Night Owl Cards

Last week I survived that popular ritual of 50-somethings everywhere, the colonoscopy. I know that just made a young person squirm. Good. That's why I mentioned it. They need reminders of what's coming. Anyway, the hysteria you hear about the procedure is pretty much exactly that: hysteria. I heard all kinds of stories before I finally agreed to my doctor's recommendation. One person told me about the woman who had a colonoscopy and is still in a hospital years later recovering. Spooky stuff like that. But outside of starving yourself for a day and getting zero sleep, mine was completely manageable and filled with all kinds of perks, like getting my own cable TV to watch and people waiting on me constantly. Best of all, there is plenty of down time afterwards. Because of the prep (i.e. icky drink) the night before and the procedure the day of, I essentially took two days off of work and nobody said anything because the poor old man needs a colonoscopy. But th...

This card appeared in my most recent 1985 Topps blog post. It's Joe Orsulak's rookie card. It is now missing. I don't know what the heck I did with it but I can't find it anywhere. And now there's a temporary hole in my complete 1985 Topps AND Traded set (there are only a dozen sets in my collection that can claim the "AND Traded" part). Fortunately I am pretty busy these next few days because I need to keep busy or that little bit of sadness from losing this card will well up inside me and ... well, seeing a veteran card collector cry in the corner is never pretty. The Orsulak card could be anywhere. I did a lot of card things yesterday, immediately after posting the Orsulak card. He could be in the middle of any number of stacks. There is a stack in front of my desk computer of cards to be cataloged. I most often put the latest '85 Topps card to be blogged on top of that stack. But, maybe it's somewhere in the middle of the stack. I ...

Let's review the Dodgers' starting rotation after one month of the season: Chad Billingsley: 4-0, 2.14 ERA, 34 Ks, 12 BBs , 0 HRs Randy Wolf: 1-1, 4.31 ERA, 27 Ks, 8 BBs , 2 HRs Clayton Kershaw: 0-2, 7.29 ERA, 26 Ks, 11 BBs , 4 HRs Eric Stults: 2-1, 5.50 ERA, 11 Ks, 12 BBs , 0 HRs James McDonald: 1-1, 7.11 ERA, 6 Ks, 10 BBs , 2 HRs Ugly isn't it? Look at those ERAs . And this is for a team that's in first place. Where would they be without Billingsley ? It pains me to see the Dodgers struggle on the mound, because as much as I like offense, and this particular team's offense, I know that the Dodgers are about pitching. It has always been what they know how to do. But now I'm not so sure. They seem to be like every other team that hasn't got a clue about what they're going to get out of their starters. So in times like these, I turn to the great Dodger pitching past. But I'm not going to go way back to Koufax and Drysdale or even as far back as S...

One card. One lousy card left to complete my 1986 Topps set. And it's Joe "bleeping" Orsulak. Can you believe it? The strangest cards end up being the last ones needed to put a bow on a set. Not Puckett, not Mattingly, not Rose. Orsulak. I don't know where Orsulak is hiding, but I do suspect this: Someone is protecting old Orsy because they can't let go of a card that has (RC) next to his name in the Beckett price guide. Well, let me tell ya something, rookie card fanatic. No. 102 of the 1986 Topps set is not Orsulak's rookie card. His rookie card is what's at the top of this post, No. 89T from the 1985 Topps Traded set (There's an '85 Fleer Update card, too). So, now that that is out of the way, I'm asking ... no, I'm begging: please PLEASE trade me this card. A solitary hole in a binder of 792 cards is about as sad a sight as you're ever going to witness. Sadder than "Marley and Me" (and you thought that was a happy movie...