Do biographies or historical books enhance your card collecting enjoyment?

[Writehooks]

Absolutely. I'm primarily a boxing collector, so reading biographies of fighters ranging from world champions and contenders to "forgotten" pugs definitely enhances the experience. I particularly enjoy regional releases by university presses, which are usually very well researched and contain cross references to sources such as local newspapers.

[Fred]

Read Ball Four, then try to not buy a Jim Bouton baseball card.

[ramram]

Yes, I enjoy learning more about whatever I collect. Researching and digging into a good book only enhances that joy. However, until I hit the lotto, I avoid reading about Babe Ruth for that reason.

Rob M

[nat]

This question deserves an emphatic "yes". Learning about the players, the teams, the pennant races, etc., is half the fun of collecting. For the past six months or so I've been collecting Japanese baseball cards and reading enough about the players to write (very) short biographies of them. (The bios are on the post-war side of this site.) I've had a great time with it, and it's learning about the players (and etc.) that's made it so much fun.

[bgar3]

Yes, but not as a card collector, but as a memorabilia collector. The early history books are amazing, and while many have been reprinted, I still prefer the originals. The earlier, the better. Great starter books are Spalding’s, America’s National Game, Richter’s, History of Base Ball, Spink’s, National Game and Ellard’s, Baseball in Cincinnati, all of which have been reprinted, but are are available in original edition for a price.
A great basic early book is Chadwick’s, Game of Baseball (1868), available in a reprint also.

[philliesphan]

is absolutely supplemented by such amazing tomes such as Dick Beverage's Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, etc.

It absolutely brings players alive from PCL - many players whom otherwise not much is known or there's not much recorded. It brings a narrative to the baseball cards that I love to pursue

m

[commishbob]

Yes, without a doubt. I was given a copy of Tom Swift's Chief Bender's Burden and it was an eye-opening look at a player who I had never given a lot of thought to. I haven't stopped building my Bender collection since.

[drcy]

Learning about the people is great and influential.

I once sold autograph by autograph a large multi-genre collection (Hollywood, politics, military, sport, etc) and I had to do a little bio of the person for each sale. Was great learning about each person.

[Copa7]

Originally Posted by nat

This question deserves an emphatic "yes". Learning about the players, the teams, the pennant races, etc., is half the fun of collecting. For the past six months or so I've been collecting Japanese baseball cards and reading enough about the players to write (very) short biographies of them. (The bios are on the post-war side of this site.) I've had a great time with it, and it's learning about the players (and etc.) that's made it so much fun.

If you have not read it, I recommend "The Chrisathimum at the Bat" - life in Japanese baseball.