In which I lose many beloved sports collectibles

Dear OMFers—

What you’ll soon learn about me from my extensive and highly academic search for the Great American Sports Novel is that I’m a bit distrustful of Shoeless Joe. I’m skeptical of its overwrought nostalgia and the way it’s cited as the GOAT baseball book—not to mention its partner in crime, Field of Dreams, as the best sports movie. I’ve never agreed.1 Though I’m keeping an open mind as I get further into this adventure.

So naturally, this year’s Field of Dreams game—the one where MLB teams go to Iowa to exploit that same nostalgia I question—featured the Phillies on Netflix.2

What caught my eye, however, when the game was announced was the special jerseys for the occasion. [DIGRESSION] I bought a Washington Senators hat when I first moved to D.C. I felt that wearing a Phillies hat to a Mets at Nats was a little too gauche. But I also wouldn’t be caught dead in that hideous Walgreens-style Nats hat. So I bought the navy-blue, sleek Senators hat to blend. [DIGRESSION END] Well, the Phillies’ Field of Dreams hat looked almost exactly the same, but with a “P.” It’s beautiful and I wanted one.

Unfortunately, it was sold out almost everywhere. Everywhere, that is, except this small sports memorabilia shop in Philly—and who knows how legit this hat was. But I ordered it anyway, and when it arrived . . . Perfection!

So what did I do traveling last weekend? I left it in our hotel. After wearing it twice. Gone. I was sure I’d never see it again.

This got me thinking about all the great sports collectibles and gear I’ve lost over the years—like a St. Andrews Open Championship windbreaker that I absolutely loved.3

More disheartening, I recently saw that someone sold the LeBron James SLAM magazine cover for a couple thousand dollars. I had that one, along with his Sports Illustrated cover from high school. I kept them for years, but my parents (lacking the same long-term investment vision) tossed them when they moved. Sure wish I had those now.

Note: I contacted the hotel to send the hat back. A mystery $10 charge showed up on my card a few days later. Could this be the first time in history a hotel has followed through on this type of request?! I’ll update you as needed.

On the Great American Sports Novel front, I’m up to 14 books, and my TBR list is now well over 60. Just wanted to share a couple of quick observations as my own odyssey progresses.

• The best sports books I’ve read so far have been written by non-American authors. Maybe there’s no great American sports writer, which would be ironic given our obsession with sports.

• I’m wondering if the Great American Sports Novel is limited to only a few sports. Could a ping-pong book really qualify? What about boxing? Or horse racing? Those sports used to be culturally important, but not anymore. Baseball is interesting because it’s been the most professionalized for the longest period. Football is the biggest sport now, but that wasn’t the case 50 years ago. Hence the dearth of classic football novels.

• Relatedly, across my entire list, there’s only one basketball book—and it wasn’t written by an American. Why? I’ll investigate and report back.

Anyway, my search continues. Note: I’ve made more progress on my sports book than I have with Ulysses, for which I’m still waiting for my annotated copy.

So, until next time . . .

—Matt