The Grail? Grail-ish?

 

The Holy Grail card.

            Or simply the Grail card.

            The one card that each collector has marked out there as the one card they want for their collection. The essential card. Some have it already. Some will seek it forever. Some revel in its illusiveness. And others are driven mad by that very fact.

            Some collectors have multiple grail cards.

            And what torturous lives they must live.

            I think by now we all know what the actual Holy Grail is. If you don’t here’s a primer. The Holy Grail is (mostly) perceived as a chalice and/or cup with healing powers, as far reaching in its power as eternal youth. The Grail remains hidden in the Grail castle where it is protected by the Fisher King. The Grail became associated with Jesus Christ in the 12^th century by its depiction in Robert de Boron’s painting Joseph d’Arimathie, in which the Grail is portrayed as Jesus’ vessel from the Last Supper, used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch Jesus’ blood at his crucifixion.

            Thank you, Wikipedia.

            Most of us know The Grail as a holy vessel lost by Junior “Indiana” Jones in the 3^rd installment of that seemingly never-ending movie series.

            Although he did keep it from the Nazis.

            And can’t you tell how “excited” I am by the prospect of a new Indiana Jones movie.

            But I digress.

            For the purposes of this blog post, I’m going to view The Grail card in collecting as that singular card each and every collector wants for their collection. Yes, you may have five or ten other cards that you desperately want…but this is the card. The card you’d sell of your house to get. Your pets. Your spouse. Your children. The card you’d sell off your entire collection for, just to bask in its glory each and every day of your life…until the sports card Fisher King finds you and takes the card back to its proper home.

            For me, my Grail card is…this?

            …or is it?

            I’ve certainly looked it each and every day I’ve had the chance, since I purchased the 1963 Topps Willie Stargell rookie. 

            I keep it perched right here on my desk. 

            I often stop what I’m doing to just look at it and smile. The Stargell rookie is a card I wanted from the time I was a kid. I often pined for it at card shows, as it looked back at me under heavy card show showcase glass. It’s a card I felt destined to purchase when I got back into the Hobby in 2019. My coming to it recently is a very dull story: It was there. It was affordable. Blah, blah, blah…something about a union contract and money owed.

            But is it a grail card?

            Can a 1963 Willie Stargell rookie card be the Grail card for me…as long as this card exists.

            I’ve been a Willie Stargell fan my whole life. I was lucky enough to see him play in his last few years of baseball.

            I collect his cards.

            The rookie card is the final piece of that puzzle.

            I have his autograph.

            Before I purchased the rookie card, I already had this picture shining down on me during writing mornings.

            A Willie Stargell rookie card should take its rightful place as my Grail card.

            But…this…

            When I was a young collector and baseball fan, Roberto Clemente was already a legend. His exploits on the field, almost myth-like. His humanitarian efforts and the sacrifice of his life, almost saintly. Owning a Stargell card as a kid, not his rookie, think late 70s/early 80s cards, was a tangible. Owning ANYTHING Roberto Clemente was an impossibility. I didn’t own a single Roberto Clemente card until the waning days of my early collecting life, when I was sixteen or seventeen, and had a part-time job at the Pittsburgh Pirates Clubhouse in the Monroeville Mall. And even at that, they were the last few cards of Clemente’s playing days.

            I’ve since managed a few more, imcluding my favorite.

            When I got back into collecting in 2019, a Willie Stargell rookie card seemed tangible.

            A 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente card seems as illusive to me at 49 as it was when I was 10, 11 or 12.

            It’s the true Grail card for me.

            That’s not to say I’m not beyond happy and excited by this 1963 Topps Willie Stargell rookie card. It’s not in too bad of shape. There’s a little bit of wear on the right side. There’s a small stain under Jim Gosger’s face. Otherwise, I’m not complaining.

            And who are those other guys on the card with Pops Stargell?

            Starting on the upper left, we have outfielder Brock Davis. 

            Davis was a perennial cup-of-coffee guy in the big leagues, if we can have such a thing. He played six seasons, spanning from 1963-1972 (Houston, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Brewers), with his biggest season being 1971, when Brock Davis saw himself get into 106 games. He has the distinction of appearing on a rookie card in 1971, a full eight seasons after appearing on the 1963 card with Willie Stargell.

            To Mr. Davis’ right we have outfielder/first baseman Jim Gosger. 

            Gosger played ten seasons in the big leagues, splitting his time between five teams, including, for all you Pilots collectors out there, the almost-famous Seattle Pilots for part of 1969.

Gosger saw the bulk of his action in 1967, when he made it into 134 games for the Kansas City Athletics.

On the bottom left of the card, we have outfielder John Herrnstein. 

Herrnstein played a total of five season in the Major Leagues, mostly in Philadelphia, with his last season (1966) divided between Philly, Chicago (Cubs) and finally Atlanta. Herrnstein’s most substantial season came in 1964, when he managed to get into 125 games for the Phillies. And…he gets the distinction of appearing on a 1964 Rookie Stars Phillies card with another legendary player you might recognize.

For me, this means one day I hope to own TWO John Herrnstein rookie cards.

           So, what is a Grail card? If the 1963 Willie Stargell can’t do it for me, and I continue to pin away for that 1955 Roberto Clemente card…then I don’t know. Maybe I’m one of those collectors who aren’t happy unless there’s something illusive out there, just beyond my grasp. I should take that back though. The part about the card not “doing it” for me. That’s dumb. That was a dumb thing to write. A 1963 Topps Rookie card of Willie Stargell isn’t a 1955 Topps Rookie Roberto Clemente. But the card means the world to me. The little kid collector in me is smiling.

Perhaps this post should’ve been about wish fulfillment.

Because THAT’s what this Stargell card is.

And wishes get filled so infrequently.

 Thanks for reading! Happy Collecting!

NEXT FRIDAY: Though you may recognize all of them…we’re going to discuss some “forgotten” players out there in the collecting world.