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Baron Drexel and Harris - My Mentors, Teachers and Coaches
My life was always about playing ball, mostly baseball as I grew up. Therefore, I was always at the playground on Chancellor Avenue. This was a hotbed for sports activity in the Weequahic section of Newark. From Monday through Saturday there were...
Fantasy Sports: A Popular Hobby
A Fantasy Sport is a game where a person builds a team comprised of individual players of a professional sport. These team "owners" compete against others based on the individual professional's real statistics. Simple versions of this convert...
Gamers in the Game
Sometimes at night, while I sleep, I dream that I am the point guard on Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Other nights, I bat cleanup for the Chicago White Sox. If that isn’t busy enough, I still often find time to quarterback Jimmy Johnson’s...
Meeting Mickey Mantle
Meeting Mickey Mantle Meeting Mickey Mantle would be a dream comes true. A dream realized for Dan on his 38th birthday, when his wife honored him with a week long stay at the Yankee Fantasy Camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dan played with some of...
Real Baseball Players Hit With Wood
Real Players Hit With Wood Let me say this up front… I do not like aluminum bats . . . but I’ll win with them. Practice with wood . . . and you’ll win with aluminum. It’s really very simple. An aluminum bat swing can be mechanically flawed but...
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My Prize Piece of Baseball Memorabilia
My Prize Piece of Baseball Memorabilia
Back in the day ...
I used to deal in baseball cards, and some memorabilia in the mid to late 1980's. Through an old client I had the opportunity to sell a very rare piece of baseball lore. The piece that I was fondest of was a rare document signed by Harry Wright. A founding father of the game. The document was a contract of some player that was signed by Harry Wright, the manager, circa 1870. It was written on Cincinnati Red Stocking’s letterhead.
I was impressed. I was so excited to be entrusted with this rare artifact. I remember saying to myself.
“Oh my god. You have got to be kidding.”
I was astonished. I was in awe. I felt like I was let into a special group.
I sold the piece in the range of $10,000 - $12,000 if memory serves me. But selling the piece did not compare to the dreams I had about the contract.
Imagine, what it must have been like 130 years ago on the ball field. The baggy uniforms, and the teeny gloves for the players. The pitchers, hurling
both games of a double header was common practice and a home run was a rarity. Boy has the game changed.
Handling that document made the early times of baseball real for me. I visualized those men playing in those old ballparks. I felt like I was part of that time. I was having a dream. I was there, back in the late 1800's sitting in the stands. Smiling and watching baseball - Back in the day.
Handling this artifact was like punching a time clock and never punching out. I was in baseball memorabiliaville.
I can see why some people are so zealous about baseball memorabilia. Their baseball fantasy made a lot more sense to me after I sold this Harry Wright piece.
About the Author
Aron Wallad has been a baseball lover for over 45 years. His passions have included; playing, watching, reading , evaluating, and coaching the game he adores. Check out his baseball ezine. For inspiring quotes, unusual statistics and most of all heartwarming stories go here.
http://www.baseballsprideandjoy.com/index.php?tag=goart
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