Night Owl Cards

    A couple of commenters in the last post brought up a good point about the ways Topps recognized the postseason after the 1970s. They didn't necessarily use the flagship set to do it, and although I'd prefer that they did, I know that recognition came in other forms. As the commenters said, one of the main ways was with stickers. I know all about that. Because that's the only way I could get an account of the Dodgers' World Series title in 1981 -- it certainly wasn't on cards! There they are, the 1981 postseason stickers. There's one for the Dodgers' win over the Expos in the NLCS and then one for each World Series game the Dodgers won, Games 3, 4, 5 and 6. Topps selected a player for each sticker, Fernando Valenzuela for Game 3, Steve Garvey for Game 4, Jerry Reuss for Game 5 and Pedro Guerrero for Game 6.  I think Jay Johnstone would've made more sense for Game 4.   There are also two stickers showcasing the World Series champion team (a precursor t...

  I've said a time or two that I have no regrets when it comes to removing cards from my collection. Whether I trade them, sell them, whatever, it was what I meant to do at the time, and I won't use hind-sight to beat myself up over what is a hobby.   However, I do have one regret when it comes to collecting. I was reminded of it just last night when Collecting Cutch posted about collecting newspaper clippings .   I don't have any newspaper clippings in my collection. That's a bit embarrassing to say for someone who has been in the newspaper business for almost 35 years. I do have an accumulation of newspapers in my home that I have saved, but that's for professional reasons, a habit I picked up when I was building my resume and thinking about moving on (it never happened). Fortunately one of those papers is the Dodgers' clinching game of last year's World Series. But I did once accumulate newspaper clippings. I put together scrapbooks of the entire major le...

(I am writing this in the midst of postseason stress. Yesterday was fun ... from about the fifth inning on. But now it's over, the Dodgers won and I'll agonize through another game less than 24 hours after the first one. Maybe the NBA playoffs have it right: we need a few days to recover before the next heart attack. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 264th in a series): A few days ago, I was in a yank about the length of time since the Dodgers had been in a World Series, counting up the winless streak in the NLCS (currently at four straight), when I decided to relive the good old days. I found Game 6 of the 1981 World Series and for the first time since it happened, watched it from beginning to end. It felt strange to see the Dodgers doing so well on the biggest stage in baseball. I've experienced that feeling twice in my life, but the last time was 1988 and I've become accustomed to inevitable failure no matter how well my team is doing. ...

One of the drawbacks of growing older is the increasing tendency for memories to blend together so they are no longer distinguishable. A memory of a moment in 1984 is sharp, clear and as vivid as yesterday. But the entire year of 1999 is one muddled mess. It takes real concentration to figure out what I was doing that year. The same goes for my memories of different World Series. With many, you could name a World Series and I could tell you where I was. I could tell you the other people in the room and even some of the emotions I was feeling at the time. A few examples: 1979: In the basement rec room of my parents' house rooting for the Pirates with my brother, while my other brother desperately rooted for his favorite team, the Orioles. 1984: Sneaking off to the "Home Entertainment" section of the department store where I worked to join some of my co-workers in taking quick glances at the Tigers' beatdown of the Padres while we pretended to dust merchandise....