Thanks Dad

• My father introduced me to baseball cards in 1974. I was seven years old at the time. 

• I remember getting a "Hank Aaron Special" card in the first pack. I think it was card #4

• We watched Aaron break the home run record on TV at a neighbor's house

• My dad tried to get me to realize that keeping cards in good shape was important, but it didn't really sink in for a few years. We used to beat the heck out of our cards by flipping them and just handling them a lot. 

• He also tried to tell  me about which cards were more important and valuable. At the time I just liked to get the cool-looking "in action" types of cards

• During that summer my parents were trying to teach me how to swim. My father was in the pool at O'Neil Park and tried to get me to jump in. I was scared and wouldn't do it. He said that he would buy me 50 baseball cards if I would jump in. I still resisted. He increased the offer incrementally until I finally took the plunge at 200 cards. I couldn't find a picture of the pool, but above is a picture of the field where I played a lot of little league games.

• My dad did a lot for me. He taught me to read at a very early age. He tried to get me interested in a lot of things. Some of them took (reading and baseball) while others didn't quite stick (hunting and fishing). 
• But the important thing is that he loved me and cared about me. He did a lot that helped make  me who I am today. Thank you Dad and happy Father's Day!