Night Owl Cards

  Here we are: One of the years of my past that is lost in the black hole of time and continuing memory loss. 1996 will be known to me for two things: the year I bought a house and the year the most hated boss of my life left town. Aside from a few assorted song favorites (Oasis, Garbage, Smashing Pumpkins, you know the ones), that's all I can recall. But what about the baseball cards? Yeah, about that. 1996 was also the first year I did not buy a single card since the time I knew what a baseball card was more than 20 years prior. So, how am I supposed to evaluate the cards from this year? I sure don't feel qualified. I've said this for the last couple of editions for this series. The enthusiasm is low. And in typical '90s fashion, the cards make it difficult. How do I trim it down into something manageable and coherent? For 1995, I limited the sets I was reviewing to only those that could muster 500 cards in their set. But in 1996, Topps pulled a fast one and issued a ...

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...

Chan Ho Park is a Yankee now, so he's practically dead to me. But also, his Yankee-ness is another episode in what has been a series events involving Park that have made me uncomfortable. Park embarrasses me. At least he did when he was a Dodger. To start, when he was a rookie, he didn't react well to the customary hazing ritual. Dodger veterans took his clothes, cut up his new suit and tried to get him to wear a crazy outfit. Park, from South Korea and unfamiliar with Americans' weird customs, flipped out, throwing stuff, screaming, not going along with the ritual at all. "Oh boy," I thought. "Who is THIS guy?" Then, on the mound three years later, Park did the unthinkable. He gave up two grand slams in one inning to the same player. Now, why Park was still on the mound for the second time that Fernando Tatis came up during the inning I'll never know. But the fact is that Park gave up two grand slams in the same inning to Tatis. Do you k...

When I look back on my favorite card moments of 2009, I think Friday will rank in the top 10, if not the top 5. For starters, Topps '09 made a triumphant reappearance back in my neighborhood with the arrival of blasters and jumbo packs. Good things really do come to those who wait . I went with two jumbo packs, but I don't think I'm going to show them here. I needed almost all of the cards and I pulled 6 Dodgers (Ramirez, Park, Kemp, Kuroda, Sweeney and Campanella Legends of the Game), but I think you've seen 'em all by now. I think this officially means I'll have to put together an '09 Topps want list in the next few days. But for me, the bigger news was finding baseball cards at the dollar store across town. I often whine about how more dollar stores and drug stores should carry cards. When I was a kid, you couldn't find a drug store that didn't have cards. Now, you can't find one that does. Meanwhile, I'll find cards periodically at...