Blog Bat Around: Collections

A couple blogs I follow have posted a blog at around. Each bat around has a topic that various bloggers each write about. This is a great idea to add content to blogs. 

This edition of the bat around is discussing our collections. Obviously, my main concern is collecting Chicago Cubs baseball cards. All of them. No Cubs card will be turned down. Currently, my Cubs baseball card collection is around 100,000 cards. Yes, there are duplicates. This week's goal is to get an estimated card count by eyeballing the 5,000 and 3,200 count boxes to more accurately bring you updates.

I also collect many things Cub. Before my collecting focus turned to hoarding baseball cards I was obtaining autographed baseballs of former and current Cubs players.

One of my walls features six cabinets that hold 40 baseballs (in cubes) each. The wall has signed baseballs from players as long ago as Andy Pafko, Phil Cavarretta, and Billy Herman, to youngsters Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber, Eloy Jimenez, and Gleyber Torres.

I ran out of room on the wall after 240 autographed baseballs and have some overflow. These 10 baseballs sandwich a signed Wisconsin Badgers basketball featuring autographs of Barry Alvarez, and basketball coaches Greg Gard, Howard Moore, and Joe Krabbenhoft.

Behind baseball cards and signed baseballs, my biggest Cubs collection is bobbleheads. There are a total of 19 in my collection. Only two of them were obtained in person. The Jorge Soler Bobblehead is always a talking point with my wife. We got to Wrigley Field 90 minutes early and sat in 95 degree heat in direct sunlight in the bleachers to not only see the Cubs lose, but get no-hit for the first time in 50 years. She didn't appreciate the history like I did. 

I can't pass up a good memorabilia deal like these Mike Olt game used cleats. Hey, I've spent $40 on worse.

Then there are unique documents. This signed letter from Cubs Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Brickhouse was inside a collection of scrapbooks that was given to me.

And Robert Eyler was a child actor that appeared in Leave It to Beaver. He also played in the Cubs minor league system. I purchased this scrapbook that features letters he wrote his parents (on hotel letterhead) from the road, some photos, and even minor league contracts.

My centerpiece is a game used base from the 2017 National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field. This is 2nd base, where my favorite player Javier Baez started. This is also a talking point with my wife when I give her the side eye for buying eight coffee table books in one shopping trip: "You bought a dirty base." 

So, I don't just hoard Cubs baseball cards. I collect everything Cubs!