Night Owl Cards

  The curse of multiple collecting themes in your collection is often they overlap and then what do you do? I don't even have as many collecting themes as some bloggers and I run into this all the time. For example, I received a few cards from The Angels, In Order recently as Tom was offering up some extras in his collection again. These aren't the cards I chose. Tom sent them along because they were listed on my wants for the 1991 Line Drive Albuquerque Dukes set. They were two of the final four cards I needed to finish off that set. I am now down to John Wetteland and Jose Offerman to complete it. But you saw the Offerman card already. It's in my collection. It's in my Dodger autograph collection. That's a separate binder from where the '91 Line Drive Dukes go. Now, normally I don't mind grabbing an extra of a single card to go into multiple collections. But something about this particular time annoys me just a little. Why do I need to bother getting a se...

I had a free day to do what I pleased Monday, something that has been a rarity these last three months. I thought it would be a good idea to catch up on organizing and packaging some long-delayed card envelopes. I found the next five collectors on my backlog list and settled into the rhythm of stacking the cards on the dining room table, searching through the collection and gathering the mailing supplies. For a little bit, it felt right to be doing this again. I made it through one plain, white envelope. That was it. Today, I put all the cards that I had meant to package back on the desk where they have been waiting for weeks. Turns out, I'm just not ready yet. I like the idea of getting those card packages prepared, but my physical enthusiasm for the process hasn't returned yet. Although I feel like I'm OK after my parents' passings, this is another reminder that I'm not ready to get back on that horse. But I'm still making mental notes of what cer...

(Welcome all to National Absurdity Day, celebrated every November 20th. I can't think of anything more absurd than the kids in town already using up two snow days before December hits. It's bundle-up-with-your-baseball-cards weather! Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 216th in a series): I miss Buffalo. I get sideways looks when I say that in front of people who have never lived there. But the ones who have ... and have left ... and have spent years figuring out a way to get back ... know what I mean. Buffalo is more than snow and hapless sports teams. It's the location for some of the greatest times of my life. Of a lot of people's lives. That's why I got a little sad when I saw the regurgitation of epic Buffalo snow photos across the internet accompanied by this tag line: "be glad you don't live in Buffalo." This was written by someone who obviously never spent more than an airport layover in the city (which, by the way, isn...

You know that saying about how pet owners tend to look like their pets? Well, what about players who tend to look like their team's mascot? I SAID , what about players who tend to look like their team's mascot? Do you think the owner of the Carolina Mudcats gave the players some extra cash if they could make like a mudcat for the entire season? Imagine how many souvenirs they could sell if fans could get a stuffed mudcat that looked just like their favorite player! I can hear the owner talking to his players now: Stop thinking ... Let things happen ... And ... Be ... The ... Mudcat!!!! (Minor League cards are too much fun).

(Today is "National Milk Chocolate Day." The order of those two words in the middle is important. I detest "chocolate milk." Always have since the time I was little. But "milk chocolate" is the most wonderful invention ever and much appreciated. This is the 74th in a series): If it doesn't rain, I will be attending a minor league baseball game tonight. It's already rained twice here today, but the game is an hour away, so who knows what it will be doing down there. The Syracuse Chiefs are facing the Indianapolis Indians, which doesn't mean much in major league terms, since those are the Triple A affiliates of the Nationals and the Pirates (I bet they pack the house for that series). But, as usual, we will be going merely for the spectacle of a relatively well-played game in my favorite kind of environment, one surrounded by baseball. Jason Marquis is scheduled to make the start for Syracuse. He's on a rehab assignment with the Natio...

(Another check of the holiday insights calendar reveals that today is "Camera Day." Wow, where would baseball cards be without cameras? There's a piece of technology worth appreciating. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 37 th in a series): During my first installment of card collecting, I rarely saw minor league cards in person. The only place I could view them were in mail-order catalogs. Teams would give team sets away at the park. But I didn't live anywhere near a professional ballpark. In fact, the first minor league cards I ever saw in person was the 1989 team set of the now-defunct Niagara Falls Rapids, a Class A franchise of the Detroit Tigers. I covered that team and actually appeared in that team set. I blogged about it here . So, when I read that there would be a minor league set issued nationally, by some company called "Line Drive," I was intrigued. It was 1991, and I would make weekly trips to the only drug store in the tin...