Flashback Friday #206

Baseball Cards


A hearty Hi-Ho neighbor to you. Welcome to another post about people you probably don't know.

In today's post, we discuss how my new girlfriend Toni turned me on to an activity that I've enjoyed since then (no, not that, gutter mind). She introduced me to baseball card collection. Lady Nottaguy-TYG, you can thank her the next time you see her.

I was over at her house, and she had to get something out of her closet. As long as the door was open, her folks didn't mind me following her there. When she opened the door, she moved a grocery bag out of her way. I asked what was in the bag. She pulled it over andshowed me. It was chock full of baseball cards. Most of them were 1979 Topps, but there were a few older plus a smackerling of the current year's offering (1980).

I was intrigued. I told her that I has some of those around the house from years past. I had purchased a few packs here & there, but never really got into collecting. I asked if I could look through the bag. I was smitten. I hadn't followed baseball but with a girlfriend who was a BIG Cincinnati Reds fan, I figured this was as good as a time as any to become a fan.

After Dad picked me up, I asked hom to stop by the store on our way home. The store had a display box of cards. They were 25 cents per pack. I went ahead and dropped a couple bucks on them and headed home.

Before I opened the new packs, I went upstairs and dug out the shoebox that had the older cards in it. Once I gathered them, I went back downstairs and opened the packs. In the first pack I opened was this card:

I looked at this card and looked at it again. Blue Jays? I had never heard of the Blue Jays. I later learned that they were an expansion team that started playing in 1977. Hello, where had I been? Obviously, not in the sports section of the newspaper.

The next time Toni was over, I showed her the small cache of cards I had. She flipped. "Wow, you've got some good players there", she said. I really didn't know anything about the players I had. I picked her brain about the cards I had.

These are some of the oldest cards I had. These are 1971 Topps. These are Ron Santo, Julian Javier, Dave LaRoche, Steve Carlton (pre-Phillies) and Al Kaline. My cousin gave these to me.

These are 1972 Topps. I remember purchasing these from our local drug store. Top row (L to R) Chris Spier (Topps Super Rookie), Willie Davis, Clay Carrol (In Action) Sparky Lyle (Pre-mustachioed Yankees), Joe Niekro. Bottom row- Pat Dobson, Ed Kranepole, Bobby Tolan, Tim McCarver (Yes, the famous sportscaster) anf Chuck Tanner.

Here are some more 1972 Topps. These guys are a bit more famous than the first lot. Top row (L to R) Joe Morgan (he of the mid-70's Big Red Machine), Roberto Clemente, Jim Palmer, Vida Blue, Billy Martin (managing the Tigers). Bottom- Rollie Fingers (pre-handle bar mustache), Tommy John (the guy the elbow surgery is named for), Tom Seaver (Boyhood Pic), Frank Howard and Dave Kingman (the only guy to hit home runs for 4 different teams in one year).

Here are some 1973 Topps. Top ow (L to R) Rollie Fingers (with mustache), Richie Hebner, Ceasar Gerinamo, Bert Campaneris, Harmon Killebrew and Davey Johnson (bottom, the current manager of the Washington Senators).

I still have all these cards plus a few (thousand) more.