Night Owl Cards

Sheesh. It's these guys again. Haven't they learned from last year ? You don't go around bashing heads with baseball bats on New Year's Eve. It's just uncool. But before you have to return your tux, I thought I'd regale you with a tale of the past year, Night Owl style. I don't know if it was as interesting as 2010, but it sure had its moments. Fortunately, it had its share of baseball cards, too. Which is the reason we're all doing what we're doing. So, pour your favorite beverage, grab yourself some disgusting food (pickled herring? Really?), and let me bore you with some ancient news from a whole year ago. Hey, it could be worse. I could be predicting what will happen in 2012. JANUARY While berating myself on the way back to the car after purchasing Bowman Platinum at Wal-Mart at 2 in the morning , the spectre of the most horrifying-looking ballplayer in the major leagues appeared from behind a row of shopping carts. I immediatel...

(I just read a lighthearted column in the paper about how this week is "the week that nothing happens." Speak for yourself, missy. The show goes on where I am, only with less people because of vacations, and more basketball scores to take over the phone. It should be the week that nothing happens. But it's not. ... Anyway, let's appreciate some cardboard. This is the 130th in a series): Not a lot of time again today, so let's see if I can squeeze in some half-brained thoughts before I get interrupted. This is the card to which I was referring in the previous post. It is about as obvious an advertisement for a product that I have ever seen on a baseball card. Advertisements on cards are a lot more common than they were 10, 20, 30 years ago. That's mostly because advertisements at ballparks are much, much, much more common than they once were. And, I think it's also because Topps now has little problem with showing ads on its cards. Although it's ...

Not a single Allen & Ginter card made it onto the list of the best cards of the past year. That's not too much of a surprise since many of the cards in A&G -- especially of the baseball players -- look the same. But when A&G zaps us with a revolving door card or a Pluto card, that is when it is at its best and ends up on the countdown. Unfortunately, the closest 2011 A&G came to inanimate objects on cardboard is the chair propping up Kristi Yamaguchi. Red chair is just not going to cut it for the best of the year. So, it's all ballplayers this time around. I just know that breaks some of your hearts. Like past " best ofs ," I have eliminated any parallel or hit cards for consideration, since the countdown is meant to recognize the photo itself, not the gimmick. However, as usual, the first five cards in the countdown mention some specific trend of 2011 that I liked. So, let's get to it: 20. Topps Diamond Giveaway diecut cards: I h...

Card #1: I am now CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED to complete the always-planned-but-much-procrastinated trifecta of Best Glasses In The History Of Baseball Cards posts. ( Post 1 , Post 2 ). Once I received this card, I fully expect it to win the third and final countdown. If it doesn't, it means I have either gone on an online frenzy to find other freakishly bespectacled ballplayers, or I particularly hate the Braves on that specific day. Card #2: Look! Curt Motton is wearing a cap with a refrigerator magnet "M" taped to it! What? That's an airbrush job? Well, OK. But I liked it better when I thought he was wearing a refrigerator magnet on his cap. Card #3: ... ... There is no card number 3. I'm sick of paying shipping. But now you know why I must order these two cards. And THEN I'll be done.

Not much time today. But I wanted to let people who are interested know that I have begun updating some of the tabs on the 1985 Topps blog . It will give you a little bit of an idea of what I'm going for on the blog, besides cards. Hopefully, I can keep it going. I still don't plan to post any card entries there until some point in January. I haven't even scanned the first card yet. But for those who might be unfamiliar with the '85 Topps set -- and that seems incredibly unlikely -- here is a look at the back of a typical card: As far as the look of the card back, it's not too exciting. Christmas colors. A red-on-green format that is difficult to read. Out-of-date trivia question. The best part of the card back is that some of the write-ups give you some personal insight into the ballplayer, which was a departure from many of the Topps card backs that immediately preceded the '85 set. Back then, whenever I read something like "the former C...