Damn Yankees

I was genuinely excited to get this card the other day. Do you know how ill it makes me to admit that?

It's Bucky Bleeping Dent! I'm not supposed to like this guy! I don't like this guy. But that's how the Yankees get you. It's another one of their insidious plots to drive everyone who roots against the team crazy. It's sinister, it's evil. It's so, so, Steinbrenner.

This all stems from my childhood growing up in New York state. I've lived in Yankee country all my life. But I knew at an early age that I didn't want to be a Yankee fan. Even as a kid I noticed that the Yankees attracted almost all the mean kids. Bullies were Yankees fans. The loudest, rudest kids seemed to be Yankees fans. There were a lot of nice kids who were Yankees fans, too, but all I could see were the loudmouths.

Surrounded by these Yankees types, I could never hold on to any Yankees cards. This was the late 1970s, a time of Yankees excellence. So, anytime I pulled a Munson or Jackson or Nettles, I traded it immediately for some Dodger cards I wanted.

The demand for Yankees was so high, that when I would split my cards up by team, I'd average maybe 15 or 16 cards for your average team, nearly the whole set for the Dodgers, and like four cards for the Yankees. To this day, for 1977 Topps -- a set I haven't collected a bit since that year ended -- I have three Yankees. That's it. Munson, Randolph and Roy White.

So, because of that, this is what happens: When I do acquire a Yankee card from the late '70s, it's as if I've discovered a rare find. These Yankees cards were virtually snapped out of my hands from the moment I pulled them out of the pack, and I never saw them again. And you know what happens when you get a card years later that you never saw before. It's almost as if you value it more, no matter who the player.

So, that's what it's come to: I'm treating Yankees as valuable finds. Ugh. I think I'm going to throw up.

OK, the feeling's passed. But only because I know the Yankees got thumped in their stadium debut.

Bo of Baseball Cards Come to Life!, who I believe is a Yankee fan, sent me four 1979 Yankees cards that I needed (heck, I need almost all of the '79 Yankees). Bleeping Dent was one of them. Here are the others:

But I think I've spent way too much time on the Yankees. On to a team that really matters.

Here are some '80s Dodgers that I needed. Bo sent these, too.

As well as some '90s Dodgers needs.

And a 2006 Upper Deck Ovation Jeff Kent that is half baseball card, half relief map. Bringing the touchy feely factor into baseball cards is something I can applaud. I like it.

And I like these cards best of all. I can't remember the name of them now. I'm getting old. I know Steve of White Sox Cards told me what they were last time. Hydrox or Oreo or something like that (EDIT: They're Hygrade. Thanks, Bo!) Anyway, I remember seeing them advertised in Baseball Digest or something. You could send away for them. But I never did.

Bo was very astute in his night card selections, sending some great ones. I'll feature two of them here. This Sportsflics card of Buddy Biancalana is both a night card and a daytime card. The photo of him fielding is at night, and the batting shot is during the day. Quite cool.

And here's a night card of a Yankee from 2000 Fleer Tradition, during the most recent period of Yankee domination. But no Yankees fans were after my Yankee cards in 2000. I wasn't collecting then. So there.