R.I.P. Wes Covington

[joeadcock]

Thanks for the story on another Brave of the past

[bh3443]

RIP Wes Covington. My thoughts and prayers go out to him, his family and fans.
I remember getting his 1961 Topps card when I was 8 or 9 years old from a nice older kid in the neighborhood who gave me his cards when he left for Vietnam in 1969/70. He had his cards by team and the first card on the 61 Topps stack was Wes Covington.
The Braves had so many great ball players like Covington, Alou, Carty, Aaron, and so many more. We were truly blessed to have such stars!

[Kenny Cole]

When I was 10 (1971) I had a paper route. On the route, toward the end, was a house with a couple of guys who were in their late teens/early 20's. Oscar and Pete. They were big basketball fans. I used to park my bike and spend half an hour or so playing hoops with them. After a bit, we got around to cards and initially, the deal was that I'd go buy those big Topps basketball cards and trade them for baseball cards from the 50's. You could get both the 70 and 71 cards from the guys in the ice cream trucks back then, depending on the truck. I have no idea how many Wilts, Alcindors, Haviliceks, Maraviches, etc. I traded for guys who weren't Mays, Mantle, Aaron, or Koufax, but it was a lot.

Ultimately, Oscar and Pete took pity on my vast ignorance and sold me three grocery sacks full of cards from 1955-1966 for $3. That was sort of the start of the obsession. For whatever reason, one of my favorite cards from that haul was the 1960 Covington card. My little brother and I used to play ball in the house, using our hands as a bat and an orange nerf ball as the ball, making out our lineup with cards, including those from that haul. My little brother was more into the 1971 cards, but for whatever reason, the 1960 set was my favorite. Covington was almost always in my lineup. RIP Wes. I never saw you play, but you gave me great memories nonetheless.

[gavvy]

Thanks for posting-many fond memories of watching Wes` bombs sail over the metal right field wall at Connie Mack in batting practice. Left us in awe.
R.I.P. Wes.

[bh3443]

Hi Kenny! Great to read your post. Those dudes hooked you up big time for 3.00! My brother and I played nerf BB and basketball in the house, too! Remember the nerf hoop and orange ball? I have pics of us jumping all over the place making insane shots in the living room! Those were the days!
Those ice cream trucks here in Boston usually had Topps BB from the past season and multiple series too. It was a dime a pack for the current stuff (70-72) and 5 cents a pack for the older stuff with a warning that the gum was old!