[bocca001]

Hi everyone-

I’ve been reading Net54baseball posts (without posting) for longer than I’d like to admit. From what I can tell, my background is similar to that of many members. I collected as a kid in the late 1970s and 1980s. I was a pretty savvy collector compared to most of my friends, as I focused on cards from the 1950s and 1960s. Growing up in California, I never saw much pre-war stuff. Everything was post-1958, Giants and Dodgers. I started collecting again about 15 years ago, after reading The Glory of Their Times, and now focus on prewar cards.

I grew in the Santa Clara Valley and have focused my collection on players from the area or those who played on local teams, with an emphasis on Santa Clara College/University and the San Jose Prune Pickers. The most well-known player in my collection (who played for both Santa Clara and San Jose) is Hal Chase. I’ve learned that collecting Chase cards is a bit of a Catch-22. On the one hand, he appeared in many issues and many of his cards are obtainable. On the other hand, there are some devoted Chase collectors and competition for rare cards is very strong. Others relevant players for me are Harry Hooper, Harry Wolter, Hap Hogan, Frank Arellanes, Jim O’connell, Mike Donlin, Justin Fitzgerald, Marvin Owen, and a few others.

I live in Texas now and it would be great to hear more about shows/groups in the state. There are no baseball card stores in my area, so I’m having a tough time introducing my two young boys to the hobby.