Father, son sell memories to generations
In downtown Hollister there sits an old building that is home to
more athletes than all of the sports Halls of Fame combined. The
building is only 1,100 square feet but inside is a collection of
sports memorabilia and novelty items that would make any hardcore
fan’s blood pressure kick up a notch with excitement.
Father, son sell memories to generations
In downtown Hollister there sits an old building that is home to more athletes than all of the sports Halls of Fame combined. The building is only 1,100 square feet but inside is a collection of sports memorabilia and novelty items that would make any hardcore fan’s blood pressure kick up a notch with excitement.
Located at 207 Fourth St. in Hollister, Bill’s Bullpen has been a mainstay in the community since it first opened on Dec. 15, 1987.
“We have baseball cards dating back to 1952. NBA cards from the early 1970s and NFL cards from the 1960s,” said Bill Mifsud Jr., who owns and operates the shop along with his dad, Bill Mifsud Sr. “We also have other things like comics, games, hats, jerseys, novelties and sweatshirts, basically everything that you would find at Monster Park. We used to just have baseball cards and comics but you’ve got to listen the customers. And they told us that Hollister needed more than that.”
Originally, Bill’s Bullpen was opened by Mifsud Sr., a lifelong sports fanatic, who opened the business after suffering a heart attack while working in the roofing industry.
At the time, the original store was located at 414 San Benito St. That site is now the grassy area located in front of the Gavilan College Parking lot structure. It was destroyed on Oct. 17, 1989, in the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Bill Sr. ran the shop for the first 10 months of its operation before his son joined him. At the time, Bill Jr. was working for KNTV Channel 11 in San Jose in the sports department editing tapes.
“You’d never see me on camera. I did all the grunge work,” he said. “I’d stick the microphone in somebody’s face to get a sound bite or something and then someone else would come in and get makeup put on him, and he’d read it on the air.”
That work was fun for Mifsud but he decided to leave it behind to help his dad out with the operation, which almost shutdown for good the day of the infamous 7.1 quake.
“I remember we were getting ready to go home and watch the World Series. As I was closing up, part of the roof came in and I could see the skylight,” said 40-year-old Bill Jr., who runs the business now while his dad still acts as a silent partner in the operation. “We didn’t know if it was the result of a bomb an earthquake or what.”
The next day the building was red tagged and condemned. The Mifsud’s didn’t know if they should give up or relocate. But after a great deal of support and encouragement from the community the Mifsud’s moved their operation to Fourth Street on Nov. 1, 1989 and have been there ever since – just two short weeks after the destructive earthquake.
Today, it’s a mainstay in the community and the only place like it from Gilroy to Monterey.
“I probably go in there two or three times a week,” said 71-year-old Hollister resident Bill Bowen. “I really enjoy it. They are really good people. They go out of their way for you and they are very honest.”
Bowen started collecting baseball cards back in 1993. In 1996, he moved to Hollister and has been one of Bill’s Bullpen’s best customers over the years.
“I’ve bought a lot of football and baseball cards from them,” said Bowen, who now has some 45,000 cards in his collection. “I bought a Barry Bonds, a Mark McGwire and Rickey Henderson cards from them. I also bought a Joe Montana card from them.”
Bowen keeps his best cards in the safety deposit box. In addition to the enjoyment he gets out of them as a hobby, Bowen also sees them for their investment value.
“If I die my wife would have something to fall back on (sell them),” said Bowen.
Like Bowen, the Mifsud’s also have a huge collection of sports memorabilia. They too keep their most prized possessions in the safety deposit box.
One of them is Bill Sr.’s 1954 Topps Willie Mays card, which is worth $2,500. Bill Jr. likes his Michael Jordan rookie card most of all.
“We get most of our stuff from people, we trade for them or we get them at shows,” the younger Mifsud.
Inside the shop there are new and old comic books all along one wall, team jerseys, sports cards, new and old, and novelty items, and posters from the floor to the ceiling and from the front of the store all the way to the back.
While baseball buffs might enjoy the old Pete Rose or Carl Yastrzemski cards or numerous others in the first display case closest to the entrance, others might enjoy seeing Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA card or Joe Montana in his old 49er uniform.
Some things are worth much more than others. It also depends on the timing, according to Mifsud Jr.
One of the most sought after cards right now is a 2006 Topps Alex Gordon card. Ordinarily a rookie card like his wouldn’t be worth 25 cents. Gordon’s is bringing $7,000 right now.
The reason is that he was drafted No. 2 by the Kansas City Royals in 2005, but failed to make the team. Topps went ahead and printed the card anyway since the No. 2 pick overall in the draft seldom fails to make the squad he was drafted on.
“He was a top prospect but never made the team,” Mifsud Jr. said. “Now everybody is buying up those packs hoping to get one of the cards. I haven’t seen one yet. There is one of them in about ever 218 packs.”
Today packs of cards run anywhere from $2.50 to $10.00 a pack, but there is more incentive to buy them today than there was years ago.
“Before they would come with a stick of gum,” Mifsud Jr. said. “Now they are doing different promotional things.”
One of those things was taking a game-used $10,000 Babe Ruth bat and grinding it up into thousands of wooden pieces. Those pieces were then placed into random card packs. A pack with one of those coveted wood chips is worth $1,000 today.
“Most traditionalists would wonder why they would destroy the bat. But most people would never be able to afford a $10,000 bat so this is a way for the average fan to have a piece of that,” Mifsud Jr. said. “They’ve also done things like this with game-worn jerseys too.”
For comic book collectors there are new and old ones in Bill’s Bullpen too. Some of them date all the way back to 1938 and include both Lois Lane and old Batman issues.
And if there is something ultra rare or unique that someone wants they’ll go out of their way to locate it.
“I never say no to a sale,” said Bill Jr. “If I can’t find it, I will try my best locate it. I’m usually able to locate most items.”
It’s that type of dedication to customer service that has helped the small shop flourish in the community.
In 1993, the Mifsud’s opened another shop just like the Fourth Street location on the south side of Hollister. It was located between Larry’s Liquors and Neighborhood Pizza. But after a change in the lease agreement a year ago, the Mifsud’s decided to close it down and focus on the store that has been theirs since day one.
The Bullpen is busy year-round.
“At Christmas time we tend to sell more novelty items and after people get their income tax returns back they have more money and we tend to sell more of the higher-end stuff. It changes throughout the year,” Mifsud Jr. said.
But the one thing that doesn’t change is the store itself.
“We’ve seen Hollister grow over the years,” Mifsud said. “We’ve seen people come in here as children and now they come in here with their own kids. One of the things that we try and do here is create an environment to explore and develop hobbies while being a place where others can relive their childhood memories.”
