Night Owl Cards

Ah, 1998, an epic year in the night owl timeline. But baseball cards didn't have anything to do with it. I was five years into my collecting hiatus. The year is legend because I became a dad. I am sure I watched some of the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race with a baby in my arms.   Somewhere in the summer of 1998, my wife and I were wheeling that baby in her stroller while walking through a mall, I don't remember which one. We walked into a chain book store -- I don't remember which one -- and I spotted Topps cards on one of those islands near the front of the store. They were packs of 1998 Topps. OK, sure, I'll grab a couple of packs and see what cards look like in the year 1998.   I recall thinking they were OK, nothing special. They certainly didn't break my hiatus, which lasted for another eight years, give or take a pack or two. I had no idea how active the hobby was at that time -- the number of sets and companies and "innovation." It was a year...

Today is my last day of vacation for the summer. After this, it is all preparation for the upcoming busy fall sports season, followed by that busy fall season, and then the even busier winter season, and then the frustratingly busy spring season. Needless to say, I treasure my summer days off exactly like the kid who is stepping off the school bus does in June. Work is a necessity, but oh lord what I could do if I never had to go there. So, this is my last hurrah. Sure, I'll get more days off later on in the year, but it'll never be like it was in the summer. To commemorate this rather sad occasion, I thought I'd go back through and recognize some last hurrahs in terms of card sets and companies. Quite a few of them have disappeared in my time, some with a bang, some with a pffffffft . But before they left for good, they dropped one final set or sets on us. I'd like to thank them for that. It couldn't have been easy knowing what was ahead -- if they even kn...

For my wife, the coolest part of me starting up a baseball card blog happened on Friday. That's when a package from John from the U.K. showed up in my mailbox. In the package were Dodger cards. Even my wife, who views my collecting habit as "cute" and then goes about her business, could appreciate what was happening here: I had just received Dodger cards all the way from merry old England. Never would I ever think that something like that was possible when I started this blog. As John from the U.K. would say, "Great stuff." He sent me 30 Dodgers, 20 of which I didn't have. I'll be sending out his Red Sox next week. Here's a little of what he sent: Pedro Martinez, 1993 Upper Deck: The front of the card is at the top of this post, obviously. But I had to show the back. What a great smile Pedro always had. I always liked him and I always will. A lot more than I can say for Delino Deshields. 1993 Upper Deck is amazing. Far and away, I th...