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...

There is a well-known line of dialogue in the old "Mad Men" TV series in which the main character, Don Draper, is berated by his latest love interest, who says that he can never commit to anything because he "only likes the beginnings of things." Like the best of television shows, that line has stayed with me for a long time and has led to periodic self-cross-examination. However, I have also found that often -- maybe more often -- I like the ends of things. More importantly, I like the ends of things when I'm still around to see the end. Yep, what I'm saying is we've reached the end of my least favorite month again, and I'm celebrating because I'm still alive. Honestly, I don't know why we have to stuff every conceivable life activity into the third month of the year every year. The biggest sports tournament of the year. Holidays. High school sports championships of every stripe and color. Birthdays abounding. Mid-terms. Special...

This exercise is getting more and more difficult each year. But P-town Tom has issued another year-end contest challenge and I can't resist a quick post idea. What is my favorite card issued in 2017? Hmmm. I haven't bought much 2017 product, just a sampling of each brand, basically. And while I won't bag on everything issued this year -- except for you, Topps flagship -- there is almost nothing made available this past year that stood out for me. I'm a Dodger fan, so it would make sense that in the year of the Dodgers reaching the World Series, my favorite would be related to that. But nothing is jumping out. I probably should have bought a ToppsNow card of the Dodgers celebrating their NLCS win, that would have been smart right about now. But I didn't. Cody Bellinger was rookie of the year in 2017 but my favorite Bellinger card isn't any of the ones with a rookie logo on it. It's his minor league issue card from his time at Triple A Oklahoma Cit...

This week I've been the poor sap filling in for someone on vacation. You never hear about the poor sap. You always hear about the people on vacation. "I'm on vacation!" they scream on the social media forum of their choice. And everyone responds with a like or a heart or a hashtag and they all feel good that someone out there has beaten this oppressive system that we've constructed for ourselves if only for a brief period of time. Except for the poor sap. There are no likes or hashtags from them. He or she simply plods forward, in real life, bearing more of the burden than normal, if only for a brief period of time. Fortunately, the vacationer returns today and things can revert back to normal (until I go on vacation). It's just in time, too, because yesterday I was so drained that I actually thought "I really need to get my butt back to a card aisle." It's been awhile. Under normal circumstances this year, I wouldn't consider ...

I've been away for a few days. But before I left, I advance-published some posts and stopped by my local Walmart in what is becoming way too much of a habit. I did snag the lone Stadium Club blaster there, though. And now that I'm back, I figured I'd use this for one of my Blaster Power Rankings posts. It's been a couple of months since I've done one. Stadium Club doesn't yield a lot of cards. It says so right there on the box: 40 cards. Dude, that's 50 cents a card, not exactly something worth shouting in big, bold letters. But we all know Stadium Club means quality, and I don't mind spending for quality, especially when there's a blog post on the line. When we last left the Blaster Power Rankings, the White Sox were leading with 18 cards, one ahead of the Tigers, two ahead of the Cubs and three ahead of the Dodgers. The Diamondbacks, Indians, Padres, Rays and Angels were bringing up the rear with four cards apiece. I don't expect a...