Even as I’ve grown through my college years, my mother still preaches an adage that many have likely heard before: That which is earned is appreciated much more than what’s simply given to you. It’s true, isn’t it?
When I was a boy, my father was a sports memorabilia collector, particularly of baseball cards. I remember going to trade shows, or going up to a shop and him buying several boxes of cards. Opening those packs was like Christmas to me, the mystery and anticipation of getting the big ones. Still, at the end of the day, I might be given one here or there, but I knew they were his to keep. It’s just not quite the same, really.
As a sports fan, and more of a baseball fan than anything else growing up, I had favorite batters or pitchers I idolized much like any kid (before steroids and their abuse became apparent recently, at least). One player encompassed everything I loved about the sport though: Ken Griffey Jr., or “The Kid.” It wasn’t just that I was also left-handed and other southpaws have fewer heroes like him; the swing, the athleticism, and those defensive plays out in the AstroTurf of the Kingdome are forever etched in my mind.
Like all kids, I also went through the process of learning to tie my shoes, how to swim, things of that nature. I probably received some forgettable reward for some of those, I’m sure. Learning to ride a bicycle is another one of those “growing up” learning experiences, but this one was special. The reward my dad presented to me after I did? A 1989 Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card.
Lots of scraped knees and probably some crying (insert your own Tom Hanks and crying in baseball allusion here) went into getting that card. Later that summer, I got that card, and it was truly a gem in my small trove of sports treasures.
The card is so memorable for a number of reasons, and not just for me. The card has a certain aura to it in the sports memorabilia world, and that’s partially due to its value. That No. 1 card in the ’89 set can fetch as much as several hundred dollars on the market if graded pristine.
Regardless, value was never what made the card so precious to me as a youth. Years later, I have several more valuable cards, and other awesome pieces of memorabilia that I’ve acquired. That Griffey Jr. card wasn’t one that I pulled out of a pack my dad bought and handed to me. I earned that card, much like “The Kid” earned a place in all of our hearts and minds as fans. You can’t sell memories like that on Ebay.