Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Michael Roche and I collect baseball cards. Like many people, I first began collecting in the late ’90s. My earliest memories as a baseball fan are absolutely worshiping Slammin’ Sammy Sosa during the home run race of ’98. As a young and impressionable Cubs fan growing up in the Chicago suburbs I would eat, sleep and breath all things baseball. So when my aunt gave me my fist packs of baseball cards I was immediately hooked. When my dad told me “One day you’ll be organizing those cards in specific ways,” I laughed. Now, I don’t think even he realized how right he would be.
As I grew up my love for baseball and card collecting grew with me. Instead of a dollar, the tooth fairy would leave a pack of baseball cards. On the weekends my brother and I would ride our bikes to the card shop then stop by the corner store on the way home. My thirst for baseball and baseball cards could not be quenched. I was, quite simply, a fanatic.
At a certain point however, my fervor began to taper off and eventually stopped completely. Throughout middle, high school, and into college baseball card collecting was nonexistent to me. I had matured and moved on, not giving a second thought to my old collection. But I couldn’t stay away forever. When I was back home from college during the summer and watching over some neighbor kids they began to show me their own baseball card collections. It reignited the fire that I didn’t even know was still there. I’ve been back collecting in one form or another ever since.
The hobby that I returned to in 2011 was much different from the one that I had lost interest in a decade earlier. The days of biking down to White Hen were over. Now I had familiarize myself with Ebay and Paypal. I had to learn the difference between retail vs. hobby packs. And I had to figure out what the all the fuss over the prospect autos was, among other things. With the zeal of a new convert though, I was ready to learn. I threw myself back into collecting, trying to put together as many sets as possible and build my collection up as big as I could. Soon the cards began to pile up however and I realized my collecting focus needed to be narrowed. Now I mostly collect vintage cards. Currently, I am working on completing a 1951 Bowman set and collect all the Chicago Cubs in the T205 set.
While I get much enjoyment out of vintage cards, modern cards have continued to intrigue me as well. But the modern prospect card market can be daunting. The amount of cards and products, different colors and serial numbers, and sky rocketing prices make the modern baseball card hobby intimidating to break into. That is why I decided to begin this website. The best way to conquer fear is to meet it head on. MJR Sportscards is dedicated to researching and understanding the modern baseball card marketplace. As I set out on this project now, I’m sure there is a lot that I do not know. The hope is that as I continue on this journey my own knowledge will continue to grow. That means that this website will be changing a lot. What it looks like today it not be what it looks like tomorrow or next week. Ideally I’ll get to a place where I’m comfortable with the layout, navigation, and information provided soon but I can’t say when that will be. Please bear with me in that respect. Of course if you have any suggestions or think I’m missing something please feel free to reach out as well.
That’s my story and my mission. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read. I’m looking forward to this journey and seeing where this project goes. I don’t know what direction this might go in but I can’t wait to find out. Happy collecting.
–MJR
MJR Sportscards 