Night Owl Cards

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The underdog

I tell ya, clearing snow on a daily basis is not only a lot of work but it's very time-consuming. Where's night owl been? Outside trying to put snow on top of snowbanks taller than me, that's where. So, I don't have a lot here, just some self-examination. I was thinking a few weeks ago about my favorite players when I was a kid. You know some of them. For instance, Ron Cey. He was probably a lot of fans' favorites, but he didn't have nearly as many fans as his teammate, Steve Garvey. Cey was the underdog. I gravitated toward him, probably partly because he wasn't Steve Garvey. My interest in the underdog was even more pronounced when it came to the Dodgers' pitching staff from that time. My favorite was not Don Sutton. Nor was it Tommy John. It wasn't even No. 3 starter, Burt Hooton. No, it was Doug Rau. I can't really tell you why. I just liked him. I think I liked to attach myself to the lesser-known guy and then urge him on to succes...

Modern cards, modern consequences

I can't say there was ever a time when I liked every card that came out of a pack or into my collection. Even in my youngest days of opening packs, between 1974-76, there were cards I didn't like. That was based entirely on the goofy whims of little kids -- what the player looked like, whether they wore a hat, whether they had a "weird" (to us) name. As I grew older, my dislikes were based on other ideas: what team they played for, whether their team had wronged my team and sometimes the behavior of the player on the field, which was mostly confined to Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose. Now my card dislikes can come from a host of reasons: certain teams and behaviors, sure, but also what card brand it is, what ridiculous parallel it is, and -- here's something we never considered as kids -- what those players say and how they act off the field. It's safe to say that we know too much and it's affecting the way I feel about the cards that arrive at my hom...

Hitting a new low

My place of residence hit a new low for degrees below zero early Saturday morning. Don't get excited, that's for the season, I've experienced 40 below previously, though thankfully that was back in the '90s. But 22 below does cause you to ponder a few things. That is, until two days later when you get hit with a foot-and-half of snow and the brain switches into physical labor mode. One of those things I pondered was a sometimes series I've done on this blog, and by "sometimes" I mean twice. I did it once in 2014 and once in 2021 . I would've done a few more of them but I tend to forget. Probably all that snow. The series is based on what I used to do with my cards as a youngster: I'd go through an entire set and determine which players had the worst career batting averages. I'd place the 10 worst on the floor and then slide the cards over as a new contender entered the bottom 10. So in 2014 I determined the bottom 10 for 1979 Topps. ...

More eclectic than most

What would you say collectors who aren't bloggers think of us collecting bloggers, if they think about us at all? Would they think we're wildly dedicated to the hobby? Probably not. But we are. Would they think we're wasting our time, writing a bunch of words nobody has time to read anymore? Maybe. Would they think we're stodgy, focused only on old cardboard (defined as anything before the '90s) and traditional ways of collecting -- buying packs, holding on to base cards. Some would, I think. But I happen to think that card bloggers have the most varied and interesting collections. Sure, there's a bit of pack rat in all of us collecting bloggers, but those hoarded stacks of cards are so damn fascinating. In this world of specialization -- just take a look at what the grading aspect of the hobby focuses on -- I'm glad my collection is eclectic. It's not as eclectic as some but it's more eclectic than most. All I need to do is look through...

Boxed out

I've done a fairly good job of avoiding the blaster purchase over the last four or five years. Once a standard pick-up, I gradually pulled away due to blaster-exclusive "manufactured relics," then general unavailability during the pandemic, then a hike in price and the repeated frustration of pulling Marlins and Diamondbacks. There are really only 3 times out of the year that I respond to the blaster siren call: When the new Topps flagship comes out, when new Heritage comes out, and when I get a gift card for Christmas. (Keep in mind I was regularly buying multiple blasters a week a dozen years ago). The Target Christmas gift card arrives when I'm at my weakest. Typically at the holiday I haven't received any separate cards as gifts and I've also avoided buying cards during the holiday season so I can purchase gifts for others. The gift card gives me permission because I haven't opened packs in soooooooo long. So that lengthy intro was intended ...