Fullerton Police Detective Negotiates Some Big Trades in Baseball

Just ask Jack S. Petruzzelli, 36, of Anaheim if he loves baseball.

Then again, you better have the time. Petruzzelli owns more than 1 million baseball cards, which he started collecting at age 6.

“I get kidded a lot,” said Petruzzelli, a Fullerton police detective. He goes so far as to put on his own trading shows featuring such players as Steve Garvey and Jerry Reuss.

“I might say, however, that a lot of grown men are making a lot of money by collecting, selling and trading the baseball cards,” he said. “A lot of adult men still have that boyish craving.”

Besides the vast card collection, which is stored in the garage and closets at his home, he also owns baseball bats, other paraphernalia of the game and several uniforms, such as one once worn by Hank Aaron. He recently traded for Dodger shortstop Bill Russell’s rookie uniform, a birthday present for his wife, Patti. Russell is one of her favorite players. Each uniform is authenticated by the players.

“I would say I’m an avid collector, but by no means am I the biggest. There are people with as many as 10 million in their collection,” Petruzzelli said.

Petruzzelli, who once played high school and college ball but found that he wasn’t sharp enough for the pros, knows several Dodgers and Angels, thanks to his hobby. Many of the pros, he said, are card collectors and look for additions at trading shows, the next set for Jan. 25 and 26 at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel.

“(Dodger pitcher) Orel Hershiser is an avid collector,” he said.

Petruzzelli isn’t alone in his collection venture. His wife, three sons and a daughter are sharp traders, he said, adding that “having the entire family involved is what it’s all about.”

Petruzzelli is reluctant to reveal the worth of his card collection, which is highlighted by a 1934 card of Lou Gehrig valued at $300.

But he did say he is increasing his insurance coverage.

Carole Kulok, 41, of Cypress, who smoked for 27 years and decided to quit during the Great American Smokeout, has entered her seventh week without cigarettes.

And Patrick O’Brien, 10, of Anaheim released a balloon with a card during the Great American Smokeout, asking the finder to quit smoking. The card was mailed back from El Cajon with the message: “We are smart enough not to smoke already.”

When Zoe and Dave Berry of Placentia married 34 years ago, they started taking pictures of themselves for Christmas cards, and as their family grew with three children, they repeated the practice.

But as the children grew and left for college, it became difficult to gather for the picture. Daughter Zail, 25, is in San Francisco and son, Kip, 21, is in San Diego. Son Kris, 27, lives at home.

“I thought about giving it up last year because of the difficulty of getting everyone together,” their mother said, “but the children wanted to keep it going.”

As in past years, their 1985 Christmas card was a family portrait.

When Gordon R. Kreitz was a young man with thoughts of becoming a policeman, his father suggested that he get an education and pursue some other career. After all, the elder Kreitz, a longtime police chief in the Midwest, surely knew what he was talking about. Besides, he theorized, one policeman in the family was enough.

Not so, felt the son. That was 29 years ago and now at age 54, educated and a captain in the Fullerton Police Department, Kreitz announced his retirement, effective Friday.

“Being a policeman is a very respectable profession,” said the Fullerton resident, who has three children and four grandchildren, “but each individual knows when it’s time to retire, and I’m ready.”

Acknowledgments--Zora Perez, 45, who started as a clerk-typist 10 years ago and moved through the ranks to become a buyer in the city’s Finance Department, was named 1985 Placentia Employee of the Year . . . Fullerton attorney Francisco F. Firmat, 35, a Cuban immigrant who became a U.S. citizen in 1961, was appointed to the North Orange County Municipal Court by Gov. George Deukmejian.