Iconic Baseball Photos of the 20th Century

[brian1961]

Charles, it probably was not necessary of me to come off that irritated with you. You just seemed so vehement about the Mick's misdeeds, and your tone did not come across as merely a simple opinion. Believe me, depending on your values and personal life, I can understand your feelings. Not being worth the time stems from my belief that if I composed a long response about someone else, it would not really change your own mind about Mickey. Moreover, I really don't want to hurt the little boy within you concerning a hero you might have.

Nobody is totally worthy of any pedestal we put them on. Our heroes are really always flawed human beings. I guess a happy place for each of us is the warm memories we carry of those players when they were going well, and had their finest moments with their respective teams.

For that reason, I myself could never muster up enough courage to try to attend a show where Mickey Mantle was signing autographs for a fee. Odds are things would have turned out great, but I just could not emotionally risk the chance that the meeting would go well. So, I was content to cheer his memory from afar, and collect his cards, etc.

I do sincerely wish you well in your collecting pursuits and hope your little boy within never gets harmed.

Even within collecting Mickey, and I am certain this is true for many player collectors, there are numerous things and trends that I do not understand, nor agree with. The thinking, the reasonings, and the values of my fellow collectors is often infantile in my estimation. To be sure, they have their own reasonings that usually are based on sound advice and thinking. On the one hand, perhaps I strike one as the height of arrogance and self-importance as a card evaluator. I suppose since I've been doing this since the spring of 1961, I think I have a good handle on cards, et al relating to my hero. I am slow to learn that there's a lot of factors, trends, and financial/social/psychological factors that play in these matters.

More than a nickel pack's worth, I know, but I'm getting tired, bro, and I better go. Case closed. Take care and have a peaceful week.

---Brian Powell