Garbage in, garbage out

Have you ever thrown out a card without realizing that you had done so?

If your life is as muddled and agitated as mine, then your response to this question is, "Of course! You fool! Who hasn't done that about 14 times a week? What else are you going to ask, "Have you ever poured syrup on pancakes? Have you ever stood in line behind someone that smells? Have you ever eaten dog food? EVERYONE HAS!"

Um ... OK, it was only once. And I was 10. And it looked like tiny hot dogs.

But, anyway, I've done it a few times. I've probably done it a few other times of which I'm unaware, because the discarded cards are now decomposing in the county dump.

The most recent time was just this past Wednesday. I had just completed writing the Koufax-Kershaw post featuring the cards I received from Dennis. That was my cue to throw out the packaging, the tape, the penny sleeves (I don't need to save those anymore), etc. I also threw out a piece of cardboard that seemed to be just extra material to keep the cards he sent intact.

It wasn't until Thursday when I was carting out the recyclables that this same piece of cardboard fell on the ground. And I noticed the taped edges on the cardboard. Taped edges means only one thing to this Trained Baseball Card Package Opener: CARDS INSIDE!

I grabbed it and sliced open the tape with my nifty where-would-I-be-without-it pocket knife. And out popped my most favorite player of all-time, The Penguin, Ron Cey.

This card is new to me, too. It's from the Donruss Action All-Stars set from 1983. I remember seeing the second year of this set in 1984. I pulled the Pedro Guerrero and Fernando Valenzuela cards from the '84 set back then.

But the '83s missed me completely.

I think these are the first "large cards" that Donruss produced. They're postcard size and I remember them being totally awesome when I first saw them.

Since it's a card from 1983, it's one of the last cards of Cey in a Dodger uniform. He would go on to humor inferior teams after the 1982 season.

That's the back. Cey's entire Dodger career right there.

And I came within hours of throwing it away for good.

This is my 92nd unique Ron Cey card. Because I must have 87 different goals so that I am ensured of completing at least one, I want to reach 100 Cey cards before the end of the year. That shouldn't be too difficult, even though Cey isn't of the era when players received 50 cards a year. And he's not one of Topps' exclusive legends that it must hammer us over the head with either.

But I've already got my eye on a few Cey cards that I don't have. One hundred here I come.

That is, if I can keep from throwing them out.