Time-sucks and sleep robbers

I am on vacation this week.

During these pandemic times, with limits on where I can go and what I can do, this would be a prime 7 days for getting some chores done and catching up on sleep, right?

Nah.

The city is working on my street again. I had no idea this was going to happen. A couple days ago, two doors down from me, whatever tool they were using shook the ground and knocked me right out of my nest. This morning, two doors down on the opposite side, they've been using a loud vacuum thingy to suck away my sleep.

This throws off my night owl schedule. I end up napping in spurts, not really getting anything done, and on the back half of the day -- baseball takes over.

I'm not a TV watcher. It's ball games and that's it, and even then I'll get up and do things while the game is happening. But postseason baseball requires your undivided attention, especially if your team is playing. And this season, they play EVERY NIGHT. There are no breaks, no catching your breath, no "well I'll just run out to the store."

Baseball in 2020 -- and this sounds so ungrateful -- is a tremendous time-suck.

How do people who watch TV shows and movies on the regular get anything accomplished?

Anyway, I know that some people think I'm complaining about a good thing -- my team is in the playoffs after all. Actually, I'm just observing how much of a time investment it is to follow your team during this current playoff set-up. Combine that with wandering around in a sleep-deprived stupor and you now know why I didn't write a blog post yesterday. I had a difficult enough time remembering to eat dinner.

It's going to be the same thing tonight. Clayton Kershaw is supposed to pitch -- I think. Kershaw Day in the playoffs means all kinds of things to Dodger fans: hope, excitement, confidence, despair, anger, agony. Let's just hope the street workers aren't back tomorrow morning. I'm definitely going to need my sleep after tonight.

Anyway, you're here to view cards, not get my skewed view on the world. So let's look at some cards that other people had time enough to send out -- I'm guessing nobody is working on their street -- for absolutely and positively free!

Yay!

First up is The Diamond King and another one of his Diamond Nine Giveaways. As usual, I almost missed it and came in when a lot of the cards were swept up, but I did land this Mike Piazza card I have never seen before. I've completed the 1993 Upper Deck set and still I'm shocked by how many inserts are new to me.

This is a typical holographic card from this time period. Cool at the time, I guess. It doesn't really come off well anymore.

The other two cards I claimed are very shiny in person and from around the turn of the century, which means my scanner hates them to death.

I grabbed the Seaver chromey before he passed away. I'm always happy to add a Tom Seaver card to my collection and especially now. The Nomar diecut was claimed with the intention of sending it to one of several Red Sox traders I know. It's one of the few teams these days that still has a healthy amount of team collectors on the blogs.

Look, more Red Sox!

This time we're in Julie's pocket, picking away. The first two Red Sox cards -- man, that Clemens thing is a mess -- are for future trades. But the Fred Lynn is mine all miney mine.

Julie was kind enough to save this card creation for me, kindly remembering my devotion to everything 1975. It's one of Gio's masterpieces and its inspiration is Fred Lynn's MVP year and the fact he didn't have a card of his own in the '75 Topps set.

Now he does! Forty-five years ago today, Luis Tiant threw a complete game, Dwight Evans knocked in two runs (Lynn was 1-for-4) and the Red Sox tied up the World Series against the Reds at two games apiece.

 

 

Dodgers goodies from Julie. And I do mean goodies.

 

The Max Muncy Stadium Club card is well-timed, not just because of his grand slam last night, but because it was one of two remaining Dodgers base cards I needed from Stadium Club once my group break cards from Nachos Grande arrive. The other is that stylin' Mookie Betts card.

 

The Dustin May red parallel is also timely as he's likely going to appear on the mound in the next day or two. I'm still a little queasy from Buck and Smoltz making vocal love to his lion's mane last night.

 

 

Now we're at cards from Pancake King Wes.

 

He launched one of his massive Twitter trade-a-thons last month, which he's been doing for a few years. I hopped aboard for what I think is the first time and I knew I'd get some great extras. The gold Takashi Saito is especially appreciated -- I miss the days when the Dodgers had lock-down closers like Gagne and Saito. The Dick Mountain card is the foil version.

 

 I'm usually not much for minis of this size but these Diamond King tributes to 1909 Ramly's are pretty sweet. What DK has to do with Ramly, I have no idea.

And here's the actual card that I claimed from Wes. Little did I know that Corey Seager would go on an epic RBI streak almost never before seen in the postseason. I now have a card to remember that by (mostly because I refuse to purchase spendy Topps Now cards).

OK, that's much too many words written on limited sleep and gallons of caffeine as I prep for Game 4.

However tonight's game happens to end, there's only one thing for sure:

There's another game to watch tomorrow.

And probably early morning street noises, too.

I'm going to have introduce some of those construction workers to postseason baseball.

(Happy Kirk Gibson Day!)