BATTER UP!

[2jakes]

My thanks to Lizzie who gives
class to this thread of mine which I
started and keeps me on track.

I always look forward to your very
enjoyable posts.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

"There's no crying in baseball!" - Jimmie Foxx


Well....Tom Hanks, as Jimmie Foxx, lol.

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

Yes they still make baseball cards
(minus the gum).

I'm waiting to hear from my bank to
see if my loan is approved so I can buy
some.
View attachment 82329

I guess I'm not surprised they still make cards since the "collector" market alone could probably support it, but at another level, I am amazed that today's digital-generation kids care about a piece of cardboard with one picture and less stats than a few minutes on ESPN's site can provide.

And why no gum anymore? Could it be that it was stale, generic, tasted much like I image the card itself would if you chewed it and that it had an awful powdery sugar that hardly stayed on it? All that said, I loved that stupid gum when I was a kid.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Foxx had a hard life after retiring. He managed for a year in the AAGPL, coached at the college level for a couple of years, but otherwise fell into an alcoholic haze to the point where, when he was invited to be the featured guest at a Boston sports banquet he had to turn it down because he couldn't afford to get there. The Red Sox hired him as a minor league coach, but he drank himself out of that job, and never held anything but menial jobs for the rest of his life. He choked to death at the supper table in 1967, at the age of 59 -- a heartbreaking end for one of the greatest players of the 1930s.

Alcoholism was the dark secret of Golden Era Baseball. It was a very easy, very common vice for men who were on the road much of the time, with nothing to do in strange towns, and a lot of spare time on their hands. There were certain clubs -- the pennant-winning 1944 Browns come to mind -- with lineups composed almost entirely of alcoholics. Even Honus Wagner, renowned for his clean-living habits as a player fell into the booze habit late in life, and during the long years he spent as a coach for the Pirates he'd often sneak out of the ballpark -- in full uniform -- and go to the nearest bar, where he'd trade autographed balls for drinks.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

This is another cool thread I can contribute to, if allowed; as vintage baseball is one of my (many) passions (mainly the deadball era), I have a lot of vintage images I can share...if that's okay?

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Foxx had a hard life after retiring. He managed for a year in the AAGPL, coached at the college level for a couple of years, but otherwise fell into an alcoholic haze to the point where, when he was invited to be the featured guest at a Boston sports banquet he had to turn it down because he couldn't afford to get there. The Red Sox hired him as a minor league coach, but he drank himself out of that job, and never held anything but menial jobs for the rest of his life. He choked to death at the supper table in 1967, at the age of 59 -- a heartbreaking end for one of the greatest players of the 1930s.

Yeah, I was hoping Hollywood would eventually tell his sad story...alas, they're too busy rehashing old tropes, as no one there has an original idea anymore.

Rob

 

[2jakes]

I guess I'm not surprised they still make cards since the "collector" market alone could probably support it, but at another level, I am amazed that today's digital-generation kids care about a piece of cardboard with one picture and less stats than a few minutes on ESPN's site can provide.

And why no gum anymore? Could it be that it was stale, generic, tasted much like I image the card itself would if you chewed it and that it had an awful powdery sugar that hardly stayed on it? All that said, I loved that stupid gum when I was a kid.

That is exactly the way it was with the
gum, and for those not familiar, the
only thing that resembled chewing gum
was the name.
Once whatever sweet was gone you were
chewing tar.

I remember the powdery coating on the
front of the cards and the smell too.
The packs sold for a penny at first.

 

[Fading Fast]

This is another cool thread I can contribute to, if allowed; as vintage baseball is one of my (many) passions (mainly the deadball era), I have a lot of vintage images I can share...if that's okay?

Rob

I vote yes, but we are a community, so that's just my one humble (but enthusiastic) vote. Your pictures in other threads are the energy that keeps many of them going.

 

[2jakes]

This is another cool thread I can contribute to, if allowed; as vintage baseball is one of my (many) passions (mainly the deadball era), I have a lot of vintage images I can share...if that's okay?

Rob

Please do!

You are on first base.

What's on second.

And I don't know is on third!

Lizzie will umpire!
(Or any position she desires)

Let's play ball!

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Post em if you got em" as the saying goes.

As far as gum in baseball cards goes, it was eliminated in the 1990s as a sop to adult collector-investors, who felt that gum and wax stains on cards compromised their "mint condition" status.

The sports collectibles marketplace is one of the sleaziest businesses in the world, thanks to "adult collector-investors." The late Barry Halper, renowned in his time as the King of Baseball Collectibles, has been revealed posthumously as a fraud hundreds of times over, with a collection consisting almost entirely of materials forged or stolen.

That said, though, I have to admit that one of my prize posessions is a genuine flannel jersey once worn by Red Sox third base coach Eddie Popowski, a garment I proudly wear when I sit in the cheap seats at Fenway. For those who don't remember Pop, he was the inspiration for the "Coach" character on "Cheers," and was the originator of the famous "Popowski Flip."

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Lol...will do, guys. Most of my collection is on my external hard drives at home, so I'll upload some stuff when I get home.

From 8 to 5 durIng the week, I'm posting from work, using my phone and the content I have stored on its 32 gig SD card...hey, I'm a county employee, what can I say, lol.

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

"Post em if you got em" as the saying goes.

As far as gum in baseball cards goes, it was eliminated in the 1990s as a sop to adult collector-investors, who felt that gum and wax stains on cards compromised their "mint condition" status.

The sports collectibles marketplace is one of the sleaziest businesses in the world, thanks to "adult collector-investors." The late Barry Halper, renowned in his time as the King of Baseball Collectibles, has been revealed posthumously as a fraud hundreds of times over, with a collection consisting almost entirely of materials forged or stolen...

RE, the collectors and gum - oh for God's sake!

RE, "... one of sleaziest the sleaziest businesses..." how's it rank versus your other favorites of The Boys fro Marketing and Healthcare ?

Some businesses / charities / government agencies and positions seem to attract more than their share of scumbags (and some seem all but corrupt), but baseball card collecting wouldn't have been one of those I would have guessed was sleazy.

One of the few businesses I've seen that seems to have a preponderance of nice, decent people is used book dealers. In general, they seem to go out of their way to be fair and honest (with a few exceptions).

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I liked the smell of the gum, just not the flavor.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

The sports collectibles market is basically sharks fighting with sharks, and everyone ends up getting bitten. The thing that bugs me most about it is how it's taken something that ought to be innocent fun and turned into a cesspool of sleaze. This guy has made it his business to expose some of the worst of it, and it's mind-boggling the depths to which people will go for a buck,or for the "prestige"of owning a particular item.

I don't know of any actual children who collect baseball cards anymore. That's another thing the "adult collectors market" has done -- priced something designed and intended as a cheap throwaway novelty item into something far beyond the means of its original target audience.

 

[Fading Fast]

The sports collectibles market is basically sharks fighting with sharks, and everyone ends up getting bitten. The thing that bugs me most about it is how it's taken something that ought to be innocent fun and turned into a cesspool of sleaze. This guy has made it his business to expose some of the worst of it, and it's mind-boggling the depths to which people will go for a buck,or for the "prestige"of owning a particular item.

I don't know of any actual children who collect baseball cards anymore. That's another thing the "adult collectors market" has done -- priced something designed and intended as a cheap throwaway novelty item into something far beyond the means of its original target audience.

There is an expression "bad money drives out good," without going into the financial-market-origin details of this, basically, bad things chase good things away - so, in this case, bad players in baseball cards chase the honest, fun-spirited ones away and the business ends up with one sleaze-ball dealing with another sleaze-ball as the honest players leave in disgust.

And yes, people's willingness to lie, cheat, steal, counterfeit, etc. is unbelievable - absolutely, amazingly unbelievable. The art world / collectables / etc. is rife with these people because, IMHO, it is opportunity (counterfeiting is doable) meets more opportunity (many unsophisticated people to prey upon). I've often wondered how many false "famous" signatures are out there.

I wonder if, as noted before, even without the sleazy collector issue, kids today would get into baseball cards? Seems like there are too many other more exciting options today that didn't exist when we were kids.

 

[Harp]

-- priced something designed and intended as a cheap throwaway novelty item into something far beyond the means of its original target audience.

Stadium admission prices are dear. Last season, a Cubs-fan manager married to a White Sox fan who lives in Chinatown near Sox park
told me her husband adamantly refuses to visit the stadium due to the exorbitant cost.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Kids nowadays are into superhero, pop culture, and fantasy cards...not much interest in America's Pastime cards.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

This is all a real problem for The Game. Baseball now attracts the oldest demographic of any spectator sport, and kids not only don't watch it anymore, they increasingly don't play it anymore. The love of the The Game doesn't come from fancy organized kids' leagues or travel teams, it comes from kids playing it in the street for fun. Everybody in my neighborhood growing up played baseball or some variation of it -- boys, girls, fat kids, skinny kids, athletic kids, bookish kids, everybody played the game and everybody followed it and everybody loved it. That love is no longer there, and my generation is the last to have really absorbed it. Thirty years from now, major league baseball will no longer exist.

 

[Fading Fast]

This is all a real problem for The Game. Baseball now attracts the oldest demographic of any spectator sport, and kids not only don't watch it anymore, they increasingly don't play it anymore. The love of the The Game doesn't come from fancy organized kids' leagues or travel teams, it comes from kids playing it in the street for fun. Everybody in my neighborhood growing up played baseball or some variation of it -- boys, girls, fat kids, skinny kids, athletic kids, bookish kids, everybody played the game and everybody followed it and everybody loved it. That love is no longer there, and my generation is the last to have really absorbed it. Thirty years from now, major league baseball will no longer exist.

In addition, there seems to have been a pro-active effort to move kids from baseball to soccer. Clearly, there is a cost advantage - but the country, overall, became richer not poorer over this period - so something else had to be driving it.

Growing up (I'm the same age as you are), from playing pick up games - as you note - to school and community efforts (Little League was almost a community religion), most were centered on baseball with soccer an afterthought. Now, there are almost no pick-up games as all activities are structured, but for those, soccer seems to dominate.

How did this happen? Who made this decision? Why did "they" decide to switch?

 

[2jakes]

This is all a real problem for The Game. Baseball now attracts the oldest demographic of any spectator sport, and kids not only don't watch it anymore, they increasingly don't play it anymore. The love of the The Game doesn't come from fancy organized kids' leagues or travel teams, it comes from kids playing it in the street for fun. Everybody in my neighborhood growing up played baseball or some variation of it -- boys, girls, fat kids, skinny kids, athletic kids, bookish kids, everybody played the game and everybody followed it and everybody loved it. That love is no longer there, and my generation is the last to have really absorbed it. Thirty years from now, major league baseball
will no longer exist.

Last week I saw two kids looking from the fence when
I was at the tennis courts with other kids in tennis gear
and shoes made for playing the game

These two kids reminded me of my youth when I would
take a broom stick and grabbed whatever I could find and
join the rest at the back lot to play ball.

I tossed several tennis balls for these kids to play with.
The smiles on their faces was priceless.
They took the balls across the field and played catch ball.
Eventually one kid found a stick.

Perhaps "major league baseball" will
no longer exist in thirty years.

But I believe the game of baseball
will never go away.