It's Like Christmas All Over Again

The looming snow drifts are melting away, the sun is peaking through the oppressively gray clouds, the previously frigid temperatures are slowly rising with sixty degree readings are predicted in the very near future... we're not quite out of the woods yet, but spring is at least making Jack Frost aware of it's impending arrival.  This spot of good weather, almost like an Indian summer in reverse,  is much closer to Easter conditions than it is Christmas-like; yet, nevertheless, it's the latter holiday that is currently on my mind.  Why is it that I feel that way, even though the mercury continues to rise and baseball's spring training camps are already underway?

This past weekend, my wife and I attended a family dinner at my parent's household, otherwise known as my childhood home.  While the lasagna was still in the oven and my parents were busy with it's preparation, in order to entertain myself, I found myself staring out of the picture window, at the rickety shed in the backyard.  You see, I knew I left some of my stuff behind when I initially moved into my college apartment and, again, after I moved in with my then girlfriend, now wife.  As I awaited my familial meal, straining to remember what forgotten treasures might be awaiting my return, my curiosity quickly got the best of me.  Before long, I was on the other side of that window and fidgeting with the lock on the front door of said outbuilding.

Once inside, surrounded by bicycles, pool supplies, and lawn care equipment, I found a massive wall of plastic totes - a daunting sight, indeed.  Luckily, I discovered that my possessions were near the front of the organized chaos and I only had to wade past the haphazardly "sorted" Christmas decorations (symbolic of what was to come).  Somehow, without tripping on as strand of lights, I pulled out a pair of containers and began my excited excavation, just as the garlic bread was going into the oven.

Those plastic totes were more like time capsules and, shortly after prying open the lids, I was transported back in time, back to the Christmas of 2006.

via GIPHY

It was my last yuletide season before graduating from high school and my parents decided to splurge a little bit on me.  Growing up with three siblings in a middle class household, I never asked for much and was content to watch the unbridled joy in my baby sisters' eyes as they tore through green and red wrapping paper.  However, that year, it was me that ended up doing a happy dance in the middle of the living room.

When, I saw that autographed picture of Lee Smith which kicked off this post, resting among the old photographs of tote #1, I was instantly thrust back into that winter morning, 11+ years ago.

I was absolutely over-joyed, both when I initially found it resting under the Christmas tree and when I re-discovered it this past weekend.  The 1984 Cubs have long been a target of fascination for me and the intimidating closer, Lee Smith, was and is a personal favorite from that postseason drought-busting, Northside roster.  I firmly believe that the former all-time saves leader should have plaque on the wall at Cooperstown, but that's a rant for another day...

I don't know where my parents got this MLB-authenticated, signed, 8x10 print, but I do know that - all these years later - it's going to look great on the wall of my wife and I's current spare bedroom, right next to my "W" flag and Cubbie pennant collection!  Although, after several years of being stored in a non-climate controlled setting, the Kodak is a tad stuck to the glass of the frame... does anyone have a suggestion for how to loosen that problem without destroying the picture?

Anyway, as I was planning interior decoration in my head, I was promptly reminded that Mr.s Smith's John Hancock wasn't the only major gift that I received that yuletide season, as a triangular shaped cardboard propped up next to the Great Wall of Totes contained yet another artifact from the past:

A baseball bat.  But, it's not just any baseball bat - this, right here, is a spring training, game-used Louisville Slugger that once belonged to none other than former Cubs blue chip prospect, Eric Patterson!  

Ultimately, Corey's little brother was only a Cub for 20 games (2007-08) and ultimately, like most Wrigley farmhands of the time, washed out as a bust; but, on that Christmas morning in 2006, he was still part of the future of my favorite franchise, set to take over second base for years to come.  I thought I was getting in on the ground floor with this signed bat and was giddy as a school girl when I first unwrapped it.  Unfortunately, I did not have a proper way of displaying this item at the time and I immediately put it back into the box, for safe-keeping, where it stayed hidden until yesterday afternoon.

All these years later, we now know that Eric's elevator never left the ground floor; that's okay though, since I lost the certificate of authenticity that I know originally came with the gift.  Even so, it's not often that you come across a baseball bat used by an actual Cubs player in your parents' shed!  I'm going to have to fashion a bat rack or something in order that I might finally permanently release it from it's cardboard cage.  Also, I should note that this stick is actually my second slice of game-used memorabilia for the younger Patterson brother - my CATRC binder contains the following jersey swatch from 2006 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects:

So, I now have an accidental Eric Patterson super-collection going.  Nifty.  It's probably the best there is around, by default.

Finally, as if an autograph by a should-be Hall of Famer and an MLB game-used baseball bat wasn't enough, there was one more treasure from 2006 waiting to be re-discovered.  At the time, my brother wanted to get in on the gift-giving fun; that said, being just a shade over 10 and without any source of income made that a rather difficult proposition.  Thrifty as he was, instead of going out and buying stuff from Target for his brother and sisters, he simply re-gifted items that he no longer wanted and were cluttering his bedroom.  In a normal situation, re-gifting might be seen as lazy or un-thoughtful; but, considering the situation, my brother was just doing the best that he could with his means.

As a result, I ended up with this 2002 Upper Deck Playmakers bobblehead of Ernie Banks, sans bat and it's corresponding UD trading card.  It would be easy to assume that the broken bat and missing card came as a result of years of careless storage; but, as I recall, the snapped stick was the reason why Mr. Cub was passed on to me.  Plus, little bro still wanted to keep the card for his personal Cubs collection, so that didn't make the transfer either.  But, hey, at least he tried.

If I remember correctly, Upper Deck released their series of bobbleheads in 2001 and 2002 but they never really caught on.  This doll was originally purchased from the local secondhand store, a few years after their initial release.

Although it's broken and incomplete, I was quite happy to find this gift, as well.  Though I've never been a big collector of bobbleheads, a few have passed into my hands over the years.  In the past couple of years, I've migrated this modest gathering to my desk at work, in order to add a little pizazz to my work-space.  Mr. Cub slots nicely into this display:

Accompanying Ernie, we have an SGA Kosuke Fukudome, Ryne Sandberg, Sammy Sosa, and Steve Trout from his days as the local independent team's pitching coach.  The kids at school love these desk decorations and I'm sure will take great joy at bopping yet another bouncing head.

At this point, dinner was about to be plated and it was time to wrap up the excavation.  Thus, my quick excursion to Christmas 2006 was ended and I transported back to the modern day.  However, perhaps when the weather takes a permanent turn for the better and it comes time for spring cleaning, I might have to meander back to my parents' shed for another go at the time capsules.  While that holiday season has been completely excavated, I know for a fact that there are plenty more goodies to uncover, including my NASCAR die-casts, books of autographed hero cards, and scores of caps, among other bits of memorabilia that I built up in my teenage years.

Am I the only one who still uses their parental home as a storage/staging area?  I hate to impose, but I just don't have the space right now.  I'm sure when I finally settle my student loans and can afford to upgrade from an apartment to a real house, my family will be all to happy to dump those boxes on my doorstep.  

When that day comes, it might just feel like Christmas, all over again!