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Members,
After 20+ years of collecting mostly Oakland A's McAuliffe Jerseys, I have decided to sell my collection. The choice was an easy one. I believe the Lord has a greater calling for me and it is past due time to part with the collection. I need to focus more on those who have less than my family and we have clearly been blessed a thousand times over.
As I look back at acquiring the collection and the people and players I met in this hobby, I can reflect on many great times. Going to about 7 or 8 Nationals, meeting Reggie, Rollie, Campy and Fosse, and the GUF board has been one of the top five things to ever grace our hobby. Chris and the other mods have built a strong educational tool that has assisted hundreds of collectors make informed decisions.
As for the collection I have some guys calling me about filling their want lists. There are some fantastic jerseys. The green Joe Rudi in which he makes the fabulous catch up against the wall in the '72 series. I also have the beautiful gold Bert Campaneris jersey where he is photographed by a famed SI photographer hitting a foul ball and Johnny Bench ripping off his mask. This jersey sat in an old A's ballboy's footlocker for over 34 years!! Many of the jerseys in my collection have never seen the inside of an auction house. Many of the jerseys come from some of the greatest A's collectors to ever strap and A's jersey on a hanger or mannequin including Dick Dobbins, Frank Fleizach and Stan Marks. If you are looking for a certain player I have just about every A's player except for a couple like McLain, Mudcat, Trillo, etc.
If you are looking for a certain player send me an email and I will try to work out a deal. Those jerseys that do not sell to friends and other collectors will be going to a major auction house. I will be talking to Chris about putting some in GUF's next auction. There are almost 80 jerseys, plus hats, helmets, jackets, photos, postcards, etc.
Once my collection is sold I am going to spend time assisting those who are less fortunate. Back in October I was asked to give the keynote address on Crisis Planning for the Caribbean Shipping Association in Paramaribo Suriname (Dutch Guyana if you were in school in the 70s and 80s) Suriname is teh 7th poorest company in the world, 2nd in this half of the earth. While I was there I spent three days at an orphanage where up to 150 children call home. The only "toy" they had was an old tire. They played with it, jumped over it, rolled it and sat in it. What amazed me most is that every kid in that orphanage had a smile on their face. Even the ones who were confined to a wheelchair. When I took them dum dum suckers from Defiance Ohio and Herseys chocolate they had never had candy in their lives. The look in there eyes and the chocolate on their shirts said it all. I took the headmistress and her two kids to lunch one day at the Marriott where I was staying. While I went to the restroom I came back and noticed not only were they reading the menus upside down, the head mistress, Ingrid was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she staed it was the first time in 54 years that she had ever eaten in a restaurant!!! If that is not a tearjerker I do not know what is. We are now getting a team back together and sending 12 guys back to Suriname to finish off a 9 room school and library for the children. If any forum member is interested in going please let me know.
Take care, enjoy your collection, have a very Merry Christmas and remember that we have it so much better than so many others. If you can throw and extra buck into a United Way bucket or make an extra donation this holiday season it will go a long way.
God Bless each and every one of you.
Your friend
Mark (Moustache Gang)
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
After 20+ years of collecting mostly Oakland A's McAuliffe Jerseys, I have decided to sell my collection. The choice was an easy one. I believe the Lord has a greater calling for me and it is past due time to part with the collection. I need to focus more on those who have less than my family and we have clearly been blessed a thousand times over.
As I look back at acquiring the collection and the people and players I met in this hobby, I can reflect on many great times. Going to about 7 or 8 Nationals, meeting Reggie, Rollie, Campy and Fosse, and the GUF board has been one of the top five things to ever grace our hobby. Chris and the other mods have built a strong educational tool that has assisted hundreds of collectors make informed decisions.
As for the collection I have some guys calling me about filling their want lists. There are some fantastic jerseys. The green Joe Rudi in which he makes the fabulous catch up against the wall in the '72 series. I also have the beautiful gold Bert Campaneris jersey where he is photographed by a famed SI photographer hitting a foul ball and Johnny Bench ripping off his mask. This jersey sat in an old A's ballboy's footlocker for over 34 years!! Many of the jerseys in my collection have never seen the inside of an auction house. Many of the jerseys come from some of the greatest A's collectors to ever strap and A's jersey on a hanger or mannequin including Dick Dobbins, Frank Fleizach and Stan Marks. If you are looking for a certain player I have just about every A's player except for a couple like McLain, Mudcat, Trillo, etc.
If you are looking for a certain player send me an email and I will try to work out a deal. Those jerseys that do not sell to friends and other collectors will be going to a major auction house. I will be talking to Chris about putting some in GUF's next auction. There are almost 80 jerseys, plus hats, helmets, jackets, photos, postcards, etc.
Once my collection is sold I am going to spend time assisting those who are less fortunate. Back in October I was asked to give the keynote address on Crisis Planning for the Caribbean Shipping Association in Paramaribo Suriname (Dutch Guyana if you were in school in the 70s and 80s) Suriname is teh 7th poorest company in the world, 2nd in this half of the earth. While I was there I spent three days at an orphanage where up to 150 children call home. The only "toy" they had was an old tire. They played with it, jumped over it, rolled it and sat in it. What amazed me most is that every kid in that orphanage had a smile on their face. Even the ones who were confined to a wheelchair. When I took them dum dum suckers from Defiance Ohio and Herseys chocolate they had never had candy in their lives. The look in there eyes and the chocolate on their shirts said it all. I took the headmistress and her two kids to lunch one day at the Marriott where I was staying. While I went to the restroom I came back and noticed not only were they reading the menus upside down, the head mistress, Ingrid was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she staed it was the first time in 54 years that she had ever eaten in a restaurant!!! If that is not a tearjerker I do not know what is. We are now getting a team back together and sending 12 guys back to Suriname to finish off a 9 room school and library for the children. If any forum member is interested in going please let me know.
Take care, enjoy your collection, have a very Merry Christmas and remember that we have it so much better than so many others. If you can throw and extra buck into a United Way bucket or make an extra donation this holiday season it will go a long way.
God Bless each and every one of you.
Your friend
Mark (Moustache Gang)
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
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