Dave and Bob Meeting up at a Starbucks for a ticket exchange
One of my favorite parts of running Dave Buys Ticket Stubs isn’t the tickets.
It’s the people.
A few weeks ago, I received a message from Bob, a longtime follower of our page. Like so many collectors, he’d been watching from the sidelines for quite some time before finally deciding it was time to let a few pieces from his collection find a new home.
When I learned Bob lived in the Chicagoland area, I offered to meet him in person. That’s something I do whenever possible. Sure, we could have handled everything through the mail, but collectibles have a way of bringing people together, and I always enjoy the opportunity to hear the stories behind the tickets.
So we picked a local Starbucks.
There was only one problem.
Bob is a White Sox fan.
And I’m a Cubs fan.
Fortunately, coffee is a powerful peacemaker.
As we sat across from each other, talking baseball, it became immediately clear that despite rooting for different teams, we shared the same passion: preserving memories. The conversation bounced from old ballparks to favorite players, memorable games, and how quickly the years seem to pass.
Then Bob pulled out the tickets.
And wow.
Even after handling hundreds of thousands of ticket stubs over the years, every now and then something stops me in my tracks.
These were two tickets to the April 7, 1994 exhibition game between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field.
For most people, that might not sound particularly noteworthy.
But collectors know exactly what it is.
This is the only baseball game Michael Jordan ever played at Wrigley Field.
Think about that for a moment.
The greatest basketball player who ever lived spent 1994 pursuing a baseball dream. During that brief and fascinating chapter of sports history, he appeared in just one game at Wrigley Field. These tickets are tangible reminders of that moment.
And the condition?
Absolutely pristine.
Crisp corners. Bold colors. Beautiful presentation. The kind of condition collectors dream about finding thirty-plus years later.
As much as I loved the tickets themselves, I found myself appreciating something else even more.
Two baseball fans. Two rival teams. Sitting in a coffee shop sharing stories about a game neither one of us actually played.
That’s what collecting is all about.
The tickets matter because of the memories they represent. They connect us to places that no longer exist, players we’ve admired for decades, and moments that would otherwise fade into history.
For a little while that afternoon, the Cubs-Sox rivalry didn’t matter.
What mattered was the shared appreciation for preserving the past.
Bob trusted me to become the next caretaker of these remarkable tickets, and for that I’m incredibly grateful.
So thank you, Bob.
The Sox fan.
From the Cubs fan.
And thank you to every collector who has ever reached out, shared a story, and allowed us to help preserve a small piece of history.
Because at the end of the day, we’re all on the same team.
Preserving the past, one ticket stub at a time.
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