Lest we forget: Goodwin Goldfaden

This comes from Bobby Plapinger, proprietor of R. Plapinger Baseball Books, one of the best places to find those hard-to-acquire titles and collectibles, in memory of Goodwin Goldfaden, one of the “pioneers” of the baseball books and collectible world.

Anyone who’s ever bought & certainly anyone who’s ever sold baseball books or publications or related material – owes a huge debt to Goodwin Goldfaden, who passed away last week in Los Angeles. Goody was 97, so he got a fair amount of time & as near as I can tell used it wisely. A quick review of the obituaries & tributes that appeared last week will tell you that he was both loved by family and, at the least, respected by colleagues.

Count me in the latter category. Goody started selling baseball publications & cards in Cleveland in the 1940s. Moved to LA & continued to “buy & sell” for, as near as I can tell, the rest of his life. He’s notorious for liquidating his inventory, building it up again & then, liquidating again. It’s said he did this a 1/2 dozen times during his career – an amazing accomplishment that leaves me awestruck, if true.

Even if it’s NOT true, it’s a great story that only enhances the “Goldfaden legend”. I met Goody once in LA – about 10 years ago. He was a shortish, shinny, wiry & spindly “old man” – who looked 20 years older than he was & behaved 20 years youger. I knew who he was – I’d already started to encounter used books & publications that had his ABCO sports stamp – sometimes even with a CLEVELAND address. And of course there was the Sports Illustrated article that appeared shortly after one of his liquidations provided the foundation for Notre Dame’s sports research library. I was quite suprised to learn that Goody knew who I was… He even invited me “over” to “see some stuff”… a trip that never materialized, I’m sad to say. We did, however “buy and sell” from & to each other via mail order, and all of our transactions were both positive… and entertaining.

One of the reasons I decided to sell baseball books & related material was that it was a niche that seem unfilled – there were lots of people selling cards, lots of people with huge inventories of “Sports Illustrated” and “The Sporting News” & the like & lots of people who offered books etc. when they came across them. But there were very few, if any, dealers, who specialized in books & publications. I didn’t know it then, but I realized it shortly thereafter, I was treading in the footsteps of a very small “giant”.

RIP Goodwin Goldfaden.