I have made so many wonderful friends in my sports card journey that began way back in 1975 and continues to this day. While I cherish and appreciate them all, the one person that stands out the most is Dave McDonald.
Dave and I have set up together at so many shows that I considered him my partner of sorts. For the past 25 years, anytime I was set up at a three-day show anywhere in the country, Dave was at my side.
Years and years of fun. Though, at times, admittedly, we really got on each other's nerves. One bone of contention was Dave's refusal to join the modern world and obtain a cell phone -- it drove me nuts! But really, I was nuts about Dave, an amazing friend.
I owe it all to Bob Downing, one of the funniest guys you will ever meet. If Bob wasn't so damn funny, I would have never met Dave.
Here's the story:
In the late 1990's and early 2000's, I used to set up at George Johnson's three-day Chicago Sun-Times shows in Rosemont, Illinois. I would reserve one space in which an 8-foot table was provided. I would bring in two card tables and place them behind the 8-footers and fill all the space with binders.
Sometimes I would bring out some display cases filled vintage sports star cards. In those days, I had one aluminum case and two butterfly display cases. Well, I was doing a lot of shows and my inventory was growing by leaps and bounds. I needed another case.
In stepped my dad, a legendary picker, and he had purchased a homemade gun display case at a garage sale in the sticks in southwest Michigan. He gave me the case to use for the card shows.
The backwoods gun guy who built the case, made a wood frame, hammered it onto some particle board and lined it with wood shelves, then installed a window on top. The window slid in and out of the frame.
I took out the shelves and started to bring the case to card shows and used it to display cards.
I brought the gun case out to a Sun-Times show around the year 2000 and just by chance was set up next to Bob and Dave, who used to set up at all the Sun-Times shows together. Back then, Bob and Dave worked together at a company in Broadview, Illinois.
Being by myself and not getting much action at my tables, I found myself watching Bob and Dave, who I did not know at the time. I think they had split two spaces. I observed that there was this weird guy standing in front of their tables, talking to them, just about all day. I remember thinking, I would not be happy if that guy stood in front of my table all day blocking my cards from customer view.
I did have a few customers. Some who wanted to see the cards in the gun case. Anytime I had to pull cards from the case, I had to slide the top window out, sometimes pulling it completely out then struggling to get it back in. Needless to say, it was not a very good case and a pain in the ass to use. It eventually disintegrated and I tossed it in the trash a few months later. I then started purchasing aluminum cases from Levi at the Sun-Times shows.
Back at that first show where I met Bob and Dave, Bob was intrigued with the gun case and started asking me about it. I explained how I obtained the case and how it worked. Bob thought the case was one of the craziest things he had ever seen at a card show.
My goofy display case was a conversation starter. I spent the rest of that show chatting with Bob and Dave.
One of the first things Bob said to me was how he had this maniacal plan to corner the market on 1969 Topps Football Dick Shiner cards. Bob showed me a stack of them he had purchased at the show. He said he had thousands of them. He told me how, for laughs, he stuck some inside a friend's kitchen wall while they were rehabbing the kitchen.
The more Bob talked to me, the more I just started laughing. From that day on, Bob has kept me in stiches.
I remember spending that whole show talking with Bob and Dave and realizing that these guys were awesome. We three became lifelong friends after that first Sun-Times show.
We set up together at all the Sun-Times shows for the next 10 years or so and started setting up together at the National.
Those shows with Bob and Dave were pure joy. I had so much fun with those guys, even though my sales at the Sun-Times shows were lousy back then. I used to do much better at the small shows like Orland rather than at the Sun-Times.
Dave was the alpha dealer of the group. Bob and I spent a lot of time just watching Dave sell cards. With nothing doing at my tables, I ended up helping Dave with his sales. Dave would hand me his calculator and stack of cards that someone wanted to purchase, and I would add them up.
Dave was on another level as a sports card dealer. He was the most successful dealer that I knew. We basically sold the same stuff but the difference was that all of his cards were high grade while I did not care, still do not care, about condition. My only criteria for cards is that they have to be old.
Dave had an amazing eye. He could spot flaws in cards that I never could see. He had some reliable sources where he could purchase bushels of high-grade vintage cards. He always talked about his buddy Bob from Berwyn, not to be confused with our buddy Bob who had cornered the market on Dick Shiner. Bob from Berwyn seemed to supply Dave with endless amounts of high-grade vintage cards. I even got to meet the legendary Bob from Berwyn a few times.
With the best selection of high-grade vintage sports cards at any show, folks flocked to Dave whenever we were set up together. It was remarkable to watch. I did not like many of his customers because they would scoff at my lower grade cards. Though, there were some gems that shopped at Dave's table like Larry from Aurora, Chris from Cincinnati, law professor Sandy and a few others.
Eventually, Dick Shiner Bob obtained a better job at a major company in Skokie while Dave stayed behind at the company in Broadview and eventually retired. Bob was onto better and bigger things. His new job took him all over the world and he could no longer set up with us. I think it was around 2009 and it was just Dave and I now at the Sun-Times show, then we took in additional guys to join us at the National.
Dave and I worked well together at the big shows. We would send customers to each other. We would help each other when one got busy and the other was slow. We would watch each other's cards while one of us went on a bathroom or food break.
At one point, we decided we should do some shows outside of the Chicago area. I got on the waitlist for the Strongsville Ohio Vintage show and eventually obtained two tables. Dave and I started setting up in Strongsville every year beginning around 2010. We tried other big shows together like Pittsburgh, the Moeller show in Cincinnati and traveled to places like Atlantic City and Cleveland for the National. We also did many one-day shows together in Chicago and Wisconsin.
For the past 25 years, I never went more than a month or two without setting up with Dave at a show.
We had a routine that if we were doing a show out east, I would pick him up the day before the show at his house. If we were doing a show up north, Dave would pick me up at my house.
In the last few years, we started taking some extra days during our trips to the National or Strongsville, making mini-vacations out of it. It was fun. We stopped off at museums and casinos on our way to various out-of-state card shows.
Dave loved to drive... or maybe he just didn't like my driving, because he usually drove while I enjoyed being a passenger.
Once in the car, we chatted like old friends who had not seen each other in years. We always talked about cards, the characters we met at card shows, food, rock music, antique automobiles, motorcycles, boxing, the Blackhawks and the Cubs. If the Blackhawks or the Cubs were playing, we had them on the radio.
Man, we had so many good times. In Pittsburgh, Dave put me to work adding up the price of his cards while a big national buyer purchased thousands of dollars of cards from him. Dave bought dinner that night.
In Strongsville, we loved going to dinner with Mark Smith and Hockey Greg. One night in Strongsville, Dave surprised us with a random story about Ed Bouchee, a journeyman ball player from the 1950's. Dave asked us if we knew why Bouchee had a baseball card in 1957 and 1959 but not in 1958. None of us knew. According to Dave, Bouchee was arrested in the 1950's for exposing himself to several young girls. Bouchee went to jail in 1958 and therefore did not have a card that year.
A lot of jokes about Bouchee followed, then for the next several years at the Strongsville show, Mark and Greg would send someone to Dave's table who would ask him for Ed Bouchee cards. Every time it would happen, we would look over across the room at Mark and Greg and see them cracking up.
Jokes aside, Dave had incredible knowledge about 1950's baseball and baseball cards, especially the 1953 Topps set which was his specialty. You could name a player in the 1953 set and he could instantly tell you the card number. He knew which cards were difficult to obtain. Which cards were never centered. He was remarkable.
At each show, we would discuss our purchases. I valued Dave's opinion and advice and would often run potential deals by him before I made the purchase.
I usually did not offer much criticism to Dave. However, there was one Strongsville show where I thought he was going to lose several thousand dollars and I tried to stop him but to no avail.
A customer had spent an hour or so at Dave's table pulling cards. He ended up pulling a few large stacks of cards. I think I added them up and it came out to around $3,000. The customer then told Dave that he ran out of money earlier at the show and asked if he could take the cards home to Maryland and mail Dave a check.
Neither Dave nor I had ever seen this guy before. He did not offer any references.
Dave said sure, I don't know you from Adam but take $3,000 worth of my cards and go back to Maryland and mail me a check to Chicago.
Okay, he didn't really say that but that is what happened.
I said no way! Dave, no!!
I told the guy to pay Dave via PayPal. The guy said he did not have PayPal. This was on a Saturday and I figured local banks were still open. I told the guy to go to a bank and come back with the cash.
Dave waved me off. He gave the guy his address and let him walk away with $3K in cards. We argued about it for the rest of the weekend.
Dave grew tired of my criticism. I was certain Dave had just been ripped off. Dave offered me a wager that if the guy does not send a check by the National, he would buy me a steak dinner. If the guy did send a check, I would buy Dave a steak dinner.
To my shock, I ended up buying Dave a steak dinner. That freakin' guy sent Dave a check. The check was good. We even saw him again at the next Strongsville show.
Amazing. Dave always amazed me. We always had good times.
I've got so many stories, I don't know where to stop. Please bear with me.
Seems like most of my stories are from Strongsville.
Several years ago, one of my doctors placed me on four or five new meds to combat my high blood pressure right before a Strongsville show.
I took the meds before I arrived at Dave's house. Then once in Ohio, we stopped off at a Burger King for lunch. I took some insulin and ate my Whopper. I think the Whopper was the first thing I ate that day. Apparently, I did not need the insulin and once back on the road I went hypoglycemic. I asked Dave to pull over so I could get some candy and raise my blood sugar.
I downed some candy and no longer felt hypoglycemic but something else started to happen. I don't know exactly what it was, maybe a reaction to the new meds, but I started to shake uncontrollably and my head started to pound. I tried to fight through it but only felt worse. I asked Dave to take me to a hospital.
At the hospital, they checked my blood sugar which was through the roof. Guess I ate too much candy. They sent me back to the waiting room where I continued to feel awful. At one point I went to the bathroom and passed out. Dave grew concerned and found me, revived me and helped me back to a chair in the waiting room.
After about an hour in the waiting room and the hospital failing to attend to my high blood sugar and additional symptoms, I decided the best thing for me would be to leave and take some insulin I had in the car.
Dave helped me to the car. He almost had to carry me. I took some insulin. We made it to the hotel in Strongsville where I hydrated after feeling severely dehydrated. Dave went to set up while I recovered in the room. I kind of felt lousy all weekend but not as bad as I did on the drive to the show.
Dave went and got me some much-needed Gatorade and Tylenol. I am so thankful he was there to help me, even though the hospital did nothing. Hospitals suck. You are better off taking care of yourself and it helps to have a friend like Dave.
So many good times, some crazy, with Dave in Strongsville. When new promoters took over the Strongsville show and raised the table fee several years ago, Dave did not want to do the show any longer. It has been a little scary driving out there by myself, knowing I could go hypoglycemic or worse with nobody to help me.
I've come to rely on Dave for so much more than just being my pal at card shows. It is going to be extremely difficult going forward without Dave.
Dave died the morning of July 6 from cancer. He only recently learned he had cancer, it happened so quick.
He had several other health issues these past couple of years and I was concerned. I last saw him at the Kane County show in May and he did not look well and did not have much energy. He packed up early, placed his usual brown boxes and three display cases on his old blue cart and walked out.
He said, "Goodbye Tone."
For some reason, I just knew that would be the last time I would see him. I was sad but tried to hide it for the rest of the show.
I was so heartbroken when his wonderful wife Cindy called to let me know about Dave's cancer diagnosis. I was crushed when Cindy texted two weeks later to let me know Dave passed surrounded by family.
This just hurts.
We lost a special person. One of my best friends ever. My card show companion.
I can't say how much I appreciated my friendship with Dave and all the good times. There are some special people out there that make your life better -- Dave was one of those people.
Rest in peace my amazing friend. Thank you for all the fun times. My sincerest condolences to Cindy and sons Andy and Bill.
A memorial gathering for Dave will be held on Tuesday, July 15, 10 a.m., followed by a service at noon, at Steuerle Funeral Home, 15 W. Park Blvd. Villa Park, IL.
Dave and I have set up together at so many shows that I considered him my partner of sorts. For the past 25 years, anytime I was set up at a three-day show anywhere in the country, Dave was at my side.
Years and years of fun. Though, at times, admittedly, we really got on each other's nerves. One bone of contention was Dave's refusal to join the modern world and obtain a cell phone -- it drove me nuts! But really, I was nuts about Dave, an amazing friend.
I owe it all to Bob Downing, one of the funniest guys you will ever meet. If Bob wasn't so damn funny, I would have never met Dave.
Here's the story:
In the late 1990's and early 2000's, I used to set up at George Johnson's three-day Chicago Sun-Times shows in Rosemont, Illinois. I would reserve one space in which an 8-foot table was provided. I would bring in two card tables and place them behind the 8-footers and fill all the space with binders.
Sometimes I would bring out some display cases filled vintage sports star cards. In those days, I had one aluminum case and two butterfly display cases. Well, I was doing a lot of shows and my inventory was growing by leaps and bounds. I needed another case.
In stepped my dad, a legendary picker, and he had purchased a homemade gun display case at a garage sale in the sticks in southwest Michigan. He gave me the case to use for the card shows.
The backwoods gun guy who built the case, made a wood frame, hammered it onto some particle board and lined it with wood shelves, then installed a window on top. The window slid in and out of the frame.
I took out the shelves and started to bring the case to card shows and used it to display cards.
I brought the gun case out to a Sun-Times show around the year 2000 and just by chance was set up next to Bob and Dave, who used to set up at all the Sun-Times shows together. Back then, Bob and Dave worked together at a company in Broadview, Illinois.
Being by myself and not getting much action at my tables, I found myself watching Bob and Dave, who I did not know at the time. I think they had split two spaces. I observed that there was this weird guy standing in front of their tables, talking to them, just about all day. I remember thinking, I would not be happy if that guy stood in front of my table all day blocking my cards from customer view.
I did have a few customers. Some who wanted to see the cards in the gun case. Anytime I had to pull cards from the case, I had to slide the top window out, sometimes pulling it completely out then struggling to get it back in. Needless to say, it was not a very good case and a pain in the ass to use. It eventually disintegrated and I tossed it in the trash a few months later. I then started purchasing aluminum cases from Levi at the Sun-Times shows.
Back at that first show where I met Bob and Dave, Bob was intrigued with the gun case and started asking me about it. I explained how I obtained the case and how it worked. Bob thought the case was one of the craziest things he had ever seen at a card show.
My goofy display case was a conversation starter. I spent the rest of that show chatting with Bob and Dave.
One of the first things Bob said to me was how he had this maniacal plan to corner the market on 1969 Topps Football Dick Shiner cards. Bob showed me a stack of them he had purchased at the show. He said he had thousands of them. He told me how, for laughs, he stuck some inside a friend's kitchen wall while they were rehabbing the kitchen.
The more Bob talked to me, the more I just started laughing. From that day on, Bob has kept me in stiches.
I remember spending that whole show talking with Bob and Dave and realizing that these guys were awesome. We three became lifelong friends after that first Sun-Times show.
We set up together at all the Sun-Times shows for the next 10 years or so and started setting up together at the National.
Those shows with Bob and Dave were pure joy. I had so much fun with those guys, even though my sales at the Sun-Times shows were lousy back then. I used to do much better at the small shows like Orland rather than at the Sun-Times.
Dave was the alpha dealer of the group. Bob and I spent a lot of time just watching Dave sell cards. With nothing doing at my tables, I ended up helping Dave with his sales. Dave would hand me his calculator and stack of cards that someone wanted to purchase, and I would add them up.
Dave was on another level as a sports card dealer. He was the most successful dealer that I knew. We basically sold the same stuff but the difference was that all of his cards were high grade while I did not care, still do not care, about condition. My only criteria for cards is that they have to be old.
Dave had an amazing eye. He could spot flaws in cards that I never could see. He had some reliable sources where he could purchase bushels of high-grade vintage cards. He always talked about his buddy Bob from Berwyn, not to be confused with our buddy Bob who had cornered the market on Dick Shiner. Bob from Berwyn seemed to supply Dave with endless amounts of high-grade vintage cards. I even got to meet the legendary Bob from Berwyn a few times.
With the best selection of high-grade vintage sports cards at any show, folks flocked to Dave whenever we were set up together. It was remarkable to watch. I did not like many of his customers because they would scoff at my lower grade cards. Though, there were some gems that shopped at Dave's table like Larry from Aurora, Chris from Cincinnati, law professor Sandy and a few others.
Eventually, Dick Shiner Bob obtained a better job at a major company in Skokie while Dave stayed behind at the company in Broadview and eventually retired. Bob was onto better and bigger things. His new job took him all over the world and he could no longer set up with us. I think it was around 2009 and it was just Dave and I now at the Sun-Times show, then we took in additional guys to join us at the National.
Dave and I worked well together at the big shows. We would send customers to each other. We would help each other when one got busy and the other was slow. We would watch each other's cards while one of us went on a bathroom or food break.
At one point, we decided we should do some shows outside of the Chicago area. I got on the waitlist for the Strongsville Ohio Vintage show and eventually obtained two tables. Dave and I started setting up in Strongsville every year beginning around 2010. We tried other big shows together like Pittsburgh, the Moeller show in Cincinnati and traveled to places like Atlantic City and Cleveland for the National. We also did many one-day shows together in Chicago and Wisconsin.
For the past 25 years, I never went more than a month or two without setting up with Dave at a show.
We had a routine that if we were doing a show out east, I would pick him up the day before the show at his house. If we were doing a show up north, Dave would pick me up at my house.
In the last few years, we started taking some extra days during our trips to the National or Strongsville, making mini-vacations out of it. It was fun. We stopped off at museums and casinos on our way to various out-of-state card shows.
Dave loved to drive... or maybe he just didn't like my driving, because he usually drove while I enjoyed being a passenger.
Once in the car, we chatted like old friends who had not seen each other in years. We always talked about cards, the characters we met at card shows, food, rock music, antique automobiles, motorcycles, boxing, the Blackhawks and the Cubs. If the Blackhawks or the Cubs were playing, we had them on the radio.
Man, we had so many good times. In Pittsburgh, Dave put me to work adding up the price of his cards while a big national buyer purchased thousands of dollars of cards from him. Dave bought dinner that night.
In Strongsville, we loved going to dinner with Mark Smith and Hockey Greg. One night in Strongsville, Dave surprised us with a random story about Ed Bouchee, a journeyman ball player from the 1950's. Dave asked us if we knew why Bouchee had a baseball card in 1957 and 1959 but not in 1958. None of us knew. According to Dave, Bouchee was arrested in the 1950's for exposing himself to several young girls. Bouchee went to jail in 1958 and therefore did not have a card that year.
A lot of jokes about Bouchee followed, then for the next several years at the Strongsville show, Mark and Greg would send someone to Dave's table who would ask him for Ed Bouchee cards. Every time it would happen, we would look over across the room at Mark and Greg and see them cracking up.
Jokes aside, Dave had incredible knowledge about 1950's baseball and baseball cards, especially the 1953 Topps set which was his specialty. You could name a player in the 1953 set and he could instantly tell you the card number. He knew which cards were difficult to obtain. Which cards were never centered. He was remarkable.
At each show, we would discuss our purchases. I valued Dave's opinion and advice and would often run potential deals by him before I made the purchase.
I usually did not offer much criticism to Dave. However, there was one Strongsville show where I thought he was going to lose several thousand dollars and I tried to stop him but to no avail.
A customer had spent an hour or so at Dave's table pulling cards. He ended up pulling a few large stacks of cards. I think I added them up and it came out to around $3,000. The customer then told Dave that he ran out of money earlier at the show and asked if he could take the cards home to Maryland and mail Dave a check.
Neither Dave nor I had ever seen this guy before. He did not offer any references.
Dave said sure, I don't know you from Adam but take $3,000 worth of my cards and go back to Maryland and mail me a check to Chicago.
Okay, he didn't really say that but that is what happened.
I said no way! Dave, no!!
I told the guy to pay Dave via PayPal. The guy said he did not have PayPal. This was on a Saturday and I figured local banks were still open. I told the guy to go to a bank and come back with the cash.
Dave waved me off. He gave the guy his address and let him walk away with $3K in cards. We argued about it for the rest of the weekend.
Dave grew tired of my criticism. I was certain Dave had just been ripped off. Dave offered me a wager that if the guy does not send a check by the National, he would buy me a steak dinner. If the guy did send a check, I would buy Dave a steak dinner.
To my shock, I ended up buying Dave a steak dinner. That freakin' guy sent Dave a check. The check was good. We even saw him again at the next Strongsville show.
Amazing. Dave always amazed me. We always had good times.
I've got so many stories, I don't know where to stop. Please bear with me.
Seems like most of my stories are from Strongsville.
Several years ago, one of my doctors placed me on four or five new meds to combat my high blood pressure right before a Strongsville show.
I took the meds before I arrived at Dave's house. Then once in Ohio, we stopped off at a Burger King for lunch. I took some insulin and ate my Whopper. I think the Whopper was the first thing I ate that day. Apparently, I did not need the insulin and once back on the road I went hypoglycemic. I asked Dave to pull over so I could get some candy and raise my blood sugar.
I downed some candy and no longer felt hypoglycemic but something else started to happen. I don't know exactly what it was, maybe a reaction to the new meds, but I started to shake uncontrollably and my head started to pound. I tried to fight through it but only felt worse. I asked Dave to take me to a hospital.
At the hospital, they checked my blood sugar which was through the roof. Guess I ate too much candy. They sent me back to the waiting room where I continued to feel awful. At one point I went to the bathroom and passed out. Dave grew concerned and found me, revived me and helped me back to a chair in the waiting room.
After about an hour in the waiting room and the hospital failing to attend to my high blood sugar and additional symptoms, I decided the best thing for me would be to leave and take some insulin I had in the car.
Dave helped me to the car. He almost had to carry me. I took some insulin. We made it to the hotel in Strongsville where I hydrated after feeling severely dehydrated. Dave went to set up while I recovered in the room. I kind of felt lousy all weekend but not as bad as I did on the drive to the show.
Dave went and got me some much-needed Gatorade and Tylenol. I am so thankful he was there to help me, even though the hospital did nothing. Hospitals suck. You are better off taking care of yourself and it helps to have a friend like Dave.
So many good times, some crazy, with Dave in Strongsville. When new promoters took over the Strongsville show and raised the table fee several years ago, Dave did not want to do the show any longer. It has been a little scary driving out there by myself, knowing I could go hypoglycemic or worse with nobody to help me.
I've come to rely on Dave for so much more than just being my pal at card shows. It is going to be extremely difficult going forward without Dave.
Dave died the morning of July 6 from cancer. He only recently learned he had cancer, it happened so quick.
He had several other health issues these past couple of years and I was concerned. I last saw him at the Kane County show in May and he did not look well and did not have much energy. He packed up early, placed his usual brown boxes and three display cases on his old blue cart and walked out.
He said, "Goodbye Tone."
For some reason, I just knew that would be the last time I would see him. I was sad but tried to hide it for the rest of the show.
I was so heartbroken when his wonderful wife Cindy called to let me know about Dave's cancer diagnosis. I was crushed when Cindy texted two weeks later to let me know Dave passed surrounded by family.
This just hurts.
We lost a special person. One of my best friends ever. My card show companion.
I can't say how much I appreciated my friendship with Dave and all the good times. There are some special people out there that make your life better -- Dave was one of those people.
Rest in peace my amazing friend. Thank you for all the fun times. My sincerest condolences to Cindy and sons Andy and Bill.
A memorial gathering for Dave will be held on Tuesday, July 15, 10 a.m., followed by a service at noon, at Steuerle Funeral Home, 15 W. Park Blvd. Villa Park, IL.
Bob, Tony and Dave at a Sun-Time show. Bob reminded me how Dave always had a bag of pretzel rods at every show and would make us some amazing sandwiches.
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