Roberto Clemente Award Recipient Curtis Granderson Continues Spirit of Honor by Working with NSCC on Youth Collector Clubs Initiative Via Sports Trading Cards
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Over a 16-year career that began with a late-season call up in 2004, Major League Baseball fans could not escape the phrase “The Grandyman can.”
Curtis Granderson was electric on the field accomplishing what few could, which included being part of the rare 20-20-20-20 club, and that is 20 or more home runs, doubles, triples, and stolen bases in a season. When he accomplished the feat in 2007 with the Detroit Tigers, Granderson was just the sixth player in MLB history to do so.
Among Granderson’s other career accomplishments include being a three-time All-Star (2009, 2011, 2012), earning a Silver Slugger Award (2011), 2011 American League leader in RBI (119), and 2016 winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, given “to the player who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”
The idealisms that made Granderson the recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award continue six years after his retirement from Major League Baseball. The Grandyman can and is helping Chicago area kids exercise their minds and bodies through an organization called Chicago Baseball & Educational Academy (CBEA).
Starting in 2016, CBEA has proudly helped more than 25,000 kids in the Chicago area develop skills beyond sports. One of the learning tools the organization has implemented is business focused, centered around sports cards. Participating grade school students are learning the value of sports cards with the price guides in Beckett magazines serving as the market indicator for rising and falling valuations.
The summer school program CBEA students are going through is titled Youth Collector Clubs Initiative, which was created by The National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC) with the curriculum developed by Phoenixville Area Middle School (Pa.) assistant principal Samuel Evans.
On Friday, July 31, it was field trip day for the Youth Collector Clubs Initiative students, attending the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. As part of the curriculum, the students went to various booths at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, learning about different aspects of the hobby from grading to how to interact with adults to negotiate buying sports cards.
While at The National, Granderson explained to Beckett his background in sports card collecting and how the price guides he used as a youth are now serving the next generation of students at CBEA.
Curtis Granderson Q&A Interview from The National
BN: Curtis, you had an amazing Major League Baseball career, playing 16 seasons. Please tell us about the early part of your career.
Curtis Granderson: “You know what’s interesting, I am from Chicago, I played baseball, basketball, and I ran cross country, I did a little bit of everything. Being in Chicago, you’d think I would be a Cubs or White Sox fan, but I was a Braves fan because of TBS in the 1990s. I was a die-hard Braves fan.
“I got an opportunity to play in high school, got an opportunity to play in college at the University of Illinois Chicago, and that’s where I got drafted. To be honest, and what a lot of people don’t know, I thought I would play for two to three years in the minors, get released, and go put my college degree to work and go from there.
“Well, two to three years into my minor league career, that’s when I got called up to the big leagues – and they kept letting me come back for 16 seasons with seven different teams.
“I got the chance to travel the world – it has been so cool and such a blessing what the game was able to do for me. And Chicago is still home for me.”
BN: Looking back on your career, what makes you smile? What are some of the accomplishments you are most proud of?
Curtis Granderson: “I was still able to graduate with my college class in 2003 while playing in the minor leagues. What’s interesting, to kind of date myself, I took one of the first ever online classes.
“While I was in High-A ball in Lakeland, Florida, I had to go to the public library to get on the internet to submit my work. The last final I had to take was in my manager’s office in Lakeland, Florida. He had to sign off that I did not cheat. I had to FedEx that in, got the grade, and was able to graduate on time with my class. That is probably the first one.
“The second one was getting called up to the big leagues in 2004.
“Every year at the end of the minor league season my cleats, glove, and batting gloves would be worn down, so I would throw them away after our last game. When we were eliminated from the Eastern League Playoffs, I threw my stuff away. Our minor league coordinator is there, he says, ‘Grandy, come in here. I have to talk to you.’ He says, ‘You are going to the big leagues.’
“I said, ‘Hold on one second.’ I ran to the garbage can, got my cleats out and my glove out before they took it out and started dumping stuff in the dumpster. That was my call to the big leagues.
“My next big moment was probably my first major league hit, which happened here in Chicago against the White Sox. That was cool.”
BN: Using cards as part of the learning tool for kids in the CBEA program, was collecting part of your childhood?
Curtis Granderson: “Cards were around me when I was younger. It was a fun thing to do with your friends and your teammates. I was a basketball, baseball, and football fan. Cards seemed to be at the grocery store and even at Sears department stores. I remember picking up cards there. One of my buddies had a little card shop in his garage. You couldn’t go through the main garage door; you had to go through the side door to access it and get in.
“I was always around it. You had your favorite players that you wanted to get. For me, it was Alonzo Mourning in basketball and David Justice in baseball.
“Another big standout moment for me with cards was watching the Home Shopping Network. There were always those Score cards that would pop up and the price kept dropping. I would be like, ‘Mom, can we buy them? The price is going down. Look – they just cut it down in half.’
“She would be like, ‘No.’ Then the commercial would come on and they’d come back on, and the price would drop again – ‘Mom, can we get them?’
“I never got those cards, but that is how into cards I was then. I had a three-ring binder with the nine pages to slide your cards in. For me, it was the excitement of what you were going to get.
“I would earn money through allowance or through a job, now let’s go spend it on these cards. Never really bought the individual cards, because those were too much money. I would get a pack and hope to get a card I was looking for.
“That started when I was in grade school and went through high school. Then life happens – college, pro ball, and then I got my first card made for me. I was like, ‘Wow, I got a card of mine.’ That was cool.
“One of the coolest things that I liked about cards, I remember the Ben McDonald error rookie card. I always wanted to get an error card. The next thing you know, my first ever Upper Deck card was an error card. They put my face on it with our other third round draft pick’s name. So, it says Matt Pender’s name on it.
“I was like (gasps), ‘I have an error card and it’s my card.’ Instead of being upset and mad, that is what I had always wanted as a kid and never got it. Now, here I am in professional baseball, and I finally get an error card of myself.”
BN: Did you use Beckett magazines as a kid and why did you decide to use it with this program?
Curtis Granderson: “Beckett for me growing up, you’d get your Beckett – 1) who is on the cover? The cover would jump out at you. That was the first thing, whether it was Michael (Jordan) or (Ken) Griffey (Jr.) or whichever superstar athlete it was, and you’d flip through to find the cards. You’d find the sets you were looking for, and then I would take my card and slide it down until I found that (card) number to see if it was there.
“A lot of times, I had common cards and it was not in there. But that unknown about what you are going to see and what you will find and what the number would be next to that card. ‘Oh, this is worth $1, this is $2, or this is $5. Wow, what is that $10 card? I hope I get that one.’
“That is how it started. It is still the same idea for the kids to get real time access to what they just pulled. One of the things that I always get when talking to kids, someone will ask, ‘How much money did you make?’ And there is always a parent in the background going, ‘Don’t ask him that.’
“I always respond, ‘No. Ask.’ Because you never know what that kid’s interest is in. They want to know, is this something that can make me money? Is this something that is worth my time? Now, when we have a card with a value associated with it, ‘Oh, I just got this, it cost me $1 and it is now worth $10. I like this.’ They become interested in it.
“Being a football, basketball, and baseball fan, that combination with the cards and Beckett helps bring the educational part to the kids thus the reason for the collaboration.
BN: Do you still collect cards?
Curtis Granderson: “This is a yes and a no answer. No, because I haven’t had a chance to pick up anything new recently. I have been on different telecasts or podcasts where they have a pack of cards for me. I open them up, but usually I give those away to the kids that are there.
“But my parents just moved out of my childhood home. They said, ‘Hey, we found all of your cards, do you still want them?’ I was like, ‘Yes!’ So, I have those back in my collection. That is the yes part of it.
“Coming to The National was so exciting because I got to see from the fans’ standpoint. I’ve been to events to sign before but I didn’t walk the floor. I went to shows a long time ago as a kid and I remember going up to the booths and seeing that card that was $10. I wanted it but I don’t have $10. Maybe I can get it next time. I come back next time; it is still $10. I still didn’t have the $10, but no one else got it so the optimism is still there.
“To see what it is now. There are multiple levels here at The National, which is so cool to see. And the range of individuals that are excited to see the cards, get cards, and be a part of it is great.”
*Click the link for more information on the Chicago Baseball & Educational Academy.
Curtis Granderson Career Quick Notes
Curtis Granderson began his Major League Baseball career in 2004, playing nine games with the Detroit Tigers. By 2006, he was an everyday player. Granderson led the AL in triples in 2007 (23) and 2008 (13), and he led the league in runs scored in 2011 (136).
Granderson made headlines in 2006 by blasting three home runs in the postseason with Detroit, helping the Tigers to the World Series. Grandyman would return to the World Series in 2015, this time with the New York Mets, and, again, blasted three dingers in the postseason.
Over his 16-year career, Granderson played for the Tigers, Mets, Yankees, Marlins, Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Brewers.
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