The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Opening day a great time to head down memory lane
First things first: Opening day should always be reserved for a Monday.
On April 2, ESPN’s family of networks featured a tripleheader, highlighted by a prime-time Cubs-Cardinals game.
It’s 2017, and I get it, but opening day has always been a day that always takes me back to the 1980s, when baseball was king for a wishful teenager who always thought this was the year for the Indians. When that didn’t happen, there were always other things and players to quench that baseball thirst.
Now, more than 30 years later in some cases, opening day continues to be the day to look back and bask in the nostalgic. Here’s one man’s check list: TOPPS BASEBALL CARDS >> To the purist collector — and for those old enough — there wasn’t a baseball card better than Topps. The company was founded in 1938, and through the years has produced football, basketball, hockey, movie and TV card sets. But it’s best known for baseball cards. Its first set was in 1951 with one that looked like playing cards. A year, it produced a 407-card set with the look of what collectors recognize today. Arguably the most famous Topps baseball card ever, the No. 311 Mickey Mantle, was included in the 1952 set.
The oldest Topps baseball card in my collection is a No. 5 Willie Mays from the 1958 set, which is valued at more than $11,000 with a grade of 9.0 or better. Mine is probably has a grade of negative 9.0 or worse, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a nice reminder back to the days when if you had a bike, a glove, bat and ball, a few bucks in your pocket, you were set for a day at the area sandlot and then the drugstore to buy a few packs of cards. One day, I snagged a Topps No. 170 Bo Jackson “Future Stars” from a 1987 pack. To this day, it’s still my favorite
Topps baseball card. “THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL”
TV SHOW » Anyone who grew up a baseball fan in the 1980s remembers this Saturday morning show hosted by the late Yankees announcer Mel Allen. If your household didn’t have ESPN, this was a main source of baseball information outside of your hometown for any baseball junkie. In a nutshell, it was a 30-minute show that summarized — you guessed it — the week in baseball. The show’s orchestral theme song to open and close the show was especially cool. THE ALL-STAR GAME » Baseball still continues to be the best all-star game of the four major spots, but even with that distinction
it’s nothing compared to what it used to be. It was appointment viewing. No matter where you were, and what you were doing, if you were a baseball fan, you had to watch — no ifs, ands or buts about it. AllStar Game memories don’t get much better than in 1989, when the Royals’ Bo Jackson interrupted NBC announcer Vin Scully and President Ronald Reagan’s on-air discussion with a mammoth home run to center to lead off the bottom of the first. ABC’S “MONDAY NIGHT BASEBALL” » This is going to the way-back machine, as the network tried to capitalize on the popularity of “Monday Night Football” in 1970s and 80s by airing games in the same
slot during the summer months. NBC first began televising Monday night baseball games in 1972. ABC bought the rights in 1976 and continued with Monday Night games through most of the 1980s. The TV ratings weren’t great. But for any young baseball fans in that era of limited national games, this was summer bliss. ANNUAL VIEWING OF “MAJOR LEAGUE” » This is essential. Have myself penciled in for the morning of opening day. Looking forward to breakfast with Vaughn, Taylor, Dorn and the rest of the gang.