In 1979, my family was living in California. We used to go to Kmart every so often and they had an icee stand in the store. My folks weren’t the type to get icees on the reg, so I knew better than to ask. But in ‘79, they were having a MLB promotion and you could get a cup with a ball player on it! I was 5, going on 6 and the only player I knew was Pete Rose. I must have seen the ad on TV about the cups and I begged my folks to let me get one. To my surprise, they agreed and the next time we went to Kmart, I hurried to the icee counter. I asked the lady if they had the Pete Rose cup and she said “Sorry, we sold out of that one”. I was crushed. I got an icee anyway, my dad assured me that the player on my cup was also great but I had never heard of this Tom Seaver asshole. I just wanted Pete, dammit!
I was telling this story to someone the other day and I said fuck it, I’m gonna find that cup. And I did. I got a mint condition one on eBay for the paltry sum of $10. And now Charley Hustle is hanging out with me at work. Life is good.