11/05/24
May 04, 2005
The Almost Palpable Presence of the Past: Baseball Memory and Nostalgia at the End of the Century.
posted by jasonspaceman to baseball at 11:38 AM - 17 comments
Is this an okay spot to post my recently-scanned baseball card collection? Delete if not.
posted by scully at 01:58 PM on May 04, 2005
those are pretty sharp.
posted by gspm at 02:11 PM on May 04, 2005
Fuck you, terrapin. Those are awesome.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:24 PM on May 04, 2005
Nice link - thanks, jason. And those are some really cool cards, terrapin.
posted by mbd1 at 03:08 PM on May 04, 2005
terrapin: those are fantastic cards. I'd love to have one of "Home Run" Baker, but I think paying my mortgage might be a better use of the money. My dad has some hockey cards from the 1950s. I should get around to photographing them (I don't have a scanner).
posted by grum@work at 03:22 PM on May 04, 2005
Isn't this why they have a Hall of Fame? Y'know, that's an interesting question. Why do sports have Halls of Fame? Seems like other than providing for nostalgia, the historical record exists for old guys to tell young guys the sport's not as good as it used to be.
posted by yerfatma at 04:02 PM on May 04, 2005
Actually, what I always call the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is in fact The Hall of Fame and Museum. Personally, I find the "Hall" with the bronze plaques pretty boring. It's a very exclusive club, however, so kudos to all those enshrined. I spend much more time in the museum. That's the stuff I love. I love looking at old shoes, gloves, uniforms, etc., and reading about the game. And as far as the comment about old guys telling new guys the game's not as good anymore, well, I was in my late teens when I visited the Hall for the first time in the late 1970s, and I figured that out for myself just by looking at the uniforms. Sure, the newer Rawlings gloves made the old leather look antiquated. But they have team uniforms through the ages, and believe me, in the 1970s it was obvious even to a kid that the old buttoned-down flannels of the 1930s looked a helluva lot sharper and cooler than those butt-ugly 1975 polyester pull-overs that looked more like popsicle wrappers than baseball uniforms. The teams, of course, came around to their senses in the 90s and went back to the retro look after realizing there was a good reason why the Yankees hadn't changed uniforms in decades. And if baseball goes to aluminum bats, believe me, you'll be the first one telling your grandkids the same thing.
posted by the red terror at 05:28 PM on May 04, 2005
I didn't even have to click on the "garishly colored" link in the uniforms section to know that they were talking about the 1980s Astros.
posted by thewittyname at 06:12 PM on May 04, 2005
terrapin ... do you scan those or take a picture of them? I have a few from that era but not that many. They are mostly from the Brooklyn team (obviously). I would love to add these to my collection. Speaking of older cards, this is very interesting.
posted by jasonspaceman at 09:32 PM on May 04, 2005
the red terror (can I call you red for short? ;-)): Sure, the newer Rawlings gloves made the old leather look antiquated. But they have team uniforms through the ages, and believe me, in the 1970s it was obvious even to a kid that the old buttoned-down flannels of the 1930s looked a helluva lot sharper and cooler than those butt-ugly 1975 polyester pull-overs that looked more like popsicle wrappers than baseball uniforms. You would have gotten along famously with my dear ol' departed father, who was old enough to have seen those buttoned-down flannels live and in person. We watched a lot of Yankee baseball on WPIX in the '70s, and whenever a team with an "updated" uniform would show up, Dad would say in a tone of disgust, "Look at those softball uniforms!" thewittyname: I didn't even have to click on the "garishly colored" link in the uniforms section to know that they were talking about the 1980s Astros. Hahahaha...that is exactly the uniform that came to my mind too. I just about bust a gut after I clicked on that link.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:49 PM on May 04, 2005
Goddamn, Terrapin, those make my heart stop in a good way. You are now the person I know with the most awesome collection.
posted by Joey Michaels at 03:56 AM on May 05, 2005
"Look at those softball uniforms!" But he wasn't wrong. Maybe it's just a sense of taste, because I can't stand a number of current uniforms, mainly those from Florida. On the other hand, the brown Padres uniforms of yore are awesome.
posted by yerfatma at 06:03 AM on May 05, 2005
Ugly is the new chic.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:59 AM on May 05, 2005
jasonspaceman: My wife scanned them at 300dpi on our inexpensive Canon flatbed. I took the PSD files and did an auto-contrast and auto-levels and then resized them for the web. The high-res scans are HUGE. We plan to catalog everything soon, which will make it easier to read the names etc (we have the backs of the cards scanned as well). The cards had been in a safe deposit box for about 20 years. We took them out for 2 days exclusively to scan them before returning them. While this collection is now in my hands, it will always be my grandfather's in my mind. I love imagining him collecting these as a child (he would have been about 12-14 at the time). From the condition they are in, he must have treated them very well even as a child. There are only a few that are beat up or damaged. And while I used PhotoShop to bring out the colours, they really are that bright and shiny. Thanks for indulging me, folks. Ufez asked me to tell him when I scanned them, and I did post in that very old thread. Thanks for giving me the chance to share my grandfather's childhood cards.
posted by scully at 08:00 AM on May 05, 2005
Ugly is the new chic. I'm leaving for America's Next Supermodel on Tuesday.
posted by yerfatma at 09:17 AM on May 05, 2005
BTW I got around to adding notes identifying all the players. I included any other information I could (time-consuming task) including which brand cigarettes, and "notable" players on the page. Notable is relative to those who jog my memory. ;)
posted by scully at 01:10 PM on May 07, 2005
Site sez baseball fans like nostalgia and collecting things. Not exactly a revelation, but interesting all the same. Isn't this why they have a Hall of Fame?