I have a real sense of privilege having grown up in the shadow of Dodger Stadium in the decade of the 60s. It was a time when many of the games early greats—including Stengel—remained in the game as managers and coaches. As a result, between seeing some of the pioneers of baseball at the helm of ball clubs and others at the annual Old Timers Game, I was privileged to see many of the greats from as far back as the decade of the 20s.
As a Royals fan, I loved that Dick Howser card. I've written about how big of a deal the Royals' 85 title was, basically hooking me as a baseball and Royals fan for life, but he was also one of my first encounters with death as a young kid. Not like I personally knew him or anything. I was lucky that no one close to me died when I was really young, so Howser was one of the first people I cared about that died.
I was also fascinated by the Pete Rose card from the same year because it listed him as 1B-MGR. It kind of blew my mind at the time that a player could manage the team at the same time.
Howser was one of the first "too young" deaths I remember among famous people I admired.
And Topps made me an even bigger fan of theirs by plastering Rose throughout their sets in 1984 through 1985. It was amazing to see him with a record-breaker card, a "regular" card, and a manager card in that '85 set. Seemed like he was in every pack, and I was thrilled about that!
I have a real sense of privilege having grown up in the shadow of Dodger Stadium in the decade of the 60s. It was a time when many of the games early greats—including Stengel—remained in the game as managers and coaches. As a result, between seeing some of the pioneers of baseball at the helm of ball clubs and others at the annual Old Timers Game, I was privileged to see many of the greats from as far back as the decade of the 20s.
That does sound like an incredible privilege. What great memories of those years you must have!
As a Royals fan, I loved that Dick Howser card. I've written about how big of a deal the Royals' 85 title was, basically hooking me as a baseball and Royals fan for life, but he was also one of my first encounters with death as a young kid. Not like I personally knew him or anything. I was lucky that no one close to me died when I was really young, so Howser was one of the first people I cared about that died.
I was also fascinated by the Pete Rose card from the same year because it listed him as 1B-MGR. It kind of blew my mind at the time that a player could manage the team at the same time.
Howser was one of the first "too young" deaths I remember among famous people I admired.
And Topps made me an even bigger fan of theirs by plastering Rose throughout their sets in 1984 through 1985. It was amazing to see him with a record-breaker card, a "regular" card, and a manager card in that '85 set. Seemed like he was in every pack, and I was thrilled about that!
1972 Topps Billy Martin flipping off the cameraman, and his in action card yelling at the ump.
Very subtle, huh?