Night Owl Cards

I am joining trade post forces today. I know I said I'd do less of this, but these trades are perfect for a combined trade post. There aren't a lot of cards I need to show for any of them, and yet everyone deserves their turn. Besides, it's the weekend. Time to relax the rules. So let's smush all these trade packages together and see what we get. Up first is a giveaway package from Grand Cards . He had lots and lots of junk wax/current cards to give away, including Dodgers. I thought a long time about this before I took the plunge and said I wanted the cards. I have enough junk wax Dodgers to keep a fire going until the next time the Cubs win the World Series. But I went ahead and told the delivery truck that "yes, this IS the correct address." And boy did I get a bunch of Dodger goodness. Unfortunately, I've seen just about all of it before right in my very own home. Strangely, the only cards that I did not have had a Russell Martin theme. Th

Let's face it, there really is only so much you do with the back of a card. Many of the card backs over the years look the same, especially when it comes to Topps. And that's because Topps found a formula that worked fairly well. Topps would put the name up top, list the vital stats immediately underneath, list the year-by-year stats underneath that, and position the bio write-up at the the bottom. Then there would be a photo or a cartoon to tie it all together. What gets a lot of these formulaic card backs onto this here countdown is a "hook." And in 1995, that hook was the Diamond Vision photo. Diamond Vision, the name for Mitsubishi's large video displays in sports arenas all over the country, first came to my attention in 1980 with the Dodgers' new video display screen. The Dodgers were the first ones to have Diamond Vision and I thought it was the coolest thing to see video displays at a ballgame. Now, it's very commonplace, but at the time,

I am not sure what to do with this card. This card commemorates the disgusting moment in which Eric Gagne, at the height of his invincibility in 2003, gave up a game-winning home run in the eighth inning to Hank Blalock that led to the American League's 7-6 victory. I was at work during this game. I was totally enraged and appalled at the same time. And then I had to write a happy little "A.L. wins weeeeeee!!!!" headline, even though my brain kept screaming: "Hank Who? Hank WHO? HANK WHO??????" Not good times. From that point, I decided I would not work when the All-Star Game was scheduled. It took a couple of years for that plan to come together, but for the last four or five years, I have been on vacation during the All-Star Game, and that works so much better. But back to the card. My Dodger binders are happy little places. They are filled with warm memories and awesome athletes. Even though players like Delino DeShields and Anduw Jones make app

I sure do write about this guy a lot, don't I? Hopefully, this is the last time. While everyone is talking about Strasburg on the Million Card site or in a complete 2010 Topps set or in Topps U&H or whatever, I went the simple route and bought the Syracuse Chiefs team set for a rather inflated 10 bucks. That's 33 cents per card. Or maybe it's 5 dollars for the Strasburg card ... ... another $2.50 for the Drew Storen card, and 9 cents each for 28 scrubs. This Strasburg card is staying with me. Not that it's rare or anything. There were more than a few being sold at the Syracuse Chiefs' game last night. And here was the vendor's chant as he walked up and down the aisles: "Get your scorecards and baseball cards. Strasburg right on top." And Strasburg is. They've got all the other cards in alphabetical order, except for Strasburg, who is conveniently out front. That was the highlight of my pregame purchasing. Once the pla

(Today is "National Milk Chocolate Day." The order of those two words in the middle is important. I detest "chocolate milk." Always have since the time I was little. But "milk chocolate" is the most wonderful invention ever and much appreciated. This is the 74th in a series): If it doesn't rain, I will be attending a minor league baseball game tonight. It's already rained twice here today, but the game is an hour away, so who knows what it will be doing down there. The Syracuse Chiefs are facing the Indianapolis Indians, which doesn't mean much in major league terms, since those are the Triple A affiliates of the Nationals and the Pirates (I bet they pack the house for that series). But, as usual, we will be going merely for the spectacle of a relatively well-played game in my favorite kind of environment, one surrounded by baseball. Jason Marquis is scheduled to make the start for Syracuse. He's on a rehab assignment with the Natio

I was debating with myself the other day, trying to figure out which player to feature next on a "Best of the '70s" post. I eventually decided to make it difficult. I'm going with Jim Palmer. I was never a fan of Palmer. Part of that is because the Orioles are my little brother's team, and when you're growing up it is never cool to like the team your little brother likes. The other part is the reason that I think a lot of people -- even Orioles fans -- couldn't get past: He seemed too perfect. First there was Palmer's incredible pitching talent. Also, from what I understand, he was quite good-looking, judging by all the women who followed him around. I can't tell you how annoying it was to be leafing through my Sports Illustrated only to come across a Jockey ad of a hairy-chested Palmer in his underwear. I couldn't turn the page fast enough. Palmer carried around a "perfect vibe," which apparently didn't thrill his teamm

I believe my anguish over trade posts has officially reached the final stage in "The Five Stages of Grief." You don't believe me? OK, I'll map it out for you: 1. Denial: "Everything's cool. So what if I have eight trades waiting to post? I'll just combine three or four in one post and everything will be fine." 2. Anger: "People don't realize what I have to deal with here! I have so many trades to post! I HAVE to combine them! Screw them. I don't care." 3. Bargaining: "If I make the card packages that I send in return really, really wonderful, then they won't be able to complain about me combining trade posts. All right, now, how much is that rookie Pujols card going for these days ..." 4. Depression: "I just can't deal with posting these trades one post at a time. Why go on? Maybe I'll just scrap trade posts altogether. Thorzul will be happy." 5. Acceptance: OK, I'll make an attem