2023

 Hello Friends!

Well, it's the end of another year. I may or may not have mentioned, I generally loathe this time of year because it just reminds me I'm getting older, things I loved are further away, and we're all marching toward the inevitable end.. 

Now that I've bummed everyone out... 

I can't really do a 2023 retrospective on favourite sets/cards/pickups/etc.. Partially because this year has been both a blur and a struggle. 

A blur because I really don't remember what came in this year.. A struggle because this year has been the most disconnected I've felt from collecting in a long time. I know part of it was time spent in hospital and dealing with illness/injury.. I know part of it is the crippling poverty I'm faced with due to the government not giving a crap about people with disabilities. 

I will however, share a couple things I liked about 2023 on my blog.. 

1. I love doing the Stadium posts. I've gotten positive feedback from you dear readers, so I will continue it. 

2. I still enjoy doing the Canadians in the Majors posts.. I'll pick up doing them again..

3. I have some books I'll mention on here after reading..

Now, to finally tie in with cards:

My three favourite gets this year:

I'd love this to be a physical card. This was done digitally for me by a member of the Team Collectors Community. If I had a say, I'd add on the back a little write up on the happenings of the day..

Anne Murray singing O Canada in the snow. 

The Jays borrowing the Leafs' zamboni to clear the field.. 

Doug Ault's two homeruns. 

The Jays winning!

This one, as mentioned in a post earler this month/late last month, came from Kevin Glew from the wonderful Blog Cooperstowners in Canada. Jesse Barfield entered the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame this year and, ever the kind man, was doing up autographed copies of the plaque and some other things for fans. Kevin saw my post about being hospitalized and that I wanted a Barfield auto sometime, so he sent me one. Also said that, had Jesse not been inundated with notifications, he would have noticed and likely sent it himself. 

Finally.. A John Hiller autograph. He was friends with my best friend's father in high school in Toronto. Added to the fact that I wanted to start a Canadians autograph collection, this was kind of a necessary add.. 

Anyway, that's my quick and dirty look at the year past. I hope 2024 is less of a dumpster fire, but I'm not holding my breath.