The things we don’t get (or “buyer’s remorse”)

I’ve done a series of entries on the things I keep: unusual books, cards, or other items that I’ve collected over the years.

One of my “collectibles,” in addition to books, is baseball caps. I’ve got about 30 of them lining the wall of my office. I have this rule that I can’t just buy them at the local mall; I have to at least be in the city where the team plays. Same applies for friends giving me caps as gifts. Has to be when they’re in the particular city. One of the benefits of my daughter’s job is her ability to add to the wardrobe since she travels a lot.

I’m missing a handful, mostly from the middle of the country: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Detroit. Maybe I’ll get there someday.

It was while looking for a Mr. Met logo hat that I went down a rabbit hole on eBay. I came upon a Mets yearbook from 1964. Reasonably priced (1962 versions sell for hundreds of dollars) so I bought it. And immediately felt badly. As much of a fan as I am, I didn’t come to the game that early. (Although it is kind of cool, representing the first year at Shea Stadium.)

Do I need to bring more stuff into the house? It was only $20, but did I really need to spend that money? Returning to the caps, do I really need more? Except for the ones that the dog ruined in her early puppy stage, I wear them all interchangeably and, let’s face it, have enough to last for the rest of my life. (The same philosophy applies to other purchases. I am in the market for a good quality coffee-maker that will also do cappuccino and espresso. And maybe an air fryer. And for a change I’m in a position where I don’t have to look for the least expensive items. But I know when the time comes, I’ll have remorse no matter how much I spend.)

But looking at it does bring back some fond memories. The cover price was just fifty cents — double a week’s allowance at the time — for 48 black-and-white, non-glossy pages. Compare that with the $15 behemoth produced last year that may be all bells and whistles when it comes to technological sophistication but is mostly advertising. And it looks like they had a hard time filling all the space in 1964. I mean two pages for Carl Wiley, all due respect? Ed Kranepool, who joined the team in 1962 and played until his retirement at the relatively early age of 34 in 1979, merited just a quarter of a page.

Of course, now I have to order the 2021 version because I want to see how they dealt with Covid. Yeah, I’ll go with that.