Night Owl Cards

(I have often wondered if I should have been raised in a warmer climate. It's not that I don't like the cold. It's that the heat doesn't bother me. While everyone is running around in a panic because it's supposed to be 90 today, I'm thinking about what I can do to get out in that steamy weather. Maybe if I was born in Alabama, the novelty would be gone by now. ... And this has nothing to do with cards. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 145th in a series): I have had this card in my draft folder for years. It's always been pegged as a future Cardboard Appreciation subject. In fact, there are several scans in the draft folder that are potential Cardboard Appreciation subjects. Those scans are labeled "CA" with the name of the player and set after it, just like the titles for these posts. It's one of my favorite cards from the time when I collected cards as a youngster. The action cards from 1975-80 Topps are absolutely the be...

One of the great things about cards during the 1970s is that for several years Topps would feature the full names of players on the card backs. First name. Middle name. Last name. The whole shootin ' match. I became fascinated with players' middle names. There were some dandies. Maybe it's not as big of a deal now, with the wide variety of first names you see. In sportswriting , we're forever struggling with the growing number of unique names attached to high school athletes. (My two cents: parents, the name doesn't make your child unique. Your child makes your child unique). But back when everyone was named Jim, Joe, Mike and John, middle names gave parents a creative outlet. And with baseball players, boy were they ever creative. I'm going to feature a team of my favorite middle names, all from the 1975 Topps set. Why '75 only? Well, time is short and I had to focus on one year, and why not do it for my favorite set of all time? Here is the starting li...

I received a note in the mail from Andy of the must-see 78 Topps blog the other day. The note read thusly: "Yo. 78 Topps blog." Short and to the point. You may interpret "yo" as "hello" or "what's up" or "how y'all doin' out there tonight?" But I interpret it as "give me your own personal top-10 countdown of your favorite 1978 Topps baseball cards." I'd be happy to Andy. Keep in mind, this is my list, assembled in a matter of minutes during a Monday afternoon of making sure the dog didn't do any MORE damage to the Christmas tree. So I may have been distracted. Here we go: 10. Steve Stone, White Sox, card #153: I was tempted to put this card at No. 1. If someone had to pick one card to sum up the 1970s, this is it. Long, curly hair, mustache, open collar, gold chains, wacky White Sox get-up. This photo has it all. All Stone has to do is lose the cap and don a white jacket and he's ready for Studio 54. ...

We here at Topps/Fleer/Donruss/Upper Deck/Score/etc./etc. have the best interests of you, the player, at heart. (Rusty Staub, swinging and looking absolutely goofy). Our mission is to serve you, the athlete. (Jerry Grote desperately attempting to run out a grounder). With our fine fleet of photographers, we will cast you only in the best light (Jim Fregosi watching as his foul pop up is about to be caught). You are the star of our show. We want to make you look as good as we possibly can. (Jim Wynn hitting one straight up in the air at Candlestick). The kids look at you as heroes, so what purpose would it serve to make you look bad? (Bobby Murcer fouling one off or possibly swinging and missing). You are the most talented players in the game. We want to showcase that talent (Len Randle yelling after taking a bad swing or maybe fouling one off his foot). Rest assured, you are in capable hands (Lou Piniella nearly spinning completely around and saying something like ...