Miguel has had a lifelong passion for baseball. From a young age, he would spend hours every day throwing and catching with his father in their backyard. His favorite player was Derek Jeter and he idolized the New York Yankees shortstop.
When Miguel turned 7, his parents surprised him with a gift to start collecting baseball cards. He was ecstatic and immediately began sorting through the packs of cards to see which players he got. That first pack contained a Miguel Cabrera card, kicking off his collection.
Over the following years, Miguel devoted much of his allowance and money from holidays and birthdays toward buying more packs of cards. He would meticulously sort each new addition based on team, position, and player name. Miguel stored the constantly growing collection in protective plastic sleeves within multiple binders.
By the time he entered middle school, Miguel’s collection had grown significantly. In addition to continuing to buy packs whenever possible, he also began frequenting card shows and shops to find singles of players or sets he was trying to complete. Miguel became very knowledgeable about the values and scarcity of different cards from various eras of baseball history.
One of Miguel’s proudest collections within his full assemblage was his Derek Jeter collection. He had Jeter rookie cards in pristine condition from 1993 Topps, Bowman, and Stadium Club releases. Miguel also possessed rare parallel and autographed versions of Jeter cards that he had meticulously searched for. The centerpiece of this section of his collection was a game-worn Jeter jersey card dual autographed by Jeter and Mariano Rivera, one of only 10 ever produced.
In addition to team and player sets, Miguel also focused on collecting subsets highlighting certain achievements or statistical milestones. He had pristine collections of Topps All-Star cards, Topps Leaders cards honoring batting and ERA title winners, and Topps Milestones cards for historic home run and hit totals. Miguel also treasured his collection of Topps Rookie Cup cards recognizing the top rookies from each season.
Throughout middle and high school, Miguel’s baseball card collection only continued expanding. At its height, it contained over 15 full binders sorted meticulously by team, year, set, and player. Miguel estimated he had assembled a total of 334 unique baseball cards after over a decade of dedicated collecting. The extraordinary collection represented not only Miguel’s passion for the game itself, but also taught him vital lifelong skills like monetary responsibility, research, cataloging, and perseverance.
As Miguel neared graduation and prepared for college, he made the difficult decision to begin carefully liquidating portions of his treasured collection. He sold subsets, duplications, and less valuable singles on online auction sites. With the proceeds, Miguel was able to afford some of his college textbooks and equipment for his dorm without dipping into his savings. He endowed a younger cousin just beginning to collect with some of the more common cards to help grow their interest as well.
Today, Miguel is proudly displaying a curated selection of approximately 100 of his favorite cards in a custom acrylic case. The center remains his prized Jeter jersey dual auto, surrounded by historic rookie cards, record-setting stars, and all-time greats. Though smaller than at its peak, Miguel takes great joy in looking back on over a decade of dedication to his baseball card collection. The skills and memories he gained will stay with him for life, just as his love for the game endures. Miguel hopes to one day pass on his appreciation by starting a collection with his own children.
