Night Owl Cards

  The cards I am showing here are the polar opposite from the ones I showed on the last post, and that's the theme here. I'm conflicted. I've written many times how I enjoy all kinds of cards and I prefer having a somewhat-open mind toward cards. I don't want to be an old crank who shuns the shiny, and I don't want to be a modern magpie, attracted only to cards of the last 20, 30 years. I try to find things I like in most cards. However, I admit: the cards they're putting out these days? It's so much easier for me to find stuff wrong with those ones. This is the conflict. Why am I collecting cards where the flaws jump out at me? Why not collect cards that make me feel warm-and-fuzzy at all times and always? I battle with my desire to remain updated on the players on the field, especially on my favorite team, and the best way to do that for me -- it's always been this way -- is to collect their cards. So I put on a good front, but actually I'm really ...

  I'm sure this happens to everyone, but when I'm shopping for other people, most of the time I'm also shopping for myself.   During the Christmas season, especially if I'm in a store that sells cards, I'll swing by the card aisle if there is any cash left after shopping for the significants.   And when I'm looking for cards online for someone, I find myself throwing a few things for myself in the cart, too.   Sometimes when you're shopping for someone else, you end up with a card just because! I think that's what happened with the Devin Mann Bowman Platinum autograph card up top. It arrived from The Diamond King .   I had snagged a couple of cards from his most recent Flash Freebie (it pays to look at people's vacation photos, you guys) to distribute in my 5,000-post giveaway and -- what's this? -- it's my second Devin Mann autograph card! (Devin Mann is in his second year of Double A in Tulsa, but I'll ignore that now).   These were all...

  The Dodgers announced yesterday that it will retire Gil Hodges' uniform No. 14 and that the ceremony will take place June 4 when the Dodgers play the Mets. It's been a long time since the Dodgers retired a uniform number. The organization, with one exception, does not retire a number until the person who wore it is elected to the Hall of Fame. I think this is the proper way to retire numbers, rather than the "just-because" reasons that several other baseball teams do. The last time the Dodgers retired a uniform number was on Aug. 14, 1998 when they retired Don Sutton's No. 20. Twenty-four years have gone by since, but, heck, people have been waiting for Hodges to reach the Hall of Fame for a lot longer than that. So I figured I would revive a blog series that I haven't done in years -- just to continue the whole "what you waiting for?" theme. This is where I review all the players who have worn a certain number for the Dodgers. Today we're look...

  We're off to a hotly contested start in the bid to add a fifth card to the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame. In the first vote-off, the 1991 BBM Hideo Nomo jumped out to an early lead and looked like it would hang on for the victory, but the 1980 Topps Highlights Garry Templeton, in the second-place slot for days, made a late charge and pulled out a one-vote victory. Here is the vote total for the first group of cards: 1. 1980 Topps '79 Highlights Garry Templeton, 14 votes 2. 1991 BBM Hideo Nomo, 13 votes 3. 2008 Upper Deck Rookie Exclusives James Hardy, 10 votes 4. 1991 Score Rick Dempsey, 8 votes 5. 1993 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes Joe Black, 3 votes 6. 2013 Chattanooga Lookouts Luis Vazquez, 2 votes 7. 2009 Bowman World Baseball Classic Gift Ngoepe, 1 vote 8. 2011 Pacific Coast League Top Prospects Eric Thames, 0 votes   So, the Templeton card takes its place in the second-round of voting.   We're still in the first round here and will be for the next seven weeks. ...

A couple of blog housekeeping notes: First, an update on the 5,000-post repack giveaway. I have sent out 11 of the 20 packages. Another is packaged and another is selected. I'm currently selecting winner No. 14's cards. Also, today's the last day to vote in the first round of the Cardboard Appreciation Hall of Fame series. If you haven't voted yet, copy and paste this link and vote!: https://vote.easypolls.net/6286614c5617e80062aee2cf  EDIT: POLL HAS CLOSED ).   Way back when I wrote the 1975 Topps set blog, I mentioned how much I liked the '75 Rick Auerbach card as a kid . Really, I shouldn't have liked it at all. It's a Dodger, surrounded by Giants colors. But I loved the orangey glow, it reminded me of my favorite drink of that time -- root beer -- and, heck, it was the '70s, that color combination was in everyone's house. It's also a great example of the color clash that is all over '75 Topps. I submit that the Auerbach card would not ha...