MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Wow!  Another year has flown by.  Wishing all a happy Holiday Season and the best of the New Year!

September 11, 1974

40 years ago today I was at Shea Stadium in New York to watch a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets.

My father's company sponsored bus trips to Yankee and Shea Stadium a few times each year.  We would go a couple of times each year.  This night, it was me, my dad and mom, my brother and my cousin. 

The night before, Lou Brock of the Cardinals has stolen a base to set the all time record of most stolen bases in a season.  I was a little disappointed as I was hoping to see him set the record at our game.  It seemed like a missed chance to see something historic happen.  Little did I know.

It was a good game and the Mets were winning 3 to 1 in the top of the ninth inning.  With 2 outs, Ken Reitz of the Cardinals hit a 2 run home run to tie the game.  The game went into extra innings.  Neither team could score.  At around 1:30 AM Mets manager Yogi Berra was thrown out.  Some people who were with us went back to the bus to sleep.  The Cards scored a run in the top of the 25th, yes 25th inning.  The Cards won in 25 innings, 4 to 3.

It was the longest baseball game in history played to completion.  (There was a famous 26 inning tie in 1920).  The game ended at 3:12 AM!

We got home a little after 5:00 AM.  I went home and slept to about 10 AM, skipping school.  My cousin went right to his morning job at the newspaper store and went home to bed, also skipping school.  I think my dad went to work and my brother had to go to classes as it was his first day of college.

So, I ended up seeing history made!

August 10, 1984

30 years ago today I was at the L.A. Coliseum in Los Angeles to watch a day of track and field completion at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

That Olympics I attended Men's Basketball, Baseball (which was a demonstration sport) and Team Handball.  I also found time to take in a California Angels vs. Oakland Athletics Baseball game.

It was a beautiful Friday and my seat was 3 rows from the top.  Since I am not a great fan of heights, it took about 2 minutes once I sat down for my head and stomach to settle in.  I was fortunate enough to watch the Women's 3,000 Meter Race final with America's hopeful, Mary Decker.

The race started in late afternoon.  On the 3rd lap, the runners were still tightly bunched together, running as a pack.  Decker got entangled with Zola Budd and fell to the ground.

She tried to get up but could not and was unable to finish the race. Budd was constantly booed by the crowd as she passed each section.  She finished 7th, with tears coming down her face.  Budd was at first disqualified but later reinstated.

Decker said "I worked my whole life for something that was gone in an instant," They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  This picture says it all.

Matchbox Superfast #23 Volkswagen Camper

Here is my orange Matchbox Volkswagen Camper.

Here is my blue one.

 

 

On Friday night one of the towns has old cars on display and I saw the actual Volkswagen camper the Matchbox car was modeled after.  Check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the interior.  You can live in this!

 

 

 

 

It was a fun and inexpensive way to spend a beautiful summer night.









1966 Topps Rub-Offs - 75% Completed!

For those of following my quest to complete the Baseball Card Insert Set of Rub-Offs included in Topps baseball card packs in 1966, I have reached 75% completed.

Just received the following Rub-Off of Dick Radatz.

This is my 90th Rub-Off so I have "only" 30 more to got to complete the set of 120.

I say "only" as the rub-offs I still need seem to be very hard to acquire.  I have seen them in not great condition or very expensive in decent condition.  I'm trying to get them at about $5.00 each with a little extra for shipping.  I guess I will have to increase my bids to get the ones I still need. 

Originally, I wanted to complete the set in a 2 year period.  That was 4 years ago!   As they say on certain HGTV shows, I went past my timeline and I'll be over budget!

May 27, 1994

I have had the luck of attending some sporting events where something of national importance or historic to the team and/or the sport happened.  Three of those events are celebrating a milestone anniversary this year.  I'm going to post them ion the order that they happened during the year.

The first was on May 27, 1994, 20 years ago.  I was at Madison Square Garden in New York City to watch Game 7 of the National Hockey League's Eastern Conference playoff game between the visiting New Jersey Devils and the home team, the New York Rangers.

The Rangers had won Game 6 to force the deciding game.  The Rangers had not won a Stanley Cup Championship since 1940, a drought of over 50 years.  I had been a Ranger fan since 1972 so it was a long drought for me too.

It was a tight well played defensive game.  Finally, in the second period, Brian Leetch scored on a beautiful spin-o-rama move.  The game remained the same score to the end of the period.  The fans were optimistic but this was the Rangers we were talking about, they always seemed to find a way to lose.

The third period was a great period but game time was not moving fast enough for Ranger fans.  With just 7.7 seconds left in the game, Valeri Zelepukin scored for the Devils to tie the game at 1 each and sent it to overtime. 

The intermission was very quiet in the Garden.  Everyone thought the Rangers were going to lose again.  But in the first overtime, the Rangers had some chances to win, but didn't.  After the first overtime period ended, the mood was brighter as fans thought someone has to win, it might as well be us.

At 4:24 of the second overtime period, Stephane Matteau scored on a wrap around shot and the Garden went wild.  Possibly the greatest game in New York Rangers history and I was there. 

The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup in 7 games against the Vancouver Canucks.

2014 Tour of Somerville

Today I made my annual visit to Somerville, NJ to watch some of the cycling races.  It is about a 10 minute drive and the weather was beautiful today.

I bought a bottle of water from home and got a hot dog for lunch.  It was greasy and out in the sun on the grill for who knows how long.  It was FANTASTIC!!

The Tour of Somerville races are known worldwide and attract the top cyclists.  There are different levels of races depending on their skill levels.  There is also a race for youngsters (ages 15 - 18) and as the announcer said, for those "long in the tooth", age 45 or older.  One cyclist was over 80 years old!  Here is a picture of one of the races.

 

Here is another shot.  They are really this close to you at times!

 

 

 They are going 25 to 30 miles per hour as they go by!!

There was an accident about 50 yards from me during one of the races.  Think of going 25 miles an hour and hitting a wall, with basically no protection but your helmet.  When you see and hear the crash, you pray for the safety of those involved.

1966 Topps Baseball Card #568 - Athletics Rookies Unissued Proof

Here is another proof baseball card from my collection.  This is an unissued proof card of the Kansas City Athletics Rookies Card #568 featuring Paul Linblad and Ron Stone.  This unissued card does not have their positions listed.

My card is on an uncut sheet of 12 proof cards of 1966 Topps 7th Series Baseball Cards.

Here is the issued card with the player's positions listed.

 

 

More 1966 Rub Offs!

Just picked up 4 more 1966 Topps Rub Offs.  Here they are.

 

This brings my total to 88 rub offs.  There are 120 in the complete set so I have 32 more to go.