My 6 Step PC Guy Trade Recovery Program

Hello All!

Most on here know that Jay Bruce is my PC guy. I've never really dedicated my collecting to one player in all of the years I've been collecting/selling until 2012. When I decided to collect one player vs a team or prospect, I choose my guy as I thought he was the face of the franchise from start to finish of his career (a Cal Ripken kinda guy). The last 12 months of trade talks of my PC guy have been a roller coaster ride. Last season, he was off to Toronto, but some minor leaguer's nixed that trade. In Spring Training, lot's of talk of him being traded again but no one was buying. He's played better this year than the last two seasons and increased his personal trade value. Several teams came knocking on the Reds door looking for his bat. Then on non waiver trade deadline day, it happened. My guy was traded to the Mets.

Step 1) Denial! First reaction was NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Cant be. No way the Reds would really let him go. They did. Then some false hope came about as again, a minor leaguer was almost about to nix that trade. I wasnt angry but I felt the same way I did when I was a kid that I learned that Pete Rose was traded to the Phillies. It was like a kick in the nads.

Step 2) Grieve: Not full bore shut down my life grieve but I took it a little personally because I've spent a lot of time checking stats, going to appearances, buying cards, autographs, jerseys and more.

Step 3) Accept: I had to accept it because there's nothing a baseball card collector could do to change the situation. Plus I had to remember that MLB is a business first, game second.

Step 4) Reflect: Look at all the stuff that I've collected over the years of my PC guy. Then I realized that I was following the career of the player, not the team he was on.

Step 5) Be Happy: I saw on tv interviews that my PC guy was happy the trade happened and he was glad he was where he ended up at. If he's happy, I'm happy!

Step 6) Keep Collecting: Collecting a PC guy meant I was collecting the player, not the team he was on, so as he moved on, so did I. I bought a couple of the Topps Now cards the depicted the trade, debut and 3 run HR het hit to put the Mets over the top vs the Yankees. Buying these actually helped with moving on. There was the same guy, with the same swing just in a different uniform. Now I look forward to more cards of him in a different uniform.



Only problem is now, I have to compete against the entire New York Mets fan base for his cards. Cincinnati is probably only a 10th of the size fan base the Mets have.

Fordman

PS: Probably have to do something about the pic in my sig too!

Very nice! It is a tough decision but I think you made the right one!


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I went through the exact same process in 1997. It was so weird to see cards of Justice in an Indians jersey, but once you get past it you realize it opens up new possibilities for your collection. You'll get to go after cards that have an entirely new look and feel, plus there will likely be reprints or flashback cards every now and then that show him back in his Reds jersey. Good luck!

I've gone through this with both Darryl Kile and Eric Bruntlett. Kile was the hardest because he eventually ended up on our archrival, but I now have a bunch of Cardinals stuff that features the greatest curveball known to man.

I am glad with you decision. Yous is one of the best player collection of the boards and always enjoy your posts and updates.

@fordman - Brilliantly put! As a collector of a guy who was on SEVEN different teams, looking back, I'm glad because it gives my collection more variety. Thanks for the write up

I guess I never felt any of this angst as I started collecting Dave Winfield when he was already on his second team. All his subsequent moves seemed to be improvements in his situation and I just rolled with them. Never occurred to me to have a problem with it.

I can totally empathize with you. Being an A's fan and a Henderson fan, it was hard to see him go. Then he came back! Then he left again, and so on. Enjoy the ride, and as your collection grows, you will see him in the Reds uni again, you know, when he retires, and Topps recycles his Reds pictures to "new" cards of him! But just think, on the Mets, you get a whole new color scheme to your cards and a new feel. Almost like collecting a new player!

It was a sad, sad day for me when the Reds traded Dunn back in 2008. I don't think I took it as well then as you seem to be with Bruce leaving now but you're wise to focus on the positives, of which there are many.

I had a harder time with this when my PC guy (hockey - Ryan Smyth) got moved. I became disinterested in keeping up with it and basically stopped collecting. The PC was really all I was doing at that point, no longer buying wax or dabbling in other facets of the hobby. I wasn't upset by it, but no longer felt connected to the cardboard going forward. I haven't purged my old collection and am very fond of a lot of the interesting and rare pieces of my collection. Interestingly, he ended back on the team that originally traded him...after a few other stops. I thought about just going after all his cards depicting him with his original Edmonton Oilers, but even then, I didn't have the desire or focus.

He initiated the trade to go to a contender, so I couldn't be upset at the organization nor the player. Still wanted him to do well, still wanted to cheer my team on.

Interesting the dynamics of a PC mindset. I'm sure I'm in the minority on PC whose guy gets moved and throws in the towel.

I think Step 4 was a big one. I went through the same thing when Olerud was traded to the Mets at the end of 1996. It really sucked when the Mariners released him and he ended up his career bouncing from the Yankees to a rehab stint in the minors, to the Red Sox. But as you said, you collect the player because you like the player.

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Yeah, I think Step 4 is the biggest and most important step, in both the 6 and 12 step programs. 10 years ago I had to accept Jim Thome going from the Phillies to the White Sox. It did help that he had been with the Indians first. It took me a few days to get over it, but 14 years and thousands of cards later I'm glad I did. When I stop and think about it, Thome and Bruce have quite a few things in common. Good luck with the Bruce collection!