Night Owl Cards

  Just barely getting through March here. Bear with me for a few more days. I'm sure a lot of people are aware of this card and that it was hashed over to bits in 2007, but I'm curious. Despite what the front of this card says, this is a card of Chris Denorfia, from 2007 Topps Updates and Highlights. Card No. 40. That's the back. Chris Denorfia all the way. But the FRONT says Carlos Carrasco of the Philadelphia Phillies. At the time, Carrasco was a minor league pitcher for the Phillies. He was a top prospect, but he didn't even appear in a Topps base set until 2010. Here he is on his first Topps base card: He was traded to the Indians in the Cliff Lee deal. And as you can see, Denorfia and Carrasco do not look alike: I don't even want to get into what warped situation caused this mix-up. Carrasco shouldn't even have been a thought in Topps' head during the making of the 2007 Updates & Highlights set. But t...

I have purchased exactly one blaster in 2011 so far. It wasn't even a blaster of 2011 product. It was a blaster marked down to $5.99. How can you pass up a blaster for $5.99? It was a box of 2007 Topps Updates & Highlights. I bought a few packs of those, but not a lot. So I thought this would be a nice nostalgia trip, combined with grabbing a few cards that I had never seen. The base cards were fun. Eric Gagne as a Red Sox, a rookie Kevin Slowey, somebody named Rocky Cherry. You can't beat 10 packs for 6 bucks. But the inserts? Let's just say I don't ever want to hear anyone complain about Topps' 2011 inserts again. Here is what passed for inserts in 2007: Goody. Swell. Yippee. Joy. I also pulled the Bonds card at the top of the post, which I suppose if you were brainless enough to collect the entire Bonds HR set is the card to get since it commemorates the downfall of baseball as we know ... er, I mean the crowning of a new home run leade...

I'm a person who is well aware of his faults. No need for you to call attention to them. I know the rundown. I have the list. I check it daily. But even though I could start a blog on the topic, there are times when I come across a fault of mine that I never knew I had. Trading cards through the blogosphere has brought one particular previously unknown fault into focus, and here it is: I suck at pulling Minnesota Twins cards. You may think this isn't much of a fault or that it doesn't even fall under the definition of the word, but let me tell you: if you are trading cards with a Twins fan, it's a definite shortcoming. I don't know what it is. You may think it's because the Twins are a small-market team and the card companies don't feature as many Twins players. Well, then how come I have no problem pulling Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros? How do you explain my Carlos Lee temple o' cards in the basement? I most certainly pull small-marke...

"Cole, you just hang in there until the sixth inning, buddy. We'll tee it up for you." (Apologies to Phungo, which posted this card earlier today ). Phillies 3, Dodgers 2. Geez, what happened to Derek Lowe in the sixth inning? He acted like he got served with paternity suit papers between innings. Even in the fifth inning he started behaving all squirrely, like he had spotted the paternity server in the stands. Before you knew it, bombs from Utley and Burrell, and the Derek Lowe face was in full effect. And, Raffy, I'm so disappointed. Manny Ramirez and Blake DeWitt, you're excused. The rest of you must stay after class and write 1,000 times, "I will not let fools twirling snot rags throw off my concentration."