Night Owl Cards

Up until the last day or so, trades had dried right up for me. I've had no time to strike up any deals, and with Listia and a card show and some online arranging going full force, cards were occupying my time in other ways. But the time has come for me to get off my ass and actually be a fully functioning member of the bloggery again. Now that I've scrounged up some money for mailing supplies, a few select people will be getting some cards next week. And then a few more after that. Before you know it, it will be 2009 again and we'll all be clawing our eyes out because of all the trade posts. One person who hasn't stopped sending out cards recently is Spiegel . I got a very cool assortment of cards from him a couple weeks ago and am just now getting finding time to discuss them. So let's see if I still know how this "show your latest cards" thing works. I think you turn it on ... Like this ... Is it working? Ah, here we go ... I shall st...

I have been having some trouble acquiring your basic variety 2012 Topps base Dodgers. Why, here it is, late August, and I was still missing the majority of the Dodgers from Series 2! And I run a respectable blog! I was starting to feel ashamed. But then I received a package. Among other cards, these three popped out ... "So what?" you're saying. "Those are just three base cards from Series 2. I have like 50 of each card." Exactly. You have 50 of each card. You couldn't have sent one of them to me? How long has Series 2 been out -- three months? I'm waiting this long to get a base card of Clayton Kershaw, my favorite player? You know who ended up sending me these cards? John ... from England. Yup, that John . That's right, a guy from ENGLAND was able to send me basic Dodger needs from Series 2. And he doesn't even live on the side of England that's closest to the United States! He practically lives in Belgium...

I'm taking a bit of a break from the blog, which of course automatically means something is going to happen that requires my attention. The Dodgers, as you know, have acquired infielder Hanley Ramirez and left-handed reliever Randy Choate from the Marlins for pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and a minor leaguer. I like this trade. Eovaldi might be pretty good in the future, but the Dodgers don't really need more pitching, they need hitting, desperately. I know Ramirez isn't having the greatest year. He's still a hell of a lot better than Juan Uribe and even Dee Gordon. And, unlike so many deadline deals that I see, this one doesn't look desperately desperate and stupid. I would love to see Ramirez in a Dodger uniform on a baseball card. I present this photoshopped Ramirez Opening Day card as a challenge to someone to turn it into a Ramirez Dodger card. Best version gets some cards from me. Either send me an email of your creation or show it on your blog. I can...

It occurred to me that I haven't done one of those giant trade posts that everyone loves so much in quite awhile. It also occurred to me that I am on vacation this week. Why on earth have I not realized that vacation is the perfect time for a giant trade post? Well, other than the fact that Mother's Day is approaching and wrapping presents takes me about two days, the lawn mower is busted and I'm trying to get a new one operational, the cable is acting zooey and tech support even zooier, I've got a half dozen home projects that aren't getting done because I don't have the cash/know-how, my diet/exercise program eats up a tremendous amount of free time ... other than that, I guess I just never thought about it before. So, let me squeeze in an epic trade post. It'll take my mind of the fact that the guy next door is beautifying his lawn for the second time this week while I'm walking through knee-high grass. The first cards are from Nathan at Cana...