Sons and Fathers

Posted by cardboard hogs on January 11, 2017

Being an adult is a tough thing to be at times. It’s a never ending commitment to things you never dreamed of as a child; bills, responsibilities to loved ones as well as our contemporaries can be incredibly daunting at times. Overwhelming even. When you add children to the mix it becomes even more difficult. Prior to becoming a father, i had a very specific image of what having a child would be like…and to be honest, it’s nothing like what i thought. It is far more difficult than i could have ever imagined. Getting things done the way i want them or even when i want them is close to impossible. Over the past few months or so, i’ve learned to let things go. I had to. My expectations were not realistic or fair for an incredibly curious toddler. His young developing mind was discovering a world he needed to experience…in his very own way. Once i was able to grasp that seemingly simple concept, i was able to become a better father and enjoy the simple moments in life that later become memories we never forget…

The snow we’ve had in town last night and today was one of those moments to stop and let go of being an adult…although i had to make sure my kid didn’t hurt himself :). One of my recent posts was a reflection of a fond memory as a kid, the big San Antonio snow storm. Keeping that in mind, my goal was to make this day off of work and “adulting” as much fun as i could. Not to break an arm patting myself, but i thing we got it done today and made some awesome memories!

When i started out on this post i had an idea to show a few cards from the Bowman Draft jumbo box i bought before Christmas. The theme of the first post would be about sons of former MLB players and their fathers, but i wanted to shed a little personal experience since we had so much fun. So, for those excited to see some cards that i pulled take a look below…and i promise the hits will be exhibited in the next post!

As i opened the packs, i continued to see names that i recalled from my younger days as a collector…first thought was HOLY CRAP! I’m getting old!! I remember thinking, damn i’m old when a guy i remember as a rookie retired, or made the Hall of Fame…but now these guys have raised baseball players and kept the name in the family business.

I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to be the son of a professional athlete. Most of us had idols and a child, and i would imagine most of our idols were professional athletes vs. musicians or actors…or doctors and scientists i guess. My father had no special talents, nor did he have much of a presence in my life as a kid…which i would imagine is somewhat similar for these guys that made it to their 1st Bowman cards. The baseball season is long and there is a significant amount of travel each season. Being a parent is truly a 24 hour job. Really makes me think how amazing their mothers were…not sure they were as amazing as mine was though. 🙂

I hope to have my son share in my passion for baseball one day. Not sure if it will happen or not…it’s not something i ever want to force on him, it needs to be his decision, and i’m sure he will make the right decision…:)

Not sure how many readers out there have kids, if you do, i hope you can understand the sentiments that i’ve shared here today. It’s a little more personal than i normally like to get, but i felt like it was worthy…thank you for your time to read today.

Here are a few more images from our day…along with a zen like dog photo and a couple pictures of Derek Jeter standing next to a snow buried ruler.

Have a great night and give your family a hug! We’re gonna need each other to get through the next four years of this new Trump nation.

and a song for the day…kinda reminded me of being a kid and going on road trips with my mom each summer…or to visit my father.

Bourbon on ice / Roads on ice

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 9, 2016

After the winter blast from yesterday, we were hit with some nice after shocks of freezing rain and slow melting snow. Back in the days, these days would have been cherished moments of leisure and movie watching…but today was about ice sledding with my boy and daring him to do crazy things. He’s a risk taker and i’m a risk pusher, not the best way to be when you’re a dad…but it makes a good balance that keeps us on our toes.

One of the joys of these last 30+ hours of snow and ice is that i’ve been able to engage in some late afternoon adult beverage drinking. Now, i do like beer and we have a ton of options here in Portland, but i’m more of a whiskey or bourbon kinda guy. Beer makes me feel fat and tired, while whiskey makes me feel happy and full of life! I have a couple of brands that i really like to drink regularly…Four Roses Small Batch and Bulleit Rye to name a couple. My favorite though is Elmer T. Lee. A few months ago my beautiful wife was persistent enough to track down a bottle which i’ve slowly sipped on…until today! Apparently, it’s a difficult find and people like to hoard their cases or bottles…kinda like what some card collectors do i guess? It helps keep the interest up and at time drive the price up…boys like to collect and save things. Elmer T. Lee was a Master Distiller and is well known to most bourbon aficionados, i’m no aficionado at anything but i do know what i like, and i like me some Elmer T. Lee! Now, i just need to track down another bottle.

As time has allowed, the scanning has progressed on a couple more cards in between sled runs and naps at our house. The first card up for your visual pleasure is the 1957 Topps dual pick of Leo Elter.

I don’t imagine Mr. Elter is much of a leaper, but he sure looks like he’s ready to put you in a special car today…what i gotta do to get you’s and your family in this Lincoln Town Ka! I don’t know if that’s he really talks, but he looks like a tough dude from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is #11 of eleven children. He also played with a broken hand during the season, although the cartoon shows a guy in a full arm cast…i don’t know, maybe that’s how they did it back then?

Next up is a pennant card from the 1959 Topps set.

The Super Bowl has been around for what seems like forever that i often forget that there were championships prior to the big game…nice to see the Redskins World Champs notes for 1937 and 1942 to go along with the Super Bowl victories in 1982, 1987 and 1991…we can forget about the L’s they took in those championship/super bowls.

I’ve got a few items i need to catch up with as far as scanning goes, but i’m hoping to post something soon. Got a nice weekend planned and hope to have some fun tales to share after Sunday night. Thank you for reading and hope you have enjoyed the posts!

So, thinking of and drinking of whiskey…here’s some great music to go along with a neat glass of Elmer T. Lee.

Side jobs and snow days

Posted by cardboard hogs on December 8, 2016

Today was a snow day, well a partial snow day. I braved the overnight warnings and headed in to work this morning thinking i could work a few hours before heading back home…i have a looming deadline and was anxious about getting some stuff done. I’m glad i went in today…about half the office was there, but i was the only one from my project team that made it in…kudos to me! I tend to be a little stubborn and as my wife was texting me to hurry up and come home before the snow storm actually hit…but i decided to hang out. Easily distracted and self assured, i ended up waiting until it was quite blustery and everything was becoming white washed for a few moments. Our ould ’97 Ford Explorer has seen better days and isn’t too fond of climbing hills with snow and some hints of ice on the road. Needless to say the commute home was a little more treacherous than i like…but i made it home safe and was able to have a few hours with the wife and kid. We live on a pretty steep drive so sleds are fun this time of year, assuming of course there aren’t any cars coming around the corner! My son had a blast going down the street a few times and plowed through a couple of trees and once off the edge of a 2′ wall. I know, i know…i’m a terrible parent, but hey…he had a blast and in his usual voice and candor shouted “I WANNA DO DAT ALL DA TIME DADDY!!!” How can you resist that?

Not sure what tomorrow holds for weather, but i took advantage of the extra time at home to scan some more cards. Here are a couple of note.

The first card is Laurie Niemi from the 1952 Bowman set…the large version. The ’52 cards are some of my favorite football cards of all time. The full color art work is fantastic and the emotionally intense facial reactions are priceless. In doing some research over at PSA Cards these were issued as a test run of cards at the same time the “small” version was issued. Same photos, same backs…just different sizes. These were more popular and i can see why. Holding them you can see the great level of art that these cards posses. I’m a little partial to the small version of these cards…but i’m not gonna be picky here…plus i need these two handsome fellas to complete a set, you know how it goes.

The large cards were printed in a shorter run than the small version and thusly have been difficult for me to find in decent condition. Still need a few cards to complete the large set…believe i’m done with the small set though.

Bowman produced some great product early on with both baseball and football cards. I would love to see them do a modern set that reflects the history of this beautiful era of cardboard.

One of the things i love about these cards is the write up on the back. When athletes today are not working, they are selling something or hopefully doing something positive with their free time. These older guys though, they sold things and worked in offices.

Mr Badaczewski sold cars in the offseason and taught geography and history. My high school history teacher was the basketball coach…if he played for the Redskins i may have gotten better grades! The other thing that is really noticeable is the military service that professional athletes did during this era, in a time when the military is a polarizing subject, i have to admit that it’s quite interesting to see these guys take a break in their careers to provide a service for our country.