Collecting the Sox: Calendars

I couldn’t help but chuckle the other day when I saw that the 2013 Red Sox calendar was on sale. How did they print that, I laughed to myself. How did they find twelve players they knew would be on the team in time to print a calendar? I had to go see how they did it.

Turns out, they didn’t do it. As I glanced at the featured players, I saw Mike Aviles smiling back at me. OK. He was a relatively recent change. They can’t be expected to be that on top of things. Then, I saw Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzalez staring at me from their own months.

So, that’s how they did it. They just went with players not on the team anymore. I guess it was a better idea than giving Daniel Nava a month. I’d probably rather be reminded that A-Gone was once on the team than remember that Pedro Ciriaco still is. I wonder if any of them made the Dodgers team calendar too.

I’ll probably still buy the Red Sox one though. Why? Because I have a problem. I collect things. To be fair, a calendar is a bit of a different collectable. It actually has a useful purpose. They aren’t baseball cards, whose only purpose appears to be filling up binders. They’re not bobbleheads, whose only purpose is to clutter up a shelf. I actually need a calendar so I know what day it is. You know, in case I really need to know what day it is when I’m not near a computer, or cell phone, or tablet.

OK. Maybe saying I need one is overstepping a bit. But, it actually is useful. It hangs on the wall by my desk, and gives me what I need in one quick glance. Once it’s been up there for a year, I can either throw it away or store it in a cabinet. The choice seems pretty obvious to me. Plus, since I don’t really “need” one I can wait out deals. I don’t need to buy a calendar in December. I am perfectly happy to muddle through for a couple weeks in order to get one on clearance. So, it’s not that pathetic.

And, as collectables go, calendars are nice ones. They have a major downfall, which they share with many collectables. What do I do with them? They’re pretty big, so it’s not like I can have 20 of them hanging on the walls. Plus, having out of date calendars out in the open just seems like asking for trouble. But, right now I don’t mind keeping them stacked in a pile, and only flipping through them once in a while.

For that purpose, they’re great. They’re colorful. The wall versions have nice big pictures of Red Sox players. Some of them are fun. I have one that was given away to help support animals. Each month has a picture of a Red Sox player and their dog(s). How great is that? Plus, there’s the historical aspect of them. I can flip through the 2003 edition, and see some of the players who were on the team that year. Or, at least the year before. That’s pretty neat.

They also have the page-a-day versions. Admittedly, they don’t seem to be as collectable. However, I did save every page for a year once. I have all the pages in a plastic bad. Have no idea what I plan on doing with them. Maybe wallpaper the room?

What else should I do with them?