Funny story. During my separation from my daughter’s mother I ended up moving all my stuff into my minivan. I ended up living in my very cozy office for two weeks until I was able to save up enough money for an apartment because you know, the woman gets to keep everything. ANYWAY…
Once I finally got my place I moved what little I had into my house, including two HUGE boxes filled with my 30-year old Jose Canseco collection. My minivan was stuffed full of clothes, electronics, and personal items but somehow, I forgot to bring in my two, small boxes of Andrew Miller cards.
You see, unlike Canseco, who has a rabid and very deep-pocketed fan base, Andrew Miller was at the bottom of the scrap heap when I collected his cards from 2007 to 2010. I could pick up several 1/1s, autographs, and game-used cards at a time and still have money for lunch at Denny’s afterwards.
For a while, things go so bad for Andrew Miller in our hobby that companies flat out stopped adding him to their checklists. I’m not talking about high-end, $200 per box, 5 card products, either. I mean Topps, Upper Deck, you name it. The man fell off the face of the Earth.
My collection of Miller cards, which was in the low 100s was nothing but the best of the best cards out there, unlike my Canseco collection, which pales in comparison to many hardcore collectors out there. It seemed that Andrew Miller was “my guy” simply for budgetary restrictions. I just don’t ever see myself spending more than $50 on a card.
Well, my separation was final and I now had a bachelor pad while driving a minivan. This of course, did not work for me. I immediately bought a 2001 Camaro SS and turned in the minivan, with payments still left on it. I watched as it was repossessed with a smile on my face, not realizing that my entire Andrew Miller collection was still in it.
I guess Andrew had some nice seasons in 2015 and 2016, even finishing in the top 10 in Cy Young award voting back to back. That is a far cry from his frustrating days as a Florida Marlin so long ago. I am extremely happy for him and his ALCS MVP award win. I knew he had it in him all along, even though I gave up on him in 2013 without even knowing.
I upgraded my Camaro in 2015 to an even faster and sexier SS but still don’t have any of the Andrew Miller cards I lost. I am also now personally responsible for losing several, irreplaceable 1/1 cards, forever. So the questions is, what now? If Andrew, in his 13th season this year becomes a God-like pitcher, I am to blame for the lack of early year printing plates and high-end 1/1s vanishing from the market forever.
I’m so sorry, fellow collectors!
