Do you collect players you don't like?

[scmavl]

While I'm sure most of us have never met most of the players we collect, we all have opinions formed by the media or otherwise. Will you collect players you don't like? As in spending big bucks on high graded or rookie cards, especially.

From Cobb to DiMaggio to Rose to Bonds, we've always been given reasons to dislike players. What say you?

And since Leon always says every thread needs a card, here is my favorite nice guy to collect.

[ALR-bishop]

As a set collector I take everybody in the set. I even wish I had the 58 Ed Bouche card

[scmavl]

That's true Al, I guess this doesn't apply to set collectors. More geared towards the unfocused collectors like myself.

But I just read up on Ed Bouchee. Yikes.

[Kutcher55]

Well I wouldn't want to own an OJ simpson card, but I wouldn't judge a person who feels differently.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Kutcher55

Well I wouldn't want to own an OJ simpson card, but I wouldn't judge a person who feels differently.

I'm the same. Nor will I ever care to own any Hitler cards, ever, but each to their own.

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by scmavl

While I'm sure most of us have never met most of the players we collect, we all have opinions formed by the media or otherwise. Will you collect players you don't like? As in spending big bucks on high graded or rookie cards, especially.

From Cobb to DiMaggio to Rose to Bonds, we've always been given reasons to dislike players. What say you?

And since Leon always says every thread needs a card, here is my favorite nice guy to collect.

It’s been well documented that Kevin Pasley kicks puppies.

[scmavl]

Originally Posted by ASF123

It’s been well documented that Kevin Pasley kicks puppies.

It's true. Look at those dead eyes.

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

As a set collector I take everybody in the set. I even wish I had the 58 Ed Bouche card

I'm well aware of that situation having read about Mr Ed before...and his missing card in my 58 set really threatened to mess up the binder. I simply put a double there so I could keep everything straight. I figured if there was a 58 Bouchee out there Al you would have it!

Also a set collector here...I have more bias towards spending big money on a checklist or a team card rather an unpopular player. I gotta have em all...

[ALR-bishop]

Closest I came

[commishbob]

The black version above is one of two Bouchee cards done by the late Bob Lemke. I have that one in my binder, the open slot would have buuged me. Bob did a yeallow one as well. I don't like it as much, maybe because there are already so many yellow cards in the '58 set.

58 bouchee f yellow.jpg

To answer the OP...no, I don't collect cards of players I dislike although over the years I've mellowed on stuff like that. I'm not a passionate in my rooting interests as I was when I was younger.

As mentioned, I will add every card to a set I'm collecting. I have football sets with OJ in them, etc.

[Seven]

Since I mostly collect vintage, and the era's I'm primarily focused in are from years before I was born, I thankfully don't encounter this problem very often, if ever.

I will say though, I'd have a tough time spending significant money on something like a Cap Anson card. I do think his Goodwin Champions card is a beautiful card, but considering how deplorable of a person he was, mainly do to his refusal to play with or against black baseball players, I can't see myself ever owning it.

[Harliduck]

Thanks Al and Bob...I went on Ebay to see if either of those are available and did find the yellow example and just bought it...can take out the double. I also prefer the black one but didn't see any. I also found this one and purchased it as well, see what one looks better in hand -






I can tell you I'm glad I have been done with my late 70's sets long ago...and re-bought them whole as my childhood sets were a bit...loved. I say that because I would never, and will never buy an Eddie Murray card as a single. As a 9 year old kid attending a Ms vs Orioles game I had an encounter with him...he was a total prick to me and others. No thanks. Glad most of his rookie cards are OC! haha...

[packs]

I've avoided Tris Speaker cards for this reason. I really love the Cracker Jack too but I just can't bring myself to buy one.

[JollyElm]

There are different levels of hatred. Since I can't see myself paying the ridiculous prices required to pick up certain 1966 and 1967 high numbers in nice shape, it makes me greatly abhor those players, even if they were fine, upstanding citizens. Sort of 'vicious circle logic.'

The beauty of being a set collector is you can grab a hated player's card you need and then just tuck him away in the proper pocket inside of your binder and POOF!! never think about him again.

[Frankish]

I'm glad this question never occurred to me when I was focused on building sets. Now, I guess I have little reason to chase cards of players I don't like.

To the converse, though, I definitely purchase way too many cards of players I admire, even if I don't really have anything planned for them in my collection....

Originally Posted by Harliduck

I can tell you I'm glad I have been done with my late 70's sets long ago...and re-bought them whole as my childhood sets were a bit...loved. I say that because I would never, and will never buy an Eddie Murray card as a single. As a 9 year old kid attending a Ms vs Orioles game I had an encounter with him...he was a total prick to me and others. No thanks. Glad most of his rookie cards are OC! haha...

Love this!

[ASF123]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

There are different levels of hatred. Since I can't see myself paying the ridiculous prices required to pick up certain 1966 and 1967 high numbers in nice shape, it makes me greatly abhor those players, even if they were fine, upstanding citizens. Sort of 'vicious circle logic.'

The beauty of being a set collector is you can grab a hated player's card you need and then just tuck him away in the proper pocket inside of your binder and POOF!! never think about him again.

Yesterday I finally lucked into a 67T Brooks Robinson at a decent price/condition point! It's OC, but I'm not going to quibble.

[Exhibitman]

Kind of the opposite: if the card was significant in my youth the fact that the player turned out to be horrible doesn't deter me. My OJ Simpson run of cards that were treasured possessions as a kid (not these exact ones, but the same run):







The opposite holds true as an adult. If I loathe the person off-field I don't want his cards. To wit:



Anyone wanna buy this jackhole's card?

[Cliff Bowman]

As long as they are a Cub player in something that I collect.

[G1911]

Yes and no.

As a set collector, I want the full set. Thus, I have OJ Simpson 1970-1972 for my sets, but bought them in terrible shape as low as I could and don't really like them. I like it better than a gap in my set, but it leaves a poor taste, if the personal issues with the athlete are extreme. I don't care if an athlete was not a stellar moralist, fails to be on the 'right side' of wherever today's line is drawn on popular social issues, or if they do not share my political views. It takes an OJ level of extreme wrongdoing to make me care.

On the other hand, it does not bother me at all if the figure is of historical import and in a history focused set. I don't mind a Hitler card for a set of WWII cards. Perhaps a little inconsistent, but that's how it works for me. History is nasty and brutal, sports are not inherently so and a break from the serious, perhaps that's why OJ bothers me.

[egri]

I wouldn't go out of my way to collect them, but if a card came along at a good price, and I had a few extra dollars burning a hole in my pocket, I'd consider it.

[packs]

I realized that I hate the Red Sox so much that subconsciously I've managed not to have a single Red Sox card in my collection. Not even a Williams.

[Harliduck]

Originally Posted by packs

I realized that I hate the Red Sox so much that subconsciously I've managed not to have a single Red Sox card in my collection. Not even a Williams.

That level of hate is quite impressive!

[scmavl]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

That level of hate is quite impressive!

I was discussing a sizable trade with a N54 member a couple of months ago, and I offered up my '39 PB Williams rookie as part of it. He said "I have no interest in having a Red Sox card in my collection."

[Seven]

Originally Posted by scmavl

I was discussing a sizable trade with a N54 member a couple of months ago, and I offered up my '39 PB Williams rookie as part of it. He said "I have no interest in having a Red Sox card in my collection."

I hate the Sox with a Passion, but I do own a couple of ted's and Yaz's. I won't buy a Fisk card, though. I draw the line there!

[Frankish]

These Red Sox comments are too funny. Although the only real hate/frustration I understand is from people who grew up Sox fans. Why do so many other people hate them?

[packs]

Even the Joe Wood card I have is from when he was with Cleveland:

[metroac]

Here are a couple more examples of '58 Topps Ed Bouchee fantasy cards. As a ten-year-old in 1958, I rode my bike all over town to trade cards with kids that I'd met in Little League who didn't go to my elementary school, looking for that last card I needed to complete my set. I thought of that elusive Ed Bouchee card as one of the great (if ultimately minor) frustrations of my life. When I got out of college in 1970 and got my first job, the first thing I bought with my first paycheck was a Wilson A2000, the ultimate baseball glove. About a year later, I saw an ad in the Street and Smith's Baseball Yearbook (or possibly the Sporting News) from Stan Martucci. I bought a '55 set for $35, and '58 and '60 Topps sets for less. I remember not buying the '57's for $55 because that seemed too expensive. Eek! (The '55 Koufax had his rookie stats written in ink on the back. I later bought a replacement Koufax (raw) that, when graded, turned out to be a PSA 7. That card cost me as much as the whole set -- $35. At any rate, thirteen years of frustration came to an end when I learned that card #145 Ed Bouchee was never issued. Only much later did I learn the details.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by Frankish

These Red Sox comments are too funny. Although the only real hate/frustration I understand is from people who grew up Sox fans. Why do so many other people hate them?

As a Yankee fan, I never hated the Red Sox or any other team. I think the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry - although, real - has been hyped by media in recent years looking for an angle. When I was a kid, during the Orioles heyday in the late 60's and early 70's, they used to beat the Yankees with their formidable team. But I never hated them. I had a grudging respect for them. They were a great team. The Yankees had a great season in 1970 winning over 90 games, and the Orioles still won the division.

As far as rivalries go, one of the most intense was back in the mid-90's, the real rivalry the Yankees were a part of was between them and the Mariners. Those games were really something. The fans at the Kingdome were really part of the game.

[packs]

I think the rivalry has died down but I mostly blame the new Yankee Stadium for it. I find the new stadium to be sterile and dull in how it's laid out. Old Yankee Stadium shook and you were hung over the field in the upper deck. Everyone on top of each other. The old no man's land that the bleachers used to be for visiting fans. One time I saw a guy get his hat set on fire out there during a play off game.

But new Yankee stadium feels like you're sitting in a mall. Makes it hard to get fired up.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by packs

I think the rivalry has died down but I mostly blame the new Yankee Stadium for it. I find the new stadium to be sterile and dull in how it's laid out. Old Yankee Stadium shook and you were hung over the field in the upper deck. Everyone on top of each other. The old no man's land that the bleachers used to be for visiting fans. One time I saw a guy get his hat set on fire out there during a play off game.

But new Yankee stadium feels like you're sitting in a mall. Makes it hard to get fired up.

That could have something to do with it. I've never been to the new Yankee Stadium. I've been to Citifield, though. That has a mall feeling to it.

[packs]

I think the Rays and Astros have calmed things down for Boston too. There are probably more rivalries now than ever for the Yankees but I guess it kind of takes the steam out of any one of them.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by packs

I think the rivalry has died down but I mostly blame the new Yankee Stadium for it. I find the new stadium to be sterile and dull in how it's laid out. Old Yankee Stadium shook and you were hung over the field in the upper deck. Everyone on top of each other. The old no man's land that the bleachers used to be for visiting fans. One time I saw a guy get his hat set on fire out there during a play off game.

But new Yankee stadium feels like you're sitting in a mall. Makes it hard to get fired up.

Interesting take on things.

Another part of it may be the teams being more aggressive about keeping the fans in line. Not that that's bad, things are more family friendly, and more welcoming to people who paid up for a ticket instead of some people who only had a buck or two into a bleacher seat. Things could get "interesting" back in the late 70's early 80's at Fenway.
Like someone threatening a guy with a Mets hat.. (Pre-86)
Take that thing off or else!
But it's the Mets?!
I don't care, it says NY so lose it!

Or a couple people carrying a Yankees sign painted on a sheet around the aisle between what was then the upper box seats and grandstand. Someone while still seated, reached up with both hands, grabbed the top and yanked down tearing it in to three parts.

Today, both would be ejections, the last for sure, the hat one maybe just a stern warning.

And I've seen pics of the bleachers in the 60's, a crazy anything goes party like scene. One showed a guy who brought a cooler full of spaghetti and was giving it out.

A local rivalry, made a bit wilder, by some angst. The Sox weren't a bad team in the 50's, but weren't good enough. That lasted till 67, and since then both teams were contenders. A couple decades of coming in just behind the rival team will always heat things up a bit.
And some of the players did stuff that added fuel to that. Like Mickey Rivers hitting Bill Lee from behind... Made it easy to dislike "them"

2004 changed a lot. No longer second, and no team simply forgetting to play in August...
That calmed things down a lot.

But historically, the two teams are so intertwined with each other it's hard to really hate them.

[Kutcher55]

The rivalry peaked in 2003/04 (with the late 1970s being a close secondary peak) and there's no chance of it ever getting back to those heights again due to the Red Sox having gotten the monkey off their backs in dramatic fashion.

As a Red Sox fan, I love having Yankee cards in my collection and it kinda feels like if you're a Yankee fan who refuses to own Red Sox cards then you yourself are effectively being owned by the Red Sox.

[egri]

Originally Posted by Kutcher55

The rivalry peaked in 2003/04 (with the late 1970s being a close secondary peak) and there's no chance of it ever getting back to those heights again due to the Red Sox having gotten the monkey off their backs in dramatic fashion.

I've also noticed that the players are more likeable. There's no Alex Rodriguez or Roger Clemens who stirs the pot, and the instigator from the last big Yankees-Red Sox fight (Tyler Austin) was sent down, then traded. Aaron Judge seems like a good guy and I don't have anything against the rest of the team.

[JollyElm]

I love the talk about historic rivalries. Born in the shadow of Shea Stadium in Queens, I have always been a dyed-in-the-wool Mets fan (who accepted the Yankees into the fold when the Reggie excitement got me all crazy) and we, too, abhorred the Saux!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is in our DNA, I guess.

But the talk of old Yankee Stadium got me thinking about forgotten ballparks. I have two books here that are just fantastic to look through:
1. "Lost Ballparks" by Lawrence S. Ritter
2. "Ballparks: Yesterday and Today" by Phil Trexler

Do yourselves a favor and check them out. They bring the baseball past we love so much alive!

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by steve B

Interesting take on things.

Another part of it may be the teams being more aggressive about keeping the fans in line. Not that that's bad, things are more family friendly, and more welcoming to people who paid up for a ticket instead of some people who only had a buck or two into a bleacher seat.

I think the nadir was the series of incidents here in Los Angeles with fans of rival teams being beaten nearly to death. I read one article where the police likened the scene in the bleachers at Dodger Stadium to a prison yard. To avoid getting sued the Dodgers really stepped up security and safety policies w/r/t beer sales.

[jchcollins]

Not a topic I’ve given a huge amount of consideration to, but a few recent examples related to it and how things went down:

One, I think Dick Allen belongs in the HOF, but apparently I thought a lot more of Dick before I read a bio on him back last fall. I had been working on his base card run, but suddenly it no longer seemed super important for me to keep all of his cards, so I sold the RC and his ‘65 semi-high SP to fund other projects. I kept his ‘71 Topps SP because I’ve always just thought that was a bad@ss card...

Two, Reggie Jackson. I had never had his RC, and in my mind at least that was an iconic card from my childhood that had never happened. So at some point last summer, before prices really exploded - I bought a PSA 6 copy. It was a nice card and neat to own for a while, but you know what? I just couldn’t make myself care that much about Reggie Jackson. A few months ago, I sold the card at $100+ profit and put the proceeds into a ‘67 Mantle for my set efforts there.


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[ALBB]

Wow, that 72 T Simpson card...is razor sharp

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by ALBB

Wow, that 72 T Simpson card...is razor sharp

Killer centering

[butchie_t]

Only when completing a set.

[cardsagain74]

This subject doesn't have a big effect on any of my collecting decisions, but it can occasionally apply.

The two biggest missing RCs from my '51 - '85 vintage collection are Pete Rose and Nolan Ryan, and that didn't happen by accident (as I consider Rose to be the most overrated player in not just baseball, but sports history, and Ryan's cards to be the most overhyped).

And if/when I do fill out my complete set run, I'll try to spend as little as possible on those years.

On the flipside, I've picked up every base Yogi Berra card (and hope to eventually get really high grade RCs of guys like Seaver, McCovey, and Gwynn).

So it works both ways for me

[jchcollins]

Yep. There is an ‘86 Topps Traded Bonds with my complete ‘86 regular and Traded set. ‘86 Topps was the first set I bought packs of from the grocery store, several drug stores, and the 7-11 when I was 9, so it holds a special place in my heart and nostalgic subconscious. I couldn’t have told you who Barry Bonds even was in 1986, but of course a decade later that would have been a different proposition. For me with sets, you have to take the good with the bad.


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[bobsbbcards]

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

On the flipside, I've picked up every base Yogi Berra card (and hope to eventually get really high grade RCs of guys like Seaver, McCovey, and Gwynn).

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by bobsbbcards

If you QB the Yankees to all those titles, you get a pass for compromising national security

[jingram058]

Back when I got into baseball cards again (1990s) and started going to card shows, I was told by multiple other collectors to steer clear of Carl Yastrzemski as he was not a very likeable guy with fans. So while I have a various few cards of his, I have none that are deemed particularly valuable.

I also just finished the entire 53 Bowman sets. In the color set is Solly Hemus, who if you read up on him, was a horrible person. Likewise, Enos Slaughter. I have their cards in the color set, and that's it, just to complete the set.

And then there is Ben Chapman and Jake Powell of the old-school Yankees. A couple of real swell guys there. I don't have any of their cards, if they were issued.

How about Albert Belle, who threw a baseball at a fan?

[packs]

I don't collect Albert but I couldn't pass up Joey: