The main thing I remember about Minnie Minoso coming back to play in 1976 & 1980 was the enthusiasism he brought to the players and fans. That is what I am hoping this blogging will do is bring back the enthusiasim to the hobby! During the late 1980's & early 1990's there were a lot of collectors, many of these people were into it more as a lottery then they were for the fun of collecting. I had a lot of concerns when I seen people paying $4-5 for a Greg Jefferies Rookie Card. I was taught by my mentor, (I will call him Larry) that it was always more important to try and collect a player that could possibly be in the "Hall of Fame" someday, rather than a "Hot" rookie. My fears came true, many people started leaving the hobby and the bottom fell out of collecting. However, there were a lot of collectors out there that really enjoyed the hobby of collecting cards. I see blogging helping to stir the interest in bringing "Old Collectors" back...
I am changing this blog from best trade to most memorable trade of all time because some people wouldn't consider these good trades but they are the most memorable to me. In 1989 my wife and I had just moved back to our home town and the baseball card boom was on. I couldn't hardly believe it but the little town that we grew up in now had a card shop. Anyway I packed up several of my cards from the 1970's and headed to the card shop to do some trading. It is funny but I still remember looking around the ladies shop and it was like my dream of being a collector and having a card shop to go to trade at. I told they shop owner that I would trade her several cards from the 1970's for a complete set of 1988 Topps. I remember her picking out a 1977 Johnny Bench and a Pete Rose and a 1976 Dave Winfield. I remember walking to my car thinking what a good deal. I traded just a few cards for a complete set what a good deal. But now as I look back on it I would have rather have kept my old cards. The ladies husband passed away so she closed the shop down after just a year. The building she had her card shop in is now condemned and has a fence around it. Sometimes when I drive buy the old building I think to myself that there used to be a sports card shop in this town.
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