who are your obsession players

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Posted By: Brian H (misunderestimated)

I will acknowledge the double-meaning of "players" with my two who weren't even Baseball players.

First Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who(m?) I actually met when I was in grade school and he was at MSU. I've enjoyed watching him more than any other athlete for the mature understanding and youthful exhuberance he brought to Basketball.

The other is boxer Jack Johnson about whom Ken Burns has a documentary coming out at the beginning of the year. Where Magic was the comensumate team player Jack Johnson was the consumate individual athlete. Strangely, Jack Johnson did in fact play and I think umpire some Negro league contests if Irecall my reading of the Negro League biographical encyclopedia correctly. He was friends with the great Rube Foster although the story that he changed into Foster's uniform to escape his impending (wrongful)conviction in the United States was something Johnson invented for his autobiography from what I have read. The Johnson/Foster switch was also depicted in the Johnson inspired movie/theatre classic "The Great White Hope".*

I have favorite Baseball players but no one except some local heroes -- Banks, Sosa and Santo, among others -- I have gone muchout of my way to collect.

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* If anyone has some neat Johnson stuff to sell/trade (cards etc.), I'd love to add to my growing collection.