Ah, 1998, an epic year in the night owl timeline. But baseball cards didn't have anything to do with it. I was five years into my collecting hiatus. The year is legend because I became a dad. I am sure I watched some of the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race with a baby in my arms. Somewhere in the summer of 1998, my wife and I were wheeling that baby in her stroller while walking through a mall, I don't remember which one. We walked into a chain book store -- I don't remember which one -- and I spotted Topps cards on one of those islands near the front of the store. They were packs of 1998 Topps. OK, sure, I'll grab a couple of packs and see what cards look like in the year 1998. I recall thinking they were OK, nothing special. They certainly didn't break my hiatus, which lasted for another eight years, give or take a pack or two. I had no idea how active the hobby was at that time -- the number of sets and companies and "innovation." It was a year...
This morning, I sent off my "response" to the cards I received from Matt during the most recent Diamond Jesters Time Travel Trade . That means I can post what I got, guilt-free. Often when I claim cards from the vast Time Travel inventory they are not related to any set I'm chasing and rarely Dodger-oriented. In fact there's seemingly no rhyme or reason to why I chose them, like I'm randomly gobbling them up. But there is always a reason. Always. Let's see what those reasons are, unveiled in beautiful backlit words for the whole world to see. I shall go chronologically: 1964 Topps Jerry Adair Probably no need to justify picking up a vintage card, but 1964 has never been on my list to complete. I wanted this rough-and-ready version of the Jerry Adair card because this card is one of the ones I picked up at a card show 11 years ago that featured written updates on the fronts. My copy includes "+SS" written in pen underneath 2nd base. ...