Pardon me while I wax philosophical for a moment.
I recently experienced a blow-out on the Garden State Parkway on the way to work at five o’clock in the morning. I was able to creep to the nearest exit and maneuver into the parking lot of a convenience store from which I called AAA. In order to get to the spare tire/donut, I had to clean out the trunk. It was there I found a copy of The Grind, by Barry Svrluga. Inside, serving as a bookmark, was a 1973 Topps Ron Blomberg card.
I had the opportunity to meet Blomberg several times over the years when I was the sports editor for a Jewish weekly newspaper in New Jersey, including at Yankees Fantasy Camp in 2009. As I’ve stated here on several occasions, I’m not big on autographs, but during one of those encounters, he signed the card, like the one pictured here.
For some reason, rather than leave the card in the book, I stuck it my back pocket. Today, as I was emptying the clothes dryer, I felt something a bit strange…
My initial reaction was, “Oh, no!” but that passed surprisingly quickly, as do a lot of ups and downs lately it seems since reading Donald Lopez‘s thought-provoking Buddha Takes the Mound: Enlightenment in 9 Innings
It has gotten to the point where I’m actually throwing out books, since the local used book store and public library won’t take them. This had always been anathema. Not that I’m going full Buddhist, but I realize many of the things I used to hold important — such as collecting baseball books — are fine for the moment. but as Crash Davis told Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham after a good inning, “The moment’s over.”
The idea of keeping the vast majority of my books … for what purpose? I’ve read them. Some were great, others were not. I can’t see re-reading them or using them as references. So to leave it to my family to dispose of after I’m gone?
By the way, if anyone is interested, I will be posting many of these books on the Offer-Up app once I get my act together. These will be in “lots” according to topic. I’d like to see them get a good home, but if there are no takers…. Stay tuned for more details.
is available on Amazon.com,
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