[UOFLfan7]

Fantastic idea!

The 1968 #150 Bob Clemente is the card that started it all for me, and the fact that it got me into collecting baseball cards is a miracle. It was just last year that my papa (grandpa) took me to a baseball card convention in Atlanta. I was hesitant and didn't really want to go, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that I hated baseball and would have no interest in baseball cards. My papa insisted that I would love it, and that even if I didn't buy anything, that it would still be interesting just to go look at what the vendors were selling.

My papa always dragged me to yard sales, auctions, and estate sales and I thought that this would be no different, if not worse. As I said above, I was a sixteen year old boy who despised everything about the sport baseball. Well, low and behold, when we got to the hotel were the convention was being held I was pretty...uninterested to say the least. The hotel itself was nice, but I didn't really know any of the players or what not so I had no clue what I was looking at and worse of all my papa left me to fend to myself so he could go make a deal with some collectors.

Now, I have a bad habit of having to buy something everywhere I go, so I started to look for a card that seemed to have at least some value. I came across an elderly vendor, who was breaking down his sets of Topps baseball cards. I thought that I would buy something from him since he had so much to choose from and instantly went to the 1987 Topps set. Now, he didn't have any of his cards priced...instead he either wanted you to make an offer or he wanted trades. I saw a name I recognized in the set, Barry Bonds, and told the man that I would give him $75.00 for the card. Now I look back and laugh at myself for being so dumb, but at the time my brain told me that I would be able to sell it for at least $100.00 since it was a famous player and a somewhat old card. Well, the vendor laughed and asked me if I was new to baseball cards. I told him yes, and asked why. He merely said that the card was not worth that much and told me to give it back to him. I gave the card back, and he asked me to pick out a set from the 1960's that I liked. I picked out the 1968 set, because I loved the design of the cards and thought they looked pretty cool.

The man flipped through the pages and pulled out a card, which turned out to be the Bob Clemente. He told me he would give it to me for free, but I would have to promise him that I would continue collecting baseball cards and that I would study up on them so I don't spend hundreds of dollars on overproduced cards from the 80's. I felt a little bad about taking the card for free since it was so old, but I promised him that I would continue collecting. I asked him why he was giving the card to me for free, and he said that it was rare to see someone so young interested in baseball cards. He said that he "wanted to keep the hobby alive."

I thanked the man, and took the card. I browsed some other vendors' collections, but didn't buy anything. My papa told me it was time to go and when he asked me if I bought anything, I told him no but a man gave me this Bob Clemente card. He asked to see the card and I gave it to him. He said that the card was probably worth about $40.00 in the condition it was in and asked why he gave it to me. I told him what the man told me, and my papa then gave me a few cards to help me start my collection. I started to research baseball cards, and while searching cards I joined this forum here. My very first post was about a 1933 Babe Ruth Goudey card that I bought on Ebay. The posters told me that the card was probably a fake, and I thanked them for their help. I sent the card in to PSA using my papa's account (he also thought it was a fake, but said "might as well give it a try."). PSA sent the card back and it turned out the card was indeed a fake.

I was impressed with the knowledge that the members of this forum had and thought it would be a great place to learn about baseball cards. I still can't stand watching a baseball game, but I learned to love baseball cards. Without that elderly vendor I would have never discovered my hidden love for a hobby I thought I would despise. That Bob Clemente was the first card in my collection, and as if by destiny was the first card in my most valuable item. A complete, hand collated, 1968 Topps Complete Set.

I just want to thank this forum for helping me in my baseball card journey and for helping me learn more and more about baseball cards. In fact, I'm still learning things about them from this forum even today! I also would like to thank that elderly vendor, just in case he too happens to be a vendor here, for the card that started my hobby.

Thanks for reading the story behind my most valued card. I know its a rather long post, but I thought that you guys and gals here at Net54Baseball might enjoy reading how a seventeen year old got into what has been called a "dying hobby". Here's hoping more young kids, teens, and adults get into the hobby so that we can keep it from becoming "an old man's game".

Thanks,
Cameron