Night Owl Cards

One of the unconscious reasons that I decided to return to card collecting eight years ago was because it was a hobby I could keep under my thumb. When it comes to collecting, there are a lot of hobbies that can get away from you very quickly. I don't know how antique collectors do it. If I collected antiques, that would have to be my full-time job. There is no way I am going to fill the estate with giant objects and call it a "hobby." If I see it wherever I go, then it's officially a job. But with cards -- unless you're out of control -- you can put them in a binder, throw them in a box, close the door, and -- presto! -- people don't even have to know you have a collection. And this is very important if you happen to live with others who don't share your enthusiasm. So that's a minor reason why I collect cards and try to refrain from any other kind of memorabilia. To keep the peace. And to make sure I don't trip over anything. My hobby ...

Mark of Stats on the Back has been sending out cards lately. I'm too dumb to figure out what I need to send him in return. So I dig up some Mets, write a note of apology for my stupidity, and mail them off. I figure, he's a teacher, he's used to lame excuses. Just think of me as one of your students. You know, the one who cowers in the back. The poor kid doesn't even know what "cowers" means, but he does it very well. Anyway, Mark found a way to get even. Included with the cool cards that he sent was this ratty old pack of 1988 Donruss. It was being used as packing material. But it was also unopened. Sealed shut. And you know what that means, don't you? Yes, I was about to lose my 1988 Donruss virginity. It's true: I have never opened a pack of 1988 Donruss in my life . Pick your mouth up off the ground. That's rude. I was in college in 1988. It wasn't a peak collecting time. A couple of packs of Topps. That was it. Years and year...

Let's take a break from all the Allen & Ginter talk and discuss the problem that arises for a team collector when he or she is offered a mess of cards of one particular player. The days of competing for one team an entire career are long gone. So what the team collector ends up with is a few cards of said player wearing the correct uniform and a bunch of others in which he is wearing some inferior garment. This is the gamble that you take being a team collector in a player collector world. As you may know, Mark of Stats on the Back has been offering select key cards, as well as various star player collections. The players are mostly stars of the '80s, and just about each star is pictured in a variety of uniforms. In exchange, you have to send him some Mets or want list needs. He'll even take one solitary card from you in exchange. Really. But I don't know if I can do that. I have an envelope ready for him that I believe contains six cards. How about six, Mark? I...

"You wouldn't know I'm a 53-year-old man. Look, not an ounce of gray. I can still trick 'em." "I'm a little out of it tonight if you haven't noticed." "Everything I do, it's right off the top of my head. Something pops in my head and it comes out." "I missed all the outs. What happened? 4-3, 6-3? Broadcasting partner Gary Cohen: "4-3, 3-1, 6-3" "The white-outs, these new ones they have now, they're more like tape ... now they have the one with the tape, and it is spectacular." "I'm worried about my lawn back home." The above comments were uttered by Keith Hernandez during his regular job as a color man for the Mets broadcasts on SNY. I need to start a running account of his Keithisms. I wish I had a transcript of him recalling his first encounter with a tornado when he was in the minor leagues. During a broadca...

When I am asked what my least favorite set of all-time is -- and I am asked that on a regular basis because people come up to me on the street daily and say, "Night Owl, what's your least favorite set of all-time?" and I say, "Get away from me. Read my blog. That's what the comments section is for" -- my mind goes immediately to 1986 Donruss. I have no attachment to 1986 Donruss whatsoever. I was in college at the time. I hardly collected. I didn't see a single Donruss card that year. The Jose Canseco phenomenon completely passed me by. It was as if the set never existed. Until I saw a card from the set years later. Blimey! What a horrendous-looking design. This is a case in which horizontal on a card does NOT work. I have wondered on the blog what a binder full of 1986 Donruss does to a person. My theory was that if you stare directly at it, you will suffer convulsions. Someone else suggested that staring at the hypnotic effects of '86 Don...