Chicago..my kind of town

This is going to be a bit of a travelogue. My wife and I took off on an extended road trip to Chicago two weeks ago and spent 10 days exploring the Midwest, checking out Presidential museums and visiting ballparks.

I had hoped to post from the road but a number of things got in the way, primarily the disappearance of a folder from my Picasa web storage. So I've been largely absent from the blogosphere.

The reason for our trip was the fact that my daughter was getting her Masters from the University of Chicago. We were proud to see that ceremony and happy that she is going straight to work in her field for a social services agency in Chicago. We decided to turn the trip into our vacation by driving and making many stops along the way, both coming and going.

Our first stop out of Houston was the Clinton Library in Little Rock. It's one of the newer presidential museums and it's quite beautiful, spacious with a wide open feel.

There were some sports related items on display.

Next day it was on to St. Louis and a whirlwind tour courtesy of my best friend Sam. I've been to St. Louis before but it was all new to my wife. We had Italian food on The Hill and a 'concrete' at Ted Drewes. Good stuff.

The Cards were out of town but the new Busch Stadium is easy to check out from street level.

The Fox entertainment complex there contains the Cardinals' Hall of Fame.

We hit Springfield the next day and toured a couple of the Lincoln sites including the Presidential Museum and Library as well as the old train station that is currently housing an exhibit of items from the Spielberg Lincoln film of a couple of years ago.

Next stop was Chicago and four days of fighting traffic and cramming lots of stuff into too short a time. It wasn't my first trip there but it was my first visit to Cellular Field (which I always call Comiskey, I'll never get used to it not being Comiskey).

We had great seats behind first base, the weather (in the 60s!!) was perfect for baseball. I loved every minute of it...from the 'Hey...Texas!?!' greeting we got from the tailgaters we parked beside to the easy egress after the game from a loaded lot.

They were handing out all kinds of freebies on the way in so we grabbed all we could. There were the promotional packages of 2016 Topps cards (yes, Cubs were in each pack!):

These next cards have some sort of local grocery coupon on the backs:

I loved getting a Kittle. I need to send this to him to sign.

Apparently mascot birthdays are now a thing. This marks the third one been witness to in the last few months.The Sox marked the occasion with over-sized (5 x 7) cards of Southpaw.

When I bought a pin and program the guy gave me some Sox schedules.

I loved that the Sox were wearing their 80s era throwbacks.

And I had to visit the Billy Pierce statue of course. I have to admit I got a little emotional posing with it. RIP Billy.

Chicago was also hosting a Copa America game involving Argentina so Messi jerseys were everywhere and we stumbled into the America's Cup practices at Navy Pier. I didn't know they were still doing this race. It used to be a big deal.

Leaving Chicago we took a ride down the old Route 66 through Illinois as far as Springfield. It was an all day affair but well worth it. Where else would you see so much kitchy Americana?

Back in Springfield we made a visit to the Tomb of Abraham Lincoln that we had skipped over on the way up. It was awe inspiring. Pics don't do justice to the feeling one gets inside that monument.

We headed across Missouri and stopped in Independence for a visit to the Harry Truman Library. It's one of the older presidential museums but what it lacks in the modern interactive displays it makes up for with extensive history lessons.

That night we hit Kaufmann Stadium which was just a few exits down the interstate from Independence. Another first time visit for us although when my son was at Nebraska he made some trips to see baseball there. 

They had a much better beer selection that Comiskey and the place was very pleasant overall. The Royals beat the Indians with a late Sal Perez homer but my wife and I were pretty worn out by this point in our trip and coupled with the brutal heat we decided to make a rare early (7th inning) exit from a ballpark. 

But on the way out we toured the outfield section to check out the fountains and statues.

Leaving the KC area the next day and heading for Hot Springs Arkansas we were routed by Google along the Arkansas 7 Scenic Byway. 32 miles of absolute white-knuckle driving. Twists, turns, narrow bridges and oncoming semis through the Ouachita Mountains. A forty five minute trip that felt (to me driving) like five hours. It didn't help that five minutes in the car in front of us drove off the road, took out a sign and nearly flipped over. Next time, I'll go the long way, thanks.

Hot Springs was OK. It's seen better days as a tourist town but we found a nice place to eat and the next morning we visited the seven preserved spas that take up a couple of blocks and are now one of the nation's smallest National Parks. It's known as Bath House Row. The area saw plenty of ballplayers who visited when many clubs held spring training there back in the day. Hot Springs was also a favorite of some shady characters in the 20s and 30s and one building downtown houses a 'gangster museum'.

The next day we were headed home and after 10 days and almost 2700 miles I was glad to be there. It was a great trip but the next time I go to Chicago I believe I'll fly.

Muhammad Ali RIP

He was brash, courageous and talented. He was contentious, controversial and giving. Muhammad Ali was one of my heroes. Here is what I wrote in the second entry in this blog on April 3, 2012:

In my first post here I featured my favorite card. Today it's my most prized piece of memorabilia. This is the May 5, 1969 Sports Illustrated cover. I had liked the picture a lot when the issue arrived and kept it. In July of 1971 Ali and Jimmy Ellis were preparing to fight in the Astrodome here in Houston. For a buck or two you could get in to watch sparring sessions in the Arena next to the Dome. 

I went to a couple and would watch Ali clown with the small audience set up on three sides of a ring set against one wall. He liked to flip up the hem of his rubberized sweatshirt and watch the ringsiders duck the sweat that flew out. He put on a real 'Ali' show, talking about Ellis, hollering at the boxing writers, showing off his 'Ali Shuffle', etc. 

I had taken along this cover just on the off chance that what happened after his session would happen. After Ali finished and not long after Ellis entered the ring I heard the metal crash doors behind me open and close a few times. I turned and saw Ali peeking in from the corridor. I went out there and he was alone, it was just me and one of the most famous figures on the planet. I mumbled a few words and asked him to sign the cover and he took my 'Flair' pen (the 70's version of a sharpie) and signed across the crown as you can see. 

I thanked him and went back into the Arena seating area. As I got to the row of metal chairs I was sitting in I was jolted from behind and before I could react Ali dove into a chair pulling me down by my shoulders into the seat next to him. And there I sat. Next to Muhammad Ali, with Dick Young of the New York Daily News (among my favorite writers) now standing on the other side of me, kibitzing with him.
Ali taunted Ellis for a bit, ducking behind my back as if hiding from Ellis. After awhile Angelo Dundee's people (Dundee was Ellis' trainer for that fight!) had had enough and began yelling at Ali from the ring. 

That was forty two years ago but I remember it vividly. I have a lot of nice cards and lots of other cool memorabilia but I'd give all that away before I'd give up this SI cover. Looking back I wish I had kept it in glass or something. I had it in a cheap frame in dorm rooms and the apartments I lived in for years. You can probably tell it's a bit frayed along the edges. The blue 'Flair' ink has turned purplish (but it hasn't spread or faded, thank goodness) And I wish I had not covered my mailing label with the smaller photo. But nevertheless this piece holds a great memory.

A few days later I posted this follow-up. And another terrific SI cover.

I went back and dug up the Sports Illustrated issue that was published late in July of '71 that mentioned the gym training session I attended. You can read it on SI's Vault site (images below). I really don't recall the Ali-Ellis byplay that Tex Maule writes about but I'm sure I was in a fog at that point. And just to show that you can't believe everything you read, not even in the unerring Sports Illustrated (sigh), Maule mentions Ali being behind the first row while kibitzing Ellis. We were in the 3rd or 4th row of about five. I know because the other writers all turned around and came back to surround us. A tiny matter, but it's bugged me since July of 1971.

 RIP #thegreatest

Mars Attacks Occupation Sketch Cards

I've picked up a handful of sketch cards from the Mars Attacks Occupation set. They are as varied as the prices I've been seeing on eBay. Some are put up as B-I-N at under $20. Other are up for bid with starting prices at $200. The limited and unusual production behind these have sellers and buyers thrown for a loop.

I'm not going to add many more unless a cheap (but cool) one falls into my lap. I have a couple of bids out on some with low starting bids. Odds are I won't win them but it's worth a shot. Sometimes eBay bidders surprise me.

For these that I already own I'll link the artists' names to a site with their stuff.

This first one (above) was done by Pablo Diaz. It's my favorites of the ones I have from the secondary market. Not much to add about the individual pieces. I really don't know much about comics and the artists that work on them. I've found that the stuff from couple of the MA artists are pretty highly sought after.

This next one is done by Luke Parker. It's a whole different take on the Martians. Seeing how the different artists approach these is kind of interesting.

.

Matt Frank did the next one. I have no idea if the Dinosaurs Attack sketches are any scarcer than the Mars Attacks sketches. I also don't know if any of the artists worked on both. I could find out I suppose if I was interested.

Another Dinosaurs Attack sketch. This is from Marck Labas and doing a bit of research answered my previous question. Labas did sketches for both 'sides of the aisle' for this Kickstarter project. His work is kind of scattered online but he has it on his Facebook page. I'm not sure everyone can access that page, I don't know the ins and outs of FB.

These were all relatively inexpensive. My goal is to fill one binder page with these sketch cards. The Topps Kickstarter team was kind enough to make their subsets nine, eighteen and twenty seven cards in number. It all makes for a very tidy binder!