NFTs and A Friendship With 21st Century Renaissance Man, Matt Szczur

The Black death emerged in 1346 as the most fatal pandemic in history. Its devastation was felt throughout much of Europe, Northern Africa and parts of Asia with the estimated loss of life ranging from 75 million — 200 million people. It was one of the darkest periods in history, but as the saying goes, “After the plague came the Renaissance”

I was initially sucked into the world of NFTs in late November 2020 after receiving a hot tip from the legendary Trevor Jones. So I took a leap of faith and pulled the trigger on my first NFT — “Chroma” by SSX3LAU, the creative duo which consists of Mike Parisella (slimesunday) and Justin Blau (3LAU).

As any collector will tell you, there is no such thing as “dipping your toes” into NFTs — if you’re not all-in, you’re probably wasting your time. The rate of innovation within the space is hyperbolic, making it impossible to be both passive and successful. It is well acknowledged within the community that there is only one thing we do in a passive manner, it’s called “sleep.” Sleep deprived yet fully energized — this enigma can only be explained by the exhilaration of creativity being explored, universal truths being debated (shout out to @ArchanNair) and friendships being forged.

In this piece I’d like to highlight Matt Szczur, an incredible artist and a friend who I met shortly after falling deep down the crypto art rabbit hole. For context, Szczur is a member of the St. Louis Cardinals organization and previously played on the 2016 World Series Chicago Cubs team. Szczur is one of many recognizable NFT celebs making waves within the space, others include moguls Paris Hilton and Marc Cuban, as well as EDM producers Deadmau5 and Gareth Emery. Although we all fall victim to it, it’s important that we don’t define these brilliant and creative individuals under a single label. In Szczur’s case, in addition to being a professional athlete, he is also a father, an artist, a philanthropist, a World Series Champion, a [literal] life saver, and above all else, he is a good and humble human. If one assumes that we are in the midst of a modern day Renaissance, then it would follow that Szczur is the modern day Renaissance Man.

This journey starts with an opening bid that I placed on SuperRare for Szczur’s piece titled“Check Mate.” Shortly after placing the bid, Szczur sent me a thoughtful note to show his appreciation. We quickly established a connection through our love of the Windy City and we reminisced about the famed Wrigley Field (I live one mile away). Szczur is still nostalgic about that special 2016 Chicago Cubs team that he was a part of. For those who don’t follow America’s Pastime, 2016 was a history making year not only for the Chicago Cubs organization, but also for the City of Chicago and all of Major League Baseball. It marked the first time in 108 years that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, showing that even legendary curses can be broken by bringing the right people together. When reflecting back on that experience, Szczur mentions “I can’t even put into words how much those guys meant to me and my family. They treated the number 25 man on the roster just like the number 1 man on the roster. [It was a] very special group”

It was this special group that served as the inspiration for a team portrait that Szczur was commissioned to create for the Cubs annual Bricks & Ivy Fundraiser. Szczur’s work fetched $35k at auction, with proceeds being donated to charity.

Coming off the success of his charity auction, Szczur decided to pursue his passion for art as a means to also raise money for the Szczur Family Foundation which focuses on Bone Marrow Awareness. Several regional news stations even ran a special about Szczur’s efforts to keep busy for a good cause while in pandemic lockdown.

It was about a week later when Szczur tweeted a preview of the final piece he intended to mint prior to reporting for Spring Training. The piece was titled “Comfortable Being Uncomfortable”.

Looking at the preview my eyes were immediately drawn to the unmistakable lights of Wrigley, those freshly painted white towers radiating over the field of battle below. This was a familiar sight after I had spent an unnatural amount of time on my rooftop looking at the Chicago skyline during lockdown. While discussing the various details of the piece with Szczur, he mentioned that it was inspired by his Grand Slam against the Atlanta Braves on April 29th, 2016. “Comfortable Being Uncomfortable” vividly captures the range of emotional pressure experienced by professional athletes as thousands of spectators analyze their every move. Szczur uses visual reference to demonstrate his preparatory routines which include mediation and breathing techniques. More importantly, the piece is a reminder that the key to winning on the field starts by first defeating the demons in your own mind. Having perfected the art of feeling comfortable being uncomfortable, Szczur stepped up to the plate on that cloudy Chicago afternoon to achieve the ultimate feat in baseball, a Grand Slam. His contribution helped clinch the game and improve the Cubs record to 17–5 record, the best start since 1907 (the year the Cubs last won the World Series).

The symbolism and familiarity of the piece compelled me to place a bid, but it was after watching Szczur’s E60 special the following night that I decided I would bid any amount required to collect it. The E60 expose sheds light on Szczur’s remarkable journey as a Division I college athlete at Villanova, where he was the star player on the Baseball Team AND MVP of the first Villanova team to ever win the FBS National Championship. Neither of these anomalous feats begin to scratch the surface when juxtaposed against his most meaningful accomplishment, the selfless act of saving a human life.

Halfway through his Junior year Szczur received a call informing him that the bone marrow sample he previously submitted matched with that of a newborn girl from Ukraine named Anastasia. Anastasia was diagnosed with life threatening Leukemia which required a bone marrow transplant to give her a 60% chance of living. The probability of Szczur matching with anyone is 1 in 80,000, routine odds for Szczur. Although Szczur was made aware of the match, he was not given any information about the recipient nor the timing of the procedure since it was largely dependent on the state of Anastasia’s condition. Undeterred by the prospect of sitting out for a meaningful portion of his Collegiate career, Szczur didn’t even need to think twice about it — he immediately agreed. When I asked him if there was ever a concern about the outcome of his decision, Szczur mentioned that he felt the universe validated his decision by helping him hit home runs on his last at-bat prior to the procedure and first at bat when stepping back on the field. As you might have guessed, “Comfortable Being Uncomfortable” made it to my collection where it belonged (sorry Jonathan).

During the course of our interactions, Szczur mentioned that my pseudonym “The Alchemist” inspired him to listen to the book while driving to Florida with his wife and son in preparation for Spring Training. Although it was his second time reading the book, Szczur realized that the book’s powerful message was not reserved for first time readers only. The Alchemist reminds us of a very simple yet equally powerful lesson, “wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” It was a message that resonated with Szczur at that point in time, and it served as the inspiration for his next piece called “Cloud 9”.

Before releasing it, Szczur sent me a preview of Cloud 9. Looking at Szczur’s work I thought “He’s the real deal” as I admired his use of color, animation, the subtle details in the clouds and the contextual symbolism captured by the treasure chest on home plate. After congratulating him on the work, Szczur did something that epitomizes the mutual collector <> artist appreciation which the NFT community is built on. Given that the piece was inspired by The Alchemist through our conversations, Szczur felt the piece was destined to be in my collection. He asked for my wallet address to send me the work– I was on Cloud 9. Although Szczur did not expect or request any form of payment, I felt it approrpiate to reciprocate Szczur’s generosity with an equally meaningful gesture. This is when I decided to send Szczur 11eth in appreciation for his work. The 11ETH was a symbolic amount intended to reflect Szczur’s most meaningful achievement, the 11 additional years of life that he made possible for Anastasia (now 13 years old).

If the story ended here, it would be one to tell the Grandchildren. But there is one more twist to tell you about. I knew this would be a pivotal year for Szczur, so I felt it appropriate to send him a lucky coin that I kept on my keychain, along with an explanation of why this particular coin was lucky. In typical Matt Szczur fashion, he not only outdid me, but in the process he also reminded me that there is no profession more superstitious than professional baseball. The official MLB game bat that Szczur sent me is one of the most amazing and thoughtful gifts that I’ve ever received. I must note that this was not just any bat, it was a Matt Szczur bat. The significance of a Matt Szczur bat might be lost on the unwitting observer, but the role that a Matt Szczur batt played in that 2016 World Series saga is not lost on a die-hard Cubs fan, nor is it lost on Cubs star first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who used Szczur’s bat to turn one of the worst slumps of his professional career into a post season performance that will be discussed for generations to come. I will leave you with this clip of Szczur being interviewed about his bat.

The NFT Art community has given so many talented and deserving artists the most powerful gift of all, the ability to follow their life’s passion. It is this same treasure that Szczur himself hopes to find by following his heart long after the ink has faded from the label “Professional Baseball Player”

-The Alchemist