Has your hobby ever been a negative?

[ls7plus]

It has been a huge positive from the perspective of a guy who has always loved baseball and its history. When I was a kid, I learned the basics of dice and probability just for the purpose of creating my own tabletop game, and any players I wanted to put in it, before discovering Stratomatic in the early to mid-sixties. I played in high school, summer leagues, and most recently in the over 30, fast-pitch hardball league when in my early to mid-forties. My objective, I guess, was to "capture the game" to the fullest extent possible--sort of what Bill Mastro referred to as the "collecting gene." I always felt that the cards connected me to the player, and took me back to that time--the very history of the game I could hold right in my hands: Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, Williams, Aaron, Mays and Mantle, and the like. An instant of those players' lives (I collect HOF'ers and stars) captured for decades or even centuries, and of course, the rarer the better!

The only downside is when I've been forced by economic circumstances to sell some of my collection--that can be tough, depending on how hard the card is or will be to replace (examples include '59 Bazooka Mantle, cut outside the dotted lines, and graded NRMT; '25 Exhibit Gehrig rookie; 1916 M 101 Sisler rookie). Should such circumstances befall any of you guys, I would recommend Bill Goodwin without hesitation to handle the sale through his auctions--top-flight, honest and reliable in all respects!

Good thread,

Larry