Going Back In Time and Still Loving Collecting Sports Cards
By Peter Gerken
In life there are very few moments when you get a sincere opportunity to revisit your youth. Travel back in time to relive something that you really enjoyed when you were young and life couldn’t be any more simple.
I had this opportunity this past Sunday when I attended my first baseball card show at the Westchester County Center in over 20 years.
I got my first pack of baseball cards in 1983. The pack of baseball cards my parents bought me was from the 1983 Topps Set. I remember getting a Bobby Murcer and Tom O’Malley card. Murcer’s name you might know from his playing days and broadcasting years with the New York Yankees. O’Malley was a journeyman ballplayer who was never a starter but did end his baseball career with the Mets.
From the moment I received my first set of cards I was hooked. I loved reading the back of cards almost more than seeing the pictures. I collected cards for the next nine years and built up a solid collection, in my mind. Several times a year I attended the Gloria Rothstein’s cards shows at Yonkers Raceway and the Westchester County Center.
I stopped collecting when I started high school but I saved the cards that were in mint condition; the others found the garbage. Sadly, somehow I threw out the cards from my first pack.
Going to the card show this past Sunday was like traveling back in time. I felt like a kid in the candy store looking at all the cards and memorabilia. I could have spent 10 hours looking all the merchandise on sale.
Some of the interesting things that caught my eye as interesting were the following: Don Zimmer and Billy Martin cards in their playing days, a boxing card of a boxer name Knock Out Brown, a picture of Al Capone’s mug shots, 1960’s copies of Sports Illustrated, Elvis trading cards, Brooklyn Dodgers yearbooks and a New York Mets yearbook with Joe Torre on the cover.
There were so many different types of sports memorabilia on sale it would take too long to list. I did make a few purchases and had a great time conversing with the vendors, who mostly weren’t from the Westchester area, about their collections.
I did get to meet Goose Gossage and interview him about the Yankees and playing baseball. We had a nice conversation about relief pitchers and how the Baseball Hall of Fame needs to recognize more of them, like Lee Smith.
It’s nice to escape sometimes in life and take a step back from our every day work, choirs and do something that you haven’t done in awhile. For me, being around people who still cherish baseball cards like me put a big smile on my face and I’m already looking forward to the next show in March
Basketball Notes
This past week the White Plains Boys team picked up another two wins. They beat Scarsdale 53-49 and Gorton 63-37. Akeem Williams led the Tigers with 23 points against Scarsdale. Anthony Williams was the top scorer against Gorton with 24 points.
The Good Council Academy Cougars split a couple of games last week. They beat St. Vincent Ferrer 48-41. In that game sophomore Johanna Levine had 18 points and freshman Cassie Williamson finished with seven.
The Cougars lost to Preston 48-31.
Peter Gerken is a Westchester County native and has published previously with The Patent Trader and the Bronxville Review Press. While attending Boston College he was the sports editor of the university’s newspaper, The Heights, and served as a staff writer for the Boston College sports publication Eagle Action. He can be reached at pgerken@theexaminernews.com.
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