A Splinter off the Old Block

This week's objet d'eBay, a 1958 Fleer's trading card of Splendid Splinter Ted Williams and daughter Barbara Joyce ("Bobby Jo") is a new year's reminder to capture the good times.

Williams was finally out of the marine corps (he flew twice, eight years apart), three years from his final at bat (a home run) and at the beginning of another of his [17] all-star seasons. As for Barbara Joyce, she was about 10 years from being the half sister to the two children from Williams' second marriage and more than 40 years before she began the legal battle with them over whether their by-then perished dad would go into eternity through fire (cremation was her choice) or ice (the younger two insisted dad wanted to be cryonically maintained).

** For those paying attention and wondering: Yes, this is a Sunday feature that somehow snuck into a Saturday posting. Nobody can satisfactorily explain why. **