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Posted By: barrysloate

I've probably been there close to ten times over the years, but almost entirely in the 1980's when all you had to do was call and make an appointment and show up at that time. What happened is that baseball cards started to become too popular, and too many people were asking to see the collection. Everyone began handling the cards, and it wouldn't surprise me if some have already been stolen and the museum wishes not to admit that. I recall that the 1933 Goudey Lajoie was hinged to an album with adhesive tape, and a friend of mine pointed out to the curator that this was an extremely valuable card that could be ruined. He was asked to write a short noted stating that the card was a great rarity and leave the note as a bookmark so that the museum would remember which card he was referring to. When he returned to the museum some months later, my friend noticed that the note was still there and nothing was done about it. Now the Lajoie had free publicity telling anyone who might be thinking of stealing something that here's the perfect card to swipe- extremely valuable, and easy to remove. I trust the card is still there, but I don't know. The people there have no knowlwdge of what the collection is about, and it is annoying to them when people view it because they have to go to the back room to get the albums and then kind of hover over you while you are there; thus, they can not get their work done. It's easier to view the Spalding collection at the N.Y. Public Library; it doesn't really have cards, but great early photography. Problem is, most of the good stuffed was stolen decades ago, so it's not as interesting to view as it should be. You need an apontment there, too, and a reason for going, but they will ultimately let you look at it.