1988 Topps Mini Leaders #37 George Bell

Jorge Antonio Bell Mathey, better known as George Bell, is a Dominican former left fielder and American League MVP in Major League Baseball who played 12 seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox.

Musician's Friend Catalog Guitars 2004

I always loved to get the Musician's Friend catalog in the mail, look at all the guitars and the sound effect pedals and amplifiers and dream about owning all of them. It was a lot like being a kid at Christmas and going through the Sears wishbook and circling every single toy.

Remember the 3.5 inch floppy disc?

Here's a scan of a 3.5 inch HD double-sided floppy disc from Maxell. This bad boy could hold up to 1.44 megabites of your data! Goodness, remember these days when 1.44 MB was worth saving?

1988 Topps Big Card #27 Ozzie Guillen

Ozzie Guillen was always a firey player and he was even more interesting as a manager. In this ultra PC era it will be interesting to see if anyone ever gives in another change to manage! (He last managed, the Marlins, in 2012). 

Under his leadership the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, their first pennant since 1959 and their first World Series win since 1917.

Frank Giuffrida's Hilltop Steakhouse

This is an ad from a 1979 Red Sox game program, the magazine you can buy at the Sox game with the scoring card inside and all kinds of fluffy articles to fill the rest. Hilltop Steakhouse, founded in 1961 by Frank Giuffrida was an iconic fixture on Route 1 going into Boston. (I believe there were multiple locations, but this is the one I think of).

The restaurant closed in like 2013 and I believe has been torn down now. There were all kinds of stories in the news after it closed of locals breaking in to steal souvenirs of this iconic place.

On a personal note, I ate there once. My mother and father were driving me to the airport so that I could board a plane for Ireland. I was 20 and would be gone for a year and we were all kind of nervous and sad. Ireland was still a bit of a war zone, so they decided that filling us all with steak would be better than sitting around and worrying.

I only remember that the steak I got was huge, and the only reason I remember is because the airline served a tiny little steak for the meal. I laughed and cried a little as I ate it, flying off to my first real adventure.

1988 Score Great Moments in Baseball #40 Lou Brings Home the Flag

This is another of those 3D cards that says one thing if you look at it one way and another if you hold it the other. "Great Moments in baseball" and "Fenway Park, October 4, 1946" the other. The reference is to Lou Boudreau.

I like these cards the more I look at them- before the scanning project they were just a stack of tiny cards that I didn't know what to do with. Actually taking the time to read the backs of the cards has really given me an appreciation. I hope some wee fan out there is reading stuff like this and learning about the history of the game.

This card talks about several interesting things- first, the very first "end of the season playoff game" to establish who won the pennant, between the Red Sox and Indians, and second, the game that Lou Boudreau had! The guy was the shortstop AND the manager. He hit two homeruns and scored three runs himself. The starting pitcher for the Indians was a rookie, Gene Beardon. 

Even though my Red Sox lost this game, what a great game!

Orange County Choppers Guitars

I forget what the name of the show was- was it Family Feud? (that's a joke, but I really can't remember, was it American Choppers?) Anyhow, when this issue of the Musician's Friend catalog came out in 2004 the show was popular enough that there was such a thing as Orange County Guitars.

"They not only look incredible but they sound solid, with great playability and unbeatable value."

Hahaha. As a guitarist, this translates to "these look great but kind of suck."

I wonder if anyone bought these? That show was enormously popular. 

1988 Topps Mini Leaders #47 John Franco

Franco had a long career as a relief pitcher for the Reds and Mets and maybe someone else. He was a good pitcher.

I believe he got into some trouble for some alleged ties to organized crime, but then again, our current President has those also and can't pitch nearly as well.

1979 Red Sox Roster

Back in the old days before the internet, getting a player's batting average, or the current full roster, or really any statistic, required access to a good daily paper and perhaps the town library. I used to buy the Red Sox yearbooks every year to get stats and pictures of my favorite players and all of the stuff we can get now with just a few mouse clicks. Here's a page from the 1979 Red Sox yearbook, the full team preseason roster!  

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Found another picture of Odeon of Herodes Atticus from 1988

Bavarian Shop Front

Because all houses should have beautiful paintings on them. Taken in 1988.

Is that a painting or a window?

On my first trip to the Bavarian Alps (in 1982) I was constantly amazed because looking out the window was often like looking at a painting of majestic mountains. I think you see what I mean. This was taken in 1988.

Cologne or Köln Cathedral

This building never ceases to amaze me. Köln or Cologne, 1988

The Compact Disc Digital Audio System

The Compact Disc Digital Audio System offers the best possible sound reproduction - on a small convenient sound-carrier unit. The Compact Disc's remarkable performance is a result of a unique combination of digital playback with laser optics. For the best results you should apply the same care in storing and handling the Compact Disc as with conventional records. No further cleaning will be necessary if the Compact Disc is always held by the edges and is replaced in its case directly after playing. Should the compact Disc become soiled by fingerprints, dust or dirt, it can be wiped always in a straight line, from center to edge) with a clean and lint free soft, dry cloth, No solvent or abrasive cleaner should ever be used on the disc. If you follow these suggestions, the Compact Disc will provide a life time of pure listening enjoyment.

Flooding on the Rhine, 1988

When I traveled in Germany in 1988, the Rhine River had flooded. Here's a picture.

1988 Topps Mini Leaders #4 DeWayne Buice

I mentioned this a while ago when I started scanning this stack of cards and posting them here- I love "Leaders" and "Future Stars" sets and "Diamond Kings" type card sets because you look at them thirty years later (these cards are thirty years old!) and wonder "Who the Heck was DeWayne Buice?"

So I googled him. He only played 2 and a half seasons in the majors, BUT he happened to be at the right place at the right time and literally walked into a deal where he became a partner in the Upper Deck Baseball Card company at the peak of the baseball card craze in the late 1980s. 

He made WAY more money not really doing much for them than he ever made in baseball. The world we live in is just crazy. 

Athens

Found another picture of Athens. Taken in 1988 by yours truly.

Neuschwanstein Castle Courtyard

Here's one of the Neuschwanstein Castle Courtyard in 1988.

Temple from the Train

Traveling by train in Greece, you see this sort of thing. Just another ancient temple, yawn! Taken in 1988.

How Nancy is Reagan?

Taken in Germany in 1988. I don't think the Germans like Nancy Reagan. The story asks how much influence Nancy has on Ronald Reagan.

Bavarian Street Scenes

Just a couple pics taken on the streets of Munich, 1988.

Random Alps

This is what it's like to live in Bavaria. Unbelievable scenery. Taken in 1988.

1988 Score Great Moments in Baseball #28 Denny Wins 30 Games

This is a little tiny card with that old-timey 3D printing process on the front, hold the card one way and it says "Great Moments in Baseball" and hold it the other way and it says "Do you Remember Tiger Stadium September 14, 1968"

The card celebrates Denny McLain's 30 win season. We won't see another of those ever!

Schloss Hohenschwangau

Here's another picture of Hohenschwangau Castle or Schloss Hohenschwangau, taken in 1988.

1988 Topps Mini Leaders #16 Danny Tartabull

Danny Tartabull. Son of a major leaguer and dead beat Dad. He once called the police because his car was broken into and was arrested. He was a fugitive at the time because he owed $270,000 in child support according to this article

Köln or Cologne Cathedral, 1988

Köln or Cologne, 1988. This Cathedral is absolutely amazing

Led Zeppelin In Through the Out Door

Here's part of the CD insert for Led Zeppelin's great album, In Through the Out Door.

I did not know this, but there are six versions of this cover out there!

Neuschwanstein Castle

Here's a slightly closer look at Neuschwanstein Castle, taken in 1988.

The Ultimate Ephemera- Kodak VHS Cassette Labels Insert

Remember VHS? Video Cassettes and the stupid labels you'd peel off and stick to the cassette when you taped that program you wanted to see because "on demand" was decades away? Yep, we got some of those :-) 

Neuschwanstein Castle

One of my favorite WOW places on earth is Neuschwanstein Castle. I think you see why. I took this picture in 1988. 

Bavaria FTW

Bavaria, for the win! Can you imagine living with this kind of beauty outside your window every day? Taken in 1988. 

1978 Bananas Magazine Yearbook

Here's another page from the 1978 Bananas Magazine Yearbook. I have to say I was very aware of Charlie's Angels in grade school but never actually watched it. Seriously, can you imagine that this was a magazine published by an education company and sold directly to students!?

Talking with my wife about it, she says that she and her grade school friends watched Charlie's Angels religiously. Girl empowerment with karate chops and pistols!

Lake Geneva, 1988

Found this picture of Lake Geneva, Switzerland.  I took it in 1988.

1988 Topps Big Cards #57 Kevin Mitchell

Here's another Topps Big Card. I really like the graphics on the back. This is another set where Topps didn't even try to include all the players, just the "stars" and the players who might soon become stars.

I always liked Kevin Mitchell as a player, and thinking back on his career I remembered a barehanded catch he made in the outfield. I googled him, and that catch is one of the things specifically mentioned in his Wikipedia!

The Parthenon

A picture of the Parthenon, Athens, 1988

1978 Bananas Magazine

Here's a page from the 1978 Bananas yearbook I've posted a couple of pages from this week. Poor Cleveland!  Imagine being a school kid in Cleveland and that's the humorous headline?

Another thing I find interesting are the two jokes about celebrities- "Baretta" (Robert Blake) and Steve McQueen. Baretta was something no school kid should be watching, and Steve McQueen wasn't in many movies that school kids would be aware of!

Not sure the writers wrote for the kids so much as they had to write something!

But actually, as my wife pointed out, EVERYONE knew Baretta, (and his parrot) and even if we didn't know any Steve McQueen movies, we knew he was a big actor, so maybe this was for us grade school kids after all!

Athens from the Acropolis View 2

There's a smudge on the slide in the center. I'd be interested in going back to Athens today to see how it has changed, and whether that smudge is still there. This was taken in 1988.

1988 Topps Minis #14 Bret Saberhagen

1988 Topps Minis #14 Bret Saberhagen.

“Brett was damned good-looking. She wore a slip-over jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy's. She started all that. She was built with curves like the hull of a racingyacht, and you missed none of it with that wool jersey.” -Ernest Hemingway, the Sun Also Rises.

Sorry, wrong Bret. That one had two T's.

This one pitched for the Royals. New York Mets, Colorado Rockies, and Boston Red Sox from 1984 through 1999, and a comeback in 2001.

Athens from the Acropolis, 1988

A view of Athens from the Acropolis I took in 1988.

1988 Topps Big Cards #35 Candy Maldonado

I like this particular set of baseball cards because of the little cartoons on the back. They were colorful and fun. The cards are called "big" because they were slightly larger than normal sized baseball cards.