Night Owl Cards

A week or so ago I mentioned the baseball card release calendar and how we're currently in a period where I redouble my efforts toward vintage or my team collection or oddballs. There's simply nothing new on the shelves that grabs my interest. You may wonder why I keep going back to the shelves if I'm disappointed so often. Why not just devote all my efforts to past cards? I ask myself that question, too. Why? Why do I keep going back when I know there are cards -- old cards -- that I will enjoy so much more? Why? I had to sit -- with hands off the keyboard -- and think about that for a few minutes. Why? Well, aside from the tradition, so ingrained in my collecting soul, of traveling to the store to purchase packs of cards -- something I've done for over 40 years and do not want to give up -- there is the hope. I go because of hope. I hope that there will be cards that I like. I hope that there will be new cards that I like. Something never before seen. I...

Christmas greetings, you few folks reading blogs during this festive time of year. Over the last week I've shown nothing but cards I did git. I feel just a wee regretful about that, but not enough not to show even more cards I BEEN GITTING. TIS THE SEASON OF GITTIN'!!!!! (Those are the words of a person confident there will be no coal in his stocking, because there are no stockings hung up this year! ) Anyway, I found enough cash left over from shopping for others to squeeze in one small COMC order for myself. It's not close to the size of my Secret Santa package from Wes. It's just a few cards, that are just my speed, because I know exactly what I want. The last 2016 Stadium Club Dodger base card that I needed. This IS a merry Christmas. Look how happy Clayton is. Sure his cohort is now a Marlin and as Jerry Seinfeld once said, "that's not going to be good for anybody," but this is all about capturing the moment. And the moment is: I finally...

I posted this photo on Twitter of a card package I received yesterday. I had set it on the upstairs landing for a moment because I was carrying a couple of other things and the package was heavy. It's 18 pounds. But all 18 pounds aren't taken up by cards. That's me being a little evasive there, but I don't have the time today to display all the goodies within. Let's just give you an idea with a brief question-and-answer session: Are there new cards in there? Yes . Is there vintage in there? Yes . Are there oddballs in there? Yes . Are there non-baseball cards in there? Yes . Are there nonsports cards in there? Yes . Are there pretty lady cards in there? Yes. Are there Nebulous 9 needs in there? Yes . Is there other stuff in there? Yes . All right, that's enough of that. The box is from Dave, who has sent me many great cards over the years. He said he's had to do a purge of some of the cards in his collection, and he s...

I passed up a card show yesterday to travel to see family in one of those remote outposts in New York, other than the one in which I live. Normally, I'd be quite upset about missing a card show. But after what work has foisted on me the last few days, I welcomed the chance to be out of contact for a few days -- or as out-of-contact as is possible in this modern existence (stupid smart phone). My sister-in-law helped make up for my card show absence with a couple of store packs. She likes to give gifts to family visitors and knows exactly what I want. Allen & Ginter and Stadium Club are as good as you can get, and they came from someone who doesn't follow baseball at all. The Allen & Ginter hanger pack didn't contain anything exciting. This was the best card in the pack. I also would have been pleased by the Clayton Kershaw By the Numbers insert if I didn't have it already. As is customary, there was one short-print in the pack. This was it: ...

This fine night card is a definite candidate for the night card binder, for a lot of reasons. One of them is that Sean Doolittle is that very rare case in an Oakland A's uniform: He's managed to stay with the team for five years. I don't know how he's escaped the spinning revolving trade door outside the A's front office. I might be wrong, but I think he and Eric Sogard have lasted the longest from the current team, and Sogard has been disabled the whole year. (Coco Crisp was there for six years before he was traded to the Indians last month). Why here Doolittle is in the 2013 set after his first season with Oakland. I thought I'd do a little experiment and see where the rest of the A's from this set are. Brett Anderson: With the Dodgers (disabled) Other teams since the A's: Rockies Grant Balfour: Retired Other teams since the A's: Rays Bartolo Colon: Mets Other teams since the A's: none Ryan Cook: Mariner...