I began Nobel Junior High in the fall of ’87 and a few things changed: math got harder, girls stopped talking to me, and lunch went from 50 cents to $1.25.
I was a little upset that my grades went down, a lot upset that kickball skills no longer equaled popularity, and ecstatic that my allowance went up 75 cents a day.
I starved myself each day and went from being a baseball card collector to a baseball card investor. Rookie cards were hot that year and I spent upwards of $6 a week on sets with Jose Canseco, Wally Joyner, Pete Incaviglia, and Bo Jackson. I dreamed my collection was going to be worth six or eight figures by the time I went to college.
Toward the end of ’87, after reading baseball card magazines and pack inserts, I discovered a mail order set. 12 glossy cards, all rookies. One dollar a set now, worth at least ten times that by next month. Taking postage and handling into consideration, the sets were still cheaper if I ordered them through the mail. I gave dad cash for a check of equal value and I ordered my first set.

These are the cards that came in every pack of ’87 Topps. Jake and I filled out tons of these cards, you needed six to order one set of glossy cards. The six to eight weeks delivery time is listed in the fine print.
I checked the mailbox that afternoon. And again the next morning. I checked the mail-order card, “Please allow six to eight week for delivery.” Six to eight weeks! The cards were all I could think about. I dreamed about the glossy smooth coat, about Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell. Rookies and rookies.
My school grades went even lower. Girls continued to ignore me. I raced home day after day to check the mail. I held my breath as I opened the mailbox. I opened my eyes. Nothing. Day after day.
I drew big ‘Xs’ on the calendar after each mail delivery, more certain each day that the cards would be delivered tomorrow and I would impress my brother and my friends and maybe even a girl or two with my glossy, valuable rookie cards.
As the six week mark came and went, I became disheartened. My cards were surely lost in the mail. Yet each day I checked, hoping against hope that they’d be delivered. And each day I sighed at the injustice of life.
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Just after Christmas 2011, my wife came to me as I was playing with our eight-month old on the floor. She sat down next to me, giddy. ‘Babe, there were two lines!’ I kissed her. Pregnant again. And I’ve been waiting the intervening nine months. Six to eight weeks took forever when I was in seventh grade. Waiting nine months now is unfathomable. I’m convinced this baby is never coming.
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Eight weeks and two days after I sent my order, dejected and sad and resigned that I would fail math, that no girl would ever talk to me, and that I would never be able to pay for college; I dragged myself to the mailbox. I yanked it open.
And there it was. A small box, addressed to me. I gasped and leaped and squealed. I tore the box open as I ran to the house, yelling, ‘They came, they came!’
They were gorgeous and clear, smelling of lacquer. I slid them into my album and showed my whole family. I took them to school and thought myself envied. I raised my math grade to a ‘D’ and a girl sneezed in my general direction. Life was right again.
—
Those same cards are sitting upstairs today. In a box, next to tens of thousands of others. The remnants of years of lunch money today are, collectively, almost worth three figures.
And each hour I ask my wife how she’s feeling, whether she wants to go to the hospital. And forty weeks for a delivery is still unfathomable.
I suppose you remember the first time I sneezed in your general direction?
Maybe we’ll go to the hospital today! Sigh…
This seems to be my standard comment: love your post and love your wife’s comment! So sweet; hope the little one arrives soon. I’m looking forward to a post about your baby daughter.
Well told. I enjoyed every word.
I don’t know how you do it, but you always have me hooked from the first word in your posts. This one is no different. I know you will be squealing and jumping up and down with delight when this child arrives! 🙂
So very thrilled for you guys!
Hope the delivery is swifter than your wait for your Rookie cards – and easier on your wife, too! 🙂