One question...Why I love baseball

 Normally, I ask and answer 5 questions about card collecting or I ramble about all kinds of things about baseball. Well, I just got back from vacation and haven't put together my questions or my ramblings, but I do have something! 

While on vacation I read Joe Posnanski's book Why We Love Baseball A History in 50 Moments and it got me thinking...Why do I love baseball and why do I love baseball card collecting? To be fair, Posnanski said it was 50 moments but it was really more like 110. Based on what I read he picked an arbitrary number and probably could have gone on a lot longer. Me? I'm going to try and whittle it down even more. 

I need to start with why I love baseball before I get to why I love baseball card collecting, because my love of baseball is a really big part of my love of collecting. 

There is so much about baseball to love. I love the confrontation of pitcher and hitter. Man vs Man. Well, kinda man vs man. If the hitter wins the battle against the pitcher he still has to beat the other 8 guys on the field, but still how awesome is that battle? The pitcher throwing heat, curves, splitters, changes, knucklers and every pitcher is unique, so every pitch is different. The batter? He just has a bat. It seems unfair doesn't it? Yet, 25% of the time the hitter wins out. 

How about the thrill of a no-hitter? The excitement builds and builds until that final out is made in the 9th inning. How you hold your breath when the ball is hit and then relax when the out is made. Greatness. Those moments in games where the winning run is in scoring position and the pitcher gets that third strike to win the game. If your team is up to bat, it's so deflating. If your team is pitching, how euphoric! 

Defense. Who doesn't love seeing an outfielder pull a home run back with a leaping catch against the fence or a shortstop lay out to catch a ball and fire a strike to first to get the out? How about a third baseman fielding a ball that takes them into foul territory and still make the play to get the out at first? You can't forget those throws from the outfield that nab the runners at homeplate or just the artistry of the double play. 

Can you imagine standing 60 ft. 6 in. from a guy who's throwing 90+ mph making the baseball seem so small and having only a fraction of second to decide to swing or not? That sound the bat makes when it connects solidly with the ball and then watching it travel over the fence for a home run. What's not to love about a player slapping a single to the outfield and hustling to turn it into a double or lacing a line drive to the corner and turning it into a triple?

There's so much to love about the game of baseball. For me, baseball reminds me of a time when I was a young boy and playing catch with my dad in the yard. We'd throw and talk or sometimes just throw. If I made a couple of bad throws he'd make me go chase it. My dad took me to my first professional ball game. He'd point to certain players and say "Watch him and see how he swings the bat or fields the ball. Teaching moments. Baseball moments with dad. I treasure those memories. 

Playing baseball was where I met my best friends. We started playing ball at 6 years old and played together until we were 19. After that, we switched to softball. Friends for life that started with a bunch of 6 year olds with a ball, a glove and a bat. 

I also treasure those memories of playing catch with my boys. We'd throw and talk baseball or talk about school or church. Some of the time we wouldn't even talk. All you'd hear is the pop of the glove. I was blessed to teach my boys the game of baseball. One of my fondest memories is coaching my youngest son's team with my two older boys being the base coaches. Great memories. 

I think it's pretty easy to see why I love baseball, but what about card collecting? 

My card collecting is an extension of my love for baseball. I think the biggest thing with card collecting is this is one way for me to be a part of the history of the game. I love the vintage cards, but figured out really quick that collecting those was way out of my financial means. Another problem is I'm a set collector and for those of you who are set collectors you know that you've got that yearning to have all of the cards and I can't afford that with most of the old stuff. Doesn't mean that I don't love the cards and I do have a few really good vintage cards of some of those special players. I'm also on the prowl for some more that fit my budget. 

When I got back into collecting cards I had to set some limits. I decided to limit my set collection to the Texas Rangers era going back to 1972 and forward. Those Ranger years are the years that I really fell in love with baseball. I've still got a long way to go for all of the 70's and I haven't finished all of the 80's or 90's either, but I'm having fun working on it. I love the chase, looking for the cards I need to complete the sets and I really love that feeling when you get those last cards to finish it up. I know it would be easier to just buy the sets as they come out now, but I love opening packs, sorting the cards and putting the sets together. If nothing else, my grandsons will know that their Papa did this for them and didn't just buy it. 

It's not just the sets that I collect. I also collect Topps playing day cards of my favorite players. Not all of them are superstars, but they're my favorites. When I'm able to show my cards to people I get to tell stories as to why I collect their cards or stories that I know from watching them play or stories from books that I've read. I can't wait until my grandsons are older and I can share it all with them. 

This didn't turn out quite the way I expected, but it was good to take a look back and think about why I love baseball and card collecting. I know that I didn't go too much into why I love collecting cards. It could be that I just don't know how to explain it. I do know that I do love making friends who collect. Swapping stories, sharing cards and showing off our collections. 

I did hold true to my one non-negotiable when it comes to this blog...I did post a picture of card. My boys gave me that card for Father's Day. Best, most valuable card in my collection. 

Peace,

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

Ramblings of an old collector

 I'm going to start this off with a rant...I enjoy watching my Rangers and if I can't watch the game, I really like to listen to the game on the radio. When I was kid, I couldn't wait until the morning to get the paper and read about the game. Real information of what happened in the game. Now, it's like we all get to hear is everyone's opinion instead of what actually happened in the game.

Today, is there anything worse than a guy who's never played before, or if they played it hasn't been since they were a kid and they are offering a negative opinion about a player or team after 1/3 or less of the season already writing the team or player off? Evan Carter for example. The so called experts say that he can't hit lefties. As of today, he's had a total of 87 at bats against left-handed pitchers in the majors. Yes, there is no doubt he has struggled getting hits against lefties. He has .071 average. Definitely not a good start, but he's also only 23 years old(24 in August). All it takes is one hot streak and he's right back on it. I heard a commentator say that his at bats aren't even competitive. So, what are you saying? He just goes up there and doesn't even try? I have you watched the games? Evan Carter competes. You can't be an elite defender if you aren't going to compete. Give the kid a break. Let him learn and if you've watched the Rangers and Evan Carter at all, I gotta believe he's going to figure it out. 

On to the ramblings...

* I've seen that the MLBPA and MLB have finally thrown out their respective offers for the CBA. Once again, they are no where near each other. Hopefully, both sides will see that baseball is in a really good spot and they won't mess it up with a strike or lockout. Compromise people! 

* Huge shout out to Johnny's Trading Spot! Thank you so much for the all of the Ranger cards. I'm going to have to start going through all of my Pudge cards and put them on TCDB. 

* I've been blessed to be able to watch my two oldest grandsons play ball this year. One is still in T-Ball and the other is in a modified coach pitch league. Let me just say, both of my grandsons can play some ball. My oldest son helps coach one of the team and has a really good grasp on the fact that these kids are just 5 and 6 years old. He does a great job of teaching the kids the fundamentals of the game and playing the game the right way. The thing that is absolutely crazy is the adults. I am amazed how ridiculous some of the adults act at these games. It's embarassing. I understand that society is all about winning and there are a bunch who believe that you win at all costs, but 5 and 6 year olds? Really? I'm a proud Papa on how my kids act at my grandsons games.

* Picked up some cards off of Ebay recently.

When there is no time to sit down and work with your card collection, there's always Ebay. That's where I picked up these three cards for my players collection.

* Well, I did it. Dove right into Heritage again. I must be nuts.

I really like the design. There's no doubt that its going to take a lifetime for me to complete it. 

* I'm ready for Series 2 to come out. I check Walmart, Target and Best Buy all the time looking for Series 1 and Heritage and haven't seen a box in a really long time. I know, its not the smart money thing to do ripping packs, but its fun! Plus, I need 4 of each card for my set and my grandsons sets. Ripping packs is just a fun way to do it. Yes, I still have lots of extra cards, but I trade them and sometimes give them away. 

That's it for this rambling! If you haven't replied to my last 5 Questions, go check it out and leave your answers. 

Peace,

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

5 Questions for collectors Part 4

 

I'm a people person. I love talking to people and learning their stories. My wife tells people all the time that I am the type of person who could talk to a wall and get it to talk back. That's probably the reason I really like these 5 questions. I love learning about people, especially those that I have a common interest with like card collecting. If these are interesting to you and you haven't read the previous 5 Questions, you can find them here Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. If you haven't answered them, its' not too late!

I need to come up with a different name for this post. I don't like Part 1, Part 2, etc... Gotta work on that one. 

On to the questions! 

 Question: Do you have a “rule” for your collection that you never break or almost never break?

When I first started collecting, I wanted everything baseball; Topps, Fleer, Donruss, etc... Needless to say that's not really an option. When I decided to really get back into the hobby I had to make a some "rules".  Now, some rules are made to be broken, but for the most part I've stayed the course with these.

 First, baseball only. I really enjoy seeing guys post about their card collections of birds, pirates, presidents, etc... but I had to draw the line somewhere. I'm a Cowboys fan and I've thought long and hard about collecting Cowboys, same with the Mavericks and Stars, but it would just be too much. 

Second, I decided Topps sets only. I have varied a little bit on that one. I have started Heritage sets and Stadium Club, but that's not an every year thing. Technically, they are Topps sets, but not what I was going to do. `I will also pick up Panini and other company cards for my player collections, but I'm not opening any of those cards. 

Third, because I'm a set collector, I decided that I need to put a limit on what sets, so I went with 1972 to present. Why '72? That's the first year of my Rangers. I'm focusing on about 2 or 3 years at a time of those vintage sets that I don't have. Right now, it's '75 and '78. I have picked up a couple of '79 lots and it will be my next set to work on once I've finished one of the others while putting together sets of the new stuff. 

Question: What’s your favorite way to spend time with your collection?

This is a tough question for me. I enjoy almost all aspects of working on my collection. Right now, I'd just enjoy spending any time working on my collection. The two most annoying things of working with my collection would be documenting it and listing cards to sell on buysportscards.com. I think my favorite is sorting cards and hunting cards that I need to complete the sets. I really need to start spending more time looking through my cards and appreciating what I already have. 

Question: If you could build your perfect product or set, what would it look like?

660 card set. White borders (I can't stand it when the dark borders flake and show white). There will be no posed shots of the players. Everything will be action shots or candid shots. There will be All-Star cards and league leader cards with the top 3 leaders on it for NL and AL. I don't mind parallels but I sure don't want 17! Let's say 4. I do like inserts but I'm not a huge fan of something like the Stars of MLB where there is a million of them. 5 or 6 different inserts works for me. I'm fine with  relics and autographs too. Numbered parallels? Okay, I guess, but no crazy 1 of 1's. I got ChatGpt to make me a card...I like it, but I'm not the most creative person either. I would like this set, but I don't know that I would love it.

It gave me an Aaron Judge card with the exact same pose. I asked for another player and it random generated someone who was not who I was asking for. I think I could have some fun playing with AI, but it does scare me a little bit with how much people are beginning to use and rely on it. 

Question: Do you prefer collecting active players or retired players? Why?

Both! For my player collections, it's definitely both. I probably spend more time and energy doing the active players, but I've found myself starting new playing days collections of players that I really liked who may not be that famous, but I always enjoyed watching them play. 

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When I went to Ranger games I used to hate it when Elvis wasn't playing. To be honest the only cards of his that I collected were for sets. I'm not sure why I did that, but I decided that I needed his playing days cards. Same thing for Jim Abbott. How could anyone not appreciate all he that he accomplished with what he had to deal with? He's another one that I'm working on. I guess to answer the question, it's definitely both.

Question: Do you think you will ever think that your collection is “complete,” or will it ever be?

I'm 100% sure that my collection will never be complete. The second that I complete all the Topps sets from 1972 to present, I'll start working on an older set. I'm always adding players to my player collections too. Plus, every year there's a new set to collect with my grandsons. 

That's my answers to the 5 questions...What's your answers?

Peace,

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

Ramblings of an old card collector

I finally got back to the Dallas Card Show. The DCS is over 700 tables of cards, autos and memorabilia. I arrived at about 11:00 am on Saturday and there was no where to park. Both parking garages were full. There were cars everywhere looking for a place to park. I eventually found a spot across the street and down the block at a grocery store. Everyone I saw getting out of their cars were heading to the show. I've been to this show many times and I've never seen it this crowded. Once I got in it was nuts! There is the main room a satellite room and about 4 side rooms. Every room was 2 or 3 people deep at every table. You could hardly navigate the floor. If anyone thinks the hobby is struggling hasn't been to the Dallas Card Show. 

This was taken about 3 hours later, right before I left. The middle of the picture depicts how it really was...wall to wall people. Despite all of the people, it was fun to get back and see some friends. 

On to the ramblings!

* My Rangers are not hitting. Same problem that they had last year. As a fan, it's frustrating, as a coach and former player, I understand. Hitting a round ball coming at you with crazy movement and speed with a round bat is, without a doubt, the hardest thing in sports to do. I remember when I was playing ball. When you're in a slump, the baseball looks like it's moving a 100 mph and dipping and diving and is the size of a BB. When you're on a hot streak, the ball just floats to the plate and is the size of a beach ball. I'm ready for the Rangers to start seeing beach balls. 

* I went to DCS with the plan to find myself a real Mickey Mantle card and a rookie Mike Trout. I wasn't sure which Mickey Mantle card I was looking for, but I knew I wanted one that wasn't graded. Quite a hard task when you don't know what you want. I finally decided on the 1960 Topps Mickey Mantle. I found 3 or 4 of them, but didn't pull the trigger on them. Only one dealer was willing to negotiate but he was so overpriced there was no way to make a deal. 

* I didn't leave the show empty-handed. I worked a really good deal on this Evan Carter auto-patch card.

The dealer had it in his display case and when I asked about it, he said he just wanted it gone. I was happy to oblige. 

* My desk, where I do baseball cards, is a total mess. I've got to re-organize everything. I've got stacks of cards that need to be sorted, logged into TCDB, or just put away. On top of all that is the mail, stacks of papers that need to be gone through...I'm glad school is almost out so I can get some things done.

* Another pick-up at the Dallas Card Show was the Ripken rookie.

Here's the thing on the Ripken rookie...I already have one, but I can't find it. Back a long, long time ago when I was pretty broke, I went and pulled all of my cards that were worth anything with the intent to sell them. Well, I never sold them, but I haven't a clue where I put them. The Ripken rookie was one of those cards. Eventually, I'll find it and have one for sell or trade, but for now, I have this one for my set. This gets me down to about 5 cards to finish the set. 

* The other card I was searching for at the Dallas Card Show was the Trout rookie. I walked all over that show. I'm sure I didn't see all of the tables, but I saw most of them and only saw one rookie Trout. It was graded and was a 9.5. Needless to say, it was out of my range...plus, I don't wanted a graded one anyway.

* After I get my desk re-organized, I have about 1000 cards to list on buysportscards.com. I struggle with deciding to list to sell or put them on TCDB for trade. There are times that I think if they were on TCDB I'd have alot more trades happening. I know if I list to sell, eventually, I'll get some money to put into buying cards that I want or need. 

* My team finished our season 18-10-1. We struggled at the beginning of the year, but played really well in district. We finished 2nd in district, losing only to the 1st place team. We swept our biggest rival for the first time and made the playoffs for the 4th consecutive year. We didn't fare too well in the playoffs and lost 2 games to 1 in the first round. All in all, it was a good year. Still feel like we should have won in the playoffs and go to the 2nd round, but as one of my players said,"The baseball gods weren't looking down on us this year." Now, I just have to get through the next two weeks to get to summer.

That's all the ramblings for now.

Peace,

Michael

Isaiah 40:31 
 

For the love of the game...

 I started playing baseball when I was 5 years old. There was a church league way back then and my church had several teams in all different age groups. The pastor of our church asked my dad to coach a team and that's when my love of baseball began. I wasn't old enough to actually play, but my dad let me practice with the team and I was the batboy. We wore those old gray wool uniforms with green trim, the church acronym across the front in green letters and green and white stirrup socks with a green ball cap. My first uniform and back then it was awesome. 

I found out later in life that my dad had never played baseball and really didn't know that much about the game. When he agreed to coach the team, he went out and bought a couple of books on how to play the game, read them and brought what he had learned to teach the team.  

Dad always brought a bag of bubble gum to every practice and game. I remember one time, a kid came running off the field after the third out in an inning of a game smiling and telling everyone that he had blown his first bubble! 

Baseball shaped some of the most important parts of my life. First, I got to spend a lot of quality time with my dad. Even if it wasn't practices and games, it was playing catch when he came home from work. There was many a time when I would be sitting on the front step with gloves and a ball waiting for him to pull in the driveway. There were a lot of times when he wouldn't even change clothes and just start tossing the ball with me. 

Second, I made life-long friends from those teams. We played ball together for 13+ years. We grew up together. It didn't matter that we all went to different high schools, we still hung out together all the time. The stories we have about playing baseball or going to Ranger games are endless. We were in each other's weddings and still talk today. Best friends for life.

Third, I developed a love of baseball. When I was young, it was just the opportunity to play. Catch with my dad, practices, games, neighborhood games and playing a our own version of grounders and flyballs-just play. It moved from there to listening to Ranger games on the radio and catching a rare game on TV. Saturday mornings were reserved for watching "This Week in Baseball". I started reading about the game in newspapers, magazines and anytime I had to read for school it was a book about baseball. Baseball cards were just a natural extension for my love of the game. I'm not sure why it took until my high school years to find baseball cards, but it did.  

I've been blessed to share my love of baseball with my family. All three of my boys love baseball. My daughter too. Baseball was something that we got to do together. I coached all three of my boys as they grew up. Went to and watched so many Ranger games that I can't even begin to count. Now, none of my kids got into baseball cards, but two of my sons coach high school baseball. When my daughter got engaged, she took her non-baseball fan fiance to a Ranger game. At that game, she caught an opposing team's home run ball and threw it back! My wife was not a baseball fan when we first met, but with me taking her to Ranger games, watching it on TV all the time and most importantly, watching her boys play, she became a fan too. Now, I get to share that love of the game with my grandsons. I'm blessed to watch them play T-Ball and coach pitch and I've gotten them into card collecting... a little bit. They're still pretty young so it's a little too much right now, but they are beginning to enjoy it. I get pictures from my kids of my grandsons sitting in the floor surrounded by cards. 

I guess to wrap this up, baseball has been and continues to be an important part of my life. (I didn't even mention that I get to do baseball for a living too!) 

This started out as an intro to my ramblings post, but turned into something entirely different. I can't post this without at least a couple of pics of baseball cards. These are just some of the cards I've picked up recently.

These are all for my players collection.

   

These are all for my subset builds. 

This gets me down to 3 cards for the '24 City to City subset and the others I've really just started and don't have a clue how many more I need. I need to spend some time updating my lists.

That's all for this post. Hope you didn't get too bored with my piece on the love of the game.

Peace, 

Michael 

Isaiah 40:31

Ramblings of an old card collector

 

Life is so busy right now. Coaching, kids, grandkids...It never seems to stop. This busy life makes it difficult to work on my collection or write this blog. Especially, write this blog. It's probably pretty obvious by the lack of posts that I've made this year. It's not what I envisioned, but its reality. I really wanted to grow this blog, but I realize that blogging is not a growing thing anymore. I think about doing a vlog, but to be honest, I think that would entail even more time that I don't have. 

Growing the blog is not really about me having a space to share my opinions, but more about building relationships with fellow collectors. It's worked a little. I just wish there was more. 

On the ramblings! 

* I really thought I'd put this in my next 5 questions post (Yes, there will be another one!), but don't want to wait. I keep seeing posts, comments and honestly, actions that say set collecting is waning or coming to an end. For those of us that are in the blogging world set collectors were the norm. Now, it sounds like people are bailing on it. I still love it. What am I missing? Why is set building becoming such a drain to collectors?

* I finally finished all of the '24 Topps sets. Now comes the fun of putting them in binders and getting the sets to my grandsons. 

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I still like the design, but not as much as I did when it first came out. 

* As a head baseball coach, I've seen a lot of baseball this year already. We've been going strong since mid-January, but I'm really enjoying the MLB right now. Looking forward to going to a few Ranger games this year. 

* The ABS is in full swing and I'm still not sure where I stand with it. There are times I really like it and of course, there are times that I don't. I am a big fan of the human element. There's already so much technology in our lives that just the human interaction is a positive. I do think overall it will end up being a good thing. I still don't like the 2 pick-off attempts rule. 

* I had pretty much decided that I was done with Heritage. The SPs are just too much of a pain, the cost on top of collecting the set and the time. Plus, I haven't finished the other two sets that I started. The thing is I started seeing some of the cards and I really like them. I think I'm about to dive in again. I must be crazy!

* Speaking of sets, I've made the decision to stay out of Stadium Club. I did '23 and '24 because I was bored, but I still haven't finished them either. I really like the cards. I think the pics on them are some of the best. I'll still pick up the individual players I collect, but no set building or opening packs for me. For now. I'm too wishy-washy say I'll stay away forever. 

* I sell on buysportscards.com and have done pretty well over there. Most of what I'm selling are .25 to $1.00 cards. Most of the cards I list there are inserts that I don't want or need. I will throw it out there if you happen to shop there and run across something that I've listed, reach out and maybe we can trade or work some other deal. 

I think that's a wrap! 

Peace,

Michael

Isaiah 40:31

5 Questions for Collectors Part 3

 

There aren't a lot of card collectors in my circle. There's one guy I get to talk to on a regular basis and I really enjoy it, but that's it. Back in the day (boy, do I sound old!), hanging out in the LCS and talking baseball and cards was the best. When I get to visit card stores now, it's just not the case anymore. 

That's what makes the blogging world so awesome. I get to see things others are collecting, share what I'm collecting and get to know others who have the same kind of passion that I do. One way that has helped me are my previous "5 Questions for collectors" Part 1 and Part 2. People take the time to answer questions and we are able to build card collecting friendships! If you've answered those previous questions, I've got 5 more for you...if you haven't, click on the links and give it go! Answering the previous questions isn't a prerequisite for these!

1. Do you stop collecting a player when they leave your favorite team?

There have been players that have left my Rangers that I basically quit on. I think maybe it's how they left the team. For instance, when Ian Kinsler left, he didn't leave on good terms in my opinion. He's consulting now with the team, but I pretty much quit on him when it came to my collection. You could probably put Josh Hamilton in there too, but I think I quit on him for all of the off the field antics. 

That being said, I'm still collecting Marcus Semien, Pudge Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez...all players who left the Rangers (Pudge did come back). As a matter of fact, here's 3 cards I got this week.

2. Have you ever thrown a card/cards away?

Don't judge me but, I'm sorry to say that I have actually thrown cards away. Let me preface that with they were newer cards and they were pretty jacked up. They were commons with major creases, I mean they looked really bad. I haven't and I can't imagine there being a vintage card that I would toss. Heck, half of the appeal of a vintage card is that it looks vintage!

3. How has your collecting changed since you've started collecting?

When I first started collecting it was about sets. Topps, Donruss, Fleer, etc...complete the set. I still collect sets. I don't buy completed ones, I open packs to get the majority of the set and then trade or pick up the ones I need to finish. I have added player collections. I've got a handful of players that I will pick up any of their cards. I also collect Topps playing days cards of certain players. The majority of these are newer players which makes it pretty easy to do, but I'm starting to branch out into older players. I've also added few subsets of insert cards that I try to get. It changes from year to year, but I do chase one or two for each release.

4. What's one tip that you would give a new collector?

I know this sounds cliche, but collect what makes you happy. Don't try to get everything, because there's just too much out there to chase. If you get too caught up in the chase or chase dollar signs I think you'll burn out or get frustrated and get out. Remember, its a hobby and is supposed to be fun!

5. What's one trend in the hobby that you don't like right now?

There is a growing trend that base cards are worthless and the only thing that matters are the parallels or inserts. It literally breaks my heart to watch people bust open a pack of cards, pull the inserts and leave the base cards on the counter at the LCS or to hear people say they toss them in the trash or burn them. If all you want are inserts and numbered cards, there are products out there for you. Quit wasting the other cards, there are those who want to collect them. 

I guess that's it for now. I hope you take the time to answer questions. I'm all about making friends, talking cards and trading cards.

Peace,

Michael

Isaiah 40:31