[Cmvorce]

When I was a kid, real young, 5 or 6, my mom gave me a custom plaque for Christmas - something I’m sure she paid far too much for with money that we couldn’t spare from a mail-order catalogue, but to me it was like an MVP award.

It was the “10 Best Baseball Players of All Time”. Something like:

10. Roberto Clemente
9. Stan Musial
8. Rogers Hornsby
7. Hank Aaron
6. My Name! - Chris Vorce (I made the list!)

Number 5 was Kid Nichols (no idea why the manufacturer of the plaque put Nichols so high but as a little kid, not even playing tee ball yet, he became the bar I measured myself against). The next alltime great to pass out on my quest to become the best baseball player ever. I had never heard of him. Didn’t know anything about him. My mom, who was a legitimate baseball fan and taught me about the greats of the 50s and 60s couldn’t tell me anything about him. In 1985 information was hard to come by for a 6 year old. So Kid Nichols became some kind of mythical legend to me. Better than Hank Aaron! I’d have to work hard to pass him out on the list.

Anyway, as I got older and was able to access more information about him I realized he was fantastic - a bonafide, no doubt hall of famer. But no more exceptional than most other hall of famers. But because of that plaque he always meant more to me. Always stood out a little from the others not named Ruth or Mays or Cobb.

And today, thanks to Net54, mail day brought me my first Kid Nichols card. I have “better” cards in my collection, but not really.