Night Owl Cards

I do a pretty good job of coming up with thoughtful posts when I don't have a lot of time. But there are times when I have no time and I just don't feel like digging deep. Today was one of those days. I was randomly looking through past posts, looking for some kind of easy inspiration but not really expecting it. I settled on one post from about a year ago in which I showed the above unopened package of 1989 Baseball Talk cards. It has remained unopened in my collection since that time. With no Baseball Talk "record player" and the Kirk Gibson card already in my possession, I had no incentive to open it ... until now. A lot of this will be well-covered material. The cards are larger than your average card, about 3 1/4-by-5 1/2, with a grooved "record" on the back that plays an interview and highlights when inserted into a special player that I believe you had to purchase separately. Each of the four-packs contain three current players and either ...

My brother and I gave our youngest brother a hard time when we growing up. We made sure that he knew that what we liked and followed was cool and what he liked and followed was lame. We made up outlandish stories and delighted in our self-satisfied smugness as he believed every last one. We made up games and then excluded him, or at least scolded him when he couldn't get our rules right. When it came to baseball, we said the Dodgers and Red Sox were the ultimate in greatness. He could root for the Orioles if he wanted, but they would never be as cool as our favorite teams. When the Orioles faced the Pirates in the World Series in 1979, my brother and I rooted against our youngest brother's favorite team. Vigorously. I really, REALLY did not like the 1979 Orioles, and I think I'd have to go to a psychiatrist to tell you why my 9-year-old brother's favorite team bothered me so much. Of course, the Pirates came back from a 3-to-1 deficit and won the World Series, ...

I went to the dollar store yesterday. There are probably 15 to 20 dollar stores within easy driving distance from where I am, but I think by now everyone knows which store I'm talking about when I say I went to the dollar store. It means I went to the dollar store with BASEBALL CARDS! (Proceed with party dance. ... OK, stop now. You're just embarrassing yourself). I was there to pick up some prize winnings for zman , who won my 700 th post contest. But as usual, I have to grab a few cards for myself. The football and basketball cards have taken over the whole card display at the store. They're like cancer cells, growing unchecked, burying the baseball cards all the way to the back of the display. But they do not deter me. I still leaf through all those bags for as long as it takes, until it's freakishly obvious that the dude with the baseball cap over there has been standing in front of the same display for 40 minutes . I swear he has not moved . ... But don...