Too cool

For my wife, the coolest part of me starting up a baseball card blog happened on Friday. That's when a package from John from the U.K. showed up in my mailbox. In the package were Dodger cards. Even my wife, who views my collecting habit as "cute" and then goes about her business, could appreciate what was happening here: I had just received Dodger cards all the way from merry old England.

Never would I ever think that something like that was possible when I started this blog. As John from the U.K. would say, "Great stuff."

He sent me 30 Dodgers, 20 of which I didn't have. I'll be sending out his Red Sox next week. Here's a little of what he sent:

Pedro Martinez, 1993 Upper Deck:

The front of the card is at the top of this post, obviously. But I had to show the back. What a great smile Pedro always had. I always liked him and I always will. A lot more than I can say for Delino Deshields. 1993 Upper Deck is amazing. Far and away, I think, their best 1990s base set.


Matt Kemp, 2008 Topps Heritage:

Kemp, meanwhile, needs to smile more. He's got phenomenal potential. What's not to smile about?


Hideo Nomo, 1998 Score:

Now that is a wafer-thin card. These might be the thinnest cards ever. They feel like they were printed on index cards.

Fernando Valenzuela, 1988 Score:

One thing I've learned from my blog-mates is how nice-looking 1988 Score is. I barely collected cards in 1988 and nothing of Score. I've really grown to appreciate Score's first foray into the hobby. John also sent an '88 Score Dave Anderson.

So the tally on the number of Dodger cards that I've received in the month I've started this blog has now reached: 207. Stunning. Thank you, thank you all.