Night Owl Cards

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The silly season for baseball cards

Apparently "silly season" has a lot of definitions. I know it primarily from golf. The "silly season" for the PGA and LPGA is around now/the end of the year, when random tournaments, like the Shark Shootout, are played in the offseason. In baseball-card collecting, I consider the silly season as whenever Topps Update is released. It used to be a little more clearly defined. Update was released in October or November and not many other baseball card sets were released around it. This year Update was released in mid-October. Then, two weeks later, Allen & Ginter, which used to come out in July, was released. Stadium Club is about to drop and then Chrome Update shortly after that and Holiday shortly after that. So silly season was pretty quick (although I'm sure some would lump Chrome Update and Holiday into silly season, too). But the beauty of silly season in cards is it returns every time you open a pack of Topps Update! The set is stuffed with filler and

Wrapping up World Series week

Just one more World Series-related post to finish off the week. I can tell by the views that people no interested in my Series discussions, but I wouldn't be a fan if I didn't write about my team when it gets to the championship and wins. What am I supposed to do, discuss Topps Update? That's what the offseason is for. I don't know when the next time the Dodgers will reach the World Series will be (and judging by some fans' typical reactions, I may not want to write about them if they win again next year), so I'm taking advantage. This post will tie up some loose ends and thoughts about the Series. First off, I need to mention "the blob" and "the king of the hill" on this post. Long-time readers will know that "the blob" is the player that makes the last out in the World Series. It comes from when I was a kid and me and my brother would determine "the blob" each year. I most-recently updated the World Series blobs

Not scary at all

So it's the wee hours of the morning in the hazy afterglow of celebrating the Dodgers' World Series title over -- can you believe it? -- the Yankees. It was a quiet celebration. Just my wife, who was rousted out of bed by a text from my daughter that basically said "GET UP, THE DODGERS ARE DOING SOMETHING!", and me, who raced home from work to see the on-field celebration. Prior to that, I was in my office, sweating through the final innings. I wasn't that busy, so I had plenty of time to check for updates. I tell you, for a five-game World Series, that was a little too much drama. In the eighth inning, I couldn't take it anymore and walked out to talk to a co-worker who couldn't care less about the game. I wanted her to take my mind off of it, and she did, talking about high school soccer playoffs, of all things (usually that would put me right to sleep but I needed anything off-topic to distract me). But then I heard the game calling me and I went

61 years ago

I'd like the Dodgers to sweep tonight, but I'm not confident about it. The Yankees would really have to be in rough shape to lose to Brent Honeywell Jr. and friends. But it could be one those 13-11 games, so there's a shot, and if it's going to happen it will be the second time the Dodgers have swept the Yankees in the World Series. The first happened in 1963. I wasn't around in '63. So I've often wondered what that was like. The Dodgers sweeping the Yankees on the grandest stage is my dream come true (why it needs to happen today ). Damn, the only time in my life I've wished I was 10 years older. All I can do is read about it . And go back in time thee way only my little blog can do to see what life was like 61 years ago. Since this is a card blog, I'll address the card portion first. In 1963, the Topps monopoly was picking up steam with only Fleer mounting a minor challenge. Fleer put out a dandy little set in 1963. (The green card backs might