For me, it's my 1976 Topps Dennis Eckersley rookie card, which I picked up at a garage sale for $2 sometime in the summer of '89.
The story:
I became a Red Sox fan in '86 at the age of 11 (I remember being fascinated that there was a guy named "Oil Can"), and I later also became fascinated by the back-to-back-to-back ROY seasons of Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, and Walt Weiss for Oakland. Seeing the transition to relief ace of Dennis Eckersley after years as a starter was as interesting to me as learning that not only was Babe Ruth a Red Sox, he was a Red Sox pitcher. Eck was cool as a cucumber and was a former Red Sox player. After Kirk Gibson's epic home run in Game 1 of the '88 World Series, I remembered laughing at the time at how random baseball can seemingly be. I wasn't quite worldly enough to have understood the meaning of "soul crushing agony", but I had a glimpse. Learning Dennis Eckersley was a member of the '78 Sox tied the misery together - '78 Sox to '86 Sox, '78 Eckersley to '88 Eckersley, and all of it to '75, '67, '46, and forward to '03 and through Game 3 in 2004. That Gibson homer only made me more interested in Eckersley as a player, hence that '76 Topps rookie card remains my most treasured card.
I have deep New England roots even though I've not yet managed to visit New England. I find it wildly appropriate that my baseball fandom united with my geographic ancestry.
Do I have cards that are worth more these day? Sure. But I felt like I stole this Eckersley card for $2, even way back then.
The story:
I became a Red Sox fan in '86 at the age of 11 (I remember being fascinated that there was a guy named "Oil Can"), and I later also became fascinated by the back-to-back-to-back ROY seasons of Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, and Walt Weiss for Oakland. Seeing the transition to relief ace of Dennis Eckersley after years as a starter was as interesting to me as learning that not only was Babe Ruth a Red Sox, he was a Red Sox pitcher. Eck was cool as a cucumber and was a former Red Sox player. After Kirk Gibson's epic home run in Game 1 of the '88 World Series, I remembered laughing at the time at how random baseball can seemingly be. I wasn't quite worldly enough to have understood the meaning of "soul crushing agony", but I had a glimpse. Learning Dennis Eckersley was a member of the '78 Sox tied the misery together - '78 Sox to '86 Sox, '78 Eckersley to '88 Eckersley, and all of it to '75, '67, '46, and forward to '03 and through Game 3 in 2004. That Gibson homer only made me more interested in Eckersley as a player, hence that '76 Topps rookie card remains my most treasured card.
I have deep New England roots even though I've not yet managed to visit New England. I find it wildly appropriate that my baseball fandom united with my geographic ancestry.
Do I have cards that are worth more these day? Sure. But I felt like I stole this Eckersley card for $2, even way back then.