Night Owl Cards

(Happy 2016 everyone. I've just ventured back from being out of town. In my neck of the woods, it's a bit risky traveling at this time of year and I'm quite relieved to be back in one piece. Meanwhile, I have a backlog of stuff to get to: cards for Christmas, the annual review of the 2015 card year, and some sort of baloney about "my 2016 collecting goals." But first, Cardboard Appreciation! This is the 235th in a series): I received this beauty from gcrl Jim, who is currently enjoying his blog retirement. The 1954 Bowman set is a pastoral masterpiece and quite underappreciated amid the more loved Bowman and Topps sets of the early 1950s. The most interesting aspect of this George "Shotgun" Shuba card is the way he stylized the "S" in his name. There is a slash through it as if it's a dollar sign. It's very late 1990s rap of him. (Jim also mentioned this on his blog). Shuba's signature appears the same way on his 1952 Topp...

Without really knowing it, I categorize Dodger eras into the three categories of "good," "bad," or "indifferent." And, by association, my attitude toward certain Dodgers players, past or present, is colored by whether they appeared in a good, bad or indifferent Dodger era. For example, take this fine card of George "Shotgun" Shuba, supplied to me by the Junior Junkie (all of the card you will see here are from the Junior Junkie, by the way). Shuba was hardly an exceptional player. He was a utility man. But because he played at a time when the Dodgers were perennial contenders, when they were breaking racial barriers, and because he had such a cool nickname, he is a favorite. Shuba is known for the symbolic gesture of shaking Jackie Robinson's hand in the minor leagues. He's also well-documented in the book "Boys Of Summer." And he hit a pinch-hit homer in the 1955 World Series. Through circumstance, he shined. He came ...

Dick Williams is remembered as the manager who led the Impossible Dream Red Sox to the World Series title and the Swingin' A's to back-to-back championships in 1972-73. He's remembered for his hell-raising, do-what-I-say leadership style that worked with the Expos and Padres, too. But Williams was a Bum first. He was a Boy of Summer who hit .309 in 36 games for that Dodger team in 1952. He is immortalized in Roger Kahn's book as a single, free-spirit who joined Kahn in a night of ogling dancing girls during the sportswriter's year of covering the team. Williams, as you know, died Thursday at age 82. The Hall of Famer is the latest of several Brooklyn Dodgers from that period to pass away in the last year. Duke Snider. Clyde King. Billy Loes. Ken Lehman went before him. And, of course, Jackie, Furillo and Hodges are long gone. Each time a Bum leaves this earth, you'll hear or read baseball fans say, with a note of resignation, "that's too bad. T...

I don't have anything in particular to say for this post. Yet, "something" compels me to write anyway. In situations such as these, I often go to my folder of scans and pull out those neglected cards that were either part of a half-written post that never saw the light of day, or an idea that never realized its potential. For example, there is this card of George "Shot Gun" Shuba from the '74 TCMA '52 Dodgers set. The intended post likely had to do with his nickname and how great it would be to be featured on a card with only "Shot Gun" under your photo. That is an achievement if I ever saw one. Like almost any card blogger, I would imagine, I had ideas of writing a post about players with the same name. This is Pedro A. Martinez, who pitched for the Padres, Astros, Mets and Reds. I periodically wonder if he ever gets mail intended for the much more well-known Pedro J. Martinez. Perhaps he's received a few letters that end with ...