Tis the season when we brush off the winter debris and dream of humid summer with its chlorine and burning charcoal scents wafting through the air. This dream is triggered by the smack of the ball connecting with the glove in the annual rite of passage, Opening Day. Like most things in sport, opening day has been somewaht commercialized with pre-opening day games such as last night's ALCS rematch. There was also the opening day game in Japan last year, which must have made Moe Berg roll over in his grave. Those blights aside, TKID4 still gets excited over the prospects of warm afternoons on his rooftop listening to games on his radio, sipping a cold domestic and thinking of boobies touched in the past.
TKID4 also remembers the days of his youth when spring meant trips down the local 7-11 to purchase packs of Topps baseball cards. This annual event occurred in late March-early April as Topps cards made their way down south through the ante-bellum supply chain of the 80's.
Beginning in 1985, the quest to complete all 792 cards of the Topps set was a perilous one. Packs were scarce. Doubles and triples were common place. One may have to purchase two or three boxes totaling over 1500 cards to make a set. TKID4 chased Atlanta Braves cards, as well as some key stars including certain future HOF's including Dwight Gooden, Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry. Cal Ripkid's streak was only a few years old, Pete Rose was still playing and gambling, and times were good. Pulling a Dale Murphy made my week!!
Today baseball has changed. It has become over-commercialized and now caters to America's infatuation with wealth accumulation and status. Sadly, baseball card collecting has not been spared in this movement.
In 1986, a pack of cards cost 35 cents. It contained 15 cards and a stick of gum. On TKID4's budget, that meant 3 to 6 packs of cards at a time, which provided hours of entertainment. Fast forward to today. The average pack of cards is now $3 for 7 cards. Today's consumer is much more sophisticated. They demand quality and more importantly return on investment. The baseball card craze of the 80's which drove many collectors to invest their children's college funds in cards, fuels today's hobbyists who are wholly unsatisfied with bland cards on cardboard stock. The market has responded by producing cards which feature player autographs, pieces of jerseys, balls, and cards numbered to 10 or 100, rather than the generic 1,000,000 cards Topps produced from the 50's to 90's. The other day I saw a 10 year old at a baseball card show pull a card out of a pack that featured a piece of Jackie Robinson's 1952 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. As I saw his excitement I wondered, what sicko would cut up that jersey. It would be like the Smithsonian cutting up pieces of Old Glory and selling them in the souvenir shop. BTW, the pack he pulled the card from came one to a box and sold for $125.
TKID still collects cards. He prefers to buy wax packs from the 1980's. They can be had for pretty cheap. Just don't try the gum.
