Erasing history

I've certainly gone through some moments that I wish I could erase from memory.

Sports included. Alex Gonzalez bobbling an easy double play ball in the '03 NLCS. The fact that Milton Bradley was ever a Cub, etc.

I would never go as far as defacing a baseball card, though.

I can't say the same for the previous owner of this piece of cardboard. I can only assume that a kid was responsible for this. Erasing a guy's face off a baseball card just seems especially kid-like.

All I can say is that someone out there must've really hated Steve Carlton. (From a few things I've read about him, I'd assume that the previous owner wasn't the only one.)

I snagged this one from a discount bin at the flea market last year, mainly because I'm always up for a card that's good for a laugh.

This card also fits in with my "condition threshold" post. I'd take an upgrade if I could find a cheap one, but I'm satisfied with this one for the time being.

It certainly stands out from all my other Steve Carlton cards.

While the Carlton might be good for a laugh, this is the type of card that makes me genuinely proud to be a baseball card collector.

For one thing, it's the only card I own of Bob Uecker from his playing days. I plucked it from the same fifty-cent bin that netted me this "beauty".

As many of my readers probably know already, I'm a big fan of the possible "stories" behind some of my cards.

The previous owner of this card was likely a huge baseball fan (or possibly a huge Bob Uecker fan). As you can see, the word "Denver" is partially erased from the top of the card. The Braves sent Uecker down to their AAA affiliate in Denver for part of the '63 season.

Not only that, but you can see the words "St. Louis Cards" scribbled above the smaller picture in the bottom-right corner (along with the scratched-out "Milwaukee Braves" in the bottom-left). Uecker was traded to the Cardinals early in the 1964 season.

While it might not look pretty to some, I see this card as a fantastic piece of baseball history. Once I look past the eraser marks, I see something spectacular. I see the markings of a true baseball fan.

Maybe I'm not so different from the kids that collected cards back in 1963.