Today, we’ll continue with Challenge #8: A card that reminds you of a family member.
A comedian once did a bit about football parents. He talked about all the work a father puts in with his son to make him a football star. All the hours playing catch. All the hours running routes. Finally, the kid makes the NFL, scores his first touchdown, looks right into the camera and waves, "Hi Mom!"
I feel like that. Because even though my father was a much bigger part of my collecting upbringing, this card reminds me of my mother.
(yup, another Fleer Red Sox 100th)
You see, my mother grew up just down the street from Birdie. She was actually friends with his daughter. So, really, any Birdie Tebbetts card would remind me of her. This just happens to be the only one I own.
The key story that came from living a couple houses from a Red Sox player? My mother had several older brothers. Brothers at the right age where Birdie would bring home baseballs for them. Autographed by the team. Being boys about that age in the late forties, those baseballs weren't stuck on their shelf in an acrylic box. Nope they used them to play baseball. Good thing there weren't any good players on the Red Sox in the late forties.
Damn.
Let's just say that I looked over every nook and cranny of my grandfather's house hoping that a ball would have somehow rolled into a hole behind a bookcase or something. No luck.
But, I suppose, if every kid who lived next to a ball player actually saved the dozen or so Ted Williams signed baseballs they had...they wouldn't be worth anything today.
So, that's why this card reminds me of my mother. And my uncles.
And why I cringe a little every time I see it.
A comedian once did a bit about football parents. He talked about all the work a father puts in with his son to make him a football star. All the hours playing catch. All the hours running routes. Finally, the kid makes the NFL, scores his first touchdown, looks right into the camera and waves, "Hi Mom!"
I feel like that. Because even though my father was a much bigger part of my collecting upbringing, this card reminds me of my mother.
(yup, another Fleer Red Sox 100th)
You see, my mother grew up just down the street from Birdie. She was actually friends with his daughter. So, really, any Birdie Tebbetts card would remind me of her. This just happens to be the only one I own.
The key story that came from living a couple houses from a Red Sox player? My mother had several older brothers. Brothers at the right age where Birdie would bring home baseballs for them. Autographed by the team. Being boys about that age in the late forties, those baseballs weren't stuck on their shelf in an acrylic box. Nope they used them to play baseball. Good thing there weren't any good players on the Red Sox in the late forties.
Damn.
Let's just say that I looked over every nook and cranny of my grandfather's house hoping that a ball would have somehow rolled into a hole behind a bookcase or something. No luck.
But, I suppose, if every kid who lived next to a ball player actually saved the dozen or so Ted Williams signed baseballs they had...they wouldn't be worth anything today.
So, that's why this card reminds me of my mother. And my uncles.
And why I cringe a little every time I see it.
Good job. Love Birdie, he was a Tigers catcher for 9 years in the 1930s and 1940s.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Out of all of Tony's challenges, this is my favorite topic. I've had a blast reading everyone's responses.
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