As politicians continue to argue about trade screaming “Free-trade – but fair trade” I can’t help but wonder how great my baseball card trading partners of 1973 would have been had we been in charge of foreign trade agreements today. I really believe it’s that simple.

Politicians really mean “Fair trade – as-long-as-we-win trade.” It’s about making sure “we win” in every trade deal. But nobody gets it right these days.

Back in the summer of ’73 I was the trade king. We had one helluva baseball collectors consortium back then. There was Michael “the manipulator” Cooper, Bobby “all cash’ Butts, Lance “the looser” Hanchey, and me Dan “Devine” Wilson, we controlled the card collecting game in our neighborhood. Nobody made a trade without our approval. We knew every 10cent pack that came out of Frank’s grocery store down the street, who bought and what they got. News would travel fast if someone landed a card you needed to complete a set … the gum was flying my friends.

Ah yes, trade days in our neighborhood were like scenes from a wall street executive board meeting. My fellow card collectors and I were as astute about baseball statistics and player personnel then most Major League owners. We had two regular meeting places the tree house in Hancey’s old weeping willow or the big house – the fort off Redfern Road in the woods.

Those meeting were epic. When it came to selling and or trading cards, it was a battlefield, where legends were made. Nobody will ever forget the great Roberto Clemente rookie card steal of ’72 (right before he died later that year in a plane crash), the Brooks Robinson torn corner deal, or the famous Yankee card dump (Cleveland Indians who were traded to the Yankees that went on to great success, Greg Nettles, Chris Chambliss etc. …).

That summer was crazy. I was playing baseball and trying to find time to make money everywhere. I had two paper routes, cut grass, pulled weeds, worked the golf courses selling lost and found golf balls and cold ice tea, washing cars and more – anything that gave me the extra money to fulfill my passion – baseball cards!

So along the way of building by baseball card empire (lol) I would always have extra inventory – a.k.a. duplicate cards – to sell or trade. The cards were cool then featuring a colorful and fresh design indicative of the decade, 1972 Topps Baseball for example led by the rookie card for Hall of Fame player Carlton Fisk had a large checklist, bolstered by several new subsets. The ‘72 Topps Baseball eclipses the record-setting size of the previous year with a 787-card set. Son in the Summer of ’73 the ’72 cards were essential to almost every deal.

Tops would teas us with “In Action” cards, and “Boyhood Photo” cards – which were not “real cards’ to us. They were only cool if they were an all-star or someone you coveted – (and when trading you should always know what your trading partners covet…Trade Rules 101).

So if we look at International Trade Agreements in terms of pre-teen baseball card trading you want to trade with partners that need what you have, want what you have and are willing to pay for what you have, to get what you want and need without loosing value.

If countries are looking for a specific commodity like soybeans (Big Red Machine players) we need to make sure we have completed our team set before we start trading – plus it doesn’t hurt to make sure you find others who want the same commodity to generate competition and value. Realizing that your trading partners maybe looking for a commodity to do something different with it then what you do with it – like corn for ethanol, its like building a rookie set of cards as opposed to a team set. Trading partners may be wanting to use your commodity to create something else to sell back to you, like I know you love the Yankees, so I might trade for a Thurman Munson to complete a Yankee set that I’ll sell right back to you, like buying beef and pork and creating processed foods that we then buy right back.

The TPP agreement is expected to increase the value of Ohio exports by $96.7 million per year. It is estimated that the increased marketing opportunities for Ohio’s farmers and ranchers will add jobs to the Ohio economy. Eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers on Ohio’s agricultural exports to TPP-partner countries will increase trade for a range of Ohio agricultural products, including pork, soybeans, beef and processed foods. Export sales make an important contribution to Ohio’s farm economy, which had total cash receipts of $9.9 billion in 2014.

We know the TPP will have a positive economic impact on Ohio – but making sure that those trades benefit us first without harming our exiting agricultural needs and wants is the ultimate goal … otherwise it’s like that guy who put a Johnny Bench rookie card in his spokes to make his bike “sound” cool.

Here’s seeing you, in Ohio Country!