Night Owl Cards

 (Greetings, thanks for squeezing me in between postseason viewings. I tried to squeeze in a card show over the weekend, the monthly one. I left without buying a thing, partly due to having limited interests this time around, finding nothing that intrigued me that I could afford and, the clincher, a collector's behavior that turned me off so much, I eventually left. This should be its own post, but I've actually griped about this same collector a few months ago. Time for something happier. Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 373rd in a series):   I added this 1991 Topps Desert Shield card of Kal Daniels last week thanks to CardBoredom, who was giving away assorted unwanted cards from his collection.   I didn't know there are two CardBoredom collecting sites until Baseball Cards Come to Life noted the one site in which David was giving away cards. I just knew the more long-form blog , which is full of well-researched accounts and stories, so well-done in fact that it drew...

  It seems like everyone's accepted the latest configuration of the postseason schedule, including me. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that we began the playoffs in September as in ye olden times, though I know the reason for it is very modern.   But I think that this year's wild card round might show that we don't really need it. Yeah, yeah, I know, more games is good, but the Red Sox, Cubs, Astros and Phillies didn't look like playoff teams to me. We could've just skipped that round to what we've got right now.   Which is what I'm going to do. It's been tradition the last three years to feature the oldest, newest and a random card from my collection for each of the teams remaining in the postseason once the wild card has finished.     As in previous versions, several teams appear year after year, so I've already covered their oldest card in my collection. In those cases, I go to the second-oldest, third-oldest, etc.   RAYS VS. YANKEES   Tamp...

  I'm not easy to shop for when it comes to cards (probably when it comes to anything, you'd have to ask the significant others).   I've been collecting a long time. I've been collecting in a public forum for a long time. And the older I get, the more specific I get on what I want. That's natural, not only have you accumulated a lot but you have a very good idea of what you like and don't like.   So, woe is the envelope that comes to my door unannounced. It barely has a chance. Perhaps that's why I get few unannounced card envelopes these days.   And that's why I silently applaud those who still try. Most of them are longtime collectors themselves, who have sent cards to me many times. They know what they're getting into and they know how to navigate my collecting foibles.   Max/jacobmrley of Starting Nine blog is one of those rare collectors who is not afraid to give it a shot. He knows how to tailor an envelope. Just last week he sent one to me w...

  Since the beginning of this "Firsts" series six-plus years ago, it's been about looking back on various firsts in my life. I've meant it to be a handy reference guide as my ability to recall gets progressively worse as the years go on.   So each of the previous six firsts have been about first-time moments of the past. This latest episode will be the same, but I wanted to start it off by mentioning that I'm actually looking forward to a first instead of looking back.   It should be happening next year but I won't go into it more than that because it's not a sure thing right now. Still, 2027 should be handy for recognizing milestone firsts in a few different ways. One of them is that next year will mark the 50th anniversary of watching my favorite team in the World Series for the first time. (See the program above)   But let's get into some random past first once again. These have all come to me stream-of-consciousness-like as I was preparing for thi...

   Here is what I know about the 1940s, off the top of my head:   World War II, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, the atomic bomb. Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. The Dodgers' emergence as an iconic baseball team. I can name all the World Series matchups, though you might have to give me some time on 1942, 1943. Mickey Owen's dropped third strike. Cookie Lavagetto, Bill Bevens, Al Gionfriddo's catch. Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak and Ted Williams hitting .406 in 1941. I know most of the stars of 1940s MLB.   The Andrews Sisters. Glen Miller's Orchestra. My grandmother used to talk about Glen Miller a lot. Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby. The songs that played on WECK in Buffalo in the 1980s, which were the "golden oldies" of that time (as opposed to "oldies," which was '60s music). It's A Wonderful Life. White Christmas. Johnny Marks' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.   I know my mom was born in the '40s. So was my uncle. He's...