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Yanks2151
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- Nov 9, 2013
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It was November '92 and a late fall trade took place between the Yankees and Reds. I had no knowledge of the deal because I was on the other side of the world 16 miles from Iraq in the Persian Gulf in the Navy. My biggest absence from sports was during my service time. I discharged honorably from active duty the summer of '93 and was excited to get back and start a new life. Also get back to sports. Yankees were rebuilding and so were the Patriots. My favorite Yankee Don Mattingly was winding down his injury plagued career and some fresh faces had arrived for me to get excited about baseball. One being Paul O'neill. Fast forward years later I continued to collect all the crazy new Yankee cards that came out. Inserts, parallels, jerseys, autos etc. I picked up where I left off but it seemed like everything I picked up post Navy days was awesome but the stuff I enjoyed picking up was the years I missed in the hobby while I was away. Those were bad Yankee years while I was away but it was the foundation of a dynasty. Catching up on the years I missed has been more rewarding than my pickups lately. One recent project I was happy to complete wrapped up a couple weeks ago. Yankees sent Roberto Kelly to the Reds for a player I respected for his hard work and dedication to the game, Paul O'neill. I think it's safe to say I may have the largest and probably the most complete O'neill collections of his out there. If not all those things pretty close. I also dabble with Roberto Kelly's Yankees stuff as well. Now to make this all complete there was another guy involved in this trade, Joe DeBerry. Joe never made it to the bigs. A first baseman that played in the Reds and Yankees farm systems. A part of this butterfly effect that came in the package to the Yankees puzzle for the future. Without him maybe a deal doesn't get done, who knows. At the very least I had to add him to my collection. Finding anything I could relating to Joe's Yankees days I scooped up. I reached out to Joe and asked if I sent him my mini collection to him will he sign everything for me. He agreed and also let me know "Kevin you made my day". So if your still with me during this long read here is my addition, thanks!
