Wrong Holiday

 Have I mentioned my Terry Francona PC on this blog yet?

For a while I accumulated Francona cards on a whim, picking up a couple here and there when shopping at places like Cardbarrel and BaseballCardStore (rip). Evetually I decided to add him to my PC player list. Terry wasn't a star(rarely even a starter), played in the 1980s, and retired before there were 20+ sets a year. I thought a Francona career collection would be fairly simple and affordable.

Hasn't quite turned out that way. I still need a couple basic singles:

1982 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1983 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1984 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1985 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1986 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1987 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1988 - Score, Topps
1989 - Score, Topps, Upper Deck
1990 - Score, Topps, Upper Deck

Then there's O-Pee-Chee (need 1982, and 1987), Leaf (need 1985), and the Traded/Tiffany/Traded Tiffany sets (need most of those.) I might try to pick up his minor league cards but I am not messing with all those Brewers police issues. 

I don't have any cards of Terry's dad Tito Francona - unless you count the 1985 Topps Father/Son single. Might try to pick up some Titos, too. 

Father / son duos have been on my mind lately as I've been cataloging my card collection. We're all familiar with the Griffeys, the Bondses, the Hulls, the Currys, and so on. In recent years the McCaffreys, Guerreros, Bichettes, Witts, and Tkachuks have been in the spotlight. 

Cross-sport father-son duos have piqued my interest as well. 

Pat and Patrick Mahomes are the obvious ones. But did you know Wayne Gretzky's son played minor league baseball?

Popeye and Seth Jones are inteteresting. I may have mentioned this story before, but here it goes again. While the elder Jones was playing for the Denver Nuggets his son Seth saw their arena-mates the Avalanche playing hockey and took to the sport immediately. Popeye sought out the Avs' captain Joe Sakic for assistance on getting Seth started as a hockey player, and... 

It worked out pretty well. So, to summarize: Iconic hockey great's son = minor league ballplayer. Journeyman basketball player's son = NHL All-Star, Olympian, and Stanley Cup Champion. 

The sports world is full of countless father / son combinations. We’re even seeing the rare father / daughter combo once in a blue moon.

Some bloodlines are known immediately, like when the top of the MLB Draft includes Matt Holliday's kid and Reggie Willits's kid. Some sneak up on you. Have you ever seen an athlete with a name that sounds vaguely familiar and thought.. I wonder if they're related to that player I remember as a kid? 

There’s also the inverse of that- like when you come across a player from the past and connect them to a current star.

I've got some old WLAF singles saved for nostalgia and curiosity; no one but me is going to have any interest in 35 year-old cards from a long-dead league. Except .. looking closer, I noticed something. A quarterback with a familiar last name.

I flipped it over, saw that Mark Maye was from North Carolina, and learned that I have a card of Drake's dad. Which reminds me - I've also got a junk wax-era card of Jared Goff's dad. (And you probably do, too.) 

🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

The sports card portion of this post is over but I thought I'd summarize my dating app experience since this is Love Day and all (hail Lord Huggington!)

I was on Hinge for about six weeks, and was well-prepared for the lack of likes and interest. Nearly all of the testimonials I read from regular guys said that dating apps are "pay to win" and "will destroy your self-esteem" Ha! You assume I have any to begin with!

 

But yeah, it was unproductive to say the least. I did not pay for a subscription and felt no need to do so. Is that why I managed a mere two likes on my profile pics and one like on my prompt answers? I doubt it, but who knows. 

My initial plan was to feed the algorithm by scrolling through profiles and clicking the heart next to any pics or prompt answers that I vibed with. If I could think of something to say I'd leave a comment with my like. Probably 'liked' at least a hundred things and commented 15 times. 

There was one woman who said she loved Ted Lasso and asked if the reader is a Ted or a Roy. I left a nice long comment stating I'm a Roy and .. she liked my profile. We head a connection! Except.. when I followed up it was gone. She must have unfollowed me imemdiately. Maybe because I have kids?

I think I mentioned that local taco-lover I was on the fence about? I did message her, and .. nothing. For the most part I tried to stay local. But 'local' to me also means New York City, and.. whoa. Sooo many women way over my head. I usually don't care - they're all Type A with "growth mindset" listed among their green flags. But there was one woman who didn't have any corporate speak in her profile, didn't seem like an influencer type. Still way out of my league, but I took a shot because...

Yeeaahh.... all I got was a new crush out of that. And obviously she didn't reply. 

I didn't need to see any more. 

Happy Love Day everyone!



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