My early experiences collecting baseball cards go back to the mid 60's. I can remember riding my bike, with my older brother Mike, down to the corner store to purchase baseball cards. Well, my brother bought the cards and I got the gum, great deal for a seven year old.
Years later, My brother decided to get rid of his collection before he left home. I bought his cards for a ridiculously low amount. I forgot about those cards over the years till the late 1980's when the card craze was in full swing.
I heard rumors how much these old cards were worth so one day I picked up a Beckett magazine and became hooked on collecting. As time went on I slowly lost interest. There were fewer card shows, the local card shops had closed down and it was too hard to keep up with all of those new sets. I’m sure Nintendo had quite a bit to do with it also.
My collection was forgotten until the late 90's when I bought a computer and got on the net. While surfing the internet, I came across an online trading group. It didn’t take long before I was collecting full tilt again.
I am now building sets that I would never have attempted to build before. I like the challenge of putting sets together. I enjoy getting to know traders and sending cards out to help them finish their own sets. What a feeling it is to send that last card out to complete another's set.
This is my favorite card, a 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle. I acquired the "Mick" from my brother along with the rest of his cards. I picked up Mantle's autograph at a card show. I remember standing in line for an eternity waiting to see him. I only wish I had taken a camera along to get a picture of that moment. I still remember shaking his hand while he asked, "How are you doing?" There wasn't much time for chat with all the people waiting, besides I was awestruck. It will be a day I'll never forget.
I'm not a big believer in autographs but I do have one other. My wife received VIP tickets, through work, to a home opener. This was the the first opener after the Twins won the World Series in '91. We were guests of the company and we got to sit in the company's luxury suite. This was a first class event and we were treated like royalty. We were fed, had drinks, received programs and other Twins memorabelia. But the best is yet to come.
While eating, I was watching the players warm up in batting practice. They were hitting fly balls everywhere. Some of those balls were landing awful close to us. We were located high up off of first base line. Wouldn't you know it, one ball was heading for me. I reach over the glass and caught it bare-handed. I couldn't believe it. I was instantly famous with everyone there. You know, the guy that caught the ball bare handed while we're eating thing.
No more than ten minutes had passed when Brian Harper, Twins catcher at the time, shows up to chat and sign autographs for everyone there. With ball in hand, I went over and had Mr. Harper sign it for me. Of course, I had to give him my rendition on how I acquired that ball. What a night; oh, I think the boys even won their game.