Then and Then, Cards and Sprinkles

My wife used to be the ice cream person in the relationship. She'd suggest going out for the treat and I'd be like, OK, sure. My feelings have changed ever since a discovery last year.

We've been in our current house a couple years now, closer to a new ice cream shop than our old one. The place is pretty good. It's one of those walk-up places. You get your cones, your sundaes, your shakes.

It took a couple trips before I noticed what made this place really special. Parked on one side, I stayed in the car while my wife went and got the ice cream. Reading the signs and offers, I took a double take. Were those baseball cards?

Yes, they were. In the side window were packs of cards. Not just one kind, more than a dozen. All older cards, you know, the junk stuff. For a buck or a buck-25 extra, you could get a pack of cards with your cone. There was 1987 Topps, 1989 Topps, 1990 Score, 1989 Bowman.


I realize a buck a pack for this stuff is too much when you can get a box on ebay for $10. But have you tried to order ice cream on ebay? It's not the same.

So anyway, last week, my wife and I went for the first time this year. And, to my relief, the cards had been restocked. And they had a few new kinds. My choice on this trip? A medium twist cone with rainbow sprinkles (really) and a pack of 1993 Fleer Ultra. My wife had the coconut sundae. I've got my eye on the '92 Leaf on our next trip, with probably the same choice of cone, and similar to the one pictured above.

So, anyway, to bring this back home, among the 14 cards I got in the pack, five of them were 1990 CMC alums. Jose Offerman, Pat Kelly, Leo Gomez, Brent Mayne and Juan Bell, all CMC guys and all coming with ice cream.