A Note of Appreciation

Yesterday I did the unthinkable: I gave away some of my cards. My Dad had been through town last weekend and took a few boxes of cards with him back up to Boston. I found more cards I no longer wanted to be reminded of as soon as he left, but instead of keep them in the closet, I put them in a big ziplock bag, wrote FREE! on the side in sharpie and put them down in my apartment building’s mailroom. When I went back down there this morning the bag was gone, so it’s good to know that although that bag was full of Kevin Duckworth doubles and 1980 commons, there’s someone out there who appreciates the hunt.

That said, my experience has put me in a sharing mood. That’s why I’ve decided to share one thing I love about collecting, baseball or baseball cards every day until I run out of things to talk about. I’m starting today with

Appreciation: Joe Morgan’s 1981 Topps Traded card #807

There are a few reasons I love this card: 1) it’s cheap, 2) it’s his first card in a West Coast uniform and 3), he’s obviously not as spry as he once was (but he’s trying very hard to look it). It’s Morgan’s face fat (and gut fat) that give it away, but he’s not helped by the pose. If anything, they should’ve had him at the plate, or barring that, sitting in the dugout or something that doesn’t call attention to the fact that he was nearly 40 years old when they took this photo. Also, another reason I love this card is because Topps thought it was worthy enough to be included in one of its Chrome sets. It’s like preserving Fat Elvis over Skinny Elvis.