My first real card collecting memory was at the old Holiday Inn shows in Torrance, CA, put on by Ed Biegel, who became a friend of the family. I was 6, and could barely see over the tables, but I knew all about cards because of the backs and all their statistics. I loved stats.
Flash forward a few years, and my father and I head to the show. 1993 Pinnacle just came out, and the Team Pinnacle inserts were in there. Frank Thomas had his, and on the back was Fred McGriff. I had to have this card. I was 10, and Frank was the center of my baseball world. As it was, he was the first player I followed over the course of his entire career, and will always hold that special place in my baseball heart. So lo and behold, my dad shells out $100 (!) and buys me the card. Oh, those were the days, before eBay and the like.
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Tackling The Monster: Looking for raw Piedmont and Polar Bears.
Also working on a 1951 Bowman Baseball set, free of gum stains.
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