Posted By:
Jeff O
OK, OK... so it's not pre-war. But it is a good story.
I was six years old in 1977 and lived in Philly. Needless to say, I loved the Phillies, especially Greg Luzinski, who could absolutely crush the ball. So one day in the summer of '77 my dad walked me up to 7-11 and I got some packs of cards. I sat on the steps in front of our townhouse while he was up on the porch with our neighbor, and what do you think I pulled from one of those packs? In all honesty, I don't think I've ever been so excited about anything in my life (sometimes I wish I could be six again).
I used to "rate" the baseball players on my cards then. I would write a number on the back of the card - a "1" if the player was awesome (Luzinski), a "2" if he was pretty good (Ron Cey), a "3" if he sucked (any Mariner or Blue Jay).
When my dad got into the hobby in 1983, my cards were "upgraded" as we bought collections. I never thought much about not having my "original" cards anymore - condition and quantity became king.
Fast forward to around 1991. I was a junior in college, working in my dad's baseball card shop 20 hours a week. I didn't collect much any more. Girls (or at least one particular girl) and school seemed more important. But one afternoon I was bored and decided to take a trip down memory lane by looking through our big box of '77 Topps commons. I saw a lot of familiar names, but I broke out into a smile when I ran across a Luzinski. Then I flipped it over... and on the back, written in the hand of a six year old kid, was a number "1". I had found my old card.
I can promise you one thing - you'll never see this card on eBay. It will be with me until the day I die.
Jeff