It’s been a little bit since the last post. Not much has happened, but there have been some fun moments since then. Really, it’s mostly been kind of normal stuff. Work, routines, and the like, which can be good, and is what I really thrive in.
I can’t remember if I had posted about our trip up to NJ to meet with Karens surgical team up there. We basically went up for 3 days, met with the surgeon, cardio doctor, and asthma doctor, and discussed the upcoming surgery. Plan is to have her heart oblation surgery in about 2 weeks on the 28th, and if the recovery goes well, try to schedule the mesh surgery during the first week of December. We’ll spend 3 or so weeks up there while she is recovering, and then drive back to Florida. This could end up being the perfect storm for me, as it could get me out of working the Christmas holidays, and I could actually get in the Christmas spirit for the first time in about 15 years, and I won’t have to dread working long hours the week or so before Christmas and then have relatives over or having to go to relatives houses, just to endure an hour drive back and 3 hours of sleep just to fill up the shelves on December 26. Even if we don’t do anything like go to NY city for Christmas, I’ll be happy to relax in NJ somewhere.
We may not be able to do much while up there as it will all depend on Karens recovery, and that’s really going to be the focus while we are there after the surgery. That won’t be a big deal to me, as long as her breathing gets better. Plus, as strange as it sounds, I’m excited about the tap water. Take it from me and Johnny’s Trading Spot. Florida tap water is bad. Kind of tastes like sulfur, and as Karen described NJ water compared to FL water, NJ water tastes more ‘clean’ and not as heavy. I just think it’s a good amount sweeter than whatever they are giving us in DeLand. As an avid Diet soda drinker with a tendency to lean toward sweeter versions of diet soda like diet Mountain Dew, diet Sunkist, and Diet Pepsi over Diet Coke, I despise drinking water, and only do it if it’s the only thing available. When I’m in NJ, I’m going to be sure to have a water with every mean just in case I decide I want it more than whatever else I get to drink.
A few weeks ago, I met up with my friend Jim, who lives about 5 minutes away and collects autographs and Cardinals. We spent a good amount of the day talking baseball and life. His stepson recently passed away, and he was a card collector as well. Jim went through most of his collection, and had a bunch of the boxed Fleer and Topps sets from the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s that he figured I would enjoy. When I say a bunch, I mean a 500 count box full.
It was funny how Night Owl posted about getting an Indiana Keith Hernandez from a boxed set a few weeks ago, because I found not one, but two Hernandez Indians cards. Both of the cards show airbrushed images, but Indians cards none the less.
The boxed sets were nice, but the real fun from the trip was just talking and catching up. While chatting, Jim mentioned that Patrick Mazeika, who played at Stetson University in DeLand and 2 years for the Mets, runs a batting cage/training facility called 386 MVP in Port Orange. I went on their website, and emailed them, asking if I could come up sometime with Kyler and get so cards autographed. They replied very quickly with hours I could come by that week, and I drove up on Columbus Day, stopped at Karen’s work to see her (it’s like 5 minutes away), and made my way to 386 MVP HQ. It was a warehouse type building with a dirt parking lot, and reminded me of a place I worked at for a few weeks putting cardboard boxes together to make displays. A guy that looked like he might be Patrick was throwing bp to a kid, and they were talking about hydrating practices like what to drink after a particular type of practice. There were monitors showing Fenway Park, and they had spray charts of where the player was hitting the throws. After they were done, the guy throwing bp asked if I needed anything, and I explained that I emailed them and they said to come by to get the cards signed. He said he was Patrick and that he would quickly sign them in between sessions. He seemed a tad annoyed, but signed the cards I had and 1 I got for Jim.
I’ve been doing a few trades on TCDB, nothing big, but I got an email from a guy wanting to trade some ‘70’s Topps cards for some Heritage needs. I told him I needed to dig through the box of ‘70’s cards John from Johnny’s Trading Spot had for me, so I knew I had to figure out a way to get up to Ocala. A few days ago, Karens mom had an early day at work, and I was off, so I was able to meet up with John for a few hours.
It was a pretty productive meetup. John had some Rays and Tigers set aside for me, as well as the box of ‘70’s cards he got from K n T Sportscards in Ormond. After chatting some, we drove out to Grand Slam Collectibles and I took a look at their 5 for $1 boxes. They had mixed sports, and your usual blocks of Bowman and Topps commons on repeat with the inserts and stars picked out. But they also had some kickers. By kickers, I mean something I have pulled only twice in my life, and never purchased at a card shop, let alone from a dime box, a 1 of 1. I pulled this 1/1 straight out of the 5 for $1 box. It was just sitting there in a top loader, with the 1/1 and Topps verification sticker on the back. Baseball Card Pedia says it was a 1 in 26,000 hobby pack pull and a 1 in 3,200 HTA jumbo pack pull. It was a nice looking card, and while it was a player I don’t necessarily feel one way or the other about, I would’ve loved to keep it, but when John said he collects him, I had to let him have it, especially after he got me the 100 or so cards I pulled from the box for free, and same with the ‘70’s Topps box he had for me at the house. I’ll let John show off the card and tell more about it. Stay tuned for that post.
He was always a nice, friendly guy.
The ‘70’s box had a majority of ‘70’s cards, with a few 2022-2025 cards thrown in. Wouldn’t you know it, I pulled 2 2022 Topps Mazeika’s from the box. The ‘76 Traded Oscar Gamble was in the box, as well as a favorite of mine for his name, Dick Pole. Most of it was from 1977, then 1979, then 1978, then 1976, then 1974, 1975, with about 10 1972 sprinkled in. There were also about 20 Kellogg’s and Hostess cards as well. Most cards were commons, but I found some Hall of Famers like Fisk, Rice, Gossage, and Sutter, and knocked my wantlists down a good amount. It was a nice trip to Ocala. Thanks, John for the ‘70’s box, Rays & Tigers, discount on my 5 for $1 cards, and a great day in Ocala.
I’ve been doing a few customs lately. Some for a player that I need to send out, a few for my collection, and one of Stetson University’s baseball coach, which I hope to get signed the next time I go to a game. They play 2 fall games, but I just have so much coming up that whether I go is up in the air. Karen’s surgery is the 28th, and I believe game 1 is the 29th, and Kyler’s birthday is on the 6th, and game 2 is on the 7th. I may just have to wait until the spring when the full season starts. I could probably just give them to Jim to get them signed, but it’s always fun getting a guaranteed one in person. We’ll probably go to a hoops game with Jim at some point, as well. I found out Reggie Theus is the basketball coach at Bethune-Cookman, which is about 30 minutes away in Daytona. In 2026, I believe one of the first games of the new year is against Florida A & M, who has former Heisman Trophy winner, FSU football and basketball star, and New York Knick Charlie Ward as a basketball coach. I would love to get autographs of both players, as Theus was an original Orlando Magic, and was on the ‘90’s basketball sitcom ‘Hang Time’, and as I had a poster of Ward in my room as a teenager. I also want to ask him what it was like having Charles Oakley as a teammate. I played power forward as a middle schooler and tried to model my game after Oakley, working the paint, getting rebounds, and scoring down low. Going to that game will depend on the recovery time of surgery #2 in NJ.
Karens birthday is tomorrow, and I plan to drive out to her work, bring her some lunch and flowers, and we will possibly go out drinking with one of her friends from work. It will be a busy next few weeks, but it helps the time go by, and time going by means it’s closer to hopefully a normal life again and a healthy wife.
I almost forgot to mention that I redid my 1976 Topps page in the custom area of the blog. The set is almost complete with the numerous ones I found online from When Topps had Balls, and I’ve worked at getting the rest done myself. I only have the White Sox, Indians, Brewers, Royals, Twins, A’s, Rangers, and Yankee$ left in the regular set. The Traded set isn’t as big, and I will work on that when I complete the ‘76 main set. I also have the 1998-2009 missing Rays cards completed, and I’ll use some of the free time during the next 2 surgeries to work on those if the ‘76 set is finished. I’ll do a post on that set when it is.
Thanks for checking out my latest post.
-Jeremy
