Y’all Should Have Told Me This Was Going to Take 692 Days!

[FromVAtoLA]

I took me 692 days but I finally finished my Glory of Their Times set!

Backstory
I grew up very close to the Tidewater Tides (the Mets AAA team), my first t-ball team was the mini-Mets, my cousin gave me my first baseball card - a 1982 Topps Rusty Staub, and the Mets won a World Series in my formative years growing up. (I’ll come back to this.) I collected from 1982 to 1991 and then grew out of it. I held on to my junk wax for another decade and sold it all on this new website called Ebay in 2000 to help pay for my wife’s engagement ring. (We’re still married so that worked out well.)

Fast forward several decades to September 17, 2023. I started reading Larry Ritter’s Glory of Their Times and was immediately enthralled. I decided I needed to start collecting again and get a card for each player interviewed in the book. But where do I start?

Some research led me to a PSA set checklist that was created for the book. (I had to do some more research to understand PSA, card grading, and set checklists because those didn’t exist when I collected.) But it seemed easy enough. I would buy the 26 cards, register them, and have the entire set.

On October 23, 2023 I bought my first baseball card in well over three decades. That was easy...one down - 25 to go…I had no idea what I was getting into though.

This weekend the final card in the set arrived – a 1925 Exhibits Stanley Coveleski. This is my new favorite card. It’s not just because the set is finally complete, but the back of the card is incredible. I included a picture. Imagine the effort it took a century ago to dig up his stats, write them on the back of the card, and turn it into a “modern” card that had the players stats on the back. I love imagining the kid studiously transcribing these numbers.

Lessons Learned Along the Way

First and foremost, there should be an automated response to every new member that introduces themselves on Net 54. It should say something like, “Welcome to Net54! Did you know that your spouse/significant may leave you for spending a lot of money on baseball cards? They will not share your passion or interest. You have been warned.” Fortunately, I’m still married, but my wife does not appreciate my return to collecting as much as me. She actually highlights every Ebay purchase on our credit card statements to make a point.

You think you’re just going to collect 26 cards and stop? HA?!?!?! Yeah, my collecting tree has branched out quite bit. I quickly decided that I also need to collect all of the pre-war cards of players that played in Portsmouth and Norfolk, VA, where I grew up. That’s now expanded to the entire Virginia League. With the help of this site, I picked up an autographed copy of Ritter’s book, his only baseball card, and albums from the 60’s with recordings of the player interviews. I also decided that I need an autograph of every player in the book. I’m two-thirds of the way to completion on that part of the collection.

I had no idea it was going to take nearly two years to complete the set. And I’ll definitely never build another PSA set. I got off to a quick start. The T206’s and Goudey’s were easy to find and relatively affordable at lower grades. Some of the cards were tougher to find or, like the 1915 Cracker Jacks, pursued by a lot people. But the 1925 Exhibits took the longest to track down. But I still can’t believe I actually cracked cards out of SGC holders, sent them to PSA with the SGC grading tab, waited three months, and got them back in the same grade from PSA. I know that’s not uncommon but that was a waste of money based on the way I collect. (I still need to send the 1925 Exhibits Ray Bressler in for grading to complete the PSA checklist.)

I’ve fallen in love with the prewar vintage era and back in love with the Mets. I read books, watch videos, listen to podcasts, and click through websites on the pre-war era. The history and backstory of those cards is a fascinating curiosity to me. We’ve lived in LA for 25 years and I mostly followed the Mets via newspapers/websites, the irregular nationally-televised game, and the occasional visit to Dodger stadium. But my fandom increased dramatically since I started collecting again. I bought an MLB tv subscription and can catch every Mets game now. Our kids are getting older, so it’s been great to have something else to put some time and energy into.

Anyway, this site has been great so I’m looking forward to continued information sharing and engagement. PS – It’s not prewar vintage but I couldn’t resist getting an autographed version of my first baseball card. Owning an autographed version of this card was always a dream in my early collecting days.