Falling Out Of Love With Baseball

It hit me while watching tonight's AllStar game. Maybe the uniform uniforms had something to do with it. Maybe it was the excess player fraternizing on the field or the clip of Tatis  Jr. wearing the  homerun chain. All these things set off a chain reaction and suddenly everything from the implementation of replay to the " man on second" extra inning rule had me doubting my love for  today's version of MLB. In fact, the day they decide to implement the DH rule in the National League will be the day I stop watching baseball all together. The last straw I guess you could call it. I could list other things that have changed in the game that are contributing to my growing disdain for the sport but I've gone over it ad nauseum in my head. My mind is made up. 

I'll Buy That For A Dollar!

Do you have kids,specifically In the 7 to 9 year old age  range?If yes,then you've probably traversed your local strip mall at least twice a week  to hit up his/her favorite store ever,  Dollar Tree.Junior Griffey and Matt from Bob Walk The Plank will soon  be attesting to this.The other day my daughter and I stopped In our local Dollar Tree for some last minute movie snacks.Dollar Tree Is the  dollar snack mecca ,with everything from big bags of chips down to knock off  ,over sized candy bars.Everything a toothache could ever ask for. After raiding the candy aisle,It was off to the check out line.A small,wooden baseball game caught my daughters attention and she quickly gave me the old yank on the coat sleeve ,accompanied by the  obligatory "Look , Dad!".I was more excited about her excitement towards a game related to baseball,then I was about the game itself.I shrugged It off and followed up her obligatory "Look,Dad!" with an  obligatory " Maybe next time".The next day,while running some solo errands ,I decided to pick up the game and surprise her with It .She played her first season of Little League Softball last year  and thoroughly enjoyed watching the Mets in the World Series.Those two things combined with the fact that her eyes lit up after spotting a dinky  $1 ,wooden baseball game tell me that I may be witnessing the beginning stages of  a die hard.Needless to say she lost It when I showed her the game ,and told her we'd play only after she completed her homework.

The game Is pretty straight forward.Not complicated at all.Roll the dice,and follow the directions of the corresponding number. It's all about luck.I drew up a couple of makeshift scoreboards  and we were able to get two games In before bed time.At one point  I rolled so many 7's ,I was beginning to think my daughter had Nolan Ryan on the mound.The games go by pretty quick and for a dollar,I couldn't think of a better way to spend time with your kid and/or significant other. I'm thinking about making some scorecard  copies  to factor In real players and keep better track of things.My daughter hit a bunch of triples and  It would have been cool to put a name and face  to those in game accomplishments. Seeing how much she liked the game makes me want to pick up the old Cadaco board games.I used to have a ball playing my 1989 version as a kid. Below are the results of the first game.or should I say bludgeoning.   

Sportstalk Baseball

Remember  Sports Talk Baseball ? I can recall spending countless 90 degree days ,In my hot,dusty,spider infested attic  ,binge playing Sports Talk Baseball.The minute that gurgly,robotic  voiced announcer exclaimed "It's time to play ball!",I knew shit just got real!  I didn't care about anything In the outside world.Foreign parachutists  could have descended onto my street ,carrying M-16's  Red Dawn style ,and I wouldn't have had the slightest clue of what was going on.And sorry Paula Abdul,but your "Rush" video Is just going to have to wait until  I'm done with my three game series against the Yankees, and the game Is properly saved.It was just me,my 20 inch color T.V. with  Sega Genesis running Sports Talk Baseball ,and a sign on the front of the attic door that read "Leave Me Alone!". Games were fun back then.Colorful and cartoon like.It was a time where,when you bought a video game ,you were getting more than just a  game.You were buying the total package.A nice,decorative protective hard case,substantial game manuals and the occasional kick ass insert/poster.

Ya gotta love the Canseco reference!

"It's time to play ball!"

Rookie Cards!

When I first got into collecting cards, I was  12 , and knew little about the accompanying terminology. I knew players, stars mainly, and teams. Hell I didn't even know they were worth money until one Christmas when someone bought me a card collecting kit with a tenuous price guide that only had a few sets listed with their card number and  value. There was no better feeling than matching the number on the back of your card with the one inside the price guide and finding out It's monetary value!I remember flipping out when I saw that my 1988 Topps Darryl Strawberry was worth 15 cents! I didn't know how popular  Rookie Cards were until I checked my price guide one day and realized   that players with a (RC) next to their name seemed to be worth a little more than the common players, even more than some established stars. Some players also had (FS) next to their names ,which stood for "Future Stars".Certain ,more prominent rookies had that written on the fronts of their  Topps rookie cards .My cousin and I had just bought a crap load of 1989 Topps  wax packs ,looking for a player named "Alomar" who was listed as a  (FS) and was worth 2 whole dollars!That was a lot for one card considering  each pack was only 50 cents.

  I was big on Canseco ,so naturally the card to have was HIS rookie. I saved up and my dad put the rest In ,towards a small set of cards put out by Topps called the "Topps Traded Series".These sets were released initially in the late 70's after every regular set and featured about 130 of the games most recently traded players and a slew of young rookies as well. The set I saved up for was the 1986 release, which  featured Canseco's rookie as well as Will Clark's, Bo Jackson's and Barry Bonds!

I think that set started It all for me as far as obsessing over rookie cards. From that point on you weren't considered cool If you owned the card of a star player, you had to have his rookie , too, to be considered a serious collector. Well , as serious as a 12 year old collector could be ,anyways. Down below are a couple of other popular late 80's,early 90's RC's from my personal collection. I'm not really collecting many cards theses days but I'll buy the occasional early 80's RC of a childhood favorite when the chance presents itself. I don't have an extensive collection but I'll be more than glad to see If I have something you might need and wanted to trade for ;) Enjoy the pics!