I've kind of set it all up right there for you in the title of the post, no? Fantastic baseball writer Joe Posnanski has a story that those of us who collected baseball cards in the 70's, and grew up in that decade, can absolutely relate to. To be honest, this is one of those things that, even if you're not a sports fan, you can appreciate.
Joe speaks of first memories of the Oakland A's. For me, it's 1972, and it's Bobby Murcer doubling off of Jim Palmer at Yankee Stadium (my first game). It's that first sight of the magnificence of the first Yankee Stadium - sadly, on its last legs before the John Lindsay renovation of 1974-75. Then I so clearly recall the 1975 World Series and Pudge Fisk. I can recall getting some baseball cards in 1974, and even more in '75. But, like Joe, it's 1976 for me that things exploded. I have total recall of standing on the front steps of my parents' home looking at the card above - the 1976 Thurman Munson. There's the Captain, full of moodiness, posing in Fort Lauderdale (one-time spring home of the 1976 American League champions), with all the facial hair he can strike up, just to anger Mr. George M. Steinbrenner III.
Read Joe's post. It was a fun ride down memory lane remembering the days before you could just as easily go buy the entire set of cards. Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't put another 1976 card up, as strange-looking as it is (yes, it's still in my collection).
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