Night Owl Cards

Tonight, regardless of whether the Mets win or not, will be the last baseball game I watch live for the season. Games 6 and 7 are scheduled for days when I work, and although there's a TV at my job, I won't have time to see more than a few snippets. But don't worry about the end of the season. As usual, Night Owl Cards won't be cutting back during the offseason. I have plenty of interest in baseball cards through the winter months -- maybe even more so than the summer months. And I'll be even more eager to keep things going thanks to a postseason without an ugly ending. Good things can happen in baseball, people! One of the reasons that I like this World Series matchup is because it features two teams that haven't won the Series since the 1980s. I feel a kinship with those teams, and fans of those teams, because my favorite team is also Stuck in the '80s. Those "Stuck in the '80s" teams -- the Dodgers, Royals, Mets, A's, Orioles a...

In honor of the official announcement Monday that Stephen Strasburg will be called up to the majors and start against the Pirates on June 8, I thought I'd actually go through with my threat of attempting to name some of the Bowman sets of the last 10 years. Strasburg, after all, is the face of 2010 Bowman, which should appear on shelves in my neighborhood by, oh, say Strasburg's fifth major league start. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in the original Define the Design post, those Bowman sets aren't easy to name. Even after opening it to suggestions, there weren't a lot of confident answers. I fully expected that. There is not a lot of design to define. But I will name three of them. I'm not married to any of them, so if something cool springs to mind, don't hesitate to let me know. If you didn't see the original post, go here . Maybe you have an idea on some of the other ones, too. OK, these three have names, and they're on the sidebar: 2003 Bo...

We here at Define the Design do not shy away from the tough questions. After all, anyone can come up with a descriptive set name for 1987 Topps or 1982 Donruss. Finding design answers for a few other sets is a lot more challenging. Score, when we get to it, will be a bear. Some of the Upper Deck sets out there are almost indefinable. And then there's Bowman. The early days of Bowman produced some memorable sets and nobody is going to have much trouble coming up with a name for some of those '50s cards. You plaster a giant wood-panel TV set on each card and you've named the set, too. Done and done. Even when Bowman returned in 1989, it at least made the look of its sets relatively different from year to year (1990 and 1991 excluded). The problem arises at the turn of the century. Here is the 2001 Bowman card. Bowman went with a very cool black-and-red design. You can't argue with black and red. It always looks great, as the Atlanta Falcons have shown for years. ...

Well, it appears that Garret Anderson will be a part of the Dodgers when they begin their season on Monday at Pittsburgh. I like having Anderson on my team, although like Jim Thome last year, it came about seven years too late. But if the Dodgers use Anderson like they say they will -- as a lefty off the bench -- and keep him as far from the outfield as possible, then it's a pleasant little addition. I'm more pleased with two other Dodger developments -- giving the starting second baseman job to Blake DeWitt and the No. 5 starter role to Charlie Haeger. I like both of those guys. They each must prove their consistency, but I'm glad they're getting the chance to do so. I suppose this brings me to the part of the post where I make predictions for the season. I hate this part. Most of the time I avoid it by presenting goofy, completely unrealistic predictions and then someone thinks I'm serious and gets mad/acts all puzzled. So I am delivering my genuine, seri...