Take me back

Like a song, a certain card or player can take you back to a particular time in your life.

There are songs that remind me of college. Or a roadtrip with my cousin when I was 13. Or that my high school soccer team and I listened to Nelly's "Ride Wit Me" during our magical run through the state playoffs in 2000. These songs don't need to have anything do with those events, but more likely it was just on the radio frequently at the time and you associate it with that memory. We've all got songs like this.

I've got baseball players and cards like that too. The 1997 Bowman Jose Cruz Jr reminds me of taking a trip to the Pocono racetrack with my Dad, and I had a Beckett I read in the car that featured that card (it was a big card at the time! Remember? Him and Travis Lee).

I still remember El Duque's debut for the Yankees. I had just had a Babe Ruth league game that night, then went to my old middle school for an event that my mom was working. I was still in my powder blue uniform, but remember vividly begging her to go home so I could watch the game. I also remember that it was just after I finished 8th grade, and I met a few of the girls who attended my soon-to-be new high school that night at the function, and I remember thinking "man, that's what high school girls look like?!"

I definitely made it home for some of the game and got to see that crazy leg kick in action. El Duque would go on and be a vital part of that 1998 Yankees team. Everytime I get a card of him, I can't help but think of that random June night.

This card doubles as a memory lightening rod because of the wacky '90s design, which certainly brings me back to my heyday of collecting. I picked this up for about a quarter (with free shipping!) on eBay, and I'm glad I did. It's loud, its bright, it's ugly, and it's glorious. I feel old these days for various reasons, but every now and then, I appreciate a card taking me back to simpler times.