for luck and more

i first starting carrying a baseball card in my wallet back in 1996 after mickey mantle passed away. i've told the story before, but bob costas said at the time that he carried a mantle card in his wallet and i thought that sounded like a cool idea - a way to always have a piece of my collection (and really, my youth) with me. at some point in the 2000s, i switched to a smaller wallet and the 1974 topps steve garvey card i had carried since mantle's death was displaced. it was reinstated almost 11 years ago, however, thanks to gavin and other bloggers like bo, fuji, and the junior junkie.

a couple of years ago, i was inspired by one of fuji's posts to add another collectible (and i wanted it to be something that i could carry in my wallet). i wound up finding a 1935 grape nuts dizzy dean winners club coin as a result of that search. here's the "heads" side of the coin:

 

and here's the "tails" side

i appreciate the horseshoe as a good luck symbol, but i think it is upside down in that regard.

"play to win - but play fair - in sports and in life". that is some pretty good advice that still sounds true some 90 years later.

the reason i settled on a dizzy dean coin from back then is that both of my parents mentioned at some point being able to hear dean and the st. louis cardinal broadcasts sometimes even though they were all the way up in southern canada. more importantly, dean was on the mound for those cardinals on both days that my parents were born. 

both of my parents were big parts in the development of my collecting hobby. my mom was the one who sent me into the local comic and card shop for the first time, and i have memories of her driving me to random stores that sold packs at the register. my dad started collecting alongside me, and took my to my first card shows, including what turned out to be the first national. i still have some of the cards that were in his collection, including a bunch of hockey cards from the 1980's and cards of koufax, drysdale, clemente and others. 

having the coin with me is an easy way to remember them, although it would make more sense if the coin said "life isn't fair" or "eat your vegetables".