Sparky

My Dad went to Arizona State for his masters and has drilled into my head the love of Sparky. While his Sparky is a Disney style devil, the Sparky I'm collecting is a manager that won the Series 3 times: twice before I was born, but once since I've existed and one since I was at least alive. Even though his last world series win was captured when I was one year old I still had an affinity for him when I was younger. Honestly, I don't have a natural connection to Sparky Anderson as a manager, but some of his cards are fantastic. Right now I don't have any of the ones that I loved as a kid, but my collection does have a couple that I like. First, the 1981 Donruss card is great because I like that set. Second, the 1987 Topps card is awesome because I love that set. Beyond the beauty of the faux wood grain, that Friendly's connection to the 1987 Topps set runs really deep in my veins. The 1991 Topps card is a good one because 1991 runs smack dab in the middle of my 1987-1993 collecting hoarding era. If you've read my blog at all you'll know that 1987 was the first taste of collecting that I got and that 1994's strike broke my heart. Hence, I consider 1987-1993 my childhood collection. All others aside from those six years I consider my more mature collecting. That is a completely arbitrary line of demarcation, but it's how I break up my collecting strategy. Here are the three Sparky Andreson cards I have so far: