Vaya con dios, old friends

Spent the weekend packing up dozens of boxes of baseball books from the attic and basement. The majority went to Gregg K., who drove up from Pennsylvania yesterday morning with his very understanding wife, Brina.

Good thing their pickup truck had a back seat.

Another five boxes — mostly of Yankees books — went to the Yogi Berra Museum. Each box has a minimum of 10 books (for large “encyclopedia” volumes) and as many as 30, so that means, when all is said and done, I’ve given away as many as 1,200 books.

A few random thoughts while packing them up:

• For those who titled their books “complete,” what were you thinking? Is anything that’s still ongoing ever complete?
• Similarly, there are a surprising number of books which employ the phrase Extra Innings.
• Hypothesis: Nolan Ryan had great success pitching for the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, and California (Anaheim) Angels. I wonder: Would he have accomplished as much in major media markets like New York or Boston? Discuss.
• In selecting the books, there were a number I decided to keep. I wondered if I would really have missed them had I left them in the boxes. Would there ever come a time when I might say, gee I wish I had xyz right about now?
• I have a box of “pocketbooks” for a surprising number of “flavor of the moment” personalities such as Whitey Herzog, Warren Cromartie, Mike Witt, Dave Steib, Bill Freehan, etc. All dues respect, most have not stood the test of time. I mean, who’s really talking about Mike Witt these days. Yet someone at the time thought they’d be a good topic for a book.
• Don’t have to worry about the attic floor collapsing.
• Very pleased to go this route, knowing the books have a new home and will be enjoyed by others.
• Will there be a “round two” for other books? I look at what I kept and at some point I’m going to question why.