What's your best sports related "Dad" experience - cards and stuff

Stone193 · November 4, 2006 7:25AM

<< <i>Plus in a way it makes me think of my dad everytime i look at one of these cards....which is kind of cool.... >>

This quote on another thread by Zach got me to thinking.

Is there a card, piece of memorabilia, or other item that evokes an emotion when you look at it that makes you think of your dad?

I have posted - in the past - my first trip to Yankee Stadium - from time to time I think about it when watching baseball on TV. And everytime I see a Babe Ruth reference on TV - I think of the story my dad used to tell about the day "I" met the Babe.

And last, I was putting away my son's train set which made me think of my first Lionel set that me and my dad put together.

What's you recollection?
mike

RipublicaninMass · November 4, 2006 7:29AM

nice thread Mike

My dad always talks about Pee Wee Reese and how had a card of him but it got throw away. He also remebers Frank Malzone and Jimmy Piersall. He was born in 48 so i am trying to think which years he probably collected. For some reason the 62 frank malzone makes me think of him.

scooter729 · November 4, 2006 7:30AM

Great idea for a thread, Stone...

Around 1985, my dad took me to a card show to meet Ted Williams and get an autograph. Ted was his favorite player when he was growing up, and he wanted me to get to meet him. The $10 autograph charge was outrageous at the time, but it gave me a fantastic first experience with a legend, and created the intense collector in me. If only he knew 20 years later what a collector he created, he might have never brought me that day! Thanks Dad!

ArnyVee · November 4, 2006 7:33AM

Most of my early collecting experience came about because of my Father taking me to shows and shops around Southern California. I _LOVED_ those times! No bills to worry about and I got to be chaufered around to my sports card locations!

There are many memories that stand out....the feeling of "WOW" when I would see hundreds of tables at a big show or a few tables at some of my first mall shows looking for those important cards that I was looking for. You know, those Ron Kittle rookies or Mike Pagliarulo rookies.

The biggest thing that stands out is the time when my Father and I were at a local show where one of my favorites, Rod Carew, was signing. I brought my recently purchased '68 Carew (in NM-MT condition at least, if I recall right) and I asked my Dad to stand in line while I checked out some of the tables nearby. Next thing I know, I see my Dad walking back with a big smile on his face and holding out the card...he was holding it gently (he knew that I was condition sensitive even back then!

) and then showed me what he was smiling about. He had it autographed by Mr Carew....but, he had it personalized! DOH! I didn't want it personalized and I reacted terribly. My Father was so surprised (and I'm sure, hurt) by my reaction. It was a 'bad' memory at the time....but, not so bad as time went on.

That's just one of the first things that I remembered as I read the first post.

scooter729 · November 4, 2006 7:33AM

I have another story coming to mind I need to share....

When I was about 12 (again about 1985), my dad took me to a show, where he saw some 1957 cards. He remembered many of the cards specifically, and how he collected that year intensely when he was a kid. And so it began - all my allowance and newspaper route money went to buying 1957 cards, so I could bring them home and show them to Dad. Condition didn't matter - it just had to be from 1957. I was probably the only pre-teen to put together a 1957 set by myself!

Too bad he didn't like T-206's at the time; I imagine I could've got those a lot cheaper then too!

softparade · November 4, 2006 7:41AM

My dad story goes like this .....

ME ----- "Dad, did you collect cards in the late 40's and 50's ???

DAD --- "Sure did, had tons of them. Threw them all away when I went to college"

Webhead1968 · November 4, 2006 8:12AM

Great Thread!

Sports related: When I was 10 my dad and I waited on line for 6 hours for 1978 Yankee World Series tickets and got bleacher tickets. We sat in the bleachers for 2 innings then my dad said he knew the usher at the box seat entrance, who let us in. We found 2 box seats (don't ask me how) right next to Pee Wee Reese who signed my world series program. The Yankees won...it was great!

Card related: My dad and I would always go to cards shows to get auto's of Mantle, Dimaggio, Mays, etc. They were usually in the basements of churches around Manhattan. We met a lot of players, got a lot of auto's and bought a chit load of cards. I miss those days and my dad!!!!

helionaut · November 4, 2006 11:11AM

My dad is the least sports-oriented male person living in the United States. He just doesn't get the attraction of sitting and watching other people play a game, and understands even less the emotional attachment that can form between a person and a player or team. But my mother's father was great. He took me to Phillies games several times a year and would tell me about going to Shibe Park and all that. Unfortunately, he didn't have a childhood collection to pass on to me. Neither did my dad, although he says he had cards and comics as a kid but they vanished in periodic clutter purges his mother did.

MorrellMan · November 4, 2006 11:39AM

My Dad was a non-sporting guy as well. He did run track in high school and the track cards of the T218 set remind me of him. Also, the orange T230 Pan Handle Scrap cards. I saw pictures of him in his track days before the War and I still have a picture of him in my mind with that lanky build. To me, he looked like Pavlo Nurmi. When I ran track in high school, I went without socks in his honor.

He was also a huge model airplane builder - cut the balsa wood, applied the silk, the whole hand-made deal. He was huge in that hobby that took off in the '30s. I collect the Goudey Sky Birds set in his memory, as well.

5STAT · November 4, 2006 11:43AM

I've talked about this in past threads but I'll bring it up again for thise who haven't heard it..

In 1967, while stationed on the USS Intrepid (aircarft carrier)...my father was Joe DiMaggio and Pete Rose's escort/body guard for their 3 day stay, while on the USO Tour. He has dozens of pictures of each signing autographs..pictures on the flight deck under the wings of fighter planes....pictures with the Captian in the galley....at the helm of the ship....
Along with that..DiMaggio had given my father a signed 1967 Yankees team ball..that is still around today...with all the flyers and posters from the USO tour as well.

There were other players on another ship...Tony C. and Tom Thresh...if my memory serves me..

Anyways, my father had a picture of he and DiMaggio arm in arm....he carried that picture in his wallet EVERYWHERE....

EVERY time we went out..he pulled his wallet out to show people.....paying a check at a restaurant..."hey, you know this guy??"
He even pulled it out one time when he was getting a speeding ticket...shows it to the officer.."hey, you know this guy??"....still got the ticket..why not..we live in Red Sox Nation...lol

He must have pulled that puppy out 1,000 times that I can recall...to the point where we would all roll our eyes and be embarrassed...

Well....in 1993 DiMaggio was in Atlantic City doing a show...I asked my mother to find the original negative of that picture..which she did...and I had a copy made. At the show, I had DiMaggio sign the picture....and he actually remembered my father's name and that he was from MA....pretty good huh..

I had the picture framed and mounted with a gold plate....Happy Father's Day....1967 USO Tour..Gulf of Tonkin, Phillipines

When he opened the box, it was the first and ONLY time he ever told me he loved me!!!

He passed 5 years ago...and the picture still hangs in my mothers den....

Now, people come to the house and look at the wall and say...."hey...I know that guy!!"

Ahh the memories...

Not as good as the show that he came with me to help out...and called Gaylord Perry a ^%%#@ when he signed a ball for him..and then spun it across the table. When my dad went to stop it..the ink smugged....he went off...lol
YES.....now you know where I get it!!!

cardbender · November 4, 2006 1:06PM

Excellent thread.

My dad worked second shift. I used to come home from grade school for lunch every day as my school was across the street from our house.

One morning when seeing us kids off to school my dad mentioned he was going grocery shopping and asked if there was something I wanted from the store. I asked for a pack of Football cards. This was in the fall of 1973. My dad knew I collected but didn't know much about the cards.

So I get home for lunch and waiting for me on the kitchen table was an 'entire wax box' of 1973 Topps Football cards. I almost fell over. I was just thrilled. He thought by 'pack of cards' I meant 'box of cards'. I wanted to skip lunch and just start ripping. But my dad said I could only open them if I ate this sad looking salibury steak TV dinner he had heated up for me.

I never ate a meal so fast in my life. Back then packs were a dime each, so with tax the box cost him $2.50. At the time I believe my allowance was around a 50 cents a week. So this box was like five weeks worth of allowances.

What a thrill it was to rip open 24 packs at one sitting. I think just watching me rip those packs and the happyness it brought was a thrill for him too. He really seemed to get a kick out it.

One of my fondest memory's of childhood and of my father and his
generosity.

-Rich

PS- I still have all the cards to this day (in EX. condition of course).

ArnyVee · November 4, 2006 1:14PM

I forgot to mention my "sports" memory of me and my Father. I will always remember heading through the turnstiles at Dodger stadium ('81) and walking towards our seats...then, the walls...so beautifully blue...the grass....so green, so lovely.

I remember his arm around me and I was just smiling as we watched Dusty Baker in left field warm up and toss the ball around. We also had Keith Hernandez stroke a batting practice pitch opposite field nearly into the bullpen....my Father jumped up as the ball took a bounce and presented me with the baseball. Wow, what a day!

ToppsCo1lector · November 4, 2006 1:30PM

My Pops and I often talk about collecting. He(as a "yout") got to run the bases at Yankees Stadium in the 1950's and 1960's. He sat in the dugout and talked with The Mick, Joey D, as well as many other Yankee greats. Luckily, I was a fan of the game while my elders were still kicking. I talked with my Grandpaw* about his 3 year tour in India(as a Radioman) during WWII, and when I visited him in Northern Jersey as a Yout we mowed lawns and took the old ladies of the neighborhood out to get their groceries. As a fan of the game of baseball, it was great. Nothing like talking to fans of the Yankees that actually saw Mick, Joe, Yogi, Whitey, Roger, Thurman and Reggie round the bases in person than a kid reliving their experiences. What'd I'd give to be older, to actually appreciate the memories that I was told about. I'm just a fan.

Ripken · November 4, 2006 3:00PM

I can't even count all of the things my Dad did for me as a collector/sports fan. I was the youngest of the family & the only boy. I know the day I was born was a pretty exciting day for him. Growing up I heard him talk about the guys he remembered reading about as a kid...Bill Dickey, KiKi Cuyler. Charley Gehringer, Mickey Cochrane, Lou Gehrig, etc. He lamented that when he'd gone off to the service in WWII, his Mom (my Grandmother) had asked him what he wanted to do with the cards he had collected. "I don't care," he told her. And so the Goudey cards went out with the cleaning project. He must have told that story at least 25 times to anyone who would listen.

At that time they were just names of old guys I knew nothing about but it kind of inspired me to try and learn a little something about them. Later, when it was obvious this card collecting this was more than just a passing fancy..and being a good Dad..he'd go with me to shows where I'd set up as a young dealer and he'd assist. Finally, I had earned enough spending money to buy him 4 somewhat beat-up '33 Goudey cards of the guys he talked about, put them in a frame and give them to him for Father's Day when I was in my late teens or early 20s. He was quite proud and hung them on the wall until I got them back when he passed away six years ago.

He would scout everywhere for cards to buy. In the late 70s or early 80s, we ought my starter lot of '56 and '57 Topps from a guy he'd coached in American Legion ball who had a massive collection. I think we paid about 20 cents each when they were probably worth about $1 each, stars included (Dad could wheel and deal and charm the pants off you) . He contacted some of his old childhood friends and one of them sold us a near set of 4 R-309 Goudeys--still in the original mailer-- for $75 (Ruth included). They're now on my wall in a frame. He found out the local postmaster had stacks of '60s Sports Illustrated taking up space in his basement. They became the focal point of my publication collection and I now have 99% of every SI ever issued from 1954 to the present.

Some older guys we knew that were really into cards got together with us and bought cases of Topps from 1979-87. My Dad not only helped us sort the cards, he made a "sorting machine" out of plywood and sheet metal. Toss the cards and they'd slide into the correct bins (#1-99, 100-199, etc). He loved making stuff like that more than the cards. When there were bread products with cards inside he'd go to the store and sort through them. He took the bread and donated it to the high school..or just gave it to the neighbors. When Hostess put cards on the back of boxes in the mid-late 70s, he was working at a supermarket and would ask people he saw who were buying them if they were saving the cards. When the answer was no, he'd ask them to hold onto the cards for me. "But don't cut them off the boxes!" Needless to say, my Hostess panel collection is complete and mint.

After awhile, he even bought a few 1980s wax boxes and sets himself as an investment---along with some cards. He put them on the shelf and I inherited those too.

He and Mom would scout garage sales, flea markets and discount stores for me all the time. Once, about 15-20 years ago, the local public library had a huge sale. They were dumping all of their back issues of magazines including LIFE from the 1960s. Of course, being the adventurous--and now collecting-educated parents they were, they went in search of something for me. They were just as excited as I was when they called to tell me that sitting in one of the stacks was the Taylor/Burton cover from April of '62..pristine condition..with the Post Cereal Mantle/Maris ad inside. Selling price? A nickel.

And as I moved across the country, they dutifully packed up hundreds of pounds of cards and collectibles and shipped them off to me box by box. I could go on and on but suffice it to say those are some of my greatest memories of all time.

djspann · November 4, 2006 3:02PM

Cool thread.

As far as I know, my Dad never got into collecting many cards. He did tell me, though, that he used to put cards in his bicycle spokes. I remember I tried it and was disappointed with the sound it made. In retrospect, I bet that the card stock on 1952 Topps, etc. was stronger than 1983 Topps.....

Doug

Munchjs · November 4, 2006 3:56PM

When I was about 15 (1992) my father and I went to a baseball card show and I was stunned to find an intact 1984 donruss wax box back when the backs were going for 15-20 a piece. He saw my eyes and he then to my surprise bought the box for me. It was a dream come true for a kid entering high school.

Jason

AlanAllen · November 4, 2006 4:19PM

Just too many to mention... I've been collecting with my dad since 1980. I'd have to say my "best" experience is a drive we took to Michigan to visit my grandparents in 1981. My brother and I were in the far back of the van, and my dad had a couple of 1981 Topps football boxes up front. We'd chant "football cards, football cards, all we want is football cards!" and my dad would throw us back a pack. My bro and I had a shared collection at the time. We tore open the packs looking for the Raiders (me) and Browns (him). When we got to Grandpa's, he helped us transform a Velveeta box into a card storage box, complete with index card team dividers. We had more Browns and Raiders than any other team, which just seemed natural at the time. I found out later (like 20 years later!) that my dad had opened a bunch of boxes and resealed the packs with extra Browns and Raiders inside. I was WAY more excited when I got the last Raider card I needed than I would have been to get a Montana. Dad brought me home the last Raider card (the team checklist) from work one day, and I fell over myself getting a pen to mark it off. I should scan that card some day.

Joe

hardcorehockeyfan · November 4, 2006 5:33PM

My dad experience does not have much to do with cards, but I have two:

My dad told me that he and a friend used to cut lawns on the weekends, to earn money for bleacher seats at Tiger Stadium, and a couple times whilst hitchhiking, Al Kaline himself picked he and his friend up (this would be the 50s)!

Family members of ours, started the whole hockey octopi thing, never believed him, but when I saw the last name of the guys who started it, I do now believe........Cusumano!!!......Met these guys at my dad's funeral (Pete and Jerry), and I have not had any disputed theories since 1990!

So that is what I have been told, and I see no reason for any of it to be a lie or a stretch of the truth!!!

What's your best sports related &quot;Dad&quot; experience - cards and stuff

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What's your best sports related "Dad" experience - cards and stuff