Can You Name This Player?

Unlike some collectors, I have very few hangups when it comes to card condition. When it comes to older cards, there are several benefits to not being picky about how a card looks. First of all, it allows me to stretch my hobby dollar (which also keeps me out of the doghouse with my wife). It also means I don't need to have any nagging worries that my card may have been trimmed or altered to achieve a higher grade...while I do have some trimmed cards, they're quite obvious. Finally, I am happy to fill in any holes in my collection. If I ever upgrade, I'll be able to find another similar-minded collector who'll be happy to add it to their own collection.

Here's a card I picked up several years ago.

The card is a 1934-'36 Batter Up and shows Zeke Bonura. You'd never know who it is by looking at it, however. Not only has most of his name been worn from the card, the corner that once displayed the card number has been damaged as well. In order to determine which player was on the card, it took looking through a number of eBay auctions and websites before I found a card that matched the picture.

It took a couple of months before the identity was determined, so once I did that, I took a Sharpie and...

No, I didn't write his name on the card. I keep it in a plastic toploader, so I wrote Bonura's name and the card number on that.