There are many people at De Soto High School that have fascinating hobbies. One of these people with interesting hobbies at DHS is junior Thomas Micheels.

Micheels collects baseball cards. He has been building his collection since he was much younger, and now it reaches into the thousands.

He adds to and maintains his collection several times a month. He is constantly sorting his cards along with trading for and purchasing new ones.

“Card collecting gives me something to do pretty much every day,” Micheels said.

Specifically, Micheels is a collector and super-fan of San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum. He has close to 700 of Lincecum’s cards and owns much more memorabilia of him in general.

In his bedroom where he stores his collection, there are several boxes filled with cards that he has acquired over the years. Mounted on his wall is a large display case with his most prized cards, some of which have a value of hundreds of dollars.

Collecting cards helps Micheels stimulate his interest in baseball. A pitcher on the DHS baseball team, Micheels has actually modeled his mechanics and playing style off of Lincecum, who he considers to be his idol.

Having a collection of Micheels’ size takes several years to build and requires much time and effort to maintain. It certainly is one of much dedication.