Paul Hodgson on baseball cards

Outfielder Paul Hodgson was signed by the Blue Jays as a seventeen-year-old in 1977 and played seven seasons in their system. In 1980 he became the second Canadian to play for the Blue Jays, hitting .220 with 1 HR and 5 RBI in 20 games. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

- Do you have any stories about cards of yourself or of other players?

When I started playing pro ball, I wasn't old enough to be on a baseball card.  My dad had to sign a waiver. I got the waiver from Topps (or who ever it was) but it totally slipped my mind, never gave it to him. Found the waiver, unsigned, a couple years back, among bits of memorabilia from back in the day.

It was different then anyway, usually put 3 or 4 rookies on a card, as with the one attached from our team in '81.

- Do you have a favorite card of yourself or of another player?

I wasn't much of a collector, but dad ran a general store, so I did get the packs and enjoyed reading about the players and getting the gum.

I was an Oakland fan as a kid, so I tried to get Oakland players. My favorite players were Reggie Jackson and Bobby Bonds, so I would've enjoyed those cards or any from their teams, for sure .

- Do you collect baseball cards ?

I don't collect cards, never really would have called myself a collector, even in the early days.

Most pro baseball players start out as fans, but after being around the game as a career, after a few years we lose the "fan" in us and it usually never returns. Sad, but true. I've never met any of the guys after our playing days who collected anything, or even paid much attention to MLB (unless, of course, they were be coaches or scouts. That's different). Would say 99% of us would have liked to spend our lives in the game, but sadly, the game doesn't work out that way for almost all of us.

Thanks! He also attached pictures of his black and white cards from the Southern League in 1981 and 1982.