Two returns in one week

I start this post warning everyone that it has little to do with baseball cards and much to do about "nothing" (I say "nothing" sarcastically). It has been quite a week . . . for me.

It all started last Sunday, May 25 when my daughter returned to the USA from her almost one year in Finland. She left August 2, 2008 participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange program for high school students and after ten months of emails, IM's, Skype and old fashioned letter writing the HUGS we got at the airport at 6:25 pm last Sunday will be cherished forever. As our only child, we missed her terribly.

Jennifer, endured the cold and dark yet remarkable country of Finland. She attend the local University in Kuopio, stayed with four different families, traveled to Amsterdam, Paris, Sweden, Lapland and the Canary Islands and you all can read about her adventure if you so choose Jenny's Journal from Finland If any of you have children in high school, I highly recommend contacting your local Rotary club to get more information about this extraordinary program for your teenager.

This week has been a wonderful "reunion" with family and friends who all want to see Jennifer and more importantly for my wife and I getting to know our worldly and beautiful daughter all over again.

Monday was Memorial Day. We "celebrated and honored" our veterans which culminated with a red, white and blue food fest at our home with friends.

On Tuesday, after a day of rest and unpacking I gave my daughter her binder of 1991 baseball cards (thank you to the many bloggers who sent cards) and she was quite impressed. Her favorite color is yellow so naturally the 1991 Fleer is her "favorite" and she wants the complete set now. Though I acquired only about 100 cards, I may just have to spend $5 (or less) to buy the complete set for her. She also loves the "inappropriate" 1991 Score Dream Team and the 1991 Studio cards. She will never really be into collecting or really interested in baseball but she does like the color yellow and "cute guys".

Wednesday and Thursday were your non-descript regular weekdays though we are continuing to learn all about Jennifers year in Kuopio (the small town she lived in for ten months, five hours north of Helsinki).

Friday, my daughters bestest girlfriends threw her a party and all these teenagers had a wonderful get together; swimming, hot tub, food galore, silly string and laughter. A real nice reunion for my daughter who got to see so many she had missed.
Today is Saturday and my favorite teenager (besides my daughter) is graduating high school. She is a cancer survivor and my hero. I am so proud of her and is my motivation to continue participating in the ACS's Relay for Life for the rest of my life. Kimberly is a Harry Potter and now Twilight groupie, a lego, rubik cube and jigsaw puzzle genius, a superb photographer and has graduated with honors. Kimmy you are my hero !


and finally tomorrow, Sunday, will be here soon and I just heard that the re-broadcast of Ken Burns' Baseball will be on tv again. I remember watching this 18 1/2 hour historical and emotional mini-series in 1994 when it first premiered and highly recommend to any and all of you. It is not a highlight film of all the greatest moments in baseball; however it is the story of how our favorite game became our national pastime and is all about the personalities and "life" of baseball from the beginning.

So, for me, what a week it is: from my daughters return to the return of a Baseball classic . . .

Night Owl Strikes Again

A few months ago when I first entered this blogsophere, it became rapidly apparent that I was incredibly naive as to what the hobby had changed into since I left this hobby over 20 years ago (actually I stopped buying any cards in 1987 but still followed along until 1991).

My favorite year in baseball was 1969 (go figure) and the 1970 set is my work in progress, thanks to my re-newed efforts I am now at 92.6 % complete. In my attempt to get "modern" I decided to try to collect some 1991 cards (the year my daughter was born). Night Owl was one of the first to catch on and sent me a few interesting 1991 Score Dream Team cards (among other prime samples).

I liked those Dream Team cards and put out a ask to see if I could complete the set (ok it is only a 13 card set but nonetheless my first set to start and finish solely upon the generosity of bloggers). Tim at 90s box breaks had a few I needed and kindly sent them to me and just the other day Night Owl sent me the last card I needed; the Ken Griffey Jr. So my first official complete set (sub-set) started and finished by bloggers is done - Thank you Tim and Greg.





But Night Owl has done it again. Knowing I like the Cubs and the 1970' set he also sent me this 1992 Baseball Card Magazine 1970's reprint of Andre Dawson. All I could say is WOW ! I did a little research and found that this set has only two Cubs (Ryne Sandberg being the other) and totals 88 cards. So naturally I am on a new quest - to complete this much larger set that will compliment my 1970 original set with a more modern look.


The back of this card (I did not scan for no good reason) tries to duplicate the 1970's feel with the bio and paragraph of info on the upper left and a cartoon in he upper right. Instead of traditional statistics these cards gave "investment advise". On the bottom of Dawsons card it reads: "A real bargain is Dawson's 1977 Topps, which is priced at just $ 60. There's no question that this card is a perfect long-term and short-term investment value". I guess that was the state of the hobby back then . . . for me the value is in the fact he is in a Cubs uniform and reflect the 1970's set.

Thanks to Night Owl, he struck again, and now I have a new adventure.

Pay it Forward

No this is not a movie review, though "Pay it Forward" is a favorite of mine, and I highly recommend it to all (especially the young people in our lives). This post is an acknowledgement that since entering the world of blogging (December 0f 2008) it seems that the concept of "paying it forward" is more prevalent than I ever imagined.

Just the other day I received an email from blogger Tim of 90sboxbreaks that he was willing to send me some cards he had to fill one of my "wants". In my reply email I asked what I could send in return and his reply was "just pay it forward". This is the best answer any of us bloggers could hear and practice, especially since we all have our own specialities and collections.

Tim sent me four of the five 1991 Score Dream Team cards I was missing.

from Frank Viola's quirky "is that an apple in your hand or are you happy to see me" to "need a light" Doug Jones . . .
and Dave Stewart with his eyes posed to throw that ball at anyone who crosses him . . .
to Roberto Alomar seemingly floating in the air waiting to backhand that line drive shot (though he looks scared at the same time).

Now my Dream Team set is almost complete, just searching for that elusive last card, #12 Ken Griffey Jr. Thank you Tim for reminding all of us that our hobby is our own production of the movie as we all "pay it forward" everyday.

Three's Company

For those of you who read my blog (thank you !) you know that I received a nice package in the mail the other day from Night Owl. How I know it was for ME was that it had the name STEVE before my last name.

That being said, there were 16 cards in all . . .

destined for my daughter are six National League All Star Team cards form the Score 1991 subset including none other than Chicago Cub "great" and HOF Ryne Sandberg. Also included were Santiago, Larkin, Bonds, Bonilla and Davis. These are "fun" cards with the over sized head drawings.

Night Owl also included another start to the Score 1991 project of my daughters with Dream Team cards (#'s 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13). Need I mention again that my wife "stole" three of them and left my daughter with the remaining five "suitable" cards including Larkin standing tall.

So that leaves me with my two "vintage" cards; two Cubs cards I really like and two cards that will be proud to join MY collection.

Topps 1955 Frank Baumholtz: because his last game played was in 1957 I never got to see him play but sources say his back to back seasons of '52 and '53 batting .325 and .306 respectively made Baumholtz a solid outfielder for the Cubs.

Topps 1973 Milt Pappas: are those ear flaps he his wearing or just the hair of the times ? Pappas had several career highlights including a nine pitch / three strikeout / half inning of work on September 24th, 1971 and on September 2 1972 was one pitch away from a perfect game, the 27th batter to face Pappas was given a walk (controversial to this day) yet Pappas did retire the next batter to preserve his no-hitter. Pappas deserves a longer post and I will do a more thorough account of his career in a later post.

So thanks to Night Owl, my daughter ends up with 11 cards, my wife three and for me . . . two. I guess having three "interested" collectors in my home is not a bad thing. I am learning to share.

"Not suitable" ? for whom ?

Dear Night Owl

Thank you very much for the package you sent my husband / daughter. My husband really appreciates the "vintage" cards (before 19975) and will post a blog about "his cards" soon.
My daughter, who is in Finland will certainly appreciate the start of the two 1991 Score subsets (Dream Team and All Stars) you sent . . . and as for me . . . I truly appreicate the cards you alluded to as "bare chested" and possibly "not suitable".
I am now beginning my own collection of cards and need everyones help . . . are there other "not suitable" cards for this wife to admire ?

Sincerely

the wife of "wait-til-next-year" (my friends call me Karen)

P.S. My husband Steve gave me this Bo Jackson card to add to the other three.

Thanks again Night Owl . . . the cards are very "suitable" !