Fellow Supertrader Junior Junkie fired off one last post office salvo before disappearing into the world of first-time parenthood recently.
I completely understand why he did -- who knows when he'd be able to send out packages again? Those babies are harsh taskmasters.
Anytime anyone has a child for the first time, it reminds me of when my daughter was born, and all of the things that went along with it. Sure, there was uncertainty and wonder and endless diaper changing. I always figured that the diaper-changing would be the worst part of new parenthood. But you end up changing diapers so frequently during a single day that it becomes as mundane as anything else you do multiple times a day.
No, it's not the diapering that I remember the most. It's the lack of sleep.
I have never been so tired -- and there are a lot of times when I have been exhausted in a lot of different situations -- than when I was the daddy to a newborn child. You know going in that it's going to happen -- "get your sleep while you can!" everyone says with a chuckle before the kid is born and you chuckle back -- but you have no idea until it actually happens.
I craved sleep when my daughter was a newborn. It was almost the most important thing in the world. I remember going to sleep for an hour and a half, then being woken up by her crying and spending the next three hours figuring out a way to get her to sleep again. I remember watching her during the day, during that period when a baby needs two naps a day, exhausted because she demanded your attention whenever she was awake, practically squealing with glee because it was 10:30 a.m., her nap time, setting her down in her crib for a couple blissful hours, sneaking back downstairs, and not even 5 minutes later, listening to her cry on the monitor. Welp, maybe the next nap will take. And let's not even get into what mom has to go through.
The milestone, as any new parent will tell you, is when your kid sleeps through the night for the first time. That should be a national holiday.
But in the meantime, T.J., I'm sure you're up at 3 a.m., a virtual zombie, staring at a rerun of Intentional Talk on the MLB Network, just praying for sleep -- or death, does it matter anymore? -- and feeling guilty about that, and you need something, something to get you back to the right frame of mind so you can appreciate again the adorable little buddy in your care.
Well, let's view the cards you sent me. That should be worth some entertainment. At least better than what's on TV at 3:47 in the morning.
Starting it off with my first 2016 Panini Donruss Dodger cards, mostly because I refuse to buy the stuff.
I will say that the 2016 Pan-Don border design is much better than the last couple of years. But beyond that, it's the same Pan-Don pointlessness.
T.J. even had some P-D from last year. You can see where the 2016 design is an improvement.
I also received this card, which is a San Diego Padres card, despite Kemp wearing a Dodger uniform that's been photoshopped.
So much Panini. This is for the foil crowd, which is definitely not me. All you're going to hear is me complain about how poorly it scans.
The best thing that Panini ever did -- the 2013 Hometown Heroes set -- which of course was discontinued because Panini. This is a gold bordered parallel, which is completely unnecessary in a retro set like this.
I liked the topics in Panini Golden Age, although it's a bit all over the place. The design of the base cards is gross.
These, I believe, are inserts from Golden Age. I'm the news guy so I can appreciate the top two cards. The bottom item are stamps. All of the women pictured on there are before my time, which means it's available. Yes, I am shallow like that.
This, however, I am over the moon for.
I've been fascinated with Tatum O'Neal since I was 12. All I'll say is John McEnroe has been married to two women in his life -- Tatum O'Neal and Patty Smyth. He has exquisite taste.
I guess I'm one of the pop-culture guys on the blogs. The 2011 Topps American Pie set didn't really connect. But there are still certain cards in the set that I must make a priority to get. None of these are them, although I do appreciate recognition for Live Aid.
Let's get back to baseball. There were a few Shawn Green cards in this package:
But, fortunately, there was only one Kevin Brown card that I needed:
Thrilling photo.
This card completed the Cards In A Can Dodgers set, a.k.a., 1998 Pinnacle Inside.
Let's just drink in the ludicrousness.
Some more parallel action. I've been fortunate enough to watch two of the first three Dodgers games of the season, which is quite the feat living on the east coast (probably quite the feat if you live in Time Warner hostage territory, too). It was very apparent to me that Clayton Kershaw is going to the Hall of Fame, and that Carl Crawford is going for the record of instilling the least amount of confidence in me.
Every time Yasiel Puig gets a hit an uptight fan dies inside. Go buddy go.
I didn't expect this. It's Luis Gonzalez on one of those famous Bowman Heritage bat relic cards in which the bat piece is flipping off the player on the card! Congratulations!
I saved this card for last, just because cheap cards from the early '90s made on the sly rule. This card is paper-thin and brutally awful in the greatest way possible. Lose the cap and the smile and this is Strawberry's prison mugshot.
Well, Junior Junkie, I hope this gave you something to do in the wee hours. Or, perhaps it put you to sleep, in which case, mission also accomplished.
Good luck with Trip, may he forever know the pain of rooting for the Seattle Mariners. And I promise you it gets easier, for the most part, as the years go on. ... I'm talking about the child-raising, not the Mariner-rooting.
Oh, and one more thing:
Do not show this thing to the little guy when he's 3 years old. He'll have nightmares for weeks.
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But, probably, they'll just screw it up.