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Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away
Hey, hey, hey
-Simon & Garfunkel-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C2v...gu2I8&index=12
That card.
We all have that card, you know the one that was just out of reach when you were a kid building up your collection. A Saturday trip to the local card shop to behold what new treasures had arrived from unknown ports of call. As you entered, your eye immediately went to the sealed glass case, elevated a little higher than all the surrounding cases and lit up like a Ministers pulpit on a sunny Sunday morning that contained “the fancy stuff”. The Crown Jewels within that case contained the same cards we fight over today at elevated prices, Cracker Jacks, Goudeys, 52 Topps, 51 Bowman, Cobbs, Mantles, Ruths, Gehrigs etc. and in my particular case the 1941 Play Ball Joe Dimaggio.
You see, those other cards might as well have been the Gutenberg Bible or an original Declaration of Independence with the meager budget I had to work with but that 41 Dimaggio seemed within reach, but just.
Except every time I went into that shop armed with my hard earned war chest to make an offer the price seemed to have gone up just a little higher. “Sorry Kid, I’m gonna need a little more for that card,
"It's Iconic you know".
Ya, ya I know…
So I came to terms with not acquiring Joltin’ Joe for my collection much like that cheerleader that would never go out with me after repeated failed attempts to convince her otherwise. Eh, who needs ya’, the damn card is always off center, the color can be anywhere between purple and the color of my then burgundy corduroy pants and the registration crew seems to have taken lunch early when the 41 Play Ball card #71 was being printed. Besides, who needs an East Coaster any way, we have the great Willie Mays out here, (although I always found it ironic that Joe was a New York transplant from San Francisco and Willie was a San Francisco transplant from New York). But I’ll be damned if I didn’t see that card on every card collecting publication, card show flyer, card shop golden case, ad nauseum. An image following me around, haunting me like a dark shadow slowly whispering into my ear
"It's Iconic you know".
Ya, ya, I know…
After I got back into collecting and built my list of 300 I pondered whether I even wanted the Yankee Clipper on that list what with our history and all, but decided eh, what the hell. I set a budget for that card and looked for a decent example in my price range. A feeling immediately came over me, a lot like returning to an abusive relationship. All the available examples seemed just out of reach of the budget I set, the condition of the examples in my budget range were horrible, and of course there were a couple of zeros added to current pricing just to twist the knife a little bit. I just laughed and figured I was never meant to have that card, but out of sheer stubbornness I kept him on my list and would not budge off my price or condition requirements, after all
"It's Iconic you know".
Ya, ya, I know…
So a few months back as I was on a late night sniping mission in Shillsville (pwcc) looking to add to my Goudey checklist and getting shot down on multiple cards, out of the corner of my eye up pops Mr. Coffee 1941 hisself. “Hello Joe…” said with begrudging respect one reserves for a former enemy or a certain postal worker on
Seinfeld.
Looked at the time: ending in 9 minutes 37 seconds,
the current bid: which was exactly at my long-held budget limit, and
the condition: a decently centered VG 4, good color and registration, nothing fancy just a nice working man’s example. So, I went above my allotted budget by $100 simply out of spite and placed a bid assuming the pwcc minions would run it well past my bid.
Except, that didn’t happen, not one single solitary bid in the next 9 minutes, nothing. Just like Old Lodge Skins walking unseen through the ranks of the Seventh Calvary in the movie Little Big Man. Turmoil all around but not one single additional bid on that card. Then it was over, I won. A victory tantamount to sitting at the dinner table and hearing my big brother say “go ahead, you can have the big piece of chicken”. Things like that just didn’t happen. But it did.
I guess it was finally time for Joe and I to make up after all these years and even though it cost me $100 premium over my budget I felt a peaceful, serene, sense of closure regarding that particular card. After all,
"It's Iconic you know"...
Welcome Home Joe, its been a long time.
Wishing Leon and all the net54 members a Happy & Prosperous New Year, quite an amazing group of collectors in this place.
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