Night Owl Cards

Here is my 1953 Topps Frank Smith card. Frank, if you remember my story about him, was a former baseball reliever for the Reds and the Cardinals. I interviewed him three or four times. But I'd hardly call them interviews. They were more like conversations. He was a great guy who told me great stories about himself and the 1950s. When he died almost five years ago, I felt like I lost a friend. This is the only Frank Smith card that I have that is not autographed by Frank. That's because I just obtained it a couple of weeks ago. It came in my very first three-blogger trade. I feel like a general manager now! Travis P. of PunkRockPaint redeemed this card in the Million Card Giveaway thingy. He then traded it to fellow Padre fan, Doc T at Baseball Card Recollections . And then Doc T traded it to me. How about that? Trading with two Padres fans. You do what you've got to do to get one of your baseball heroes. I held off on posting this card until I had cards r...

Hello, everyone. It's Night Owl. This incredible likeness of me, featured on my favorite card design, was created by Doc T of Baseball Card Recollections . Whoooo-boy, what a great card! It will be taking a spot on the sidebar soon, as all great works of art must. But first, I'd like you to harken back, back to the days when the Dodgers were good. Remember those days? Remember when the bullpen wasn't a misused disaster? Remember when the left fielder wasn't falling apart? Remember when the owner wasn't a narcissistic fool? I do. But what I am starting to forget is true Dodger greatness. World Series greatness. Championship greatness. Hell, I was still in college in 1988. You know what happened in 1988, right? The right team won. Won it all. Ever since then it's been the wrong team. There have been the usual suspects. And then there have been the Diamondbacks and the Angels and the Marlins (twice). That really makes a proud Dodger fan weary. So I tho...

This weekend may be the busiest two days of the entire work year, and the next three weekends won't be any picnic either. That means I don't have time for anything clever or thought-provoking today. All I can offer is a simple trade post. I know. That's dull. But I've had to stare at 2010 Topps Heritage posts all week. So now it's my turn to dish out a bit of boring. Fortunately, it hasn't been boring on the trade front at all. A couple weeks ago, transactions had trickled down to nothing. Then, in an instant, I'm scrambling to keep up. I'm starting to lose track of who needs cards from me. On Sunday, I hope to narrow that down. Also, this weekend, I hope to put up a poll on what I should call the 2010 Topps design. I liked the suggestions in the last post and it's time to settle on a name. 2010 Upper Deck may take some more time. Meanwhile, I've got a lot of transactions to show. I'll keep them to a few cards per trader to accommo...

I'm serious about this. If Upper Deck wants any chance of me buying more product than Topps next year, it needs to embrace its lack of an MLB license. And I mean EMBRACE it. Maybe plant a few big, sloppy kisses on it, too. And for me, embracing means showing that you don't have a license with pride . Don't worry about picturing a side view of the player, trying to hide the logo on the helmet or the words on the uniform, that stealth crap that Donruss did. Instead, advertise that you don't have a license for all the world to see. Wouldn't it be great if Upper Deck's cards next year looked like these Milton Bradley cards from 1984? That means not only featuring the photoshopped logo front and center, but designing the card in bright, gaudy colors and throwback designs. I know I've said that I'd have a hard time being interested in a set that doesn't show MLB logos, but going all out with something like this -- that's an idea I can appreci...

There are a lot of major leaguers who I wish had played for the Dodgers. Roberto Clemente is probably at the top of the list. The Dodgers had their chances, signing Clemente before losing him to the Pirates after Brooklyn couldn't find a spot for him. Then there are players that may have come close to playing for the Dodgers or didn't come close at all. But none of that kept me from wishing they wore Dodger blue. Tom Seaver was first in that category when I was a kid. Then later it was Garry Maddox, Fred Lynn and Willie Wilson. I even went through a Ben Oglivie phase (it was a 1980 thing). More recently it has been Jim Thome and Jake Peavy . (Lucky White Sox ). I think every fan has players they wished played for their team. I think that's why we're so happy when we see a big-name player land on our team. (I did a major double-take last year when someone at work told me the Dodgers had traded for Manny Ramirez). A lot of times that big name doesn't pan out. But i...