Dorky white person lands some cards

The Northeast isn't the most culturally diverse place in the country if you don't live in one of the big cities. I've been surrounded by dorky white people all my life.

I'm not complaining. After all, I'm one of the DWP myself (what tipped you off? The love of baseball, trading cards or newspapers?).

It's just that different cultures take a long time to reach my area, even in the online age. For example, the operator of The Chronicles of Fuji takes time out on his blog to appropriately thank people who have sent him cards. It's an enormous gesture that doesn't get enough credit. Included in the titles of those posts is a familiar, very common, Japanese phrase, "domo arigato," which means "thank you very much" in Japanese.

But that is not what I think of when I hear that phrase. If you're a DWP like me, then you already know what I'm going to write.

This is what it reminds me of:

The most over-the-top arena rock album of the '80s. And that was a decade full of over-the-top music, my friend.

The main single from that album, Mr. Roboto, must use the phrase "domo arigato" 100 times in the song (you count it, I'm not going to). It's where I learned what that phrase meant.

The song is the ultimate in '80s cheese and has been parodied endless times, but I was there for the beginning. I purchased the album in 1983, and I played it on my record player (YES, record player), and I read the liner notes inside the album, which went to great lengths to detail the robot fantasy conceived by Dennis DeYoung.

I always thought that the story they came up with would make a decent movie. I know the video pretty much summed up the whole thing (painfully), but someone could have some fun with the characters, the robots, Dr. Righteous, and turn it into a big, cinematic, display about  ... and I am rambling like a dorky white guy.

Sorry.

How do I get out of this?

Um ...

Well, you're here to see cards sent to me by Fuji. So let's go:

More embarrassment. This card, a card from 1990 Score, stumped me. This item of Orel Hershiser is from something called Scoremasters, and I really should know what that is because it's from 1990 and 1990 has no secrets when it comes to cards. But I have NO IDEA what it is. I'm really too lazy to look it up in my great big book of everything, the card version.

Isn't this lovely? This is the only set ever made that makes me instantly want to hop on one of your friendly, neighborhood online card shopping sites and buy every Baseball Heroes parallel EVER MADE. They are so, so, so, sooooooooo pretttyyyy!

Fuji finished off the '94 Leaf Dodgers set for me, which I'm always confusing with the other early '90s Leaf sets.

He finished off '96 Leaf, too. I made them smaller because the set bores me. And because showing cards three abreast doesn't fit in my blog layout.

See that blueish color on the left of these Ovation cards? I dislike that color intensely. I know it's hard for you to understand how someone can dislike a color so much. But I do. If this color is painted on the walls of your home, you must remove it now before I come over.

I thought I'd show some Adrian Beltre cards because they're so rare. They're like cards of Kevin Brown and Shawn Green and Eric Karros. You never, ever, EVER see them. It's like they short-printed them.

OK, I was kidding about that. Cards of those Dodgers are really plentiful. Just like Dodger cards of Paul Konerko. I once thought such an item was rare and begged for Dodger Konerkos during the early stages of this blog. I hoped that there might be 10 out there. I now have 57.

The number on this card says "283," but in fact it is "283b." Jason Repko shares the same card number as Scott Baker ("283a"). I have no idea if one is rarer than the other, but I was resigned to never owning the Repko card under the assumption that with two cards sharing the same number, one of them MUST be rarer.

This is the last Dodger I needed for 2006 Upper Deck, so maybe my paranoia was spot on.

And now for the greatest card of all-time.

I don't care if there is an actual autographed version of this card out there or if there isn't (the "autograph series III" title puzzles me). That is immaterial. It remains the greatest card of all-time because it is a Jumbo Sunflower Seeds card, it is a Limited Edition (says so on the back), and best of all, Brett Butler is playing for a team called The BRETT M. BUTLERS! It's there right on his jersey!

That is fantastic. And well done, Fuji.

A big domo arigato to you.

And to those others who are wondering, no, I will not show or link to the video for Mr. Roboto. It's in everyone's heads now anyway.

You're welcome. Dorks.