Do baseball and coins mix?

We are getting closer to baseball playoffs and the World Series. That’s what I think about when the calendar page is about to turn to the month of October.

We are also getting closer to the released of the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame coins.

Will these inspire any baseball fans to take up a numismatic challenge?

I feel a bit like Charlie Brown when I ask that question.

Lucy will hold the football for him to kick. He will attempt it. She will remove it at the last minute and he will end up flat on his back.

Something similar occurs when various new commemoratives are released.

Ever since the 1984 Olympic Games were the recipient of surcharge income from the commemoratives sold in 1983 and 1984 were have heard the argument that noncollectors will suddenly become collectors as a result of special coin offers.

There has never been a case in three decades where that has proved true.

Will it prove true in 2014?

Hope springs eternal.

It would be gratifying to see.

I like being an optimist like Charlie Brown, but deep down I know that if I try to kick this point any further I will end up flat on my back.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2013 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."