Bo Rosny: Do you have any stories about cards of yourself or of other players?
Mark Malaska: It's always funny when you're not a superstar and before and after batting practice or the game when you have your jacket on or street clothes, fans call you over to sign and it's not your card because they aren't sure who you are. I used to get mistaken for Shea Hillenbrand and Scott Kazmir all the time. Usually I just sign the card anyway because I'm annoyed.BR: Do you have a favorite card of yourself or of another player?
MM: I don't really have a favorite card of myself. I have a display with all of my cards in my pool room. I do and always have liked anything from Upper Deck.
BR: Do you collect baseball cards?
MM: I did collect baseball cards intensely as a kid. I stopped collecting about 15 years ago. Most of my cards are from 1985-1992. One of my cousins gave me about 1500 "commons" when I was really young (1981-1984) and my parents bought me the 1985 Topps set for my birthday one year. I used to shuffle through all of my cards daily trying to complete sets. Every nickel that I could scrape together went to cards. My family didn't have much money so I mostly had to try to complete sets pack-by-pack or ride my bike to the hobby shop a few miles away to scavenge through their "commons" boxes. My whole collection (about 18,000 cards including basketball, football, and hockey cards from 1979-1993) is at my parents house in Ohio. I haven't looked through it in about 10 years, but I remember being in the clubhouse and on the field with a lot of guys whose cards I collected as a kid. That was a crazy feeling as was actually seeing Major League baseball cards of myself for the first time.
Thanks!
Ha, I love that he signs other players' cards. I always imagined that'd be the most annoying thing about not being a megastar - nobody really know you but still insists on 'guessing' that you're somebody else.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of how I went up to Steve Braun thinking he was Ryan. Steve was cool about it and we chatted for a minute or so, but it was a bit awkward. He said he didn't want to sign my ball cause it'd "ruin" it, even though the memory of the day is something I won't likely forget (not because I was awe-struck by Steve Braun, but because it was kinda funny!). In retrospect, I should've insisted he sign the ball... o'well!