1968 Topps Empty Baseball Card Box

For Christmas, my step-daughter and her husband got me a gift certificate from Ebay.  I recently found an item that I've been looking to acquire  at a decent price and ended up winning it.

It is a 1968 empty box that contained the individual packs of baseball cards that year.  I am especially fond of it for 2 reasons:  The first is that as an 11 year old in 1968, it was at the peak of my collecting youth.  Second, there is a picture of Mickey Mantle on the box.

Incidentally, the packs I put in the box are not from 1968 but rather 1979.  I can't afford even one 1968 unopened pack of baseball cards.

The box will forever be special to me for another reason.  I won it on the day my step-daughter gave birth to her first child, a precious baby boy named Wyatt.

Thank you Jason and Laura for both gifts!

1966 Topps Rub-Offs Set - 80% Complete

I just picked up this 1966 Topps Rub-Off of Eddie Fisher, it is the 96th one I have gotten which means that I now have completed 80% of the total 120 in the set.

Most of the remain ones I need are very difficult to find.  They do not come up for sale or auction frequently and end up selling for a higher price.

These rub-offs were printed in rolls of 20 and my theory is that one of the rolls was printed in shorter quantities than the others thus accounting for the difficulty in trying to acquire the last 20.  Just my own theory.

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!