I hit a milestone this week that I've been aiming at for several years...... 100,000 cards in my collection! I've collected since 1975, when I was 6 years old and my dad bought me a pack of Topps cards at our local grocery store. I still remember Davey Lopes was a card from that first pack. 40-some odd years later and I still enjoy opening a pack of cards as much now as I did then. Still an avid collector of Davey Lopes and many others along the way. My dad passed away almost 15 years ago, and I have most of his collection as part of mine. It was something we always enjoyed sharing with each other. He'd send me a random Eric Chavez or Jim Edmonds card, or some other player that I had mentioned during a game we would watch on ESPN when we visited. (Dad, my brother and I came to affectionately refer to these guys as "Family Friends".) I'd send him an old Yankee or Dolphin, which would of course elicit a story of said player. Mickey Mantle, Al Kaline, Johnny Unitas, Bob Griese..... I've heard stories about them all. And would kill to hear another.
Thanks, Dad, for that first pack, sharing your love of the game, and setting me on a lifelong journey littered with cardboard. It's been a blast!
Oh, and I when I realized I was getting close to 100K, I paid particular attention to who was #100,000 in my collection (1987 Fleer # 103 Ron Kittle, another longtime Family Friend), but about 10 cards prior, there was veteran Houston Astros utility man, Davey Lopes.
Jeff (Top 5 Family Friends: Ken Griffey, Jr., Reggie Jackson, Pete Rose, Peyton Manning, Larry Bird)
