Paddling as fast as I can

Who was the first person to come up with "The days are just packed" saying? Was that from the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip compilation? Or did Mr. Watterson take it from somewhere else?

At any rate, it accurately sums up things around here. The busy season at work and at home is winding down, so now I'm trying to catch up. I have lots of card packages to blog about and lots of trades to straighten out.

One request: if you don't have a want list on your blog yet, please, please, think about adding one. My brain is getting older by the minute and without a want list to check, I lose track of exactly what everyone needs. That's especially true with certain teams, like the Mets and Red Sox and Orioles, in which I'm dealing with multiple fans. (Meanwhile, I'm trying to add to my want list bit by bit to hopefully give all you friendly folks a few more options).

I'll be sending out a couple packages later today, a few more later this week and still more next week. Also, I probably won't get to my email again until Thursday, so if you send me something, I'll catch you then.

But that's enough shop talk. I'm here to show cards. There's been an uptick on the trading front, which I love. Later in the week I'll be showing great cards from Motherscratcher, the incomparable Max (who is threatening me with another pile of cards), and Patricia & Lucy. Fantastic stuff.

But the cards I'm featuring now were delivered last week and I'm finally getting to them. These are from Rob, a.k.a. "halos17," and Greg, a.k.a. "beardy," and Paul, a.k.a. "Paul," as in Paul's Random Stuff.

I'll start with Paul, who has been distributing a bunch of 2009 stuff to lucky bloggers. I got the Dodgers. Goody for me.

He sent the silver foil Manny Ramirez Topps Attax card up at the top of the post. He also sent three more regular Topps Attax Dodgers.

Here is Clayton Kershaw and Juan Pierre. I also received a Russell Martin card with the game code on the front. But I'm not giving away the code. It's mine! All mine! I'm going to be playing online later! OK, I'm not really going to do anything of the sort. I just don't want to show the card because the code uglies it up.

Paul also sent a heap of '09 Topps Throwback Dodgers. I believe I officially have all of the Dodgers throwbacks from Series I. That didn't take long at all. I'm still looking for some of the Topps Black Dodgers. I may or may not have some coming in a trade, I can't remember. My brain cells are evaporating at a rapid rate. Anyway, I've posted them in my want list.

The next group of cards come from Rob and illustrate the beauty of the card blog community. I left a comment about having some 1989 Bowman cards on the 1988 Score blog. Rob also made a comment, saw my comment, and contacted me because he's collecting the Bowman set. I sent him a few cards he needed, and he sent some key Dodgers needs.

I'll start with some of my favorite sets. First we have Ken Howell from 1987 Fleer.

I think if I was collecting this entire set, it wouldn't be my favorite anymore. That's because the Dodgers cards in this set beat the britches off most of the other teams' cards. The Dodger colors just go perfectly with this design. I'm slowly chipping away at the Dodgers in the set. Just six more.

Here are probably my two favorite cards from Rob. 1985 Donruss is great set and they don't seem to be all that easy to find. I would love to complete the Dodgers sets from 1984 and '85 Donruss. It might take me a little while.

Another set favorite, 1995 Topps. Wallach cuts my Dodgers needs for this set to seven. I still haven't decided whether I'll collect the whole set. But I really, really, really like the idea of doing it.

These two 1984 cards are part of my quest to complete my Dodger set from this year. I bought the complete set way back in '84, so I can't pull the Dodgers out of a complete set. It's like taking them away from their mama. It's cruel.

A couple of 1989 Upper Deck Dodgers that I need. Getting '89 UD Dodgers is a little like pulling teeth. It's not as bad as 2001 Topps or a couple of other sets, but it just seems like I should have tracked down '89 UD by now. I'm so freakin' lazy.

Here is the only non-Dodger on the post. It's Kurt Miller of Bakersfield West High School. Woo-hoo!

Actually, it's one of the few cards left that I need from the 1991 set (rumor has it four more are on the way). It really bothered me when I collected this set back in 1991 to see photos of players who hadn't even played any pro ball. It still annoys me. And it doesn't seem like it's ever going to go away. If you ask me, it's a plague on collecting. I hate it.

Here are some cards that make me happier. These are cards sent by the prolific Greg Pipitone whose residence is apparently lined with awesome cards. The amount of quality Dodgers that he pulls is astounding, as you'll soon see.

The Erskine card is from the Fan Favorites series, one of this fan's favorite sets. But you will notice it is awfully similar to another card that Greg sent.

Don't you just love it when Topps does that? How long have they been taking photos of ball players? 50-something years? They only have one Erskine photo they can use? Someone needs to restock the archives.

Greg also sent a bunch more of these Topps Archive Dodgers, which replicate the 1953 set. Again, I have no idea what year Topps issued these. 2001? 2003? It drives me a bit batty.

Here's a regular 2009 Upper Deck card of James Loney. Opening Day is just 12 days away! There is so much angst about the Dodgers pitching staff that you hardly hear anything about the rest of the team. Except for Manny, of course. The media won't shut up about him.

Sportswriters need to stop pretending they're writing for People magazine. Keep in mind, this is a sportswriter writing this blog. That's how annoying I find it. The celebrity crap in sports is completely out of hand. Completely.

Here is where Greg "ups his game" so to speak. In the eyes of others anyway. I've already mentioned that I don't understand patch cards. But lots of people go ga-ga over them. It's mystifying. Still, Greg will be happy to know I have another nice Ripken patch card to send him. Again, I pull Ripken cards like crazy.

This patch is from the 1954 All-Star Game in Cleveland. Snider was 3-for-4 with a double in that game. But the National League lost, 11-9.

I like these super shiny refractor cards a lot better than the patches. That means I should be buying more cereal boxes, that feature the refractors, than blasters, which feature the patches. It's probably a smarter move value-wise, too.

Here is the super, great stuff. An Allen & Ginter bat card of Rafael Furcal. This is my first non-jersey relic card from '08 A&G.

And, the best of the best: an autographed A&G card of Matt Kemp. Wow and sweet and awesome and insert your exclamation here! This is my first A&G auto of a ballplayer (yeah, I still have the Lisa Leslie auto). It is very cool of Greg to send this.

It will take me a little while to build up a bunch of Orioles like the ones that Greg sent, but I will be doing so eventually. Greg has just assured himself that he gets the next couple of O's autos/relics I find.

That's a lot of cards from three great collectors. Many, many thanks as always. And if you've made it to the end of this post, you've got a little more time on your hands than I do. But thanks.