics to learn new software applications, an initiative that eventually rekindled my interest in cards as time progressed.
I decided to start collecting again, but this time I would purposely set out to collect what I wanted and not what was simply available. I drew up a list of sets that held special meaning to me and resolved to work towards completing each one. These sets combine to represent less than 1,000 cards, a total I believe to be achievable and small enough to allow a deeper look at each individual component. This should take more than a decade to fully put together.
Want to contact me? The text in the image below will help make that happen.
Favorite Posts
Finding your way around an unfamiliar blog with nearly a thousand posts can be daunting. What, if anything, is worth reading to get a sense of whether or not you want to stick around? Below appear a sampling of my favorite posts.
- Prince Charlie and the Sacking of Syracuse – The minor league experience of a distant relative of mine
- The Cards That End in “-ipken” – Part I and Part II – Wallet cards are my favorite part of collecting, and the selection of this pair of sibling cards accompanied me throughout my favorite year
- Peter Pan in Dodger Blue – Roy Campanella
- Dawn of the Jet Age – Sam Jethroe and the rise of commercial jet travel
- Donnie Baseball Baseball Cards – Sometimes you have to really wait for a Don Mattingly card to come in the mail
- Death and Stadium Club – I had a bit of a unique introduction to Stadium Club cards back in 1991
Frequently Occasionally Asked Questions
What sets are you building?
I am building the following baseball sets with varying degrees of optimism for ever finishing:
- 1949 Leaf (Extremely long term project)
- 1952 Topps (81% complete – That last Mickey Mantle-shaped 0.25% will be harder than previous 406 cards put together)
- 1991 Donruss Elite (Recently abandoned, got up to 50% complete)
In addition to the above, I have completed a several other sets, most notably the 1993 Finest Refractors. From time to time I also work on player collections of Jose Canseco and former A’s pitcher Charlie Bishop.
Why the focus on cards of Charlie Bishop?
Bishop is (sorta) a relative of mine. He has appeared on fewer than ten different cards and I would like to have high grade examples of each. I think I have the full run but there may be some truly scarce stuff still out there that I do not even know about.
Do you have any cards for sale?
Usually no. I sometimes have a duplicate card or something that I have lost interest in, but once I come to the conclusion that a card needs to go I list it on an active sales platform at a good price and it is gone rather quickly. This is also a solo affair in which I do not have much in the way of contacts with extra cards to spare. I really wish I could be more helpful here but don’t have a lot to offer.
Do you trade cards?
Not really. I might do so in person at a show, but the focused nature of my collection, a general lack of duplicates, and differing condition preferences make finding a mutually agreeable trade a bit difficult. Instead, I tend to sell or give away duplicates if I am fortunate enough to land an upgrade. I prefer keeping this a one-way (outbound) flow of cards.
Thanks for the cards! I received a package from you in the mail. Anything I should know?
I enjoy sending cards to people, particularly those that appear to be enthusiastic collectors who seem to always be discovering something new. However, my preference is to keep this a one way flow of cards and I greatly prefer to not have anything come back in return. I never really know what is an OK amount of cards to send and do not want others feel they need to reciprocate in kind after receiving unsolicited cards.
Know that I want you to enjoy the cards and that includes fully embracing the idea that you could add even better items to your collection by selling or trading them away.
Why do you use wOBA in your rankings of players rather than an adjusted metric like WRc+?
If I wanted to get truly to the bottom of who a better batter is, I would probably replace wOBA with WRc+ or a similar metric. However, I use a more personalized ranking system and the fact is that I enjoy periods of greater offense. A guy who hit 35 home runs in the middle of the 1960s is less exciting to me than a guy who hit 40 in more favorable environments.
What’s your favorite team?
I do not have a favorite team as I prefer to follow the careers of specific players. If pressed I will say the Athletics, but like promises that a team will never move to another city, I don’t really mean it.