6,000

  

This is the 6,000th post on Night Owl Cards. That really feels weird to type.

 

That is such a big number that I could barely find a corresponding baseball statistic to go along with it, which is what I like to do when I reach a round-number milestone on this blog.

 

I did find one -- career total bases. Just four players in major league history have reached 6,000 career total bases. Hank Aaron is the king of total bases with 6,856.

 

The others are Albert Pujols, Stan Musial and Willie Mays, in that order.

 

I couldn't find much more to say about that, so I dug out a favorite card of each player in my collection to go with the respective player's total base total.

 

 

1. HANK AARON, 6856 total bases

 

Naturally, I pulled out my 1956 copy. This is one of the '56 cards landed during the summer of 2020 that kind of let me know I could actually finish this thing.

 

 

2. ALBERT PUJOLS, 6211 total bases

 

This card amuses me because of how few of those 679 home runs came while he was with the Dodgers. (12 of them).

 

 

3. STAN MUSIAL, 6134 total bases

 

Any card with a player handling way too many bats is the best card. I have far fewer Musial cards than I do of the other three players.

 

 

4. WILLIE MAYS, 6080 total bases

 

Probably a surprise I didn't pull out the '56 Mays card, too, but just wanted to mix it up a little.

 

So that's the card portion of this post -- until the very end, anyway. Now for the milestone:

 

I'm feeling 6,000 posts a lot more than I did 5,000 or 3,000 or 500. I like writing here quite a bit and have for two decades, but I can finally feel it wearing on me a little.

 

I don't seem to have the time for regular posting like I always did. I haven't figured out why. I don't feel any busier than at any other point in the blog, but the output says differently. It's a struggle to get to even 3 or 4 posts a week when I once posted 6-7 times a week (and more), year after year.

 

The ideas are still there. They're sitting in a notebook and on sheets of paper right next to me. But I find it more difficult to tackle the more thoughtful/work-intensive/research-filled posts. Those are my favorite posts, too, but they seem more daunting than they once did.

 

I also don't seem to have the enthusiasm for regular blogging and the dedication it takes. Little irritations about the blog world bother me more than they once did and I miss the way card blogging was 15 years ago more and more. These aren't good signs.

 

None of this means I'm disappearing. I just wanted to get down my state of mind in writing, because I've been thinking about this for the last several months. It's good to get it out.

 

What this probably means is fewer posts -- even fewer than the fewer that I've been posting the last year or so. But I think it's necessary, to get my head right about blogging and rediscover my enthusiasm. I'm not going on a hiatus and I won't disappear without notice (that's rude). But, honestly, right now, I don't know how I will get to 7,000 posts. And reaching the next milestone was never a question before.

 

I like to give away some cards with these milestone posts. But I haven't had the energy to get something creative together.

 

So what I have is six vintage cards -- six for each 1,000 posts.

 

One person will get all six cards, if anyone is interested.

 

Just leave a comment on this post that you're entering for these cards. I'll do the usual randomizing at a later date. Also, no anonymous or "unknown" comment entries, they'll be disqualified. You have to have some sort of name in the comment so I can identify you if you win.

 

So, anyway, sorry this isn't all that celebratory. You'll be seeing posts this week like usual. I just wanted to be honest about how things are going with the blog.