Thanks Dad

My father bought me my first pack of baseball cards in 1974 when I was 7 years old. I remember getting one of those Hank Aaron Special cards in that first pack. My dad told me to keep my cards in good shape because they would be worth something someday. I was little so I didn't treat the cards as well as he would have liked, but I am very thankful to him for introducing me to baseball and to card collecting.

I remember one year he bought a wax box of baseball cards and a box of Wacky Packages. If I met certain goals (doing my chores, behaving in school, etc.), he would give me some packs. It was a nice incentive for me to try to be a good kid.

He also made me a storage box for me to keep my cards. He took a long box from a radio controlled airplane that he was working on and he made 24 sections for teams. He used balsa wood to separate each team, and he labeled each section (including "Dodgers--P.U."). Unfortunately the box became obsolete when expansion came around in 1977, and there was no section for checklists/leader cards, but I loved that box and carried it around with me everywhere.

For my 8th grade graduation in 1980, my dad got me a card lot of 200 different 1960 cards. I could have picked any year, but I liked that particular design. Since then I've been working on completing that set. I'm about 70 cards away. One of these days I'll get there! :)

Thanks again, Dad. I hope you're having a great Father's day!