Once in a while in the office (shared space between the Tuff Stuff and Sports Collectors Digest edit staffs), we get calls from athletes instead of us hounding them for interviews.

It seems some of them are just as interested in sports memorabilia, "list" stories and vintage set reviews as we are. After all, most of the time we are covering an era they participated in. So they can shed a little light on the situation.

The latest call came from George "Boomer" Scott, who was inquiring about his omission from the 1975 Topps Baseball card article that ran in a recent issue of Sports Collectors Digest. He wanted to know why his card wasn't pictured among the group, nor any elaboration on the 1975 season in the article.

In 1975, Scott was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, hitting 36 home runs and driving in 109. He finished eighth in the MVP voting and was selected as an All-Star for the American League. An additional honor as a Gold Glove first baseman added to his successful 1975 season.

His omission was nothing intentional, something he understood, so we flipped the tables on him and offered to spotlight him in an article in an upcoming issue of SCD. I'll announce that feature when it's ready to roll.

So it's kind of neat that the heroes we grow up watching are interested in the same things we are and aren't afraid to want to be involved in the hobby.

There aren't too many occupations where you can banter about with your heroes, and it's a lot of fun. I hope that comes across in some of our articles.