The T206 Honus Wagner is a beautiful card, but I do not desire it. If I were to see it in a museum, I would certainly ooh and ah, but even if my financial situation made the acquisition possible, I would not pull the trigger. Although Wagner is certainly one of the great players in the history of the sport, he is also a Pittsburgh Pirate, so he doesn’t rate as a favorite. Besides, I could find better ways to spend a million dollars.

What about the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle? It is certainly the most iconic card in the modern era of card collecting. Mantle himself remains one of baseball’s most enduring icons. If you are willing to accept a card that looks like it was wadded up and kept is some kids pocket for the better part of two decades, you could even get one for around five-thousand dollars. If it were within my means, I’d grab this card in a heartbeat. Of course, Mantle was a Yankee, and I’m a Braves fan, which means I won’t likely save up five-thousand dollars to acquire a Mantle card. It isn't a card I dream of owning. Besides, I think the 1952 Topps design is overrated.

Every collector has their white whale. For a certain type of collector, that whale is the T206 Wagner or the 52 Topps Mantle. It might also be the 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth. Some have set their sites on slightly more modest cards like a 1963 Topps Pete Rose or the 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax. These days, many collectors have no interest in vintage cards, and their white whales are rare cards released in modern products. A good many collectors dream of landing the 2001 Bowman Chrome Albert Pujols auto. Some want to land that Bowman Chrome Stephen Strasburg auto. Last year, collectors were paying top dollar for boxes hoping to pull a Bryce Harper. A collector’s whale could also be simple like the one collector I know who’s looking to acquire every single card featuring C.C. Sabathia in a Brewers uniform.

I say it again, every collector has their white whale. For me, that card is the 1954 Hank Aaron.

Whenever I dream of the one single card I would like to add to my collection more than any other, I picture the 54 Aaron. Whenever I think of the one card that I would love to shove into the face of every visitor to my house, it’s the 54 Aaron. It is the rookie card of the single greatest player in the history of my favorite team. It is the single most important card issued of any Atlanta Braves player. It is from one of the most beautiful sets that Topps has ever produced. It is perfect in each and every way. It is my white whale.

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Last week, I professed my love for Topps Series 1. A few days ago, my set arrived in the mail. There are few things I enjoy more than slipping cards into pages to place in a binder. It’s an ideal opportunity to inspect each card. I say again, I love the 330 cards that comprise 2012 Topps Series 1. That said, you might find it strange that I purchased the set rather than opened a box and attempted to build a set in the more traditional fashion.

I’ve mentioned before that opening wax is a high. If money were no object, I would purchase and open everything Topps puts out. My money is limited though so I have to be choosy how I spend it. When I got back into card collecting in 2005, I opened a box of each series of the main Topps sets. I’d then complete those sets using eBay or by trading with other collector’s that I’ve met online. This is my preferred method of set building, especially for the Topps base set. It’s also something I don’t do anymore.

Topps has begun to cram more and more items into the base set product in attempt to drive up popularity. I can only assume that the thought is that the traditional set builders are in for the long haul, and the gimmicks are to try and attract high end collectors and outsiders into the hobby. If you check out the sell sheet for any base Topps product, the emphasis is not on the cards in the base set. Topps is selling the inserts. Topps is selling the squirrel cards. Topps is selling the short prints and the autographs. To those people who buy numerous cases looking to make money off the big hits, the base set cards are an irritant. Often, they dump them for cost on eBay.

One thing you’ll hear a lot of collector’s talk about, incessantly in some cases, is the “integrity of the base set”. The idea is that since the Squirrel card is a variation of Skip Schumaker’s regular card, it is a part of the set. All of the other short printed variations are as well. These collector’s would not care if these cards were included as inserts. They only care that the base set has been, in their opinion, compromised. It is now impossible for most collectors to complete. I don’t totally disagree, but I still want to collect and I still want to collect the flagship Topps product. Topps has gone whole hog down the gimmick path, and I don’t see any going back now. This is what base Topps is now, and we can either accept it, or we can stop collecting.

The real question is this: are gimmicks good for the hobby? The squirrel card has attracted a lot of press and along with the publicity for the Albert Pujols and Jose Reyes short print cards, has no doubt led many people to purchase cards that might not have before. The thing is, these gimmicks are short prints. This means, these guys probably didn’t get one of the chase cards. The question is, are these individuals enchanted enough by the base cards to keep collecting, or are they turned off at not getting hit? This shouldn’t be about getting people to buy a box of this year’s baseball cards. It should be about turning people into collectors and getting them to want to buy boxes every time a new series comes out. Only time will tell if Topps has succeeded.

There’s no doubt that I feel robbed of the chance to build a set in the more traditional fashion. The gimmicks do, after all, drive up the price of a box of baseball cards to a point where I just don’t see the purchase as worth it. Still, I’m going to take the glass is half full approach. I was able to pick up the 330 cards that comprise the main set for just fifteen dollars shipped on eBay. Checking eBay right now, there are numerous auctions closing in the ten dollar range for the complete set. These cards may not matter to the case breakers, but they matter to me. I’m happy to use their foolishness for my collection’s personal gain.

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A squirrel. People have apparently paid over $600 for a baseball card of a freaking squirrel. (You can find them in the $99 to $200 range right now on eBay, but I would hardly consider that a return to sanity.) Ladies and gentlemen, I give you 2012 Topps Series One, also known as the box of baseball cards as lottery ticket. As seen on Yahoo News, it’s a squirrel on a baseball card! It’s a super short-printed card of Albert Pujols with a computer generated Angels uniform! There’s also a super short-printed card of Jose Reyes with a computer generated version of the Marlins awful new uniform! There are cards made of gold! There are cards made of wood! There are authentic autographs of Willie Mays and Hank Aaron and Sandy Koufax!

It was just a few short weeks ago that cases with 6 Jumbo HTA boxes of Topps Series 1 were selling for just over $500. You could even get a single jumbo box for just under $100. Of course, at that point, all the product promised were baseball cards. Now? Reputable dealers are selling the very same cases for $750. The boxes are north of $120. Yes, now the product promises the potential squirrel!

Of course, that’s not all the product promises. There are also the same old parallels as last year. (Wait, I’m sorry. Last year, it was Diamond parallels. This year the parallels are gold. My apologies.) The inserts are mostly new, if non-sensical. (Golden Futures? Golden Moments? Gold Standard?) They are also somewhat boring since they feature the same old players. (Well, the mini inserts done in the style of the 1987 Topps set are pretty great.)

Then you have the autograph list. Sure, it includes Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, and it also includes Brian McCann, Tommy Hanson, and Chipper Jones. I’ve busted a lot of these boxes the last few years. You won’t get an Aaron or a Mays. Chances are the autograph in your box won’t be McCann or Chipper or Hanson. On the other hand, you might land that Adam Lind or Chris Sale. There will be Chris Coughlan cards coming out of nearly every box. (The good news is that Topps did not include Felix Pie autographs this year.)

I was ready to hate 2012 Topps Series One.

For five straight days I made the trip to Target. Topps put a release date of February 1 on the product, but it always hits retail a little early. Some years, it hits the shelves as early as a week before the release date. There’s a Wal-Mart just two of three minutes from my house, but they never get the releases on time. Often, they don’t even get a product until it has been out for a month. Target tends to be reliable. Unfortunately, the closest store is 15 to 20 minutes away. Not a long drive by any means, but long enough.

Each day, at a different time of day, I made the trip over. I looked over each of the boxes. Occasionally, they just stick out a single box of packs and if that’s all they have, I want to get as many of those packs as I can. Each trip ended in disappointment. Even worse, I have this pathological hang up that doesn’t allow me to walk in the store and leave without buying something. On different days, I left Target with new socks, new batteries, a box of oatmeal, razor blades and a bag of gummy bears. At no point did I walk out of Target with 2012 Topps Series 1.

The day before the release, I couldn’t get away to Target. I planned on going in the evening. My wife, who was having dinner with her best friend in Athens, called and asked what it was I was looking for. She had found it. She bought me a blaster and some loose packs. When she got home, I was bouncing up and down like a small child. I tore into the packs with a frenzy.

Every season is the same. Topps announces the new set. The announcement disappoints me a little. As the date approaches though, I’m as excited as I was when I first started collecting. The first set of the year means a new set to complete. It means new backs of cards to read obsessively. It means opening a pack of cards and with an increasing sense of hope, thumbing through each of the cards hoping to see an Atlanta Braves logo.

More than anything though, it means that the season is about to start. It means that pitchers and catchers are about to report. It means that baseball is near.

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I'm going to change up "Five to Collect" this week and feature a different card for five different players. This year, the Atlanta Braves placed five players on MLB's Top-100 Prospect list for 2012. I'll show you one great card for each player that would make a terrific addition to any collection.

Julio Teheran: 2011 Topps Chrome Autograph

Has Julio Teheran's time arrived? MLB has rated him as the number 4 prospect in all of baseball. He dominated AAA last year. Still, even with the departure of Derek Lowe, the Braves have a lot of quality starting pitching. There's a chance that Teheran will start the season back in Gwinnett. I think there's little doubt that at some point this season, you will see Teheran on the mound every fifth day for the Braves. I can't wait.

If you need just a single card of Teheran for your collection, it would be easy to recommend his 2010 Bowman Chrome auto. A player's first Bowman Chrome auto is typically considered the "must buy" for any collection. If you are looking to "invest" rather than collect, then this would also be the card for you. It is already selling at $35.00 on eBay, so it isn't a bargain anymore. Still, if he breaks camp in the rotation, you can expect a solid bump. If he starts racking up quality starts, you can look for the price to increase even more. So, while there's little doubt that his Bowman Chrome card is the best investment, with its posed picture and spring training background it just doesn't hold a candle to the card pictured.

Julio Teheran's 2011 Topps Chrome auto is a nearly perfect baseball card. You won't find better photography of a pitcher. He's captured perfectly in his follow through. I love that the picture is a close enough shot that you can see the determination on his face, but not so close that you can't make out his motion. The photograph's perfection is achieved by the capture of the baseball in mid-air. This is a great looking card and best of all, you can find it on eBay right now in the ten dollar range. It's hard to imagine a better modern baseball card.

Teheran looks poised to become a hobby darling. He has been signing for Topps at a prodigious rate which, while not good for card value, is great for collector's who want to amass a collection is his autographed cards at an affordable price. He had numerous auto cards selling in the eight to twenty dollar range. The time seems right to start that Teheran collection.

Arodys Vizcaino: 2010 Bowman Chrome Autograph

How glad are we, as Braves fans, that Melkey Cabrera wasn't the centerpiece of the Javy Vazquez trade? In making that deal, Frank Wren was looking to add Vizy to the farm system's already impressive collection of young arms. Last season, he moved from A ball into the Atlanta bullpen and excited everyone with that live arm of his. I have no idea if the Braves view him as a reliever permanently or whether they plan on sending him back to the rotation once the ranks thin out a bit. Either way, he's fun to watch. (MLB ranked him at 36th in their list.)

Unlike Teheran, Vizcaino is not a darling of the hobby yet. In addition to the card pictured, he has been featured on an auto card available from the 2010 Donruss Elite set, but I can't recommend that card. The set doesn't feature team logos on any of the uniforms since Donruss doesn't have a license. The air brushing looks far better than it did in the old days where it typically looked like someone had used a crayon to replace the logos. Even with the perfected photo doctoring though, there's something about a player not appearing in a true uniform, logos and all, that takes me out of a card. I am not a supporter of MLB allowing but a single card manufacturer, but I typically can't buy a card without recognizable logos.

So, I recommend getting Vizcaino's 2010 Bowman Chrome auto card. I would prefer an action-shot, but that's generally not what you get on the cards of young players in Bowman Chrome. You tend the get the pitcher looking in for the sign in a posed shot. With this card, that's what you get, and fortunately, its a good shot with a good view of the kid's face. Buy it Now auctions on eBay are typically priced in the 25 dollar range for the card, but you can typically win open auctions for the card at around 15 dollars.

Randall Delgado: 2011 Tristar Obak Autograph

If I had told you at the start of the 2011 season that Randall Delgado was going to become one the most important arms on the staff in Atlanta, you would have thought I was crazy. With each season, Delgado's stock has seemed to improve and I think we knew it was only a matter of time before he was an impact arm in Atlanta, but last year was shocking. What wasn't shocking to anyone who had watched the kid pitch in the minors was his mound composure. From the first moment he took the mound, he looked like he belonged in the big leagues. He may start the season in Gwinnett, but like Teheran, it's only a matter of time before the player MLB ranked as the 42nd best prospect in baseball is in the rotation.

Topps swung and miss on Delgado until he made it to the big leagues. Unlike Teheran and Vizcaino, Delgado has never appeared on an autographed Bowman Chrome card. For a kid who made an impact at age 21 in the big leagues, this is a big miss. Topps tried to make up for it by featuring his auto in both Topps Finest and Bowman Platinum. Both are certainly nice cards and can be purchased for less than 15 dollars typically on eBay.

As my recommendation though, I'm going to chose a card that is a bit out there in terms of obscurity. For one thing, the logo has been airbrushed off the hat in the photo. Yes, I just railed against this practice above, but in this photo, it doesn't distract as much. It helps that they chose a shot of Delgado's back so the front logo did not have to be removed. There's also the background. I've never understood why a photo of a baseball player should be superimposed on a strange background like a wheat field. There's also something about the way the light hits Delgado's face on the card. The kid looks old here. Despite all this, there's something about the way the red in the hat and the uniform pops out from the wheat field and the blue sky. The card is vibrant and since it can often be picked up for around a five spot, I'm recommending it.

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Rick Mahler had already given up home runs to Jody Davis and Leon Durham, but things were starting to look up for the Braves by the bottom of the fourth. Behind home runs from Ken Oberkfell and Gerald Perry, the Braves would plate seven runs and take an 8-4 lead. The Cubs would bring the gap within reach after a three run homer by Shawon Dunston. The Braves would score one more, and with a 9-7 lead, manager Chick Tanner would give the ball to future Hall of Fame closer, Bruce Sutter. Sutter had missed the entire 1987 season due to injury and Braves fans everywhere were hoping he would return to form. A walk, a double and a single later, the game was tied. Four innings later, with the Braves Jim Acker on the mound, it was a double, a bunt and a sacrifice fly. The Braves would lose 10-9 in 13 innings. That was opening day. The Braves wouldn’t win until the 11th game of the season.

If you’re a Braves fan and your baseball fandom began in 1991 or some point after, you have no idea just how long a baseball season can be. If there was any optimism to be had coming into the 1988 season, and there certainly wasn’t much, it was gone in the blink of an eye. The Braves won the NL West in 1982 on the strength of a 13 game winning streak to open the season. Well, in 1988, the Braves were out of it after just ten games.

I’m not sure how to describe the futility that was that season. The Braves would not win more than three games in a row all season. Other than three days in late May and early June, the Braves would occupy last place the entire season. The entire division would finish over .500. The Braves would finish thirty-nine and half games behind the first place Dodgers. As you would expect from a team that would lose a hundred and six games, they had the worst offense in the league and the second worst pitching staff in the league.

There were few bright spots that season. Dale Murphy remained the team’s top offensive threat, but his decline from his career best numbers of 1987 was stunning. Gerald Perry had his own career best year in 1988, but it was nothing to scream about. Rookie second baseman Ron Gant showed some pop, but still needed seasoning. Rich Mahler and Pete Smith were solid, but unspectacular in the rotation. Even the stories that you wanted to make you happy, like the return of veteran utility man Jerry Royster, would ultimately disappoint. (Royster would turn in the worst season of his career. It would be his last.)

The 1988 Atlanta Braves were just awful. Historically awful. Thanks to TBS, they were on display for the entire nation. If you were a Braves fan, you still loved your team. It just wasn’t easy. Still, brighter days were ahead and many of the names that would lead the Braves franchise into an unmatched streak of post-season appearances began making their mark in 1988.

After debuting in late 1987, Tom Glavine would spend the entire season in the rotation. He would lead the league with 17 losses, but he pitched better than that number would indicate. It was also Ron Gant’s first full season wearing a big league uniform. He finished fourth in Rookie of the Year balloting. It was Lonnie Smith’s first year in a Braves uniform, and while it was an awful year, he would begin a stretch of three solid seasons for the Braves in 1989. The two men who would man the middle for the Braves for a large portion of the 1990s, Mark Lemke and Jeff Blauser, would see limited playing time in 1988. John Smoltz would also debut by holding the Mets to a single run in eight innings for his first major league win.

It’s easy to remember how bad the Braves were in 1988. They would be bad again in 1989 and 1990 as well. It’s easy now to look back and see that the Braves were planting the seeds of what would blossom into a championship franchise. We may not have seen it then, but the team was starting to come together.

At the time, it was excruciating. More painful than heartbreaking. They were simply a really bad baseball team. A really, really, really bad baseball team.

* * * * * * * * * *

Tom Glavine and John Smoltz will both make the Hall of Fame one day. Still, I doubt their rookie cards will ever make much of an impact on the hobby. Both are victims of the era of rampant overproduction. Glavine would appear in all four major sets released that year. (The manufacturers in 1988 were Topps, Fleer, Donruss and Score.) To say his rookie card can be found in abundance would be an understatement. The Fleer Update card on which John Smoltz would make his first appearance in a major set is only slightly rarer. Still, I highly recommend every Braves fan pick up these cards. After all, you can probably get all five for two bucks.

In the summer of 1992, I was working as a microfilm clerk for Blue Cross / Blue Shield of Georgia and it was an awful job. For eight hours every night, I would sit in a small, unpadded seat and push pieces of paper through the microfilm machine. My only respite were the trips the Braves made to the west coast. I worked from 10pm to 6am most days, so when the Braves were out west, I’d spend my first three hours at work listening to the Braves games on WRCG.

There was one perk to the job, and that was their method of implementing personal days. We were given five personal days to use every year, and all we had to do to use them was to call up to an hour into our shift and say we weren’t going to come in, and more importantly, we did not have to give a reason. A good friend of mine who was going to UGA called me up during the day and asked if I wanted to go to the game that evening. Why would I say no? I called up the office and let them know I wouldn’t be in. I got in my awful blue Chevy Cavalier and hit the highway. A little less than two hours later, I was parking in my favorite lot just west of I-85. (I’m not sure I ever used a personal day for any reason other than a Braves game.)

Steve arrived after me and we walked around the stadium looking for someone selling tickets. It was a Tuesday night game and there were plenty of seats available. We were hoping that this meant we could get good seats cheaply from a scalper. We didn’t have much experience getting our tickets through anything but the normal means, so we were slightly nervous. Nonetheless, we were approached and ended up with seats just a dozen or so rows behind first base. All we needed for a perfect night at the ballpark was a good game.

I’m sure that many at the time considered the Braves fifth place standing as a disappointment, but to a lot of us, it just seemed like a return to normal. Still, it was early in the season and nobody was ready to give up hope just yet. After all, the race in the NL West was still tight and the Braves were sitting only four games back. The Phillies were in town and sitting five games under .500. It was a good chance for the Braves to pick up a few wins. The night before, the Braves picked up six in the third and despite an uncharacteristically wild performance from Tom Glavine, were able to hold off the Phillies for a 7-6 win.

Charlie Leibrandt was on the mound and his season had been up and down to that point. In his last start, the Montreal Expos knocked him out after a mere three innings. Leibrandt is often credited by Glavine and John Smoltz for the veteran leadership he showed the young pitching staff. His role in helping Glavine and Smoltz develop into Hall of Fame caliber pitchers cannot be understated. Even though Leibrandt wouldn’t pitch his best on this night, he would battle from the first pitch until his last.

In the first, Lenny Dykstra would get on first thank to an Otis Nixon error, and would promptly steal second and third before scoring on a Mariano Duncan ground out. The Phillies would strand a runner on second in the second, leave the bases loaded in the fourth, and leave two more runners on in the sixth. When Leibrandt needed to make a pitch, he would.

As for the Braves offense, they wouldn’t get to Phillies starter Brad Brink until the sixth. Otis Nixon, Terry Pendleton and Ron Gant would string together three straight singles to tie the game. In the top of the seventh, Leibrandt was weakening. After giving up two straight singles, Bobby Cox would pull him for Señor Smoke, Juan Berenguer. Unfortunately, Berenguer would allow a single to Dave Hollins and the Phillies would retake the lead. The game would go into the bottom of the eighth with the Phillies leading 2-1.

With one out, Ron Gant would smack a solid single up the middle. Phillies manager Jim Fregosi had seen enough and decided it was time to bring in his closer to get the final five outs. A confident Mitch Williams took the mound and was ready to shut down the Braves. Of course, things don’t always work out as planned. While Williams was utterly dominating at times, at others, he would seemingly be unable to get anything to go his way. This was the case when David Justice would place a ground ball almost perfectly between the first baseman and second baseman for a single putting Gant at third. After getting Brian Hunter into a 1-2 hole, Williams would give up a fly ball to center that was just deep enough to score the speedy Gant. Frustrated at failing to get Hunter out and letting the Braves tie the game, Williams would walk Greg Olson sending Justice to second. Williams would go right after Mark Lemke, but the Lemmer would smack a line drive right at Phillies shortstop Kim Batiste. The ball would fly off his glove and Justice would come around to score. After Williams retired Jeff Blauser, the Braves would find themselves up 3-2.

Looking to shut down the Phillies, Bobby Cox brought in the hard throwing Mark Wolhlers. He dominated Mariano Duncan getting him to hit a weak dribbler to second for the first out. Dave Hollins would line a 1-0 pitch to left for a single and the Phillies looked ready to rally. Big bat John Kruk was next, and he would crush a ball off the wall in left-center. Gant would make a clean play, hit Blauser with a perfect throw who would nail Hollins at the plate with a perfect throw to Greg Olson. The crowd was alive and was ready to see the Braves put the game away.

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There was a time that it wasn’t hard to find a card show. I grew up in Columbus, GA, and even in a town our size, we had regular card shows. Most of the local shows were at Peachtree Mall, the most popular shopping destination in town. There were never more than a handful of dealers, but to the eyes of this young collector, there were so many wonderful cards to be had. I often found the shows overwhelming and wouldn’t know where to look first. Still, I would find something I wanted and would inevitably spend every dollar in my wallet.

It was a different time for sure. Even in a city the size of Columbus, there were several card shops throughout town. I’d go whenever I could persuade my Mom to take me. Sure, the owner had little interest in catering to a kid who wanted to look at everything. Still, even under the owner’s harsh stare, I could have spent hours flipping through every available card in the shop. My mother must have spent countless hours sitting in her car waiting for me to buy my cards so she could go home.

It was also a time where at any store with a magazine rack, you could find a magazine about baseball card collecting. The two I remember most are Baseball Cards and Sport’s Collector’s Digest, which is still in print today. Unlike the collecting magazines published today by Beckett, these weren’t glorified price guides where the editorial content was underwritten and often uninteresting. These magazines relished in telling stories of the history of baseball card collecting. They were an indispensable guide to the history of the hobby.

This was a time when baseball cards were everywhere. We didn’t need card shows, card shops or magazines for news about the latest sets. Topps, Fleer and Donruss released their sets at the beginning of the season. After the season was over, I could count on the Traded and Update sets appearing at the local card shop. Card collecting was easy. The most valuable service provided by the shows, and by the shops and by the magazines of the time was their window into vintage trading cards.

These were the cards that were displayed under glass at the card show. These were the cards that the owner of the card shop refused to let a kid like me touch. These were the cards that were featured in beautiful photography in the pages of the collecting magazines. These were the cards that every collector lusted over. These were the cards that were collected by our fathers when they were our age. The names on the cards are as familiar as the game itself. There was Stan Musial and Mickey Mantle. Sandy Koufax, Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson. Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. For anyone who loved baseball and loved the hobby, they were the stuff from which dreams were made.

They were also out of my reach. For a young boy living on an allowance, or even on his meager hourly wage from working in the kitchen of a pizza joint, the cards were simply unobtainable. It was obvious that this young Braves fan wouldn’t be able to afford a Hank Aaron or an Eddie Mathews or a Warren Spahn card any time soon. It was just as unlikely that I would be able to get my hands on a Joe Adcock or a Lew Burdette. Of course, that didn’t stop the lust.

There was one card in particular at my favorite of the local card shops with which I had fallen in love. The card was almost shaped like a square. The colors were exaggerated, but accurate. I had no idea whether this was an actual photo or some sort of weird painting and photo combination. The left-handed pitcher pictured on the card was shown with his leg held high in a kick as he prepared to deliver a pitch to the plate. From the vantage point, you could even see the spikes on his shoe. The card was a 1950 Bowman Warren Spahn and I was obsessed with the card. I still don’t own it.

The set would become one of my favorites. I began to notice other cards from the set at card shows. Jackie Robinson was shown taking a practice swing as he approached home plate. Ted Williams appeared to be watching a pop up sail into the seats. Richie Ashburn was staring straight ahead, as if to let the pitcher know that the ball would not be thrown past him. Just like the Spahn, I would never own one of these cards.

Still, all hope wasn’t lost if you were a kid who fell in love with a vintage set. There was a secret weapon that allowed you to get a card from that set you craved. That weapon was “the box”. Every shop had one. Seemingly, every dealer at a card show had one as well. It was a box filled with cards from older sets. They were never cards of the star players. Truth be told, even the above average players couldn’t be found in the box. The box never held cards in mint condition. There was usually a price written on the outside of the box. It might be a dime or a nickel or a quarter. The box would be filled with vintage baseball cards.

When I first discovered and approached the box, I had one goal. I wanted a card featuring a Braves player from 1950 Bowman. How simple is that? At the time, it wasn’t quite as simple. There’s no telling the collecting gold I passed over looking for a simple 1950 Bowman Braves card. I suppose since this was Georgia, everyone else was after the Braves as well. I was on the hunt. It would take months, but I would finally get my card.

I don’t remember if I found the card at a card show or at the local card shop. I only remember pulling it from the box. I must have thumbed through hundreds of cards in that box before I found the card I wanted. It was, and is, beautiful. The player is depicted making a leaping grab of a line drive. The Braves logo on his uniform is prominent and gorgeous. The player is Willard Marshall. It was my first vintage baseball card and remains one of the most treasured possessions in my collection.

It isn’t as easy to find a card show in 2012, but when you do, you can still find the box. Almost every dealer at every table has one. The price has gone up to a dollar or more on most of the boxes. Still, they are filled with collecting gold and are reason enough to attend any card show.

Willard Marshall may not be a household name, but he had a respectable career and was a genuine American hero. After a rookie season with the New York Giants in 1942 that led to his selection as a reserve for the National League All-Star team, Marshall enlisted into the Marines. He would spend three years in the military and would serve in the Pacific during World War 2. He returned to the Giants in 1946 and would enter the most productive stretch of his career. In 1947, he would slug 36 home runs and have his career season, receiving another All-Star game selection and finishing in the MVP voting. His last year with the Giants was in 1949, and he would appear in his final All-Star game, as a starter no less, and would again appear in the MVP voting.

The Boston Braves would send Al Dark and Eddie Stanky to the Giants for a package of players that included Marshall. Marshall would prove a solid addition to the Boston Braves lineup, but he would never again match the success he had with the Giants. His most notable accomplishment with the Braves was starting 123 games in right field in 1951 without making a single error. The Braves would sell Marshall to the Reds early in the 1952 season and would end his career a few years later as a bit player for the Chicago White Sox. He would be pictured in a Braves uniform in cards from 1950, 1951 and 1952.

When the Braves exited the playoffs with a whimper in 2005, I’m certain that I wasn’t the only one who believed we had just witnessed the end of the streak of division championships. That’s not a knock on the 2005 team. After all, many of us thought the streak would end before the 2005 season had even begun. Instead, led and inspired by the Baby Braves, a group of rookies including Brian McCann and Jeff Francouer, the Braves would take the division lead on July 22 and not relinquish it. It was an exciting season highlighted by McCann’s home run off Roger Clemens in the division series.

Still, this Braves team was no longer the lock to win the division they had been for so much of the streak. The offense seemed to be fine. Andruw Jones looked to be hitting the peak of his career. Chipper Jones remained one of the best players in the league when he was healthy. Adam LaRoche was showing a lot of pop and a lot of promise. McCann and Francouer had the look of future stars. There was little doubt that the Braves would continue to score runs. It was the pitching staff that was a cause for concern.

The Braves backbone throughout their run of division championships was their starting pitching. Even if the quality of the starting staff had diminished a bit towards the end of the run, the staff was still better than most. It was almost like there was a magical quality to pitching for the Braves. Even Russ Ortiz was a somewhat productive starter while in a Braves uniform. Of course, the true backbone was the three future Hall of Fame pitchers: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

Of course, Smoltz was the only pitcher of the trio to remain in a Braves uniform at the end of the 2005 season. The rest of the rotation was a question mark. The Braves had no idea when Mike Hampton would return from injury. Tim Hudson looked to be slipping from his form with the A’s. It was possible that Horacio Ramirez, Chuck James and Kyle Davies would turn into first rate starters, and it was also possible that they would remain wildly inconsistent and a source of constant frustration. The years when the Braves were anchored by three Hall of Fame starters were becoming a distant memory.

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When I first started collecting baseball cards in the late 1970s, it was easy. There was one set of any note put out each year. The Topps base set was the entire hobby. That would change in 1981 when Fleer and Donruss would enter the business. Still, three major sets a year wasn’t a difficult task. Sure, it meant my allowance money got spread around a bit more and left me far shorter of the cards I needed to complete the Topps set, but all three manufacturers were putting out quality product. Score started pushing out sets in 1988 and Upper Deck followed with their on line in 1989. Topps resurrected the Bowman brand as an individual product. It was no longer possible for a set collector on a High School budget to keep buying as many baseball cards as he could find.

While I still bought the occasional pack just for the thrill of opening, I would simply wait until late in the season and buy a few of the sets from the year. The manufacturers had been releasing complete "factory sets" of their cards to retail for a few years. I was now purchasing them every year. It wasn’t as much fun as trying to piece the sets together by hand, but it was easier and less frustrating. Still, the hobby kept changing.

It was Upper Deck who raised the stakes. They used glossy photographs. They used holograms to make their cards harder to counterfeit. They abandoned cardboard. They had the gall to charge a dollar a pack. They sold like gangbusters and the hobby began to spiral out of control. Fleer would introduce their Ultra brand to compete with Upper Deck. Topps would introduce Stadium Club with full bleed color photographs. Prices were on the rise. Speaking for myself, the money I spent on cards didn’t seem to go as far.

Soon, there were more products than anyone could reasonably keep up with. Dozens of sets at price points that were higher and higher were being released each year. Worse yet, the cards were ugly. Time has mellowed my opinion on the insert cards of the 1990s somewhat, but at the time, they were simply gaudy monstrosities. Technology allowed the manufacturers to get further and further away from the simplicity of a player’s picture on a piece of cardboard. Cards were now shiny and overloaded with graphics. Sets were overloaded with these "chase cards" and the regular baseball card became an object of disdain to most in the hobby.

I may sound like a dork, but the whole thing began to leave me a little cold. I’ve always spent a lot of time reading about the history of baseball, and I knew that the sport itself had always been a hard-edged business ruled by money. Free agency made that clear to even those who wore the foggiest of glasses. It was always true and it would always be so. I thought the hobby was different, but I was clearly wrong. The history of the baseball card business shows that it has always been about the buck. I still loved the Braves. I still loved the game of baseball. I just couldn’t feel any connection to the cards that were being released. I can’t say when, but I simply stopped as an active collector. I wouldn’t become an active collector again until after the 2005 season.

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