Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The "What If" question is answered

Half a year ago I asked the question of What if...?   What if I took 20 sports cards and treated them like I might have when I was in elementary school for the summer?


And now I know.


I didn't do everything a school aged kid might do.  I didn't draw on them.  I didn't put them in the spokes of my bike.  But I did carry them around with me everywhere I went.  Weddings?  Check.  Funerals?  Yep.  Work.  Church.  The store.  Ball games.  Concerts.  Everywhere.

I mostly kept them in my left front pocket.  I also started to keep my keys in that same pocket.  And Brandon Belt was near the top of the stack on most days.  I didn't pull them out every day at lunch and try to memorize the stats.  I just didn't.

Bartolo Colon was at the bottom of the stack.  I went through five rubber bands during the course of the summer.  The late 1980s Topps cards seemed to get flimsier.  They stayed in the middle of the stack.  The more modern Topps cards, also near the middle of the stack, fared rather well.  Tim Federowicz's name wore right off the front of his card.  The last picture of the bunch is designed to show the side wear.

Here are some closer photos of some of the cards.










Now the researcher in me wants to try the same thing on a bunch of Good/Very Good cards from the middle of each decade.  I don't have the time nor patience to give that a go.

For now I think that I might just keep the stack in my pocket and see what happens at opening day, 2015.

6 comments:

  1. That's some dedication, sir. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a project. Poor Brandon Belt has seen better days. I like the Opening Day plan.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Just don't "forget" to take them out of your pocket and let them get washed or dry cleaned!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Late to the game, but that is an excellent little project. Mark, yours is the very first card blog I ever stumbled across, and happily you pointed me in the direction of Cards-R-Fun in Nashville. Thanks!

    P.S. - You maintain Got It. Got It. Need It., correct? That's a pretty handy tool. I'd like to throw my hat in the ring if you don't mind. My five are 1. Jeff Bagwell 2. All other Houston Astros/Colt .45s 3. Bill Mazeroski 4. Nolan Ryan 5. 1974 Topps

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, and my blog is over at http://remembertheastrodome.blogspot.com Thanks!

      Delete