18 and Life and Then Some

2008 Upper Deck Spectrum Spectrum of Stars Autographs
SSS-SB. Sebastian Bach

Back when I was ten Bon Jovi was the stuff. And it wasn’t the cougars who loved him - the girls dug him too. My sister was one of them. She was 13 and figured if she made it to the concert, he’d pull her out of the audience and marry her the next day.

The concert was long sold out and a ferry boat ride away. That didn’t stop my sister from calling the radio station every chance she got. Me - I doubted she’d ever get anything other than busy signal after busy signal. Then one afternoon it happened.

There was a scream followed by an older-sister order to turn on the radio. It was her. She’d bypassed the busy signal and gotten through. She’d won tickets to Bon Jovi. Great - now she really thought her demented Disney Princess fairy tale was going to come true.

The next day my mom came to me with a deal. I - her 10-year-old track-pants-wearing brother was to be her chaperone on this rock ‘n roll adventure. Was I interested? In seeing Bon Jovi - not really. In embarrassing my sister like never before and shattering her dreams. Of course.

Cutting it short. We went, saw Bon Jovi occasionally when he decided to poke his out from the side of the giant speakers our nose bleed seats had a clear view of and witnessed Aerosmith make a surprise visit to come and sing “Walk This Way” sans Run DMC. They also filmed the video for “Lay Your Hands On Me” at this show so I’m told.

With all the excitement of the evening, what caught my attention was the then little-known opening band Skid Row. They rocked hard. A couple months later “18 and Life” became their ballad and a number one hit. A couple months after that, they faded back into obscurity.

Now what’s this I see in the new 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum Baseball set? A Sebastian Bach autograph. No, it’s not the classical composer. Rather it’s the Skid Row front man. Not much else to say other, “Heck, yeah.” Bach joins a line-up of other 80s hair rock rockers on the checklist, which include Vince Neill, Dee Snider, Don Dokken and Jay Jay French. There’s also a few actors (all of whom appear to be short printed) such as The Soup Nazi, The Fonz, J.R. and the evil sensei from The Karate Kid.

Interestingly enough, dayf of Cardboard Junkie predicted celebrity autographs would be the next big thing in the baseball card arena. While I too believe they’re here to stay, I seriously doubt they’re going to be a major force in selling packs. Will there be more spin-off sets like Donruss Americana? Yes and that’s where I think the influence is going to be felt the most.