We recently had a garage sale so I was cleaning out stuff and was going through my sports stuff. It was fun to go back and look at all the stuff I have collected, but the things I really like are out and on display in our "office", much to the chagrin of my wife who likes things to be a bit more proper. The fun thing is that my company started a work from home program and now I work from home...especially nice in this day and age of $4 a gallon gas. When I lived in Kansas City, I did have a kind of office, so it was all in there, but when we moved to St Louis 5 years ago, the house we bought did not have this option. So the formal dining room became the office/kids playroom.
Now those who know me know I worked for the Kansas City Royals during the 1997 season. When we got to the end of the season, we were asked to submit 10 ideas to the marketing department for promotional giveaway items. My list included the following, several which were actually turned into giveaways: a Sluggerr bobblehead (remember this was before the bobblehead craze starting in 2001), an oven mitt in the shape of a baseball glove, a replica home plate with the Royals logo on it, a replica of the stadium including the fountains, a Royals umbrella, Royals watch and some others...oddly enough I thought the oven mitt idea was my best one. They did make the bobblehead, but not til 2002 I think, and now they go for big dollars on ebay.
In any case, this brings me back to all my stuff. Going through it, I have to say the following are the prize of my collection are 2 hand signed baseballs. One is Carl Yastrzemski, my all time fave player and the last man to hit the Triple Crown (I actually bought this, the only autograph I have ever purchased) and the other is Cal Ripken Jr, who I got to sign while I worked for the Royals.
Other than these two balls, I also collect Iowa stuff, imagine that, and I have a game used Iowa helmet. I also collect bobbleheads (still waiting to win one of those dang Sluggerrr ones though) and this year was able to procure a Muhammed Ali one. The champ never looked so good.
I have tons of baseball cards, some pretty valuable, most not, many pennants, a few jerseys (football, basketball and baseball) and a bunch of hats, but I am not overboard like the guy in Fever Pitch. Of course, I am not single either, I am sure if I was, I would make that guy look like a novice collector. Still, I feel blessed to be able to get a souvenir here and there.
So this blog is about stuff...what do you have and what's your favorite? And, does anyone want a Johnny Damon growth poster?