Night Owl Cards

With little time and even less motivation, it's time to determine whether the oldest night card I own and one of the newest night cards I own will make the Night Card Binder. The oldest card, of course, is vastly more interesting. This is a 1950 Bowman card of pitcher Marino Pieretti. Even if you know nothing about Pieretti, and that was me about 10 minutes ago, it's a fascinating card. Check out the painted glow from the lights beaming down on the right-hander. Now, look at the back. There are two points of interest for me. First, observe Pieretti's height and weight. Five-seven, 158 pounds. Those are my measurements there. Dammit, if I was born in 1921, I could've been a major league pitcher even at 5-7. Next, note that Pieretti was born in Italy. That's pretty cool. Pieretti was raised in San Francisco, where baseball thrived in the 1940s and 50s. Pieretti was popular in the area long after his playing career ended. But in 1977, he had liver cancer ...

Two or three weeks ago, I received one of those packages in the mail that makes you work. I'm not referring to the hunting I go through to figure out whether I have the cards pulled out of the package, although there was some of that. I'm talking about actually getting into the package. In fact, when Daniel of It's Like Having My Own Card Shop sent it, I think he had a feeling I might need a few tools to open up the thing. All that tape. So, so, much tape. With some scissors and a pocket knife and the utmost care, I finally got the stubborn item open. Now, let's see if it's worth all of the trouble. We start slowly with a Collector's Choice silver signature parallel of '90s mega-prospect Wilton Guerrero. One day all of the '90s prospect cards I own of Guerrero, Karim Garcia and Roger Cedeno will rise up and take over the world. But for now I'll just add this one to the binder and eye it warily. More prospects. This player ac...