Featured autograph - Jack Nicklaus

The golfing icon supposedly signed my two cards in black Sharpie - this was a request I sent early in the year and got back as part of the mail that piled up when I wasn't home for 5 months.

This was one of those requests where I assume someone of his stature and age doesn’t bother with actually going through his mail - but I took a chance in case the autographs might be the real deal compared to being an Autopen or a ghost signer.

Rest in Peace Kobe Bryant 1978-2020

I'm not going to mention every person that passes on and the idea of death is inevitably awkward, but it does seem to mean a little bit more when someone relatively notable passes like professional athlete or celebrity - maybe because they are in the spotlight and as far as Kobe goes, someone who was supposed to be larger than life.

A player's untimely passing makes me think for a moment about the times I've objectified these players as performers on the field, generating statistics I pore over on a day-to-day basis and guys whose autographs I have or don't have in my collection - at the end of the day, professional athletes are just like anybody else with their own lives.

I never collected his cards seriously or actually got his autograph in-person and maybe the closet thing I got from him was a glare when trying to take his picture leaving a baseball game with family - Kobe was the biggest deal for the longest time, even through his mess ups and feuds with a notable teammate on his own.

$1 Michael Jordan baseball card finds x2

Jordan is the iconic professional athlete of my time and while his dalliance with professional baseball seemed to be a novelty - Upper Deck tried to ensure a little crossover appeal [not that he needed it] for the sporting icon, inserting an MJ batting practice card [SP1] into 1991 Upper Deck packs.

Jordan would step away from the NBA to play one season of minor league baseball in 1994 and while there were other licensed Jordan minor league cards - his Upper Deck baseball cards always looked the best, even as the one time Chicago White Sox farmhand hit only .202 with 3 home runs in 436 official at-bats.