The story sells

Card shows never cease to surprise me.

For one thing, I actually found a 1953 Topps issue in a 3/$1 pile, which was a shock in itself.

That thirty-three cents netted me the above copy of card #132, Tom Morgan. "Interesting" doesn't do it justice.

As I mentioned in the card show post where I first showed it, I didn't find much in that particular 3/$1 pile. The only reason I picked up the Morgan was because I could only find two other cards, and I needed one more to get the deal.

But after I got home and went through all the day's "spoils", I realized just how much history was actually behind this card.

Let me just say off the bat that I have no idea who Tom Morgan is. Interestingly enough, he missed the 1953 season due to military service, so he didn't even play the year this card was released.

One of the first things we see is the giant crease running through the middle of the card. Some may say that there's no "love" behind this card, that it's just another result of a kid carelessly folding and not taking care of their collection.

But there's no denying that the previous owner(s) of this card loved it, and also had a passion for the game of baseball as well.

The reason I say that is because of the scratched-out Yankees cap and logo. You can see that the previous owner of the card penned in "L.A. Angels" next to where the logo was.

What makes it so interesting is the fact that the Angels didn't exist until eight years after this card was released, joining the American League as an expansion team in 1961.

While there's no way of knowing for sure, I like to think that the card stayed with the same owner for those eight years. The same kid who originally pulled the card from the penny pack. The same kid who folded the card up for his collection. And eventually, the same kid who was still following the game eight years later, acknowledging the introduction of a new expansion team.

Either way, a true baseball fan held this card in their hands, over five decades before I did. Thirty-three cents is a bargain when I think about it like that.

In baseball cards, it's the story that counts.