Baseball Card Show - Stories from the other
side of
the baseball card table
A baseball card dealer’s perspective of a baseball card show: Saying "Hi" To Rollie Fingers
You just never know whom you’re going to see at a baseball card
show. Your ex-wife with her new husband? Your too-young-to-date
daughter with her biker boyfriend? Maybe that guy who stiffed you with
a bad check a couple shows ago! Or just maybe, a genuine Hall of Fame
baseball player!
I remember a baseball card show I did a number of years ago in Las
Vegas. There were several Hall of Fame and not so Hall of Fame
baseball players signing autographs.
One of the bigger names was
Rollie Fingers, the handle bar mustached pitching great of the Oakland
A’s, San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers. Like everyone else, he
was signing whatever the public had, be it baseballs, bats, gloves
cards or glossy 8x10’s. Stuck at my table, I could only watch.
Like most baseball card shows, this one got quite by mid-afternoon. I
could finally sit down and prop my feet up on a box, giving them their
first rest since morning. Hands behind head, I was slowly sinking in
my chair when a man walked up to my table. I looked straight ahead and
saw a pair of knees. Slowly raising my head, I saw a belt, jersey,
chin, mustache and, finally, a face. There stood Rollie Fingers.
My God! What should I say? Should I stand? Should I stay seated?
Should I call him by his first name or, as a Brewers fan, get on my
tired knees and grovel at his feet? But before I could move, he spoke.
"Got any of my rookie cards?" Wow! He spoke... to me! To poor, average
person me! Struck dumb by this miraculous blessing, I could only shake
my head.
He turned and walked over to the next dealer. "Got any of my rookie
cards?"
My dream had come true! I had talked to a honest-to-goodness baseball
great. I felt complete. My life at last had meaning, all because I was
a Baseball card dealer!
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About the Author:
John is famous for his stories and his knowledge of buying and selling coins
as well as baseball cards.
He is One of eBay's must trusted Coin Dealers.
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