Night Owl Cards

A little while ago, I received another package from mr. haverkamp from The Bench . All of the cards were from my want list, including some 1971 Topps, for which I am ever grateful. The three cards he sent brings me one card short of 700 for the set, meaning I am just 53 cards away from completion or at 93 percent for those of you who work in percentiles. One of the cards he sent was card No. 1 in the set, the Orioles' team card. Topps was in the habit of featuring the team that won the previous World Series on card No. 1. It was a nice little tradition even if it did last only three years (you probably can pin the blame on Hank Aaron for the end of that run). Getting card No. 1 in any vintage set is a big deal and somewhat of an undertaking. That's because the first card in those sets often features a higher price tag than a similar card (say another team card) that is not card No. 1. If you've never heard this before, go dig up a price guide (I know you've got one ...

I admit that I have favorites when it comes to baseball. I don't mean just a favorite player or team. I mean a favorite type of player. I favor pitchers. And I don't try to hide it. I like pitchers more than hitters. I relate to pitchers more than hitters. I think pitchers are smarter than hitters. Generally speaking. The players that I hold in the most awe, regardless of era, are pitchers. Among my favorite players of all-time are Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux. The 1978 season by Ron Guidry, the 1971 season by Vida Blue, the 1988 season by Orel Hershiser inspire more appreciation in me than the greatest home run performances of all-time. When I go to the ballpark, I want to see 1-0 masterpieces. Leave the 14-13 trainwrecks to the ADD crowd, the rubberneckers who can only pay attention when it's FAST and LOUD. Give me Don Drysdale against Juan Marichal in 1966 when the average runs per game was something like 2.7 per team. So, yes, I freakin...

I have a new way to gauge exactly when everyone is sick of a baseball card product. Here it is: when the product first hits the shelves in my backwater town, that's when those cards are officially the pet rock of the industry. Hell, National Chicle was two baseball card releases ago!!! I counted the number of blogs that I follow that have already featured these cards. I could have missed a couple but I counted 24. Woo-hoo! We're No. 25!!!!!! But a quarter is worth more than a penny, you know. That's my spin and I'm sticking to it. So, yeah, Chicle finally hit extreme northern New York on Friday. Given a choice between loose packs and one of two available blasters, I chose the blaster. I'm not going to collect this set, but I like it enough that I want to see what it's all about in person. And a blaster will help me do that. The only problem is I am unable to say anything new about these cards. Everyone has said it all. Some people like them, some people ha...

I just saw this card image on Ernest's Blue Heaven site. It's from 2010 Topps Series 2. It's one of those cards from the Vintage Legends Collection, an insert series. You know, Cy Young on a 1987 Topps card, Campanella on a 1979 Topps, etc., etc. Some of these are annoying, some I have no problem with at all. Kind of fun. Kind of unnecessary. Whatever. But take a good look at the design on this card. It's the 1976 Topps design. Why it was used with a Jackie Robinson card, I don't even think Topps could tell you. The Dodgers cards from 1976 used red and blue colors for the bars at the bottom. You might think I'm going to complain about Topps choosing pink again for the Dodgers (incidentally, pink and orange was used with the Indians and Astros in 1976). Nope, I've railed my last rail on that. Instead, take a look at the position logo. Note that it says "outfielder," which is where Robinson played quite often during the later stages of his car...

MONDAY: TUESDAY: WEDNESDAY: THURSDAY: FRIDAY: Guess which day I have off? (And if you don't guess Friday, I'm sending Geronimo after you).

I am relieved to report that the 1976 Topps Carl Yastrzemski left the other '70s Yazzes in his dust during the just completed poll. Twenty-two votes went to what will now be known as the best Carl Yastrzemski card of the 1970s. Forty-five total votes were cast, which is a respectable number. I guess. For a non-chick poll , anyway. Far, far behind in second place was the 1973 Yaz. I don't fully understand the interest in this Yaz. But the 1973 card brought in seven votes. The 1975 Yaz finished third with four votes. Meanwhile, the '76 Yastrzemski has taken its place on the sidebar with the other "Best of" selections. As always, thanks for voting. Now, I've mentioned how much certain Yaz cards mean to me, like the '76 and '78 cards. (The 1980 card is very cool, too. I agree). But there's another Yaz card that marked a key moment in my development as a card collector. It is the 1982 Donruss card. I pulled this card when I was 16 years o...

The debut of the trade map worked pretty well. I ended up completing a trade with someone from Virginia finally, and I filled in another state. Now, if I can find someone from the Rocky Mountains (come on Helton fans!), I will consider this map a REAL success. Ryan, from "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog, responded to the map call, which is kind of fitting, because when I found out what team he collected, I might have said, "'O' No!!! Another Orioles Collector." Obviously, Ryan has a sense of humor considering his blog name, so I thought I'd humor him and try to dig up some Orioles. Amazingly, my mom was right. I WAS surprised by what I could find when I look for things. I actually turned up some Orioles for Ryan. And I didn't grumble nearly as much about it as when I was a kid. Days and days have gone by since I received his corresponding cards in the trade. It's about time I feature a few items here. At the very least it's a reminder tha...