33 goudey hornsby autographed card

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

I have written rough drafts for two books, but life has been so hectic over the last 15 years that I haven't had time to go back and edit. Yes, I have interviewed all those players, as well as over 100 more. Only a few are still with us, unfortunately. Talking with the guys who played back in the 1920's-50's, it is easy to see why I have ZERO interest in the modern-day game. Nearly all of the men I interviewed were true gentlemen and a pleasure to be around. I interviewed players in trailer parks, mansions, cars, restaurants, and even found one walking around a city park! Often times, the "story behind the story" was much more interesting than the actual interview. Other times, a player might say, "Well, I don't think I have anything interesting to tell you", then floor me with stories that none of us knew about! One of these days I'll get my act together and publish something. I find it very disillusioning that books like these have been "done to death", however, so that probably explains why I haven't done more with the material. I have ideas on how to "freshen up" what to me has become a fairly stale genre, though. Danny Peary found a way to revitalize the movement several years back--unfortunately, we interviewed many of the same men within months of each other, and he was more committed to his project than I was to mine. I was still in school at the time, so I guess you could say that my writings had to be placed on the back burner. Such is life. Incidentally, T206Collector's current undertaking has been an idea of mine for the past fifteen years, but he beat me to it! He has done very well with his interviews, and I commend him for it.