Night Owl Cards

  Since the beginning of this "Firsts" series six-plus years ago, it's been about looking back on various firsts in my life. I've meant it to be a handy reference guide as my ability to recall gets progressively worse as the years go on.   So each of the previous six firsts have been about first-time moments of the past. This latest episode will be the same, but I wanted to start it off by mentioning that I'm actually looking forward to a first instead of looking back.   It should be happening next year but I won't go into it more than that because it's not a sure thing right now. Still, 2027 should be handy for recognizing milestone firsts in a few different ways. One of them is that next year will mark the 50th anniversary of watching my favorite team in the World Series for the first time. (See the program above)   But let's get into some random past first once again. These have all come to me stream-of-consciousness-like as I was preparing for thi...

   Here is what I know about the 1940s, off the top of my head:   World War II, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, the atomic bomb. Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. The Dodgers' emergence as an iconic baseball team. I can name all the World Series matchups, though you might have to give me some time on 1942, 1943. Mickey Owen's dropped third strike. Cookie Lavagetto, Bill Bevens, Al Gionfriddo's catch. Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak and Ted Williams hitting .406 in 1941. I know most of the stars of 1940s MLB.   The Andrews Sisters. Glen Miller's Orchestra. My grandmother used to talk about Glen Miller a lot. Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby. The songs that played on WECK in Buffalo in the 1980s, which were the "golden oldies" of that time (as opposed to "oldies," which was '60s music). It's A Wonderful Life. White Christmas. Johnny Marks' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.   I know my mom was born in the '40s. So was my uncle. He's...

   When you hit 60, even if you look and feel pretty good for you age, there are constant reminders, whether they are physical, mental or social, that you are old.   They show up more frequently, too, and that's why I take solace in the tiny, almost meaningless factoids that show that I'm still not as old as that .   An example is the designated hitter. For as long as I have been following baseball there has always been a designated hitter. I've been watching baseball for 50 years, and a DH has been a fact of life for every one of those years. I haven't known a time when there wasn't one. So at least I've never experienced that, though I would've liked to.   I recently thought of this when I came across this 1979 Danny Goodwin card again. It's fairly well-known because the designated hitter is doing something that a designated hitter is known for not doing -- donning a glove and throwing a ball. DHs always have a bat. Where's Goodwin's bat?   I w...

  I received an unexpected quick flyer in the mail last week from reader Grant. Of the variety of items in the envelope, very few were cards.   Just two, in fact. One was this 2025 Topps Cosmic Chrome Josh Allen card. I consider it good luck because the package arrived on Thursday, mere hours before Allen and the Bills beat up on the Lions defense. (I know, not difficult to do).   This was the other card, a Heritage buyback, a.k.a., someone/something stamped Rick Auerbach's 1976 Topps card.   This is just my second '76 Heritage buyback, as only 1975 cards get the collecting treatment in this house. But I certainly will take any stamped Dodgers, no matter the year.   And that was it for the cards.   But there was more and I consider it the highlight of the envelope.     Those are wax pack wrappers -- from my prime collecting time -- and a couple are from sets that I never collected as a kid -- because I never saw them for sale.   For informati...