Why do you collect?

[Manram]

Re: Why do you collect?

I collect because my love for the game and having game used items makes me feel like I am really close to the game.

[dcgreg25]

Re: Why do you collect?

Some really fascinating and touching answers on this thread.

For me there are several answers to this question, many of which have already been touched on. I grew up going to Indians and Browns games at the old Cleveland Stadium with my dad so there is a definite connection to my childhood and my father (a common theme).

At the same time, I am a big sports fan and am fascinated by the thrill of the hunt tracking down items to add to my collection. Collecting GU items is a welcome escape/distraction and I get great pleasure in displaying my items and meeting interesting new people through the hobby.

[geoff]

Re: Why do you collect?

I love BaseBall And grew up on The Game And when I found out about Game Used Collecting back in 2005 And found this Forum I was Hooked.Plus I played BaseBall for 16 Years.BaseBall is something me And my Father always had in Common.He Collects Tobacco BaseBall Cards to this Day and we still talk BaseBall all The Time.I love going to Games and Game Used Items are a Big Part of The Game in my Eyes and always Study What a Player is using on TV or at The Stadium.


Thanks
Geoff

[metsbats]

Re: Why do you collect?

Collecting to me is a way to preserve personal memories. It give me a connection to a significant event or era by having a tangible artifact.

[karamaxjoe]

Re: Why do you collect?

Why do I collect? Because I woke up one morning about 20 years ago with a job, wife and three little kids and I REALLY needed a diversion from lifes many responsibilities. My collection takes me back to a more simple time.

[otismalibu]

Re: Why do you collect?

Just trying to do my part in the preservation of cool.

[corsairs22]

Re: Why do you collect?

I love baseball, just about every part of it. But the bat collecting is clearly connected to my family. When I was a boy, almost 40 years ago, my grandfather died and I was cleaning out his basement and found some old bats. I cleaned one up, and it was a big old bat with the name of a dead ball star on it. I wrote to Louisville Slugger describing it, and Jack McGrath wrote back saying it was a pro model, ordered for the player's personal use. That bat, and the couple of others that I found there, give me a personal connection to my grandfather and remain my favorite possessions. Then about 20 years ago, I had the chance to buy some bats of pre-war players that my father followed when he was a kid. These bats, too, are among my favorites. My collection has expanded to other players' bats, but there's something of that Shoeless Joe / Field of Dreams / fathers and sons stuff going on there.

[Dewey2007]

Re: Why do you collect?

Sweet photo of the Doctor making a house call !!

Just trying to do my part in the preservation of cool.

[brianborsch]

Re: Why do you collect?

I collect because of the plain goodness of the game of baseball. The wooden bats and the outdoor settings. The fact that you will never see the same exact thing happen twice. The pure mathematics of the game and how it is so perfect: The dimensions and schematics of the field and bases. Collecting brings me closer to this ever special sport.

[suicide_squeeze]

Re: Why do you collect?

Nicely done... On a side note... I have played baseball on the field of dreams field... it still stands in Dyersville, Iowa...

when I was there, there was some 16 year old kid pitching, and just random people playing... when a 5 year got his turn at bat the 16 year old lobbed it to him and we all threw the ball away like 5 times for an infield home run, the kid never stopped grinning... when I got up the 16 year old rared back and gave me everything he had... I am glad to say my ball sailed into the corn... Very very cool place

Bert,

You just gave me a great idea for a late summer field trip/mini vacation.

Is it privately owned?.....or is it open to the public? Do they charge admission? What's the situation over ther in regards to seeing it?

I suppose I could google it and find some info, but it would be nice hearing from someone who's been there.

Thanks,

Steve

[cledawgs]

Re: Why do you collect?

For the love of the Orange and Brown!

Browns Fan since 1971.....

[cordovacollector]

Re: Why do you collect?

I collect purely out of wanting to be closer to the action. The bats, the gloves, and the jerseys bring me closer to a game where I have never been able to dream of reaching Big Leagues.

Sadly, despite my collection, people constantly remind me - whether they mean to or not - that I am a second-class citizen and that I am inferior, because I am female.

This makes collecting a double-edged sword. I love to collect, but I constantly ask myself "why". Why not find a pastime where women are equals, where sexism isn't so rampant, and where I actually can dream?

Even though baseball seems like a dead end, I still collect out of a love of a sport where I am never truly an equal participant. I try to stop collecting baseball, but I still do love the game.

Frikativ!!!!

This is the first time on the board that I learned you are one of the Favored Few!!!!! Female baseball collectors!!! Liz is on here too!

We love baseball just as much, we have just as fine of an eye for collectible GU treasures, and I am sure we all share the same longing that we could have lived during the times of the AAGPBBL!

SOME DAY women's baseball will be vibrant again. I even believe it will be an Olympic event. I it will take a catallist though ... someone similar to a BIlly Jean King to women's tennis.

I have always loved it that I grew up in a small town without Little League. If we had Little League I couldn't play. And since I was in high school pre-Title 9, we ha NO sports we could play. Although, during GAA (Girls Athletic Club) after school we could play half-court women's basket ball ... but only on a half court. That meant we played sideways on the court.

Your should move to Minnesota and be a Twins fan. Historically, over half of all attendance is female ... MORE women than men at the games!

And as a GU collector, here in MN who happens to be female, some years I felt like the Pied Piper will all the adoring adolescent boys following me around and listening with stars in their eye to the WOMAN who would teach the the secrets (the men wouldn't) of where to get the best autographs, the polite ettiquette to use that will help you get better autographs, introducing the little guys to the players....

And then to have the joy to see those little guys return to a game as grown college students or men, come down to you seat to find you to tell you thank you. And some even come to introduce their wives. And while they were little kids, their parents and grandparent always knew that if that "Old Lady Baseball Collector" was around, their kids would be safe and certainly would not be misbehaving or getting in trouble. I used to have one young baseball fan that sat in centerfield with his mom for every home game. Every single game from the time I met him of around the age of 6, he would get up from front row centerfield, climb to the top of the Dome, run all the way over to my section over the on-deck circle visitors side, run all the way down to my first row ...... just to say Hello. I felt like a queen ....

I LOVE being a female baseball GU collector. I love being a female former baseball player. I tolerated playing softball occassionally with that big fallutin' thing they called a ball. But as a person .....

I LOVE BASEBALL AND EVERY ASPECT OF COLLECTING!

[Swoboda4]

Re: Why do you collect?

Otismalibu,if you want to collect cool you should be digging this:



Can you dig this match-up? I know you can:


You know: