Night Owl Cards

The Dodgers are going back to the playoffs! And I'm celebrating with a guy in a White Sox uniform! Because the crazy season is about to begin! Did you see Jim Thome run to first after getting that two-run pinch single in the eighth inning last night? The guy can MOVE can't he? But it doesn't matter because the Dodgers are back in the playoffs for the second straight year, and Thome will be playing postseason ball! Woo-de-frickin-hoo! Get ready, big guy, for some crazy stuff. Batters with lifetime averages of .192 hitting .400. Fans like Bartman and Maier losing their minds over catching a ball. Walk-off home runs and comebacks from 3-games-to-zip deficits. Two guys getting tagged out at home on the same play (OK, scratch that last one). I'm ready for angst and frustration, and, hopefully, just a little bit of elation. OK, a lot of elation. Cardinals and Phillies -- teams I actually like -- will become mortal enemies. And teams I dislike -- like the Angels and Yan...

Feeling out of sorts? Uncertain? Unaccomplished? Wondering whether you should swing or take the pitch? Do you feel like you just can't get started? Don't know which way to turn? Afraid to make a move? Did you intend to write a Blog Bataround post by today's deadline, but haven't even written word one? Well, indecisive ones, I'm right there with ya today. I'm just not feeling it. But to cheer you up, I thought I'd show a couple other people's screw-ups. But just a couple, because like I said, I'm not feeling it. First, one of mine. This is what I call "When blog posts collide." This happens to me quite a bit. My scanner is not at eye-level. And I often forget and leave the last card I scan underneath the scanner cover. So, then when it's time to scan a new card, I just plop it on the old card without looking and I end up with the Matlack - Billingsley monster card here. Secondly, somebody else's screw-up. I offer two of my all-t...

I realize the Pirates don't have Jason Bay anymore. He was traded away in that three-team deal that brought a certain free spirit to the Dodgers last season. The Pirates also don't have Jack Wilson or Ian Snell anymore. They were shipped to the Mariners. They don't have Freddy Sanchez. He was sent to the Giants. They don't have Adam LaRoche or Nate McLouth . They're now Braves. They don't have Nyger Morgan. He's a National. They don't have Tom Gorzelanny . He's a Cub. They don't have Xavier Nady. He's a Yankee. Sort of. You know who else the Pirates don't have anymore? Sean Casey. Jason Kendall. Ty Wigginton . Kris Benson. Aramis Ramirez. Brian Giles. Matt Stairs. Jeff Suppan . Bronson Arroyo. Jose Guillen . A few other guys they don't have anymore: Jay Bell. Denny Neagle . Jeff King. Andy Van Slyke . Doug Drabek . Barry Bonds. Tim Wakefield. Randy Tomlin. Bobby Bonilla . John Smiley. Sid Bream. Johnny Ray. Tony Pena. Bill Madlock...

The Dodgers can gain a spot in the playoffs with a win tonight (or a loss by somebody. I think the Braves. The wild-card stuff gets so messy). It will be the second straight year for them, only the fourth time since I have been alive that the Dodgers have made the postseason in back-to-back years. If they do clinch tonight, I'll be at work, unable to celebrate in a fashion that's reasonable and proper. So, I'll post some cards sent by Bud of First Day Issue -- most of them Dodgers -- and add some salient (*ahem*) commentary, and nobody can say I didn't say anything about the Dodgers on the day they clinched. First, a 2002 Stadium Club card of Paul Lo Duca. You'll note that Lo Duca is carrying his batting gloves while he runs. I've always wondered about this. Swimmers shave just about everything and sprinters wear disturbingly tight garb, all in the name of speed. But ballplayers can just carry around objects while they run? It seems so wonderfully lax. What i...

Four years ago today, former major league pitcher Frank Smith died. It doesn't seem that long ago. It seems like just last summer when I was talking to him on the phone and he was inviting me down to take a dip in his pool, even though we lived about a thousand miles apart. But that's the kind of person Frank Smith was. I only knew him for the tail end of his life, but he seemed to be friendly to everyone he met. Frank pitched for the Reds and Cardinals in the 1950s. He was one of the top relievers of his time. And he sure seemed to enjoy his trip to the major leagues. "The '50s was so good to us, thank God I played in that era," Frank told me. His friends included Vic Raschi and Ken Boyer. His best friend in baseball was probably Andy Seminick , a Reds teammate who also played for the Phillies . But even though Frank hung out with the best in baseball, he was also a fan. He collected autographs from Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle. The den of his home was lined ...

I pulled a mouse out of my washing machine today. That was a first. I don't know how it got there. I took some clothes out of the wash that I had put there in the morning, spotted something loose at the bottom, thought it was a kid's toy that came out of a pocket, and picked it up. Yeah, with my hands. When I brought it out of the machine into the light, I instantly realized what it was and dropped it back in the machine. I'm not skittish about stuff like that, but that gave me a jolt. The mouse was dead, obviously, but fluffy clean. And I gave the clothes another wash -- the old-fashioned way in the basement sink -- just so I could stop my brain from doing the freakout dance in my skull. So while I'm contemplating whether we have a mouse problem or not, I am contemplating another issue -- why am I so bored with the current card situation? (Nice segue, huh?) Until today, I hadn't bought any 2009 cards for a month. I hit the big box stores to break that streak. I h...

Today is Tom Lasorda's 82 nd birthday. I don't think there is a single baseball figure in history that I am more conflicted over than Tom Lasorda . On one hand, he is possibly baseball's greatest ambassador, someone who has an endless love for the game and an ability to express that love like no other. He is also the Dodgers' greatest ambassador, someone who should have retired to the shadows long ago, but remains a very visible part of the organization. And he is a genuine quote machine, which is worthy of a standing ovation in my profession. On the other hand, he drove me stark-raving ballistic with some of his managerial decisions, especially his pitching moves, which always puzzled me because he was a professional pitcher. His Vegas-style schtick was embarrassing, and I could tell when he managed the Dodgers that other teams were laughing at all the hugging of players and endless discussion of "the Big Dodger in the Sky." And his talk of God, fami...