I didn't play baseball. I am, in point of fact, not coordinated.
Every year baseball would come around and it seemed like everyone
else was playing I even went to a couple of games to watch my
friends. Beyond my ineptitude, I had the little problem of my parents
never wanting to sign me up for something that may require a little
of their time. Every time I would ask to play a sport or some other
extra curricular activity my dad had a little set speech about who
was going to pay for it and how was I going to get rides to and from
practices and games and that we didn't need to put a burden on the
whole family just so I could play a game. That went on until I was
old enough to just ignore him and make my own plans. By that time I
had no interest in baseball so America's pass time was past time.
Notwithstanding the fact that I never played baseball, and I still to
this day have only been to one baseball game from beginning to end, I
collected baseball cards. There was a bug going around the boys in
the school when I was in third grade and we were all going to make it
rich buying, sorting, and reselling baseball cards. I had no idea who
played or what was a good or bad card but everyone was doing it so I
would have been a fool to let this once in a lifetime investment
opportunity pass me by. Every week when I got my allowance I would
pop into Mendenhall's market and make a purchase of some Tops
baseball cards. I would enjoy a little stale gum while I sifted
through some enigmatic faces and statistics. I began to pick up some
names from classmates so that I could fake some knowledge. Right now
I only remember Nolan Ryan, Kirby Puckett, Darrel Strawberry, and
Mark McGwire, but I am fairly sure more than those four were playing
professional baseball at the time. Someone would bring a book to
school that listed all the prices for different types of cards and we
would all crowd around talking about baseball cards and how much
money each of our collections was worth and what it would be worth. I
loved the idea that every day I had the chance to open up a pack of
cards that would have some rare and valuable card that was worth a
thousand dollars and I could buy a car if I wanted. Unfortunately, I
never hit pay dirt and and just had a shoebox with some cards with
pictures of men I had never seen play a game I didn't really
understand. It was a small price to pay to feel like I was one of the
guys and to have something in common.
