We're all finding different ways to pass this extra time -- some are productive and some are beer. For me, one project I've been long overdue in tackling at home is my old sports cards.
From about 2006 to 2014, I was about as avid a card collector as there was. I poured most of my disposable income (and at the time a little too much of the non-disposable) into my collection. Then my family and I moved in 2014, and two things changed. One, I needed to liquidate much of my collection for the down payment; two, my interests changed. Overall, the cards took a backseat, relegated to life stacked in boxes in the outer corners of the new house.
Those boxes are still there.
What I noticed in 2006 when taking up the hobby after having been a collector as a teenager is that your old stuff you were once bored with is new again. I had the same sensation last weekend. "I forgot I had this" was said more than once.
Many of us in sports media, as well as fans, are tapping into our nostalgic side during this sports drought. Cards are a great way to do that. I started searching prices of some of my better cards online and was happy to notice that most sale prices were solidly up since 2014. And to the small extent that I looked, it seems there's plenty of buying and selling going on. Disposable income is down worldwide (to say the least,) but there seems to be enough action to keep the hobby buzzing. I was glad to see it.
---
I've decided to start a "Card of the Day" feature for the website. Each day, I'll post a picture of one card from my collection, and a few words about it and/or the player featured. Hopefully sports will return long before I run through every card, because while I did sell many six years ago, I still have quantities well into the thousands.
Tuesday (April 14) is Rose's 79th birthday. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone in person who's older than Rose. But I did see him, at least once.
My mom is from southern Ohio, and we took a trip there every summer to visit my grandparents. We were en route in August 1984 when it was announced on the radio that Rose was returning to the Cincinnati Reds as player-manager, having been traded to Cincinnati by the Montreal Expos.
We went to Riverfront Stadium on August 20 and were disappointed to learn that Rose wasn't in the lineup. With the Reds down 8-5 to the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth inning and the bases loaded, Rose put himself into the game as a pinch hitter. He proceeded to fly out to the pitcher. (Is that a real play? That's what it says on Baseball-Reference.)
Photo: Mike Schopp (@Schopptalk) Happy Birthday, Pete Rose.