My First Beckett: September 1987, Andre Dawson Front Cover

I always had some baseball cards around, but I started seriously collecting in 1987.  There were other kids in the neighborhood interested in baseball and cards.  We could ride our bikes to the 7-Eleven and buy packs of 1987 Topps.   We got our parents to take us to Stale Gum, the card shop in town in Newark, DE.  At some point, naturally, I got a price guide, and this was my first, the September 1987 Beckett.

Andre Dawson and his 1987 Donruss card on the cover of Beckett.

I remember reading about Andre Dawson signing a blank contract to get a deal with the Cubs.  I was impressed that he would do whatever it took to get to play with the team he wanted.  I didn't understand at the time that this was a story of the owners illegally colluding against the players.  The collusion probably kept players like Al Oliver out of the Hall of Fame, and ultimately undergirded the 1994 strike and the cancellation of the World Series (a move which drove me away from baseball for about 20 years).

Don Mattingly on the back cover.

The back cover features a simple headshot photo of Mattingly in his prime.  This was the year Mattingly hit all those grand slams.  The fifth one of those grand slams was on Sept. 25, 1987 in Baltimore; I think my dad might have been at the game.  Dad's company had Orioles season tickets, and he and I went sometimes.  I think he went a few times with people from work and may have been at that game.

The table of contents.

I haven't been able to bring myself to re-read any of the articles.  "Special Sets: What To Look For" still resonates with me, as I can't decide sometimes if buying yet another little set makes any difference to my collection.

I thought maybe I had a subscription to Beckett, but I'm sure now that I didn't.  I have a handful of Becketts; I guess I would get them about once a year or so to have a better price guide, but mostly my magazines were Baseball Cards magazine or similar, which I had mainly for the ads.  Judging by the issues I have, it looks like I had a subscription to Baseball Cards for 1991-1992 or thereabouts.