How this affects me. One of the guys I passively collect is Jose Altuve. He's part of my "Faith Brothers" sub-collection of Christian athletes. I've read some very cool interviews with Jose where he publically talks about his faith and relationship with Jesus Christ. I love adding new guys to the collection when I read things like this...so you can imagine my frustration w/ Altuve over this cheating scandal...especially with him being one of the players at the heart of all the discussions.
Now please hear me out...I'm no way perfect and I fall short of Jesus every day air fills my lungs. It's not my place to judge...period. However I've been thinking if Altuve's cards should stay in my collection with this whole cheating scandal going on.
This also got me thinking about other players I have cardboard of that have done egregious things. I ultimately kept the cardboard of those guys in my team collections...guys like the Carolina Panther's Rae Carruth. This dude killed his pregnant girlfriend and hid in the trunk of a car...and I still have his RCs and base cards in my Panthers collection.
Hector Olivera was accused of beating a woman shortly after the Braves acquired him from the Dodgers...and I still have cards of him in my larger Braves collection.
In some ways I would feel hypocritical if I were to kick Altuve out of my collection and in other ways I would feel my actions would be justified. I only have Altuve cards because of the faith he and I share where as the other guys I mentioned are part of my collection because of the team they play(ed) for. Make sense?
I know this is my choice and my choice alone to make. I also understand that to some my "dilemma" may seem silly...but don't we collect teams and players for certain reasons. Plenty of collector's may drop a collecting a player if they are traded or leave their favorite team. To me this is the same thing. This whole cheating scandal has been a good reminder that these guys are human just like the rest of us and that we really should place them on a pedestal like some may do. They are going to make mistakes like the rest of us...for me it just hits a little harder when certain guys I follow/collect make mistakes that contradict the things they profess.
