50 years a fan

 

 

Just a short post, really just noting a milestone that I can't believe I missed.

 

The Dodgers won the World Series last week and I was really excited. I have been a fan for a long time and I have experienced all the heartaches and disappointments. I can recite the years: 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1992, 1995, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, there are probably others.

 

I also know the really fun ones: 1981, 1988, 2020, 2024.

 

I know all these, some intimately, because as of this very year, I have been a fan for 50 years. How I didn't realize that on January 1, I don't have a clue. This also means that I have been a fan of the Dodgers for 50 years. And on the 50th year -- to commemorate my achievement as a fan -- the Dodgers won me a World Series title.

 

Cool.

 

There are not a lot of things that I have been devoted to for 50 years. I can't even say I have been collecting baseball cards for 50 years, because although I acquired my first cards in 1974, there are years in between where I was not part of the hobby at all. I've been collecting for more like, say 42 years, something like that.

 

But from the very instant I pulled Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tommy John out of a cello pack of baseball cards in 1974, I have been a fan of the Dodgers, and that was 50 years ago.

 

The first Dodger card to arrive at my house after the team won the World Series was the green "crackle foil" Walker Buehler card at the top of this post. I ordered it on the occasion of him closing out Game 5 of the World Series. (I also ordered a Topps Now card of him -- but somehow that thing isn't arriving at my home until NEXT MONTH).

 

I hope to be a fan of the Dodgers for at least the next 20 years. I don't know if I can guarantee anything after that, although I'd certainly like to think I can push it to 25 or 30 years.

 

OK, that's it. And shame on me for not realizing that like 10 months ago.