Rookies, Rookies, Everywhere...and Not a Drop to Drink

 

I’m wondering if it’s all our fault.

            I don’t blame Generation X for much. I don’t want to go into cultural stereotypes or touchstones here about this generation vs. that. There are plenty of other, way better, sources out there closely examining the cultural zeitgeist. But it is safe to say that Generation X has kind of taken, maybe sort of is fostering, a backseat, laissez faire attitude toward the culture at hand. While the Boomers try to hold onto their last grasps of power, and Millennials and Generation Z try to take it away from them; Generation X seems content to kick back (yes, I’m obviously generalizing here), and let it all play out as it may.

            Besides…we’ve already done our damage.

            For proof, I gave you exhibit A.

            And exhibit B.

            (no…I don’t own a 1984 Donruss Mattingly card)

            Generation X might not be up to much politically or culturally these days, but if I try to pinpoint the generation who pushed The Hobby full force into Rookie Card Mania, I don’t need to look much further than us folks born between the years 1965-1980. We’re the ones responsible. We’re the reason The Hobby has been this way for almost forty years now. We’ve caused the bother. We’ve caused the pandemonium exhibited with every card release. We’re the reason you fly by every other card in a pack, looking for some twenty-one-year-old kid who batter .215 last season, but has tons of potential.

            I offer you exhibit C.

            (no...I don't own that one either)

            When I was twelve-year-old that Canseco card sold for $25 or more at card shows, when you could still pull it out of a pack. I didn’t know much about Jose Canseco in 1986, but you can bet I knew a ton about that card and coveted it as much as every other kid I knew who collected. We wanted the Canseco card. We wished there was a Wally Joyner card. We wanted Bo before Bo knew anything about anything, and that included hitting the ball for better than a .207 batting average. The ’86 Donruss Canseco was indicative of what The Hobby was becoming in 1986, what those ’84 Mattingly cards had popped off two years before. And its indicative of what The Hobby still is today.

Rookie-mania.

I offer you exhibit D from the crazy heyday of the Junk Wax Era.

All going to be worth a ton.

None of them worth much raw.

Not a Hall of Famer amongst them.

And even though their careers are said and done, I still get a twinge of excitement whenever I see their cards, or open their cards if I chance upon a pack of Topps from 1987.

I’m conditioned to.

Is it unfair to blame Generation X for the prominence of rookie cards in The Hobby? Yes...and no. Adult forces controlled The Hobby when I was a kid. Adults ran the major card companies. I bought cards from adults at my drug store, LCSs, and card shows. If you want to get technical, me and my ilk were hapless, helpless consumers at the mercy of the capitalist marketplace.

But…

We were the ones collecting the cards. We were the ones placing value on young players based on their performance, and the promise of their performance. We were the ones flying by late career cards of Mike Schmidt, Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton, hoping that Pete Incaviglia card was somewhere at the back of the pack...and not ruined by a gum or wax stain. We were the ones putting Corey Snyder cards in penny sleeves and top loaders having never seen him take a swing at the plate.

But…

Generation X was the first generation to experience the sports card Hobby truly explode. To you folks who began collecting in the 1960s, 1970s, and earlier…I know, I know; I’m extrapolating a lot here. I know you had your cards. I know you probably coveted a rookie here and there. I know you met with other collectors, traded with other collectors, and maybe even attended a card show here and there. And I’m not discounting that. But there’s a vast difference between how collecting was presented in the 1970s and the mania I witnessed during my youth.

It's weird to put it into words now, because of how prevalent the rookie card is in The Hobby. The excitement was palpable back then. The anticipation of the hunt was real. Wanting cards for players, and this is the 1980s here, that you most likely were never going to see play live OR on TV. And that (minus the access to games) has continued for forty years.

And we didn’t even have parallel and short print cards.

But we had a 1985 Doc.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at the big letdown amongst many card collectors when Topps released the checklist for 2022’s series 2. No Witt Jr? No J-Rod? No Torkleson? Fuck YOU Topps! 

****Yes, I know Topps put SPs of Torkleson, Rodriguez and Witt J in series two....and if Blogger had an eyeroll emoji I'd use it....I don't like SPs...that said, to be COMPLETELY hypocritical, I'm opening a Hobby Box of Series 2 and if I pull one of those SPs, I'd gladly trade it to someone who has a 2022 Heritage SP of Oneil Cruz.****

There are YouTube videos literally railing against the release, and some calling it the worst ever. I’m not yet willing to say that about a set that’s going to have some Pirates I’m excited for, and Yordan Alvarez’s base card in it.

But it’s his third-year card…so what do I know?

Look, I like rookie cards. I keep rookie cards.

See?

I even collect rookie cards

    

Nothing can separate me from me and my Vlady rookies.

But you know what? I prefer his 2020 card more.

I think it’s neat-o that Topps places an emphasis on rookie cards. I find it humorous that the RC logo gets us all wild to the point where we even argue about its placement on said card. I still like the promise inherent in rookie cards, even though I’m well-versed in the burn. And, boy, can you get burned more these days than you ever could when I was a kid. Yeah, some dope might’ve shelled out $50 for that ’86 Canseco. But what about the collector who shelled out $150 for the Evan White auto card from last year?

What about that poor schmuck?

It just surprises me, at times, that the rookie card still takes up so much space in The Hobby. Especially with all of the other bells and whistles attached. You might not be getting a J-Rod or Witt Jr. rookie card in Series 2…but you can still hunt for their autos. Maybe, as a collector, I should be excited that people are still so passionate about base cards. Even if they are rookie base cards. It gives me hope as a collector that people still care about base cards.

Or…

It's about the parallel cards…isn’t it?

The…goddamned…parallel cards.

I meant what I said about being excited for Yordan’s base card in Series 2. Manny Machado is in Series 2. So are Ozzie Albies, Cody Bellinger and Bryan Reynolds. Just to name a few. That’s some exciting young talent. More so if the real Cody Bellinger ever shows up again. As a Pirates fan, the Rookie Cards in Series 2 are actually pretty sweet: Oneil Cruz and Roansy Contreras look like cornerstones of the franchise in the years to come. There’s even a Pirates rookie card for some player named Connor Overton…whom I don’t even remember.

Maybe because he pitched all of 8 innings for the Pirates last year...and doesn't even play for them anymore.

And that’s a point of contention that I do have with rookie cards. There are 57 rookie cards in Series 2. That’s 57 cards out of 330 cards. Add that to all of the stupid team cards and combo cards Topps adds, and that a pretty big chunk of your base product right there. Yeah, rookie cards are cool, but if a rookie card ends up taking the place of a player who maybe more deservedly should have a base card, than some twenty-year-old prospect who played in two games; well…that’s where I’m decidedly not for the rookie card.

That’s where I draw the line on the big RC.

And for the record...those Oneil Cruz and Roansy Contreras rookie cards I'm looking forward to? They only played in a couple of games last year as well.

***That said, I would gladly trade someone the Nolan Ryan or Mookie Betts seen here for the 2022 Heritage SP of Oneil Cruz***

If Generation X caused this focus in The Hobby…then I’m truly sorry. I kid, I kid. I don’t really blame Generation X for the state of The Hobby. The lack of involvement in politics? Sure…I blame Generation X. As for The Hobby…it’s all fun. Enjoy the rookie cards, I say. But don’t forget about all of the cool base cards for star players, or team players that you root for in any released set. Those are the cards that are going to mean more going forward. They’re the ones that hold the memories for me, and the ones that are making the new memories.

I might not be getting a Julio Rodriguez in Series 2 (enough with the J-Rod shit).

But I’m getting my first Michael Chavis card in a Pirates uniform.

And that’s pretty cool.

Now…excuse me while I go on ComC and get me that that ’84 Donruss Mattingly I always wanted.

 

Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!

 

NEXT FRIDAY: We do the inevitable…we talk 2022 Topps Series 2.