OT What got you started?

[Al C.risafulli]

Summer of 1977 I was a budding Yankee fan, and my mother bought me a pack of baseball cards. There was a Rod Carew in the pack, and I thought Carew was the greatest player in the game. The card was gorgeous, and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to get the best player in my first pack. I was hooked pretty quickly.

My grandfather was a baseball fanatic who grew up during the Depression, and he would tell me stories about the players he watched (Hubbell and Gehrig were his favorites), and about the players his father had told him about (Waddell was his favorite). Eventually I started buying cards of prewar players and sitting with him, and he'd tell me stories about the players. He passed in 1987, but left me with an unbelievable amount of respect for the history of the game, the current game, and by extension, the hobby.

Best hobby ever. Best game ever.

-Al

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

Best hobby ever. Best game ever.

Couldn't agree more with that statement. For me it was the lunch truck at my dad's office. He'd buy me a single pack, maybe once a week, to help occupy me while spending the day at his office. I was 3 at the time and just never stopped. Though the stakes have been upped and the cards have gotten fancier, it's still driven fundamentally by my love of the game and its history, and memories like that.

[JasonL]

She came home from the grocery store and gave me a 1984 Fleer baseball cello pack that she bought for me on an impulse...she had no idea of the impending disaster

[HRBAKER]

I was spending the weekend with my Grandmother.
We went to the IGA for some milk and Moon Pies and I saw the packs of 1966 Topps. I asked for one and she bought me one.

The rest of the summer I scoured around picking up empty pop bottles which I returned to the store for the deposit (wonder how many board members have no idea what I am talking about) and bought more 1966 Topps packs.

From there it has been 47 years.