Alive

I just got finished watching the Dodgers game. I was fully prepared to post no matter what the outcome, but I had different posts set up depending on a win or a loss.

The Dodgers did win in the usual excruciating fashion to send the NLCS back to St. Louis (where the fans there apparently bathe in the blood of people who want to see an interesting World Series). This is good because I will be far too busy Friday to go through what will be inevitable agony.

It's also good because I get to show you some cards from a Giants fan in celebration of said victory.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I received a package this afternoon from Adam, one of the few folks out there to admit to being both a Giants fan and a card collector. He runs the ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession blog and does it very well.

His cards arrived about two hours before Game 5 of the NLCS when I was already a wreck. The package included a note.

The end of it read thusly:

"Hoping the Dodgers are close to done by the time you get this (smiley face)."

Isn't that cute.

You do realize, Adam, that this is what spurred the Dodgers to victory this afternoon, right? I whispered your little wish to Zack Greinke and the boys through my TV and you would be amazed what can be accomplished in the digital age.

So after that triumphant turn of events, let's commence the celebration with some Dodger cards direct from Southern California.

I'll start with one of the stars of last night's post. Here is the base card version of Vin. Now I can pair the two cards I have of him up on either side of me and listen to him in stereo.

Such a glorious card. But I'll let you in on a little tragedy. I went to double-check whether I had this card already (I didn't) and I forgot that the other day in an allergy haze, I accidentally deleted the "Dodgers I Collect" page that you once saw in the tabs up top. I can't get it back, which means I have to reconstruct the whole thing from scratch. I'm not looking forward to that.

I'm cleaning up on Hyun-Jin Ryu minis. This is the A&G-backed version of Saturday's Game 7 starter. Yup, there will be a Game 7, just as sure as there will be a Saturday.

OK, now I feel guilty that I said something snarky about the Giants up top. It's so rare to find a new Ron Cey card these days. And I really like this Panini Hometown Heroes set. This and the Golden Age set are by far its best baseball-related sets. I wouldn't miss any of the other stuff if it disappeared tomorrow, but this is pretty terrific.

Here are two more Dodgers from my rooting heyday. I forgot how many Dodgers are in this set. I know there's a Puig and a Kershaw. But I think I've just received the three best cards there are.

One complaint, though. The backs are way too hard on the eyes (the readability is much worse in person). My eyesight is pretty damn good, even at my age, but this does not make want to look at the card back. I'd have to go into a dark room afterward.

This is from an insert set called "Curtain Call." This card makes me want to find a 1950s diner, order meat loaf and an ice cream soda and listen to Tab Hunter (look it up, all you "Nirvana is old school" types).

Now this card actually IS the '50s. It's the real thing from 1958!

Just last week I put this on my want list because I sometimes accidentally leave out the combo cards and it took me like three years to figure out this was one I had left off.

This card sure does have a weird title, "Boss and Power," but you can't argue with the Duke and Smokey.

I also can't argue with how cool these cards are. I'm hoping that Adam's move to L.A. territory means easier access to Dodger cards. I certainly have no trouble pulling Giants, so we probably can keep this thing going until the Dodgers win another World Series.

Yup, you read right.

I may be cocky right now. But I'll never be confident.