[jchcollins]

In the late 1980's and early 90's, my friend Thomas and I were in the same scout troop, and both of us were crazy over baseball cards. My favorite team was (and still is) the Cubs. His favorite team, at least then - was the Mets. So cards and star players were a big deal, but those star players who were members of our favorite teams were even more special. I knew who he collected and what cards he was after, and vice versa.

Flashback to a chilly afternoon probably early in October, and we were all getting ready to do some "cold weather camping" as our scout leaders called it. As all of us gathered in front of the scout hut with our gear and were preparing to climb into the back of our leaders station wagons - what else to do? Of course we had gloves and were peppering a ball around. Only a tennis ball of course, we occasionally used real baseballs, but when that happened it was usually only a matter of time before some kid got hit in the mouth or otherwise injured. I don't know why, I must have just recently picked up the card at the time - but to this day, when I see this Seaver, I can remember that afternoon and those details. The cards themselves were probably in the car. We all knew Seaver was a legend, but he would have been even more desired by my friend Thomas the Mets fan. I don't know why such a strong correlation to that day - maybe it's that Seaver himself in this pose is wearing what is probably a spring training jacket, and I must have imagined that he was throwing a ball around on a cold day as well - although in Florida probably not. Anyhow, that's why we love cards right? The association to memories. I have many like that with cards, this is just the one that jumped to mind first when I saw this thread.