Although Chicago native Rick Ohle and his wife Nancy raised their four children in Midland, Ohle was able to pass along to the kids his love of Chicago sports teams, as well as his passion for collecting their memorabilia.
The basement of their Midland home is filled, wall to wall, with the pieces of the collection they amassed as a family over the decades.
The basement also houses a ping pong table, pool table and other games.
“When the kids were in high school especially, they would always bring their friends over here,” Ohle said. “They were kind of wild with it.”
Comprised of signed baseballs, footballs, basketballs, jerseys, helmets, playing cards, posters and more, the collection centers on four main teams: the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks.
And from those teams, many of the items represent Ohle’s all-time favorite players. Those are Michael Jordan of the Bulls, Walter Payton and Dick Butkus of the Bears, Luis Aparicio of the White Sox and Bobby Hull of the Blackhawks.
A particularly impressive part of the vast collection is the approximately 1,300 baseball cards, which includes every single White Sox player card produced by the Topps brand from 1952 through 2010.
Tracking down every card in the collection required dedication and patience.
“It took many, many years,” Ohle said.
He and his boys often attended baseball card shows and sports memorabilia shows to continue the hunt.
“We went to Cooperstown, (New York), where the Baseball Hall of Fame is, a couple times and we found some cards there,” Ohle said.
Ohle has fond memories of hunting for the cards during his own childhood.
“You’d buy little Topps baseball cards with a piece of bubble gum in it for 5 cents at the drugstore,” he said.
Many autographed baseballs were added to the collection during the family’s annual trips to watch the White Sox in spring training in Sarasota, Florida.
Ohle estimates that his collection contains about 100 autographed baseballs, including several signed by his favorite baseball player, Luis Aparicio of the White Sox.
Other prized possessions include a signed Michael Jordan jersey and a boxing glove signed by Muhammad Ali.
The most valuable thing Ohle has gained through collecting, however, is cherished memories with his children.
“It was tremendously fun with me and my boys. We did a lot of this together,” he explained.
“My oldest son, who’s 38 years old, we still talk about it. We still talk about our memories of going to the ball games and getting the autographs and collecting the baseball cards,” said Ohle.
Editor’s note: This is the eight and final installment in a weekly series of stories featuring local collectors. Visit www.ourmidland.com to check out previously featured collections.
