Yesterday, I went to the Sun Times sports collectible convention in Rosemont. I rediscovered why sports are so great. There were hundreds of people gathered together at the autograph pavilion; people of all ages.

You'd see the guy in his sixties with a skin tight Cubs jersey and a floppy hat. He looked rather ridiculous. The buttons on that jersey were pulled so far apart, you can see diamond shaped holes of pasty gut exposed... and I respected the hell out of the guy. He doesn't care what you think. Wearing that Cubs jersey is his tradition. It's his display of affection for his team.


You'd see the forty-something husband with the plastic bat protector tube with the baseball bat inside with a sock covering the barrel. He'd pull out a card in a hard plastic screw down holder and just look at it with pride. His wife is there with him enjoying every minute of it. She supports her husband when it comes to his sometimes pricey hobby. It brings out the kid in him.

You'd see the two old friends get together to see one of their childhood heroes. They stand there swapping stories. One of them has a poster from 1980. It's between two big pieces of cardboard to protect it. You appreciate the care they take with their delicate piece of memorabilia. This memorabilia brings back all the good memories of years ago.

This is the hold that sports has on us. When people ask me about what happened in say, 1997, the first thing that pops in my head would be:
- Who was drafted that year in the NFL? Ah yes... That was the Orlando Pace going first overall to the Rams... Darrell Russell going second to the Raiders. What a disappointment he turned out to be.
- Who won the World Series that year? The Marlins stunned the Indians. Then Huizenga sold off all his stars. Larry Walker and Ken Griffey Jr were the MVP's.
- I picture what cards were out that year. I remember Topps had the semi glossy, semi unglossy cards that year. There was a bar along the side of the card that had the name in gold foil. That part was glossy. Then the picture of the player was glossy. And the background was non glossy. It was a big football year for me (as always). I had the Topps Chrome Warrick Dunn and Jake Plummer. The Plummer had a snake wrapped around him in the picture.

Or in my pre-card collecting years, it would be: I remember 1983. Winning Ugly. Kittle, Luzinski, Fisk, Baines... All Star Game at Comiskey. Orioles too much in the ALCS though. Phillies. "Wheeze Kids." Rose, Morgan, Perez reunited. All in their forties.

Sports is what you talk about at work the next day. If you were there. If you watched it on TV. You go to a game, you're part of a huge team supporting the same cause.

So there I was in line and sitting at a table right in front of me was Mike Schmidt. Every discussion of the greatest third basemen of all time includes this man. He's generally accepted by all experts as THE best third baseman of all time. 548 career home runs. Eight home run titles. Ten gold gloves. He did it all.
- Ranked the 21st best player of all time in Bill James' New Historical Baseball Abstract.
- Ranked the 28th best player of the 20th century by The Sporting News
- Ranked the 18th best player of all time in Elliott Kalb's Who's Better, Who's Best in Baseball.
So that's around 20th or so out of 20,000 odd players. Wow. And he looked like he could step out onto the field today. Not to mention, he had one of the best mustaches of the '80's.
Most times leading the league in Home Runs
12 - Babe Ruth
8 - Mike Schmidt.
Nuff Ced.

Next was Brooks Robinson. 16 gold gloves. Widely regarded as the finest fielding third baseman of all time. Anchor of the superb Orioles teams of the 60's and early 70's. It took me quite a while for my number to come up. Why? Because he took the time to shake each person's hand. He posed for pictures. He seemed genuinely glad that we came to see him. Made me feel proud to be a baseball fan. I've read quite a bit about Brooks Robinson, and everyone speaks glowingly about what a great guy he is on top of being an outstanding ballplayer (1964 AL MVP), and he didn't let me down at all.

Finally, Tony Gwynn. That was a last second decision. I planned on just getting Robinson and Schmidt, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see the greatest hitter during my lifetime. As I made my way up to the table, I worked up the nerve to ask him who was the greatest pitcher he ever faced. He answered with a long, contemplative, "Hmmmm..." He took the time to answer my question, and he asked me, "Now do you mean the greatest, or the toughest I've ever faced?" And I said, "Toughest." and he thought a bit more and said, "Randy Johnson. Randy Johnson was the toughest pitcher I ever faced. Randy Johnson the toughest lefty, Nolan Ryan the toughest righty." I told him that I just had to ask the greatest hitter of my lifetime that question. And he told me he appreciated that. And he shook my hand. The hand that swung a bat to the tune of a .338 lifetime average (highest of any man alive**). I walked away from that table feeling so amped up. I had this goofy grin on my face. I was seriously in awe. Tony Gwynn reinforced to me why sports are magical. Made me proud to spend so much of my time learning about the amazing people to have played the game.

** List of highest career batting averages of living persons
.338 Tony Gwynn
.334 Albert Pujols
.333 Ichiro Suzuki
.331 Stan Musial
.328 Todd Helton
.328 Wade Boggs
.328 Rod Carew
.321 Vladimir Guerrero
.318 Matt Holliday
.317 Derek Jeter

Consider that all active players on this list will likely go through a decline phase of their career which will lower their career averages by a few points.