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.
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.
1972 Topps Billy Martin flipping off the cameraman, and his in action card yelling at the ump.