Nastalgia

In the summer of 1991, I accompanied my parents on a business trip, to south Texas. Dying of boredom, and having a small amount of cash in my pocket, I sought some form of entertainment in the corner store down stares. I had no idea what I was looking for and I can’t even remember the thought process that preceded my purchase, but it was here that I bought my first packs of baseball cards. I had never followed baseball, so I only knew a handful of Texas Ranger players. Among the packs I opened was the great Nolan Ryan, so I was sure I had something of value. When we returned to Dallas, my dad and I made our way to the local Card Shop to find out what else I might have. The cards were 1991 Leaf packs, and along with a handful of cards worth $.50 a piece, I landed a Frank Thomas 2nd year card that was valued at $8. I was hooked.

When I turned 16, I got a job at Salerno Italian restaurant as a bus boy, and the money I made went straight to the Card Shop. I became a student of the wax pack memorabilia, and became a fan of the sport. I spent countless hours on my bedroom floor with thousands of cards, boxes and plastic binder inserts to maintain and evaluate the value of my cards. My friends and I spent the night at each others’ houses on the weekends with cards in tow to make the best trades for the cards we felt would increase in value. I have rookie cards for Ken Griffey Jr., Jose Conseco, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and more. I had my eyes set on a Cal Ripken Jr. Topps Rookie Card, then worth $80. To date, I still don’t have one, and it was the one card that I always wanted in my collection.

After graduating high school, my passion for collecting cards waned and my love for eating and having electricity kicked in. Over the years since, I have splurged from time to time and bought a box of cards to enjoy, but I really haven’t purchased any in the past 5 or more years. I playfully refer to my childhood collection as the “Juiced Collection” seeing as how nearly all of my boyhood heroes were on steroids.

This Christmas I decided to ask for baseball cards, and my wife was gracious to get me some. I felt like a kid again sitting on my sons “soft spot” on top of our hard wood floors. I landed a couple of cards above the $10 range and a fistful worth between $1-5. What a thrill. I have a bit more than 20,000 cards, which to some is not very many. My plan since high school is to one day open a card shop of my own and sell all of my cards. I have a feeling that it might look different from what I once envisioned.

I’d like to thank my mom and mom-in-law for not throwing away my cards.