Baseball memories

For the better part of the past two days, I have been cleaning out my closet in an effort to create more space around the house. Needless to say, my wife is excited about this. First, I cleared out a decade's worth of media guides -- mostly NBA. But I also took the time to edit my baseball card collection. I had done this once before, back in 2001. That was no fun. I was moving back to New York from Charlotte, N.C., and there simply was not enough room for everything.

I started collecting when I was 10. My father told me all the stories of how his mother threw away his cards, which he claimed would have been a small fortune back in 1985. I'm pretty certain that had something to do with why I never wanted to give up any card. Maybe I saw value in everything, but that's too much like watching where you walk so you don't accidentally step on an ant.

Anyhow, I would say I am well on my way to cutting my collection to half. And yes, there were times I had to stop and remind myself certain cards needed to be let go.

Before you ask, no, I'm not trashing the cards. Anything of actual (not my perceived) value either is or will be on eBay in the coming days. Whatever doesn't sell I will likely donate to someone.

At any rate, sifting through the thousands of cards made me think of so many baseball memories from my life. You know what I'm talking about. Did you ever have a card that brought back a game you watched or heard? Maybe a chance meeting with a player?

Since this is a Defenders blog, I need to tie things together...

I grabbed a handful of cards, which all turned out to be 50 or so rookie/prospect cards. Not one of them played a full season in the majors. I thought about all of the hype, yet coming up short of the Big League dream. I'm sure as baseball fans there are more than a few names and faces that come to mind when you think of what could have been, what might have been and where are they now.

Sure, for the Defenders playing baseball is a job. It is also childhood. That's what makes the game so great. It's not like computers in that five years later they are outdated. Baseball is baseball.

Enjoy watching these guys play. You don't know where they will be in five years or even tomorrow. One day you'll sit around and ask yourself, "What ever happened to ...?"