Night Owl Cards

You can expect to see this card again in December. Look at all those Jingle Bells colors. It's Christmas in July! Makes me think it's going to snow even though it's 91 right now and hasn't rained for weeks. I present this card to you while not exactly in a "Look! Manny Ramirez never played for the A's!" frame of mind. It's kind of fun, much like the old '70s days in which Bill Grief appeared as an Expo even though he never played for them, or Bud Harrelson as an Astro, or innumerable Blue Jays and Mariners in the 1977 set. But it's kind of frustrating in that it's a bit of fiction in your team binder while middle relievers remain total non-entities to Topps. But Topps has toyed with Manny's cards for so long now -- removing umps entirely, leaving umps' disconnected legs -- that I'm getting bored with it. I can't even get fired up trying to determine when this photo actually took place. My theory is Ramirez is actu...

A couple of relative newbies to the group-break hosting experience are teaming up to offer a two-for deal. Join Fantastic Catch's group break , and get a buck off of joining Crackin' Wax's group break . Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. And I know what you're saying. So how come you're not joining then? Well, nosy Nelly, not that's it's any of your business, but I'm reserving my card money for very specific card wants at the moment. I can't say more than that. It will all become clear in the weeks to come. But right now, I just don't have any extra cash for group breaks. What? You have another question? When am I going to host a group break? Ho-ho! What a question! I don't ever plan to host a group break. I have too many expectations and demands on me as it is. Ain't no way I'm going to be responsible for people's card gambling habits. Plus, you have never seen "please join my group break" begging n...

"Making your way to the States today takes everything you've got. Getting away from identity fraud sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to play the game? Sometimes you want to go ... Where nobody knows your name, But Tribe fans are sorta glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, You're no longer the one to blame You wanna be where nobody knows your name. You wanna go where people know, people know how to play the game, You wanna go where nobody knows your name." ( News item: Fausto Carmona ... er, Roberto Hernandez ... obtains his visa and joins the Cleveland Indians, but first must serve a three-week suspension by Major League Baseball for age and identity fraud). (The original  Cheers theme song  -- the best TV theme song ever -- was written by Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo)

I wasn't going to do a breakdown of the game I went to last night. Everyone reading this has been to a baseball game before -- multiple times -- including myself. But, no matter how many times I go, I always find something interesting -- usually something I've never seen before -- and that was the case again Friday night. So here is a top 10 on what was Interesting To Me at last night's Norfolk Tides-Syracuse Chiefs baseball game: 10. Jamie Hoffmann: Hoffmann was one of two former Dodgers to play in last night's game. You'll read about the other one later. Hoffmann had some enjoyable moments for the Dodgers in 2009, but now he's kicking around on the Orioles' Triple A team. He started in right field and went 2-for-4 with a triple. My daughter only knows him as "The Former Dodger." 9. Pink batters boxes: It was Breast Cancer Awareness Night at Alliance Bank Stadium. The Chiefs wore uniforms with pink accents on the jersey. Some of...

I'm at the ballpark tonight, taking in my annual Syracuse Chiefs game. Tonight, they're playing the Norfolk Tides, the Triple A team of the Orioles. Former Dodger prospect Jamie Hoffmann is with Norfolk. Other Tides of interest are former Dodger Dana Eveland, collector favorite Pat Neshek, and Nate McLouth. (Brian Matusz is due to get the start for Norfolk against the dreaded TBA). If I happen to bump into one of them at the concession stand, I'll try to get their autograph. But I don't expect that to happen. And I won't hunt them down either. I like to relax at the game. Sit in my seat, keep score for 3 innings before deciding I'm bored with it, grab a hot dog, and bask in the glory of the best sensory experience on the planet. But what are you poor folks going to do while I'm out enjoying the game? I was nice and found some cards for you to view. These are from Cards on Cards . They were part of a cards-for-cards and periodical-for-periodical...

I hate it when the teacher's right. I thought I didn't have any answer for Fuji in his latest contest question. He wanted to know what kind of memorabilia we collect besides cards. I don't collect any memorabilia besides cards. I stopped doing that when puberty hit. I have a thing about too much clutter (a gene inherited from my mom). At an early age I discovered the rush one gets when the garbage goes to the curb. Spring cleaning is a special kind of high that too many collectors never experience. So when I was young -- as I've mentioned a few times -- I collected Matchbox cars and stamps and bottle caps and coins and stuffed animals and baseball yearbooks and newspaper comic strips. Yes, I would cut out the daily Peanuts or Blondie or Hagar the Horrible from the paper and stack them up in desk drawer until I decided after four months that this was stupid and tossed them out. But I hadn't done any of that kind of collecting in years. Decades in fact. I j...