Southern California Sports Club in the 1970s

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Posted By: Chris Counts

In response to a thread by Jack Goodman about Goodwin Goldfaden, another board member (Griffins) brought up the Southern California Sports Club. As a teenager in the late 70s, I always looked forward to these meetings, which I recall were held in a place called the Isacc Walton School (in Garden Grove?). Later, they were moved to a recreation center in Fountain Valley. There were other locations scattered around (San Feranado Valley, San Gabriel Valley), but I recall the Orange County events were the best attended.

The mood at these "meetings" was very laid back and friendly, although collectors would always have an eye on the door as "finds" showed up unannounced on a semi-regular basis. The hobby was a lot different then, and the (lack of) monetary value of cards was a big part part of that. I was only about 14 or 15 at the time, but I could buy just about any card I wanted (or trade for it!) for the simple reason they weren't worth that much. A t206 would sell for about a buck, while Goudeys and Diamond Stars would go for twice that much. I recall buying a 1934 Goudey of Lou Gehrig (with sharps corners) for $30, and several of my collecting buddies thought I was nuts.

I'm curious how many collectors are still out there who attended these small, but wonderful meetings. I've lost touch with most of them (I now live in the San Francisco Bay Area), but among the regulars I recall were John Parks, Mike Berkus, Tony Galovich, Wally Bohl, Wes Schleiger, Gavin Riley and Steve Brunner. There was also a guy named Hal (I can't recall his last name ... I remember he always wore shorts and I think he was a teacher) and he was the first guy I met who truly cared about the corners on a card. The designation "excellent-to-mint" was the highest grade a card could achieve until Hal came along, or so it seemed. Most guys just didn't pay that much attention. This was long before top holders, and the pages with plastic sleeves were just starting to show up. I bet most collectors were still using rubber bands and shoe boxes at this time ...