On "The Last Iconic Baseball Card"

For my first choice essay, I chose an article from a recent Sports Illustrated Issue by Luke Winn.

The article discusses the changes in the baseball card industry (or sports cards in general) in the past 20 years. It begins by setting a scene at the headquarters of Upper Deck, a card producing company. Winn is very descriptive in his portrayal using excellent metaphors and similies to insert humor and imagery. Upper Deck will be no more soon because after 2010, the MLB has granted monopolic rights only to Topps, another trading card company.

The article also talks about how in Ken Griffey Jr.'s rookie year (1989), his card was not expected to be the #1 card although it ended up being. His one rookie card is worth a great deal. When Derek Jeter was a rookie in the early 1990s, eight rookie cards were produced and reproduced. Then when Albert Pujols was a rookie in 2001, he had 43 rookie cards. The extensive inflation of the industry is a result of lower demand. The value of cards has become very low. Now many companies are going out of business rapidly.

I noticed that this article was written in a nice and simple tone using very common vernacular, as most articles from Sports Illustrated are. This helps appeal to the audience of people like myself who just want to read about sports and not have to think too much about it. Still, this article does provoke some thought as to what other industries have begun to decline like the baseball card industry. Are we getting unappreciative of things too fast? Is there any value in nostalgia any more?