Why I Collect Baseball Cards
I was 7 years old in the fall of 1967, and my first memory of baseball was the Cardinals beating the BoSox and Carl Yaz in the Series. I saw on TV (in black and white) the Cards celebrate their victory. That was the day I became a baseball fan.
I was a Cards fan in 1968 and also started buying Topps baseball cards. One Wednesday evening, while being an altar boy at a novena prayer service, my older brother, Rick, pulled the "Lonborg wins again" card (#155) out of a wax pack. Wow, what a great card! Even though I was a Cards fan, I loved the action picture, the TV set frame, Lonborg's knee up to his elbow and shoulder in his mouth. I remember days during summer vacation, opening packs on the steps of the corner grocery store and looking for Cardinals, especially Gibson and Cepeda (as a lefthander I liked to play first base). Late in the summer of 1968 the higher series cards became available and I remember my brother getting the "Managers Dream" card (Oliva, Cardenas and Bob Clemente #480). Another great card! And then someone else got "Super Stars" (#490, Killer, Mays and Mick). And then, my brother, then and always an O's fan, got #530 "Bird Belters", one of his favorite cards. And things have never been the same for me.
Some 40 years later, after on again-off again collecting (I have the whole 1975 Topps BB set, every card from a wax pack or a trade in 1975 and the 2000 set from foil packs), I decided to go after the cards I truly want. After years of switching favorite teams as the NL winners changed - Cards, Mets, Pirates, Reds, and because I could not like the same team as my older brother (sibling rivalry and all), I checked out from my high school library Earl Weaver's book to read during my high school biology class. Since then I've been an O's fan, especially Cal Ripken, Jr. I went to his Hall induction in Cooperstown. My collecting dream is to have every O's card. I've made good progress, so I have expanded my focus - see my "Want Lists" page.
My email address is randykscards@yahoo.com Send me your want lists and I'd be happy to see if I can hit it for you!
I am a member of the Internet trading groups Vintage Card Traders (VCT) and Old Baseball Cards (OBC). The VCT website is at http://www.vintagecardtraders.net The OBC website is at https://oldbaseball.com I am also a member of several Facebook baseball card groups.