A Lamp Unto My Cleats

The years of 1984 through 1993 are unaffectionately known by some as the “Junk Wax Era.” During this time, sports cards as a whole, but specifically baseball cards, were being massively overproduced. Topps, Donruss, Fleer, and later Score and Upper Deck were cranking out cards faster than collectors could purchase them, resulting in an oversaturated market which devalued nearly all the cards produced during that time.

One way to increase the value of a baseball card in that era was to have it autographed. Perhaps the most convenient way to get a card autographed was the TTM method – short for “through the mail.” Fans and collectors would often mail cards through the United States Postal Service to team clubhouses in hopes of receiving the cards returned to them with the autograph the of the player who was featured on the card.

John Olerud began his playing career in the junk wax era. He got his first taste of the big leagues with a 6-game stint with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989. After playing 7 full seasons after that with Toronto, he went on to play for the Mets from 1997-1999, the Seattle Mariners from 2000 through the first half of the 2004 season, followed by brief stints with the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Olerud received his fair share of TTM autograph requests. At times, he would return the card with his signature. But he also did something quite unique. He would also send signed copies of a custom card that he had made himself. But this wasn’t an ordinary baseball card: it was a card that shared his Christian testimony.

Here’s what Olerud wrote on the back of the card from his time with the Seattle Mariners.

“My understanding of God’s love for me reached a new level after my son Garrett was born in 1998. Here was a baby who done nothing to earn my love, yet I loved him unconditionally with all my heart and would give my life for him. God has given me a glimpse of what He sees when He looks at me.

The Bible says that ‘God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8). The depth of that love is hard to understand. Despite my sin, God sent His Son to die for me and Jesus willingly gave His life on the cross for me.

We can’t trust in our own good works or church attendance or trying our best to earn a ticket to heaven. It is by Christ, and Him alone that we can be saved and each of us must accept this gift from God individually. ‘To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God’ (John 1:12). I placed by trust in Jesus Christ in 1990, my first season in the major leagues. As I’ve matured as a person and as a Christian, I’ve been able to know God’s love in a deeper way and experience the peace and joy that only comes from having a personal relationship with Christ and walking with Him daily.”

This card may have been made shortly after the “Junk Wax Era” but the truth that Olerud shared is truly priceless!