A collecting theory: the wife test

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by rats60

Here is my wife's list
Roberto Clemente *
Honus Wagner *
Ty Cobb
Cy Young
Joe Jackson
Babe Ruth *
Pie Traynor *
Paul & Lloyd Waner *
Dizzy Dean *
Joe DiMaggio *
Ted Williams *
Bob Feller
Stan Musial *
Yogi Berra
Jackie Robinson *
Satchel Paige *
Duke Snider
Mickey Mantle *
Willie Mays
Hank Aaron
Ernie Banks
Sandy Koufax *
Bill Mazeroski
Bob Gibson
Lou Brock
Pete Rose
Nolan Ryan
Rollie Fingers
George Brett
Dale Murphy
Ozzie Smith
Cal Ripken Jr
Darryl Stawberry
Dwight Gooden
Roger Clemens
Kirby Puckett
Mark McGwire
Jose Canseco
Bo Jackson
Barry Bonds
Ken Griffey Sr & Jr
Frank Thomas
Sammy Sosa
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Ron Jackson (worked with his sister)
Tom Brunansky (her sister liked him)
Deion Sanders
Michael Jordan

* These are all players who I had autographs of in a hallway in our house for years and she remember them all.

My wife use to get autographs for me at card shows and met many on this list. She has a really good memory.

My faith is restored.

[judsonhamlin]

My wife’s list, although she claims to be really tired:

Babe Ruth
Lou Gehrig
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez - because of J Lo more than anything
Pete “that cheater guy” Rose
Yogi Berra
Hank Aaron
Cal Ripken (we drive past his little league complex regularly)
Thurman Munson
Mickey Mantle

I know she knows more, ah well.

[RCFire82]

Mantle
Ruth
Wagner
Cobb
"A guy named Duffy"
"Something like Alonso"
And a few more..
Not too shabby. Duffy because she had a childhood dog named Duffy and the Polar Bear because she probably has a crush or something.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

My faith is restored.

Yes, but how many have made the effort to get their wives involved in their hobby? She knew from the beginning that cards and card shows were going to be a big part of our lives. Our first vacation after our honeymoon was flying to San Francisco for the National. I told her to pick out a set to collect to have something to do and she chose t205.

I was impressed by her recall. Her list shows a heavy 1986-1996 hobby bias. She is not a sports fan. When she was done, she said, "Don't ask me to name any football or basketball players." Although she did ask if Kobe Bryant or Shaq had played baseball (because Jordan had?). I said, "Surely you can name a few football players. She replied, "Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders."

[GoCubsGo32]

My wife & I attend games all of the time.

She agreed to do it but changed it to how many she could name in 1 min

These were the players:

Babe Ruth
Javier Baez
Max Scherzer
Justin Verlander
Shoeless Joe
Kyle Schwarber
Joey Votto
Johnny Bench
Jackie (Robinson)
Rizzo
Bryce...*bad sigh* (Harper)
The Griffey's
Mantle
Dusty (Baker)
Soto

[jsfriedm]

My wife started with the two players whose cards she has on her desk:

1)Rube Waddell
2)Ramon Laureano (long story)

She could probably name hundreds more now, including all the current Mets and probably most of the rest of the NL East, and she's even gotten to the point where she recognizes all sorts of cards. We were watching an old Seinfeld rerun and there was a scene in George's office and it turned out there was a baseball card poster on the back wall. She asked, "Isn't that a T205 Christy Mathewson?" Indeed. Three years ago, she didn't know anything about baseball - hadn't even heard of Babe Ruth (we met in Moscow, so baseball wasn't exactly central). Now even the days of "Sammy Koufax" and "Bill Seaver" are long gone.

Seven weeks ago, our son was born, and she agreed to the middle name "Mays."