This post immediately prompted to me to start asking questions.

How does one authenticate said dirt? 

Is dirt from certain locations (e.g.  pitcher’s mound, infield, warning track) considered more valuable than from other locations (e.g.  bullpen, coaches boxes, on-deck circle)?

Is soiled dirt (e.g. with tobacco remnants) more valuable than prestine dirt?

Is there a market for chalk lines?  How about paint chips from the foul pole?

What about the left over seed shells?  Or the wads of gum Francona and others leave behind?

Should the taxpayers in NY start procurring above items to start a fund to pay off the debt service on the new ballparks?

Does eBay allow said items for sale? 

Maybe PBS will start a new series - The Ballpark Roadshow and folks like Ken Burns can evaluate the items for authenticity and a whole new cottage industry can be created?

I enjoyed collecting cards in the 1980’s as well.  There was topps, donruss, and the elusive fleer.  O-Pee-Chees would somehow make their way into my collection, but couldn’t have been more than a dozen.  Occasionally, Nabsico or someone would put out a little set.  Then upperdeck and bowman and a whole slew of new cards came out with special sets and gimmicks and it just sort of got overwhelming.  It felt like there was no way to collect all the cards I wanted on my paper-boy salary.

I’ll admit to being intrigued by the whole game-dirt thing and for the right price (cheap!) I would totally buy some.

When you get right down to it though, that’s the kind of stuff you really want to nick for yourself. In her role as a Little League President my mom once was out on the field at the Kingdom as part of group first-pitch. If that had been me, I absolutely would have “tied my shoes” and scooped up some pitchers mound dirt.

I think one reason that baseball cards have lost interest for me is the internet. Before the internet baseball cards were a way for me to see my favorite players whenever I wanted. I could get a great glimpse at their careers by looking at their stats and I had a picture of them whenever I needed it. I even remember, circa 1985 using the stats on the backs of baseball cards to debate with my buddies whether Wade Boggs or Don Mattingly was better. Today I can go to the internet and pull up their stats and a thousand different photos from a million different angles. I can pull up video highlights and biographical information if I want. The players seem so completely accessible that I no longer need to access them through baseball cards. Now, I only access nostagic memories of my youth through baseball cards.