Baseball Cards - A Funny Story

[Slippery Pedro]

Stopped off at the Quik Chek on the way home for some milk. Almost got knocked over by a (I'm guessing) 10 year old trying to beat me through the door.

He ran right to the Topps box on the counter and started rifling through the packs of baseball cards - as if his life depended on it. (Right away, I started liking the kid there.)

Scary part:

He beats me to the counter, and pays for his cards. One pack of ten cards was $1.90. Now, I know I am old. It's probably been close to 25 years since I bought baseball cards; but, man, two bucks a pack seems steep, no?

The funny part:

The kid could not wait to get out the door to open them, and, we we walking out at the same time (as his ripping open the pack). Just outside, I see the kid sorting through his cards when I heard him lament, sincere, and out loud to himself:

"John Rocker? Awwwwwwwww, man!" :loud:

[SmedIndy]

$1.90? And I bet you don't get any of that nasty cardboardy gum.

I remember riding my bike down to the Medi-Save in 1977, where a pack of Topps cards were 15 cents. In fact, the nice old lady at the register rang up 10 packs as individual purchases, so I wouldn't have to pay sales tax on them!

And of course I had all 10 sticks of gum in my mouth when I was riding back with my booty of Dan Meyer, Dave Lemanczyk, Tim Hosley, Pete LaCock, and Bill Plummer, among others.

But one guy we all hated to get, being NL fans mostly, was Thurman Munson. Don't know why we hated him, we just did. Well, we hated Garvey too, but that was a different thing.

[johnny]

$2.00 a pack are the cheap cards nowadays.

[Duque]

The gum is back, actually.

That $2 is probably mostly in the fancy packaging.

[ChrisCary]

The price of cards aside it's nice to see we still have some good kids left

[sweaver]

Opening baseball card packs. Now that really takes me back...........

[hmrsf]

Originally posted by ChrisCary
The price of cards aside it's nice to see we still have some good kids left


There are plenty of good kids out there. I complain about my new teen but infact am lucky that my biggest gripe is mouthyness.

The kids today are good. Just a heck of a lot smarter than we were. I am impressed with the level of intelect and maturity of todays kids. They get a bum wrap that many do not deserve because of a very small few.

[Slippery Pedro]

Originally posted by ChrisCary
The price of cards aside it's nice to see we still have some good kids left

I should tack on to the story that the kid was driven to the store by his father, in a car that had to be 20 years old, looked like crap, and was just about dead. And, you could tell by the way the kid ran to the car to show his father the cards he got that this (the purchase of ONE pack of cards) was a special treat - - as opposed to some kid who probably can afford to go out and buy the whole set straight from Topps.

That was nice to see - - that a single pack of baseball cards could give some joy to a father and son who probably don't have the means to go to some fantasy camp or a week at Spring Training for their baseball fix.

[hmrsf]

Net look at the time. That is too freaky!

[johnny]

Originally posted by Slippery Pedro


I should tack on to the story that the kid was driven to the store by his father, in a car that had to be 20 years old, looked like crap, and was just about dead. And, you could tell by the way the kid ran to the car to show his father the cards he got that this (the purchase of ONE pack of cards) was a special treat - - as opposed to some kid who probably can afford to go out and buy the whole set straight from Topps.

That was nice to see - - that a single pack of baseball cards could give some joy to a father and son who probably don't have the means to go to some fantasy camp or a week at Spring Training for their baseball fix.

Ahhh...that really makes the story special.
A kid like that, in that situation, I would have been tempted to buy a few more packs for him.

[Slippery Pedro]

HM - same place, same time. Was it good for you? :D

johnny - Funny, I thought about that as we were on line at the register (before I saw him go to his Dad's car). He was a cute kid, and, you could tell even in the store how excited he was about the card purchase. I so badly wanted to take two bucks out of my pocket and say "Here kid - buy another pack. Baseball is great. Never forget it."

The sad truth is - I was afraid to do it. For sure, I thought someone in the store (if not someone waiting for him outside) would want to know why some 39-year old man/stranger was treating a 10-year old kid to some baseball cards. Within an instant, I pictured myself being accused of being a predator or something, and having to explain "No. I'm normal. I'm just a baseball nut." Yeah, right.............like I said, sad truth. Sign of the times.

[hmrsf]

:guapo:


I think it is sad that an adult can not foster an interest in a kid without people thinking that something is up.

It is not just my kid or her circle of suburbinite friends that impress me. It is the kids that I encounter in the inner city. My bilingual little pals are helpful during treatment of grandma/pa.

That reminds me, I should leave a pack of cards with them as a thankyou.

Am I the only one who thinks "todays" kids are better?

[Skip]

Originally posted by hmrsf
Am I the only one who thinks "todays" kids are better? This could generate enough discussion, that if you don't mean it rhetorically you should probably start a new thread on "today's kids vs. yesterday's" or "today's kids and baseball". As a parent of 3, I'd participate.

[johnny]

Originally posted by Slippery Pedro
HM - same place, same time. Was it good for you? :D

johnny - Funny, I thought about that as we were on line at the register (before I saw him go to his Dad's car). He was a cute kid, and, you could tell even in the store how excited he was about the card purchase. I so badly wanted to take two bucks out of my pocket and say "Here kid - buy another pack. Baseball is great. Never forget it."

The sad truth is - I was afraid to do it. For sure, I thought someone in the store (if not someone waiting for him outside) would want to know why some 39-year old man/stranger was treating a 10-year old kid to some baseball cards. Within an instant, I pictured myself being accused of being a predator or something, and having to explain "No. I'm normal. I'm just a baseball nut." Yeah, right.............like I said, sad truth. Sign of the times.

Ya know, after I typed that, I looked at it, and thought it might be a bad idea to do that (buy the kid more cards), but my logic was because the dad might see it as an attack on him (a pride kinda thing, if that makes sense?). I did not even think about your reasoning. Sad but true case of how the world is today. :(

[KCBOOMER]

I remember in the 50's that if you opened the bubble gum wrapper and saw that the card was of a manager you felt cheated.