Collector Brad Askew shows there are many ways to hobby with super collection

One of my hobby mantras is “hobby your way,” and in ways that make your hobby experience enjoyable. I recently had my friend, Brad Askew, on the podcast and no one embodies that approach as much as he does.

In the early 1980s, Brad, his father and uncle got heavy into collecting baseball cards, but his first introduction to trading cards mirror my own—cards from the blockbuster movie “Jaws.”

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Fast forward to 1982. While watching the MLB Saturday Game of the Week, a tilt between the Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers, he became a fan of Orioles first baseman Eddie Murray, and his road to “super collecting” began. No one can accuse him of bandwagon jumping as Murray was in the early stages of his career and no one could know for sure he was on his way to the 500 Home Run Club or would become one of the greatest switch-hitters in history. He didn’t know then he was watching a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Askew has over 3,500 different Murray cards but one of his prized possessions is not a card. It’s a champagne bottle from the Mets locker room celebration when Murray became the all-time switch-hitting RBI leader on June 6, 1992. Murray’s two RBI in the Mets 15-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates gave him 1,510 RBI, passing someone named Mickey Mantle as the all-time leader, a record he still holds today. The bottle’s label signifies the date, Murray’s name, and the accomplishment. It has a Certificate of Authenticity from Mets coach Dave LaRoche.

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Askew epitomizes the “hobby your way” practice as he collects many other cards as well, especially on the vintage side of the aisle. Occasionally he’ll pick up some modern Murrays as they become available and add them to his growing Murray collection.

Askew tells me he is content and understands he will never own every Eddie Murray card that exists, but enjoys traveling from his home in Atlanta to shows to add to his collection. More importantly, he told me he really enjoys catching up with hobby friends in person.

I think Brad speaks for most of us with that sentiment.

— John Newman is a collector, dealer and the host of the Sports Card Nation podcast. Catch his Hobby Quick Hits on Monday and his guest interviews on Friday on your favorite podcast plat­form. You can reach him at sportscard­nationpc@gmail.com or on Twitter at @sportscardnati1