Night Owl Cards

As much as I'd like to stand here and expound on the hotness of Hope Solo, I don't have the time today. Instead, I'm going to show a couple of Allen & Ginter-heavy card packages sent to me by Spiegel and Spankee, the most messed-up law firm ever created. Kidding. Spiegel is Spiegel . And Spankee is Spankee . For the record, Spankee sent me the Hope card. Spiegel sent me the Johnny Mac card. But I thought I'd stick with the ballplayers, and show you how much things change in a short period of time in baseball. Out of the cards that I received from both Spiegel and Spankee, here are the ones who are no longer with the teams portrayed on their A&G cards. I even spruced up the cards, early 1970s style (except I didn't change the logos -- no time, remember?) First Spiegel: And now Spankee ... I guess that's what happens when you release a set close to the trade deadline. Of course, those aren't the only cards I received. Both sent a ...

Topps Heritage seems intent this year on featuring ballplayer's hairstyles. It's an ugly turn that's excused as "staying true to the original." However, I think most of the players who were not wearing caps in the 1962 Topps set didn't wear them because either they were just traded or Topps thought that they would be traded. Baseball expanded by two teams in '62 and there were players moving everywhere. So Topps asked the player to take off the cap. Just in case. Then, when the player was traded or drafted by an expansion team, Topps had a capless photo at the ready. I could be wrong, but I don't think there was any MLB expansion in 2011. I also don't think Ian Kinsler has been traded. Or is about to be traded. (Or is that short). The same goes for Carlos Gonzalez or Hanley Ramirez or Carlos Lee or Jason Bay or Hunter Pence. Yet, all are devoid of headwear in 2011 Heritage. This is very irksome. Why am I so cranky about this? Well,...