Night Owl Cards

  I've been blogging long enough that I know there are certain trade patterns among bloggers. The trade scene isn't as big as it used to be on the blogs, so a lot of this is what I've observed in the past. Some strike up relationships with certain other bloggers with similar tastes. Others just send out cards periodically whenever the mood strikes or there is inventory (I fall in this category). A few others reserve sends for a certain period of time, say once or twice a year, and send cards out en masse to selected folks. When the third event happens, there's usually some clue, either the blogger announces it, or you start to see posts on other blogs about the haul they receive from that certain blogger. During that period, I often hope I'm one of the chosen ones. Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not.   But most recently, I was selected! Fuji has been shipping out cards to various folks and I finally received some nifty, eclectic cards straight from The Chronicles

  This is a team fanboy post so please excuse me for all the Dodger blue. Julio Urias is getting the Opening Day start for the Dodgers tonight against Arizona. He is the 63rd pitcher in franchise history to start Opening Day. I know this because I counted.   I got curious, so I went through retrosheet.org and figured out all of the Game 1 starters for the Dodgers since they began as the "Bridegrooms" in 1890.   Here is briefly what I found: Clayton Kershaw holds the franchise record for the most Opening Day starts with nine. He set the record with his eighth season-debut start in 2018.   Kershaw broke the record previously held by Don Drysdale and Don Sutton, who each started Opening Day seven times in their careers. Kershaw also broke Sutton's record of seven straight seasons of Opening Day starts with his eighth straight start in 2018.   After the top three, Fernando Valenzuela has the most Opening Day starts with six, along with Brickyard Kennedy, who also had six star

I'm excited. Tomorrow's Opening Day. This will be the 48th Opening Day that I have experienced. Like most Opening Days, it will be unlike any other.   It's a little easier to pick out the differences this year compared with previous Opening Days. MLB is tinkering again. They sure like to do that.   I'll go through each of the changes with a not-so quick thumbs up or thumbs down. You've read about these plenty elsewhere but I got to weigh in!   1. Pitch clock: Love it. The length of games for the past two decades or more and the defense of the outright dawdling of players on the field has turned me off and I can't believe anyone is saying "but that's the way the game is played/love it or leave it." They either weren't around or don't remember when games took under 3 hours to play every damn day. I feel like I'm alone on this sometimes. It took the legendary baseball writer Thomas Boswell to come out of retirement to write a column, on w

  I was out of town for a few days, and then when I returned, I immediately had a doctor's appointment and a couple of necessary errands. I'm getting a quick post on here in the few minutes that I have just because I hate going more than two days of silence. Not much to say or show except my most recent winning from Johnny's Trading Spot from a week or two back. He connected pretty well with this one. Only the Quisenberry up top is a dupe and I had to check that one twice before determining I had it. I love the Pacific Legends cards and all four of these were needs. I might have to do something about those corners, but it's not a priority. The priority is filling those Pacific Legends holes, for all the sets!! These are interesting in that I have seen many Pro Cards minor league cards, some so often that I never want to see them again, but I have not seen these. Brand new. Love the green! This is from the 1990 Triple A All-Stars set. They are so attractive to me I coul

    When history comes to document my card purchases in March of 2023, it will find one large purchase of 1969 Topps cards. That will be the defining buy of the month for me. The remaining card acquisitions for the month have all arrived in dribs and drabs, only when I have a few spare dollars, never more than a handful each time, sometimes only one at a time. There was no card show, no comc or sportlots binge, not even a blaster splurge this month. I also think I've made my last card purchases for the month, and they're not here yet. So all I have for you is the most recent arrivals. It's probably not much to you, but they are everything to me, right now.   This was a single-card snag from @BettSpaghett79 who is known for offering up single cards for sale once in awhile. Most often, they are prospects I've never heard of, but a Dodger pops up periodically. Perhaps you're wondering why this card, so here it is: Why'd I buy this? 1. It's a Dodger card I need.