My patriotic duty

I turned on the heat in my car this evening. Can you believe that? It's July 4th. With the way this summer has been, we're going to be grilling for warmth on the holiday. Today it rained all day. And it was a cold rain. With wind. So far in the Northeast, April has been three months long.

But I won't let the weather spoil my Independence Day. There will be hot dogs, hamburgers, fried dough, amusement park rides, water rides and fireworks (my brother-in-law oversees the show at the park). And I can't think of a more American thing to do than post about a baseball card package received in the mail! Why, it's practically my patriotic duty!

This package is from Mark of Stats on the Back, who last I knew was off to Europe. Spending the 4th in a different country is something I'm familiar with, although I was in less distant surroundings. I partied with friends in Montreal on our nation's 214th birthday.

Mark sent some Dodger needs and another appropriate card that I'll show at the end.

First a 2008 Opening Day card of Martin. I'm thinking Topps' choice of magenta, or whatever color this is, killed the set for this year. They can claim it's the economy all they want, but when you pick a color like that for a set, you need to take a year off to collect your thoughts.

Mark finished off two Fleer Dodger sets for me. The first is 1986 Fleer, a set that I totally forget about when I'm thinking of 1980s sets. I collected none of it, and all those Fleer and Donruss sets of the mid-80s blend together so much that I'm constantly confusing one with another. Some of these are from the traded set, too.

Here are the last ones I needed to finish off 1987 Fleer. Now this is a set I like a lot. There is a lot of love among bloggers for 1987 Topps and 1987 Donruss. I like 1987 Fleer. I like the look of it much more than the other two. You can't go wrong with baby blue (unless you're 1992 Donruss).

Another cool Hideo Nomo card for the collection. This is from '97 Donruss.

Here a couple of appreciated 1974 Topps Dodgers for my team binder as I've collected the full set. Richert is probably most noted for being one of the players added to deals for major sluggers. He was traded from the Dodgers along with Frank Howard to the Senators in 1964. Then, in 1971, he was traded along with Frank Robinson from the Orioles back to the Dodgers.

Lastly, Mark sent this card, which he featured on his blog not too long ago. It's from the "Night Gamers" insert set from Upper Deck Vintage in 2002. You'd think that someone who yammers about night cards as much as I do would have all these cards already. But I only found out about these cards a few months ago, and this is my first one. These cards came out when collecting was dead to me. So I've got a lot of work to do on this insert set.

Mark also sent a note saying his Mets were 26-20 in night games, the best mark in the NL East. I don't know what their record is now, but I'm guessing it's not quite as good. Every time I watch that team they're making some frightful mistake.

So, Mark, maybe going to Europe to get away from the Mets is a good thing. Thanks for the cards and enjoy the trip.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of other small items to mention. First I wanted to post one of the team cards in this year's Upper Deck OPC set. A lot of folks have mentioned how much they like the team stadium photos. I like them, too.

Then I saw the card of Oakland's stadium, Network something-or-other:

Apparently, Upper Deck's photographers were locked out of the stadium. What is this? That's the dullest stadium shot I've ever seen. I could drive to a town down the road, take a photo of the cheese-making plant there, and except for the A's logo, it would look almost identical to this.

This does not say, "Play Ball," at all.

Finally, one programming note. I am on board with a number of bloggers in Beardy's fantastic "Gint-a-Cuffs" Allen and Ginter box battle.

I will be putting what I know will be a spectacular box up against my competitors' puny and putrid A&G boxes in a contest that will be impressive in its sheer one-sidedness. How do I know that? Because I plan on pulling NO Yankees cards. Absolutely none. I'm working on a formula that will transform Yankees cards into cards of players on teams that people, you know, actually like.

Don't worry, this will all be done within the bylaws of the Gint-a-Cuffs rule book. In other words, I'll just bribe Beardy with a Cal Ripken card and everything will be cool.

So tune in for that whenever my box arrives. It will be epic.

Have a wonderful 4th!