While I know that truly completing the Every Braves Rookie is not overly feasible, it is an incredible challenge that has provided me much joy. Hopefully this blog will bring a smile to your face and let you take a trip down memory lane.
Many of these cards are from beautiful sets, feature great heroes, and will bring back fond memories. Others are from dismal sets, feature loathsome goats, and will conjure up painful recollections of chances gone awry. More however, are somewhere in between.
Why am I creating this blog, you may ask? I don’t have a solid reason. For many years I have wanted to have some sort of lasting showcase of my collection that would endure beyond the pile of cards in my room. I tinkered with many different ideas, but I think a blog where others can share their memories and collections is the best idea I can come up with. I’d also like some way for future generations to share my passion.
Some inspiration is due to Scott Mortimer and his blog 83f.blogspot.com I think it’s an ingenious collection and a unique way to showcase it. I’m using a similar blogger template in homage to him.
I hope this blog will appeal to many demographics beyond Braves card junkies. The three groups I hope to appeal to:
1- Braves fans- cards capture the essence of baseball. Going through the set, I’m sure Braves fans will feel many memories rushing back- Seeing Pascual Matos’ rookie and remembering the game in ’99 he had an improbable winning RBI, recalling how scrawny Andruw was circa 1995, and countless other reminiscences
2- Card collectors- looking through some of the unforgettable/forgettable sets and cards of all time can be fun. Every collector can relate to searching and searching for that one final card you HAVE to have.
3- Everyone else- I believe it’s a natural human condition to collect, in one way or another, and to want that one desirable item, be it a nutcracker, baseball card, the perfect outfit, whatever. Each one of us can relate to scouring the globe for that one thing you have to have- and the joy of finding it
I hope you all enjoy reading about my voyage. I hope you all can relate to my passion and zeal!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Genesis
I started collecting in the early 90’s. I don’t know when or where it happened, but I was like any little kid collecting- I bought the cheapest stuff possible and paid no attention to condition. It was fun to open a pack.
The first card I ever remember “wanting” was a 1995 card of Marquis Grissom wearing a Braves uniform- he had just been acquired from Montreal. It was a ubiquitous beginning, but would lead to much greater depths.
For the next few years I would dabble in collecting. Occasionally picking up a pack of football cards, but almost universally sticking to low end baseball products- Score and Collector’s Choice were my poison.
The first true collecting I did was compiling the 1997 Score set. I had gotten a paper route and for the first time ever, had a decent income source. While the ’97 Score set will never be confused with a mediocre set, it was my passion. Once I got the Mike Grace #292 card to complete the set, life was good. I would pick up a few more sets over the next few years.
For years I weaved in and out of Chipper Jones collections. But as time went by, and cards became more scarce and expensive, compiling a widespread Chipper collection grew improbable. So many cards were very scarce and very valuable.
The genesis of Every Braves Rookie came about in the early 2000’s when I decided to collect every rookie card of the 1999 Atlanta Braves team. The ’99 team had always been my favorite. It was a scrappy bunch that overcame losing its cleanup hitter and closer to win over 100 games and make it to the World Series. Also it was the year Chipper won the MVP.
It took me a while, but with the 1998 Pacific Online Kevin Millwood, I had my set. Rather then rest on my laurels, I dove in to a new challenge- the 1995 team set, the year we won the World Series.
When this set became attainable, I moved on to a much broader goal- every player that had been a part of the Braves run of consecutive division titles. At the time I started this collection the streak was at 13 years- It would end a ear later, in 2005, at 14. For the first time there were players that I didn’t really know (Dan Petry and Rico Rossy, to name a few)- I didn’t start actively following the Braves until 1994 or so.
A few years passed, and it reached the point where I had every rookie from the set that I could reasonably acquire. I decided to move on to a much broader and intimidating set- Every rookie card of every player ever to play for the Atlanta Braves. Because the Braves started playing in Atlanta 20 years before I was born, and the first cards from this set were produced more than 50 years before I was born, and many cards hail from some of the most prestigious/rare sets ever created, completing the set would be a gargantuan test.
I decided to take on the challenge
An added bonus about collecting Every Braves Rookie is the fact that the checklist never stops growing. As soon as the Braves sign a player, complete a trade, or call a minor leaguer up, the checklist grows.
It’s a big task…hopefully you’ll enjoy my journey
The first card I ever remember “wanting” was a 1995 card of Marquis Grissom wearing a Braves uniform- he had just been acquired from Montreal. It was a ubiquitous beginning, but would lead to much greater depths.
For the next few years I would dabble in collecting. Occasionally picking up a pack of football cards, but almost universally sticking to low end baseball products- Score and Collector’s Choice were my poison.
The first true collecting I did was compiling the 1997 Score set. I had gotten a paper route and for the first time ever, had a decent income source. While the ’97 Score set will never be confused with a mediocre set, it was my passion. Once I got the Mike Grace #292 card to complete the set, life was good. I would pick up a few more sets over the next few years.
For years I weaved in and out of Chipper Jones collections. But as time went by, and cards became more scarce and expensive, compiling a widespread Chipper collection grew improbable. So many cards were very scarce and very valuable.
The genesis of Every Braves Rookie came about in the early 2000’s when I decided to collect every rookie card of the 1999 Atlanta Braves team. The ’99 team had always been my favorite. It was a scrappy bunch that overcame losing its cleanup hitter and closer to win over 100 games and make it to the World Series. Also it was the year Chipper won the MVP.
It took me a while, but with the 1998 Pacific Online Kevin Millwood, I had my set. Rather then rest on my laurels, I dove in to a new challenge- the 1995 team set, the year we won the World Series.
When this set became attainable, I moved on to a much broader goal- every player that had been a part of the Braves run of consecutive division titles. At the time I started this collection the streak was at 13 years- It would end a ear later, in 2005, at 14. For the first time there were players that I didn’t really know (Dan Petry and Rico Rossy, to name a few)- I didn’t start actively following the Braves until 1994 or so.
A few years passed, and it reached the point where I had every rookie from the set that I could reasonably acquire. I decided to move on to a much broader and intimidating set- Every rookie card of every player ever to play for the Atlanta Braves. Because the Braves started playing in Atlanta 20 years before I was born, and the first cards from this set were produced more than 50 years before I was born, and many cards hail from some of the most prestigious/rare sets ever created, completing the set would be a gargantuan test.
I decided to take on the challenge
An added bonus about collecting Every Braves Rookie is the fact that the checklist never stops growing. As soon as the Braves sign a player, complete a trade, or call a minor leaguer up, the checklist grows.
It’s a big task…hopefully you’ll enjoy my journey
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