Lance Parrish of the 1984 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers.
In my book, 1984 was the living, breathing definition of bumfuzzle...
1984...Oy. A typical year for the most part until late June. A little family turmoil. When you're 14 and your family and life in general hit a speed bump for the first time...Well, I digress. Hey, lets switch from a Christian School to a public high school in August to really ignite this tire fire while we're at it 😂😂. Ahh mercy. I can look back now and chuckle. But back then...
"..My Civics Teacher drives an RX-7.."
August 1984. The same week Atlanta Falcons star running back William Andrews, a huge favorite of mine, suffers what basically became a career ending knee injury, I debuted at a public High School. Macedonia High. Bad memory triggers. Hated it from day 1. Or should I say hated the fact I had to go there. School was perfectly ok. Teachers(my older sister being a teacher there) were fine. Students from top to bottom were all good folks. Good people. I simply didn't fit in, didn't belong there. But, I could, and should, have put forth some effort. As I said, good people at Macedonia. That's my loss. In my four years there I allowed exactly two people "In" to see and know the real me. A fellow student, who isn't getting mentioned here 😂. The other being a teacher. Who was debuting at Macedonia that year also.
When I'm asked the question everyone eventually gets asked in their life "Who were some individuals who influenced you?" I always add the name Jack Gable as an influence. 1. Because it's true. 2. Because he's the only 100% positive influence in my life outside of immediate family. As a teacher, well above average. Civics, Geography, History. Made the subjects, which can be mundane, pop a bit. But his real value was as a communicator. The ability to talk to any group, any individual. Regardless of race, ethnicity or gender is a gift. On virtually any topic.
I gravitated towards Mr.Gable a good bit. You wanna talk WW1. Done. Wanna talk WW2. Done. Wanna talk Motown Music in the 60's? Done. Wanna talk driving an RX-7 at around 110mph on a straight line Nebraska highway? Done. 😂 . The man's knowledge, maybe it was the Vanderbilt education 😁, was unreal. Serious or humerous. He was a multi-tool person. Perceptive also. I knew that he knew I wasn't comfortable there. But never let on. He cared.
I would have several conversations with Mr. Gable over the next couple of years. Free periods, after school. Intelligent, but in no way arrogant, I loved those conversations. I cherish the memories now.
By my Senior year, Mr. Gable had moved on to another job. He was missed greatly by the guy typing this. I made it a point from 89-92 to stop in at whatever school he was teaching at just to chat. The last time I spoke with Mr.Gable was by phone in 1996 after being hired by NationsBank earlier that week. Had no idea it would be the last time. I learned of his passing a few years back. To paraphrase Forrest Gump, that's all I got to say about that.
"...Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery..."
I have no problem admitting that I have made an effort over the last 30 years to be "Gable-Like". Former pro wrestler Ernie Ladd would have put it this way: "Roten, you're stealin' the man's approach to life. You're a thief!" 😉😆. Diversity of subjects for conversation. Trying to pack as much knowledge variety into my noggin as possible. I fall woefully short of Mr.Gable's standard 😂.
Harkening back to my prologue, Jack Gable was a very big piece of the journey of life here. One of a kind. I thank him, greatly. 💓
"I can do what everybody else is doing and do it better, which I don’t like my chances at. Or I can do something nobody else is doing and I don’t invite comparison. That’s where I’m at my best." Kenny Rogers.
1994
BurbankSportscards,theDon Mattingly collectionhitsamilestoneand some thank yous.
1994 was really 30 years ago. Have mercy we gettin' old here.
Small victories carry weight...
On the collecting scale I'm but a small fish in a large sea. Same as in 1994. I was strictly a card guy in 1994. Primary focus was Don Mattingly. The bulk of the budget easily went towards Mattingly items. I had my local collecting contacts looking out for me. The Batters Box. Youngs Sportscards. The Umpires Choice. A 4th contact , a very good fella named Gerald, who once owned a shop himself, also helped. Gerald literally found any Mattingly card I wanted. Coast to coast. Give him a week and he would have it. The start of the 1994 MLB Season was the first, and only time, I had in my possession every Don Mattingly card currently available from his Minor League issues through 1993. An influx of new card companies, various artists proofs, refractors, etc. made that task, for me at least, virtually impossible beginning in 1994 with all the cards issued. For one short blip in time though, when it came to Mattingly, I was as good as anyone else in the collecting game. To my hobby friends who helped, I appreciate it. I cherish the memories and the simpler times.
Intermission
"Say what's a Neotraditionalist Collector anyway"
"Check the back pages of Beckett"
1994 was an interesting, puzzling and at times a frustrating year. Nowhere near as good as 1993, and 1995 would top it also. Doesn't mean the year was a bust. Certainly not hobby wise. I, along with my nephew, were single card collectors. We weren't buying multiple boxes of any product. We had interest in players that most folks in our area did not. Patrick Roy, Ed Belfour, Clyde Drexler, Chris Chelios and others. Stars, yes, but this area (Charleston SC) wasn't exactly bursting at the seams with material of stars like Scott Stevens, Joe Dumars, Cam Neely etc.
Enter Burbank Sportscards. In '94 it may have been Burbank Coins & Cards. Ad says they say they have a huge inventory. Burbank though. Does Burbank sound like a place that will have Patrick Roy or Dale Hawerchuk rookies? Not really. Made a quick list. 86 Topps or OPC Roy. 84 Neely rookie. 93 Score Franchise Roy, 93 Score Franchise Marino. Few others that escape the memory bank. Made the call, read off the list, had everything except for the '86 OPC Patrick Roy.
Looking back, it seems archaic in ways. I tell my nephew "yeah the owner answered, Rob is the name. Whole process took like 20 minutes. Felt like I was talking to a fellow collector opening packs". I was not expecting almost the whole list to be filled, but hey that's what the Chemical Bank Visa was for. Six days later, cards arrive. Though it was sold in 2000, the Patrick Roy '86 Topps I received remains the best looking Roy Topps rookie I've had in hand.
That was but one of several orders with Burbank in the 94-95 time frame. A couple more orders followed in 98-99 before I pulled the plug on my collecting in 2000. A return to the hobby in 08 would eventually lead to ordering again from my "local" card shop all the way across the country. Stephen, Rob, Ryan. They are collectively one of the good guys in the hobby.
A few of my Burbank pick ups over the last few years. Refractors, Mirror Golds & a Ice Blue Stevens.
"Goodnight John Boy"
Rank sentimentalist time. Harkening back to the prologue. Life 'tis but a movie. With a cast, if you're lucky, of thousands. As I've gotten older, little things, man, they matter. I want to thank Peg Young (Young's Sportscards), Wayne Aveyard (The Umpires Choice), Andy Tokai (R.I.P.😔)(The Batters Box), Gerald Firetag(Swamp Fox Collectibles) for being part of the journey here. Your contributions are neither forgotten nor overlooked. 💓
Everyone has a story. Everyone has memories both good and bad. We star in our own movie, our own mini series. The script changes and refreshes organically. The cast and locales change. The blink of an eye or years down the line. All points in between. Comedy, Horror, Drama, Crime, Romance, Fantasy. All the genres are featured in each person's story.
So I'll tinker with my blog. Music, movies, card & comic collecting with a good dose of (mostly) self-deprecation through life experience. At my age with time, why not. I kinda like looking back, reminiscing. But not over doing it. Mindful that the show, the movie. Life it is. Still has more script to play out.
Though there are times being a Teddy Bear wouldn't be so bad.
