So why do you collect Juan Gonzalez?

[freddie]

I've been a Texas Rangers fan since I was young, the Bobby Valentine, Toby Harrah, Pete O'Brien, Oddibe McDowell, Larry Parrish years. I listened to Ranger games religiously on the radio. Juan Gonzalez was the first real homegrown star that came through the system in my time. In 1992 I started picking up a few cards, when the '90 Upper Deck was desireable. I remember my friend had 9 of those cards and I thought he had it made. Having moved to California in '96 from Ft Worth, I never got to see Juan Gonzalez play in Arlington Stadium or at The Ballpark. I have seen him numerous times at Anaheim/Edison though and that is where I've obtained my autographs. I made all of my requests after batting practice along the field railing. Rafael and Ivan would never give me the time of day when asking them to sign something but Juan always obliged. I've always found Juan to be the biggest star who had no superstar ego about him. When Juan was traded to Detroit and behaved less than admirable about the situation, I soured a bit on my collecting. That plus the escalating numbers of parallels led me to stop collecting in 2002. I put all of my collection away until recently. I've gained a new perspective and a goal in regards to my collection. I've set a monthly budget that I hope increases my collection but at the same time doesn't make me feel like I am throwing money away. I won't be buying any $50 1/1 cards. My biggest goal is to increase the amount of cards, not to increase the high dollar cards. I will spend money on the older rare cards if the occasion arises though. I would really like to have one of the '93 Ted Williams Autographed cards.


I really enjoy going to baseball cards shows but eBay seems to have totally killed card shows in my area. I am hoping that other Juan Gonzalez collectors will utilize the services that I am offering so that we can better trade cards amongst ourselves. We undoubtedly have hundreds and thousands of extras that others probably need.