The Cal That Started It All

When I was 7 or 8 years old I received a few cards as a gift from my cousin Rusty.  Rusty is the most passionate baseball fan I know and has a goal to make a trip to each MLB stadium, an awesome goal and great way to see the country.  What he probably doesn't know is that he got me started in the card collecting hobby, and helped me become an Orioles fan.

1992 Fleer Ultra Award Winners #5

My mom's side of our family is split between being Orioles and Yankees fans, it's about half and half.  My great-great grandmother who lived to be 105, was an Orioles fan and followed the team pretty regularly in her later years, even taking a trip to Camden Yards with my cousin Rusty.  In addition to generally favoring the underdog in most matchups, when I received the Cal card pictured above (along with a Michael Jordan), it solidified my Orioles fandom.

This was the start of my card collection, and I've collected on and off over the years since. In the years following I opened a bunch of 1993-94 Upper Deck basketball and a TON of 1994-95 Fleer basketball products.  I revisited this time period on my basketball blog  by opening 1994-95 Fleer Series 1 basketball and my favorite from that time, 1994-95 Flair basketball. I also started a baseball card binder of Orioles and Braves cards, which I'll continue to share with you in future posts.  

But there you have it, the first card in my baseball card collection, and luckily I've managed to hang onto it over the years, and came across it the other day. So thank you Rusty for getting me started in a hobby that I still get joy out of over 20 years later!