I have never shown a page from my Night Card binder in the history of this blog.
That is mostly because I am loathe to show a page in which a spot is missing. The beauty of a night card binder is seeing the lights and stars lit up on every pocket of the page, burning brightly against a blanket of darkness.
For a long time -- two years now -- I've been aware that I have the ability to complete the first page in my binder. It's been missing one card for that long.
That card is card No. 4. It's been a tricky one.
In 2013, two night cards that were both card No. 4 appeared almost immediately. One is the Opening Day card of Matt Dominguez. But somehow, Topps made Dominguez look almost grotesque as he strains to throw the ball to first. I didn't want that to have any part of my binder.
The other card is the one that you see here. Yadier Molina is my least favorite catcher since Jorge Posada retired. And then Topps has to throw Adam "Mickey Mouse" Wainwright in the photo, too. Not good. Not good that they're celebrating. Not good at all.
But I neeeeed that first page to be complete.
So I've finally decided to agree to let Molina into the binder. There has to be another, better, No. 4 night card around somewhere and I can use this as a space filler in the meantime.
And that allows me to show page No. 1 of my Night Card binder. Finally.
That is beautiful. And even more beautiful in person.
Here is the rundown for those too blinded by the brilliance:
1 - Manny Ramirez, Stars of Tomorrow, 1994 Upper Deck Fun Pack
2 - Johnny VanderMeer's 2nd straight no-hitter, 1994 Upper Deck Heroes
3 - Manny Mota, 1979 Highlights, 1980 Topps
4 - Yadier Molina, 2013 Topps
5 - Carlton Fisk, 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces
6 - Chase Utley, Stadium Lights, 2011 Opening Day
7 - Brent Mayne, 2000 Fleer Tradition Update
8 - Adrian Gonzalez, Stadium Lights, 2011 Opening Day
9 - Stan Williams, 1972 Topps
And, to show that there's no monkey business (and because no one ever shows the backs), here's the reverse side:
Upper Deck has a problem orienting its backs correctly.
Just as an aside, I reserve a couple of pages for special night cards that don't make the frankenset portion of the binder, but they're too good to throw in a box. And there is a "1 through 9" card that is one of those special cards.
This is a homemade card sent to me about four years ago from Sean of Condition: Poor. He hasn't blogged for over a year, but he made some of the best custom cards around.
So, I'm happy with my decision to finally invite Yadier Molina into the binder. Once again, it's a beautiful page.
But I am already searching for his replacement.
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Night Card binder candidate: Yadier Molina, 2013 Topps, No. 4
Does it make the binder?: Just wrote a whole post about it.
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