Collecting the Sox: Players

Once you decide that you’d like to collect Red Sox stuff, you notice one thing. There’s a LOT of it out there. Walk into just about any store, and you’ll see t-shirts, and mugs, and stickers, and ice cream looking out at you. It can get overwhelming. It can be nice to focus your collection a bit. I’ve been talking about different areas to focus on, newspapers, bobbleheads, tickets, etc. What if that’s not the direction you want to take? What if you like the variety of a collection that includes a little bit of everything? You can still trim the collection a bit, and add the variety if you collect a favorite player.

Of course, the main requirement of this is that you need to have a favorite player. I guess it could even be a group of players. Maybe the current pitching staff, or the 1984 team, or leftfielders. Then, the collection would involve anything out there featuring one of those players. Take, for instance, Pedro Martinez. If you wanted to collect his items, you could include: his baseball cards, magazines with him on the cover, matchbox cars, cereal boxes, salsa, bobbleheads, pictures, jerseys, autographs, and on and on. Jere, of A Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory, once commented that he liked Rich Gedman. A player of his ilk tends to limit the quantity of items out there, and makes it more about the chase. That’s a great thing too.
A player collection can also be tailored to fit your budget, or space. Maybe you won’t get the Pedro autographed, game used, World Series jersey. But, you can still open it up to a lot of other items.

Really, the only drawback to the player collection is the player themselves. Imagine having a really complete Johnny Damon collection, and them have him leave for New York? Or, what about that expansive Roger Clemens collection? Can you even admit that you have that? The list of cautionary tales goes on and on. It might be a good idea to wait until a players career is over, and make sure he stay OK. Again, take Pedro. At this point, he’s done the worst he can do…bolted the team for the Mets. But, he’s still lovable, and should be a safe bet as his career winds down. He should be a fine choice to start a collection of. I’m sure there are many more. Or, you could just go for the player, and ignore any consequences. It’s all about being a fan.

I still wouldn’t mention that Clemens collection, though.