Jeff Jackson on baseball cards

Outfielder Jeff Jackson was the Phillies' first-round pick in the 1989 draft. In an eight-year minor-league career that saw him reach as high as AA, he hit .225 with 32 HR, 199 RBI and 99 SB in 551 games. He recently wrote his autobiography, The Gift and The Curse. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"My favorite baseball card of myself would be my Classic Best 1993 Gold Card.

I do not actually collect baseball cards but I still receive a lot of autograph requests and I sign autographs for my fans on a regular basis. To be honest I'm actually shocked that 30 years later people still remember me and request my autograph for me not actually making it to the major leagues. I also get a kick out of interacting with my fans on the internet because I'm sure a lot of people are surprised that I actually respond to them. I consider myself a regular person and if someone takes the time-out to reach out to me out of respect, the least I can do is to respond back. A lot of times people like to put athletes on a pedestal but I can assure you that they are regular people. That's why I took the time to write my book The Gift and The Curse: The Jeff Jackson Story, just to give the fans some insight on what it is like to play professional sports or at least from my personal experience so hopefully everybody who reads it can get a better understanding and what it's like as a professional athlete. I also give them my personal story in hopes that l can educate them and for up-and-coming ball players to read the story and learn from my mistakes."

Thanks!