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Show UAVib COUNTY CLIPPER . Tuesday, March 26, 1991 A9 Journeyman catcher for Expos ' 1 Ron Hassy tickles card store manager's fancy LI i 1, . ) ' -jzr f T- "! k , 1 V Bv MARK EDDINGTON Staff Writer BOUNTIFUL Who? What? That would be the probable response of most baseball card collectors if you offered to buy, sell or trade a Ron Hassey. Hassey, a journeyman catcher for the Montreal Expos, Ex-pos, has bounced around the majors for 1 1 years with the Indians, Yankees, Cubs, White Sox and Athletics and is hardly the stuff of legends or likely to tickle the fancy of most collectors, who would much prefer a Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey, Jr. rookie card. But Charles Ellis, manager of Baseball Cards, etc. in Bountiful Five Points Mall, is going against the grain. Hassey caught Ellis' attention back in 1986, when the Yankees and White Sox traded the catcher back and forth several times during one season. "I watched him play and I thought he was a heck of defensive catcher and no slouch with a bat either,' said -Vn;i was initially idle curiosity turned into an fAscssj iu, and Ellis has been collecting virtually arn'thin;: and everything having to do with Ron Hassey ri cr since. Thai collection includes 3,014 baseball cards, autographed baseballs, a couple of Hassey game jerseys and bats and a Hassey catcher's mask and chest protector. protec-tor. Ellis has even commissioned a local artist to do a portrait and several cartoons of the player. Those familiar with Ellis' obsession ask why. "I say why not Ron Hassey? Why Jose Canseco? Why Bo Jackson? At least I can't be accused of collecting collec-ting for value," he said. A 1980 Ricky Henderson rookie card is valued at $200. A Hassey rookie cord fetches a whopping 40 cents. By collecting a Ron Hassey instead of a superstar, Ellis said he doesn't stay awake at nights worrying whether the price of his cards go up or down. " Hassey 's cards can't go down any lower than they already are, so I can't really worry about it," he laughingly explained. Ellis feels card collecting should be done strictly for fun and not as an investment. He explained why. Sports card collecting enjoyed a boom in the mid to late '80s, and the demand exceeded the supply. More and more people started collecting, and card prices skyrocketed because not many old cards survived, especially es-pecially in mint condition. Cards were put in kids' trou-ser trou-ser pockets, sent through the washing machine, or were thrown out. Only 10 percent of those cards survived, he said. Ellis estimates 95 percent of the cards printed today will survive in mint condition. That, combined with the increased number of cards printed today, makes it unlikely sports cards will continue to be the investment in the '90s that they have been in the past. "My fear is when investors realize this they will quit collecting, causing card stores to close and thereby destroy a wonderful hobby," he said. Ellis bought his first pack four years ago. An avid hockey fan, he had little interest in card collecting until a good friend literally dragged him into a card shop. He quickly became hooked and when Ed Anderson, the owner of Baseball Cards etc., offered him a job at a Trapper baseball game, he jumped at it. He has come full circle from the early days, when he considered collecting to be a silly hobby. A recent foray up to Ogcien yielded 700 more Ron Hassey cards, which he eagerly added to his collection. And if Ellis can't go out to find Ron Hassey, friends and associates are always bringing Hassey cards to him. Some of his friends jokingly accuse him of trying to drive up the price by cornering the market, he said Ellis is reluctant to call himself an expert on baseball cards. He doesn't, however, show any such hesitancy about his grasp of Hassey lore. Ask him who the catcher cat-cher played for in what year, his batting average or other trivia, and Ellis can produce a answer. "I know more about Ron Hassey than anyone in the state unless he's here in the state right now, which I doubt because he should be in Florida," he said. Despite his obsession with the catcher, Ellis has never met him in person. Ellis hopes to meet Hassey in person next winter during the off-season. Hassey already knows about Ellis through Orbie Farm worth, a mutual friend who owns a baseball card shop in Hassey's hometown of Tucson, Ariz. Farnsworth showed the catcher a Deseret News article on Ellis' collection. col-lection. Hassey autographed it and sent it to Ellis. Obsession can be a lonely business. Charles' wife Vicki sadly does not share his enthusiasm, though she ioierates it, he said. His 8-year-old son Marc dabbles in cards; Daniel, age 6, lives for cards--a genuine sports fanatic, he said. Then there's Joie, who is the youngest and likes to eat the cards. "A typical 1-year-old," his father said. Fortunately, other friends and business associates share his passion of collecting cards of common value players. After all, it's cheaper to collect that way. Ellis, a self-described rabid Mets fan, has a dilemma this year. The Expos are in the same division as the Mets, which means his favorite player will be com- peung against his favorite team. His dream season has the Mets winning the pennant and Hassey bursting into the limelight with a 50 homerun and MVP season. "Hey, it could happen," he said, laughing once more. "Wouldn't that be something?" Charles Ellis proudly displays some memorabilia from his mammoth collection of Ron Hassey The manager of Baseball Cards etc. in Bountiful eschews stars like Bo Jackson and Ken Griffey Jr to focus on collecting memorabilia of Ron Hassey, a ourneyman catcher lately with the Montreal Expos Ellis boasts of having the largest collection-probab y by default-of Hassey in the state, with 3 014 sDort cards, bats, jerseys and other artifacts. |