Bubble Gum Heroes

I began collecting baseball cards as soon as I was old enough to walk behind my mother at the grocery store.
I would beg her to buy me a nickel pack of  5 cards with a stick of gum while she was in line waiting to be checked out. The marketing gurus of the day knew if they put the baseball card display near enough to the cash register they’d meet their sales quota without fail. The ploy worked well as I collected over 6000 cards in a ten year period.

I spent hours meticulously sorting them by team and type. Sadly, I didn’t know how valuable those cards would become. They were one of the possessions that I left in care of my mother when I left home. For years after I would on occasion climb back in the attic to find the cardboard box my mother had put them in. One year, I believe it was in the early 80s I went looking for them again hoping to show my son the collection. Well as fate would have it, they were nowhere to be found. I asked mom what had happened to them. She told me that she tired of picking them up after her grandson (my nephew) was finished playing with them in the garage. So she either gave them or threw them away. Needless to say I was devastated. I could just imagine my collection of heroes being desecrated by bicycle spokes and wobbly table legs. Oh well, no sense in crying over folded, spindled and mutilated bubble gum dreams. To note: One of those cards, a rare 1961 “M & M Boys” (of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, the year Maris broke Babe Ruth‘s single season homerun record) sold for 1500 dollars at a local baseball card shop. A word to the wise….. when you leave home take your collections with you.

Some of my heroes included….

Babe Ruth ‘the king’

Though Ruth was long gone before I was born there wouldn’t have been a game of baseball had it not been for Babe Ruth. The man was baseball. His morals may have been questionable but his talent and love of the game were undeniable.

Mickey Mantle ‘the Commerce Comet’

I got to see him play in the first game in the newly built Harris County Domed Stadium (better known as the Houston Astrodome)
Awesome power from either side of the plate
A Clutch hitter with speed and patience
The last Yankee to win the triple crown (1956)
Hall of Famer (1974)

Willie Mays ‘the Say Hey kid’

One of the best outfielders I ever saw play in person
I just couldn’t believe a man that size could hit the ball that far
Until Barry Bonds passed him in 2006 he was second on the career homerun list behind Babe Ruth.

Joe Morgan

The Colt 45’s first first round draft pick in 1962
The best second baseman the Astros ever had… bar none ….. sorry Craig
Two time league MVP (unfortunately not with the Astros)

Nolan Ryan ‘the Ryan Express’

7 no hitters….. need I say more?
all time leader in strikeouts…… I can’t count that high
His work ethic was impeccable
His God given talent was remarkable
His fastball was legendary


Paul Touchstone and Billy Smith

Former teammates of mine in Little League
Billy pitched his first no hitter at age 9
Paul led the league in homeruns (11) in a ten game season
Both had short undistinguished Major League careers


These are but a few of my heroes in the game I still love