Looking forward to a first

 

Since the beginning of this "Firsts" series six-plus years ago, it's been about looking back on various firsts in my life. I've meant it to be a handy reference guide as my ability to recall gets progressively worse as the years go on.

 

So each of the previous six firsts have been about first-time moments of the past. This latest episode will be the same, but I wanted to start it off by mentioning that I'm actually looking forward to a first instead of looking back.

 

It should be happening next year but I won't go into it more than that because it's not a sure thing right now. Still, 2027 should be handy for recognizing milestone firsts in a few different ways. One of them is that next year will mark the 50th anniversary of watching my favorite team in the World Series for the first time. (See the program above)

 

But let's get into some random past first once again. These have all come to me stream-of-consciousness-like as I was preparing for this post.

 

 

First nonsports cards in my collection

 

The first nonsports cards I ever collected were actually stickers, Wacky Packages. I collected these in 1975, buying them from the same corner store that also stocked my beloved 1975 Topps baseball. I believe Wacky Packages lasted on store shelves longer than baseball cards did, because the Wacky's I collected weren't from '75, they were from '74 in most cases, maybe even '73. I remember "Koduck" very well from that time, which is from 1973.

 

Star Wars cards were the second nonsports card in my collection, the blue borders and the red borders. 

 

 

First nonsports person I interviewed

 

 I have worked in the sports department, and written almost exclusively sports stories my entire journalism career, which has lasted close to 40 years. But prior to writing professionally I wrote news stories for the on-campus newspaper when I was in college. It was part of what you did as a journalism major. The majority of those first college newspaper stories were news, not sports. It helped me become more well-rounded when I finally did get a pro job.

 

 

You could say this is my first "news" article as a professional, though it involves sports, and the first time I interviewed someone who was not involved in sports. I talked to the head of the teachers union for one of the local high schools when I was writing for the Niagara Gazette. (The lead was edited by a news copy editor, I wouldn't use "center stage," even then as a newbie).

 

 

First job after being a newspaper carrier

 

For those who don't remember "paper boys," it was a good first-gig but there was the feeling it wasn't a "real job." It didn't exactly pay like a real one. My first "real job" was working at the department store "Bradlees," which was a discount store, somewhere between Ames and Sears.

 

The Bradlees I worked at was a mall anchor, along with Sears, JC Penney and Montgomery Ward. I have very fond memories of working there, though I was quite stressed out in the early going trying to work the cash register. Once I was moved into the men's/boys department, things got much friendlier, in several ways.

 

 

First subset cards I pulled

 

Those would be the 1975 Topps MVP subset cards, I pulled at least three or four of them in the first three packs I ever bought, including this one -- this very one (can't you tell?) 

 

I didn't know what a subset was at the time and it was probably years later that I could describe what a subset was, but I was all about them for the most part -- especially the leaders, record breakers and postseason cards.

 

 

First Traded set that I saw

 

I have a vague recollection of seeing one or a couple of the 1974 Traded cards that summer when my brother and I briefly collected cards. But I can't say whether I pulled one or owned one or anything. The first Traded cards I was conscious of as being "Traded cards" were the 1976 Traded cards that were inserted in packs along with the regular '76 cards. Don't remember which cards I saw first (Lacy was among them). But the newspaper graphics were nifty.

 

 

First card show

 

Gosh, everything about this is hazy. I can't tell you exactly when it was or where. All I can say is sometime in the early 1980s in Endicott/Endwell, N.Y.

 

Card shows were not too commonplace, at least where I grew up, until the start of the 1980s. The one I'm remembering I went to on at least a couple occasions. The first time I went, I was aware of collecting enough that I knew I needed the 1972 Topps Steve Garvey for my team collection and I knew that it was a high number and therefore pricey. I also brought enough money to buy it. So that tells me it had to be at least 1981 or 1982.

 

This is the Garvey card I bought. To take a picture of it, I had to pull it out of a penny sleeve that it has been stuck in for decades. It was my pride and joy for a certain period.

 

 

First minor league game

 

This is a tragic tale. I grew up in Binghamton, N.Y., and the "Triple Cities" area. Minor league baseball in the area ceased to exist when the Binghamton Triplets died in 1968. I was 2 or 3 years old. Binghamton didn't get another minor league team until 1992. I had moved away from the city by then.

 

So the first minor league game I saw was in 1986 in Buffalo, at War Memorial Stadium, the same place that was the backdrop for "The Natural". I've written about going to that game before and shown the yearbook from that game, too.

 

What I can't place is when the game happened. I don't have a media guide from that time and specific minor league games are tough to find on the internet unless you have a lot of extra time. I just know that the game was the Buffalo Bisons vs. the Omaha Royals and it happened in either July or August of 1986 in Buffalo. I guess I should have kept score.

 

The roster that came with the program is filled with all kinds of fun names that mostly only Buffalo fans treat as royalty, like Russ Morman and Joe De Sa. But Dave Rozema was also a Bisons player at the time. 

 

OK, that's enough looking back, at least for this post.

 

I've seven of these firsts posts under my belt now, so I think I'm well on my way to keeping myself informed when I slip into senility. I'll put together another firsts post at some point because I can already think of a couple of more as I'm writing this.