“Willie is a grandfather figure to me, very inspirational,” Young says. “It’s more than a baseball thing. He genuinely cares for me. We still stay in contact today. I love everything about Willie, what he stands for. He’s what you would call a blue-collar hero, the workingman’s hero.”
Young, meanwhile, was among the privileged. He was paid about $52 million as a player and spent, by his estimation, about $5 million on baseball cards. A handful of other players have card collections – Tom Candiotti, Brad Lidge, Pat Neshek, Luis Gonzalez, Brad Penny – but none are close to Young’s in depth and value.
Just like that, though, he is willing to sell it. Young says it’s part of a wholesale lifestyle change: He’s selling his house in Florida and moving to Camarillo full time. He’s engaged to former track star Alycia Burnham, who he says “has been my best friend since high school.” And the aim of his foundation will be to teach baseball, softball and life skills to youngsters. One of the top switch-hitters of his era, Young also plans to launch a specialized school for switch-hitting. “It’s Da Meat Hook’s Switch-hitting University, and I’m the Dean of Hitters,” he says, polishing off the first half of his sandwich.
“I’m reclaiming my territory where I grew up and doing something good for the community. What I make from the cards will get it off the ground.”