OT, but a great share! State of the hobby

[7nohitter]

Hi All,

This is a little post WWII, but it has to do with the evolution of the hobby and I thought this board would definitely enjoy the story.

I am a teacher in MA (7th grade English) and each year the Boston Globe hosts a sports writing contest in honor of the late Will McDonough. The topic this year was to identify a player and/or team which inspires and why.

I had a submission, from a girl, about 'The Shot Heard 'Round the World." Well, sure enough I thought, "what 13 year old girl in 2014 knows about Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca??" She wrote a nice piece about how inspirational Thomson was.

I thought it was a great piece...but HAD to be completely copied from somewhere....right? What 13 year old girl knows about this stuff? So the day after getting her submission I peppered her with questions about the '51 Giants...."Who was the manager?" "What rookie was on the team who is now a HOF'er?" "Where did the Giants play?".....and she KNEW all of the answers!!

She told me how the call of Thomson's shot inspires her....and how she and her father listen to it EVERY DAY....she pulled out her tablet and showed me, right on the homescreen, the link to the call!!

THIS is what this hobby is all about. That night I went home and dug out my Bobby Thompson autographed card (It's a '53 reprint with the '51HR infor on the back) ...I gave it to her the next day. I enjoyed the card...but she LOVES the card....she was SO EXCITED and carried it around school all day....and I had absolutely no problem giving it to someone who APPRECIATES the game and the hobby!!

Just thought I would relay this story-the game/hobby is still alive!!

Andrew Miller

[gregr2]

Very nicely done!!

[freakhappy]

Thanks for sharing, Andrew...awesome story!

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Very cool

[Leon]

Great Story....thanks Andrew!!

[7nohitter]

Happy to share!

[bobbvc]

Much appreciated on many levels.

[BlueSky]

Andrew,

Great story. Very heart warming to hear a father and daughter sharing a bit of sports history together.

Very classy of you to share our hobby with the next generation.

Regards,
Marty

[Jason]

Thanks for sharing that story. I try to teach my son about the hobby any chance I get. I let him open the mail and give him some backstory on every new card/player I get. Im not sure how much he retains but at least I try.

[7nohitter]

The replies are great!
I can tell you that kids pick up on WAY more than we are aware!

[DHogan]

Very cool story. It's nice to hear that some kids are interested in other things like that.

[HobokenJon]

.....because you're an English teacher I can't resist the dig: It's Thomson! Not Thompson! But even with 5 points off for spelling, you still get an A.

[KCRfan1]

Great story Andrew! Nice to hear " good news " about the hobby from time to time.

[7nohitter]

Cannot believe I made that spelling mistake! Thank you to those who notified me, I corrected it in the original post.

[bnorth]

Great story, I am sure your generosity will always be remembered by that girl. You get a giant A+ Sir

[Bored5000]

She told me how the call of Thomson's shot inspires her...

Thanks fior sharing such a great story. Mr. Thomson seemed like a such a class act. When I was probably 10-12 years old, I wrote dozens of over the top, praise-filled fan letters to players from before my birth in 1972. I have not looked at those letters in years, but I still remember Bobby Thomson responding with a hand-written letter of thanks for taking an interest in his career. :)

[33rd Street]

Awesome!! I'm sure she will remember that and re-tell the story to her kids and just keep the cycle going. Giving the card to her was a great thing to do!

[dclarkraiders]

Fantastic story and thanks for sharing. I was not even born yet when Thomson hit the shot heard around the world. As a Dodger fan when I learned about the 1951 season I could not help to feel depressed about such a monumental collapse by my team. As I have grown older, I have learned to admire "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" for it's historical significance in our national pastime. What a great moment it was. If I had a time machine, I would love to go back and live in the early to mid 50's to see what life was like then and relive the ebbs and flows of being a Dodger fan during that era. Also, great gesture on your part to give her the Thomson autographed card.

Duane Clark

[Kawika]

Nice story, Andrew. Here is an old newspaper article I clipped out years ago that you might want to share with your young friend. I will always remember what Bobby Thomson said - "if you have the chance in life to make someone this happy, you have an obligation to do it." A mensch.

http://photos.imageevent.com/kawika_o_ka_pakipika/sportscardsetc/mischidden/miscellanybaseball/DMcD155.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/kawika_o_ka_pakipika/sportscardsetc/mischidden/miscellanybaseball/Heritage%2053SM%20Thomson.jpeg

[Ladder7]

Great read. Thanks Andrew

[timzcardz]

Great story!

I love that you gave her a card that means so much to her.

I love that my 20YO still gets excited about cards and never passes up an opportunity to go to a card show with me, but then he is a Sports Management major too.

I love it that my 8YO nephew got excited this weekend when I gave him a handful of football cards that someone had used as filler in a package that they sent to me.

With all of the other distractions for kids these days, there still is an interest in cards IF they are exposed to them.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Cool clipping.

[7nohitter]

Thank you for all of the great responses! I've had some interesting conversations with this student about baseball and the '51 Giants!

[basesareempty]

Andrew,
That is a nice thing you did. I hope your generosity comes back to you 10 fold.

Bob