Opening day ... whenever that is

I did kind of a dumb thing Monday. I went to the grocery store.

I was aware of the mob scenes at Walmarts and grocery stores throughout the country over the weekend. And I knew that it was probably smart to avoid crowds.

But it was 1 o'clock on a Monday afternoon. How crowded could it be?

I've been running errands on Monday afternoons for literally decades now. I almost always have Monday off and since for everyone else the day is "go back to work/go back to school," it's the perfect time to do my shopping. I move about freely, never have to concern myself with crowds and if I have to go to the grocery store, there's maybe 20 people in it, tops.

Plus, Monday is my day to cook dinner, so I usually get ingredients that day, too.

So, no sweat, right? The crazies were out on the weekend, when the crazies are always out. Gonna be an easy-in, easy-out.

Nope.

I pulled into the parking lot and it was full. Full. On a Monday afternoon. This is probably the fourth most popular grocery store in the city and I've never seen it that busy (not that I grocery shop during peak grocery store hours).

The crowd inside freaked me out instantly. I told myself "don't touch your face, don't touch your face" repeatedly. There were people everywhere that I never see in the store at that time. Businesswomen in suits and heels, college kids. One elderly lady tried to talk to me in the check-out line and I instinctively moved back. I half expected the store to be out of everything I wanted, but it was all there, in shorter supply, but still there.

I was so startled -- I don't do well in crowds anyway -- that I started thinking that I needed some cards to take the edge off. So I zipped over to the Target next door and practically ran to the card section. Target was much more regular -- the regular amount of people -- and I grabbed a couple of Opening Day packs, freaked out momentarily when I realized I'd have to touch the automated check-out area, drove home and scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed.

So, since then, I haven't been anywhere besides work. It's no big deal keeping myself home. It's where I want to be anyway. I could make a calendar for the next three months of what I could do at home and not run out of stuff.

But today I'm showing you what was in those Opening Day packs. These could be the last cards I buy at a retail place in quite some time, so enjoy this post.

PACK 1

Opening Day doesn't deserve card-by-card treatment. It's everything we've all seen before with just a few different images (I believe that's Rendon in a photoshopped Angels jersey).

I've gotten used to the 2020 Topps design but I still don't like it much. It still reminds me of 1992 Fleer and 2007 Upper Deck.

Since I stopped buying 2020 flagship after a few early purchases I don't have a good handle on what OD cards are repeats from series 1 and which are new. The Bryant is new I believe.

This is what the Opening Day "Opening Day" inserts look like this year, they're like the stadium shots that were in 2019 Topps.

Out of this first pack there were three highlights for me.

A Dodger. Yes, I must have my Dodgers, even if it's just mindless repetition of the base set.

A view of the Jackie Robinson Statue at Dodger Stadium as part of the Team Traditions and Celebrations insert set.

And this card.

I. Love. This. Card.

Yes, I love that it's Roberto Clemente and it's a scene from a spring training game and Spring Has Sprung.

But I also love it because of the design. That is a Very 1970s Design. Every bit of it. The sun theme. The use of yellow, gold and brown. This card is straight from childhood.

It makes me want to collect the entire insert set. I've seen some of the other cards and they're not as fun as the Clemente, but they still remind me of walking to the drug store to get baseball cards on a sunny day in 1975 and if that's not a reason to collect an insert set, I don't know what is.


PACK 2

Pack 2 wasn't nearly as fun as Pack 2. A lot of blah, blah, blah.

I feel like I should apologize for buying these cards. But I was IN A STATE. They helped me calm down a bit.

There was a blue parallel in this pack. Of course it was a Tampa Bay Ray.

Look, it's a Texas Ranger. Topps CAN make cards of Texas Rangers!

This, no doubt, is a night card, although you're deprived of the night sky because of the dome roof. Let's hope it was raining.

Bernie Brewer not on the slide is odd.

So, after that ordeal, I learned my lesson and have been happy to create card posts based on cards I own or cards that folks have sent me.

You may have noticed that I have posted to this blog every day this week, which is not something that I have done for several years. Part of that is because I have more time now that there are no sports being played. The other part is I'm sure some people are looking for things to do every day in our current state. If I can provide a little bit of content every day during this time, then I'm happy I can be useful in that way.

I'm just not going to mix it up with the crazies for you anymore.