Posted By:
Chris CountsBob,
I had a similar baseball-related mortality moment today ... every so often, especially when I start worrying too much about the trivial details of life, I look up the following website ...
www.thedeadballera.com/
It's an amazing site, dedicated exclusively to dead ballplayers. Yes, it's morbid, and it could be described as a "downer," but I actually find it somewhat exhilerating. Here, on one website, are the obituaries of so many of my favorite ballplayers. When I look at my favorite Diamond Stars, Batter-Ups, Play Balls and Exhibit cards, I see images of players frozen in their youthful glory. And yet when I look at the Dead Ball website, I see that most of my favorite players are not only dead, but died before their time from hard living ...
For me, the website is a not-so-subtle reminder of how short and sweet life is. As a collector, such experiences inspire me to buy fewer new cards and simply appreciate the ones I have. And as a certified baseball nut, such experiences inspire me to read fewer box scores and drag my rusty 45-year-old body out onto some dusty old sandlot with a couple of my rusty 45-year-old buddies and knock the ball around one more time ...