Don Megee signed up to be a vendor at the inaugural Rehoboth Beach Sports Card Show, but he wasn't even sure he would go.

"On Thursday, I thought about just losing my money and not showing up. But, I'm glad I [came]," Megee said.

Megee isn't an average collector; he just collects memorabilia of Delaware baseball players. He has a list of about 255 players and 3,720 artifacts – signatures and photos – in his collection. In 24 hours at the show, he learned about the names of seven more players with a First State connection.

Unlike the other dealers, Megee wasn't searching for a rare Michael Jordan rookie card or a signed Shohei Ohtani one-of-one worth thousands. He would rather find a Jeff Trout than a Mike Trout.

"I'm the only one in the room not selling, just showing," he said.

His oldest cards are Bert Cunningham Judge Tobacco cards from 1887-1890. Cunningham was born in Wilmington.

Megee's favorite item is an authenticated signature from George Fisher, also a Wilmington native, who played 14 games for two teams in 1884.

"I didn't think I'd ever find anything from George Fisher, right? He died in 1937. But I lucked out on eBay, and I was thrilled to death," Megee said.

He said he paid $150 for the autograph.

Megee said he doesn't personally know many of the players, but he was friends with Forrest "Spook" Jacobs, who played for the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics in the 1950s.

Megee is a retired driver's education instructor from Sussex Central High School, which is his alma mater.

"I think Sussex Central was the only high school that didn't turn out any players," he said.

Megee said he began his collecting journey 20 years ago thanks to his best friend, who was a groomsman in his wedding.

"His favorite team was the '64 Phillies, so for a wedding gift, I got him a collection of all the players on the '64 team, and darn if the bug didn't bite. Then, weeks later, I started looking," Megee said.

Megee said he found a website where he can look up every high school in Delaware, see who was drafted and who played college ball. 

He also made an unexpected baseball connection at the Rehoboth Beach show.

Adam and Kelly Gelof, the parents of Zack and Jake Gelof, stopped into the convention center.

"We were heading to the post office, we saw the sign and said let's go and see what it's all about," Kelly said.

Zack plays for the Athletics, who are temporarily based in Sacramento. Jake plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers' Double-A affiliate in Tulsa, Okla. Both Gelof boys attended Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes.

Despite checking out the card show, Kelly said they are not big collectors of their sons' memorabilia.

"We are holders of their stuff, like when they had their first hits. They handed it to us, and we just keep it in their room in the house," Kelly said.

The Gelofs travel around the country to watch their sons play

Kelly said they only have five more major league stadiums to visit. She said their next trip will be to Houston to check the Astros' ballpark off their list.

"You don't know how long it's going to last, and we love it so much," she said. "We want to look back and say that we enjoyed every minute with them, and they love having us there."

Megee said he's thrilled to make new connections, like the Gelofs, and doesn't see an end in sight.

"It makes me want to keep going. Every year, there's a draft and you get to start all over," he said. "I've already spent about $300 on cards in two days."

Megee said he welcomes hearing from other Delaware baseball collectors at donmegee@gmail.com.