I was nine years old in 1968 and in my second year of collecting and trading baseball cards. I would buy a few packs of cards now and then when I could afford it, which wasn’t very often. I built up my collection mostly through shrewd trades with my friends. One day in early summer, I bought some packs and lo and behold, there was Al Kaline, the biggest Detroit Tiger star and already a baseball legend. Living in Michigan and rooting for the Tigers, that was a very big deal. What was even better was that I found a second Kaline card a few packs later. Now I had some serious trading material. Soon after, I got together with my card collecting buddies and swapped my extra Kaline card for a handsome return.
The summer went on and new series of baseball cards came and went. Towards the end of summer, I was trading cards with a kid I hadn’t traded with before. During the course of our conversation, I let it slip that I had an Al Kaline card in my collection. His eyes got big and he offered me a big stack of cards, probably about 100 cards for my Kaline card. His cards were from the 6th and 7th series, cards I hadn’t seen before and didn’t have in my collection yet. While I was tempted, there was no way I would trade my only remaining card of Al Kaline. I had a steadfast rule to never trade any singles of Tiger players, as those were my favorite cards in my collection. But then the unthinkable happened. He doubled his offer to around 200 cards, including just about all the cards in the 6th and 7th series. I felt myself wavering. Could I really part with my Kaline card? Could I afford not to take this gigantic offer? My greed got the best of me and I made the trade.
I continued to collect baseball cards and trade with my friends, thinking that I would someday find another 1968 Al Kaline card. But it didn’t happen. In early 1970 my family moved to California, and I found some new card collector friends that were not Detroit Tiger collectors. That should have made it easy to get a 1968 Kaline, but I was never able to get one from any of my new friends. For five long years I was haunted by the loss of my 1968 Kaline card, unable to replace it. The baseball card gods were making me pay a dear price for my greed.
Finally my card collecting landscape changed in 1973. I began subscribing to a baseball card magazine and started attending baseball card shows, a new invention back then. Old baseball cards suddenly became accessible, something that was unimaginable even a year earlier. As I hungrily gobbled up all the old baseball cards I could afford, I finally reacquired a 1968 Al Kaline card.
I still have feelings of guilt and betrayal when I think about the 1968 Al Kaline card. Al Kaline helped lead the Tigers to the 1968 World Championship, a huge deal to a nine-year-old baseball fan in Michigan. And I traded him away. I know Al Kaline would have forgiven me, but I’ve never quite forgiven myself.
Rest in Peace, Al Kaline. You were a big part of my youth for your consistent greatness on the baseball field and for your baseball cards and card collecting memories.