Kid Stuff: Baseball Cards
Photo courtesy of Flickr, taken by Sports Card Radio
Don’t pay any attention to all those bandwagon jumpers who decided in the mid-80s that baseball cards were the investment of the future. Real baseball cards have a historic and visceral appeal that transcends dollar values.
Not that it isn’t fun from time to time to pull out the 1958 Al Kaline card and ponder its value. But I honestly get more of a thrill just looking at Al’s mug against that bright red background than I could ever get by selling it. I remember the smell of the gum that Topps inserted in each pack. And how it was often stale, and broke into pieces when you tried to chew it.
Baseball cards are a small part of what makes America special. Kids today look for rookies, embossing, and swatches from game-worn uniforms. But you can’t beat the old cards. They were from a simpler time. A sweeter time.
“Mug” is a good word to describe Al’s visage on that card. And I find it amusing that the first automatically generated related post is “Baseball cards can be good investments.”
I love my cards and I could never sell them. Don’t really own a huge amount, perhaps around 1,000 from the 70’s-00’s. Most of the early ones I handled much and they have wrinkles and jagged edges. They are loved.
My son is 14 and plays high school baseball as a Freshman. He will get them eventually when I am ready to let them go. 🙂