It might seem like the belligerence of a biased collector when I claim that baseball cards transcend all other trading cards in respect to their magnificence – of course, I am not opposed to being proven wrong, though a combination of male stubbornness and fanaticism over baseball certainly makes changing my mind an herculean endeavor (after all, hydras are rather stubborn when you think of it). And to be sure, I have tried my hand and found success in many sports and fields of collecting.

But where interest quickly waned in soccer, two more activities grew from the ashes of those $100 cleats: playing football and basketball; outside of sports it was collecting screws from disassembled electronics, fossils and minerals (not crystals), Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and books. And so on.

Having wandered away from whatever point I was making, I’ll just move on to the next.

A baseball card, not unlike a work of fine art or a tasty piece of bacon, radiates an incredibly potent aura that’s inviting to even the most fair-weathered fan of baseball, and for so many different reasons! Take the card featured above – a 2019 Topps Series 1 35th Anniversary 1984 Hank Aaron Auto 13/50.

Hank Aaron was born in 1934, played baseball in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982, and earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. All but one of those accomplishments occurred years before I was even alive, and given the technology of his time in the Majors, there’s not a whole lot of great footage I can find to at least say I’ve seen how good he is. Of course, I take people at their word when they praise Aaron, and really the stats do most of the talking…

But that’s not why this card speaks to me. That’s not what produces the aura that draws me in at least once a day to appreciate the beauty of this card. It’s the gesture I find incredible. For Hank Aaron has experienced A LOT in his 85 years, and yet he still took the time to sign his name on a small 2.5 inch by 3.5 inch piece of colorful cardboard. Perhaps he did this for the simple reason of earning some easy cash, but I like to think that he did it because he loves baseball, and he knew that by signing this card he was going to make some other lover of baseball very happy.

Very happy indeed 🙂

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“He just thinks about baseball. He said he doesn’t go out. He just wants to go to the ballpark.” — Bruce Bochy