Night Owl Cards

My card collecting never takes a holiday. But if I had to pick a month to put it on the shelf, it would be August every year. Collecting cards takes cash and August is a giant moth-eaten wallet. There's always a point in the month when I can no longer execute the most basic parts of the hobby. Pack purchases dwindle to nothing, online window shopping becomes excruciating, and the post office workers wonder if my dog finally killed me. Probably until the month is out, I won't be able to send out any packages. That always makes me feel bad, so I must produce a guilt-ridden list here on this blog of the people that I have cards for: $30 A Week Habit (oh if I had only) Base Set Calling 2 by 3 Heroes Dime Boxes All Tribe Baseball All Trade Bait All The Time Baseball Cards Come To Life! The Angels, In Order Starting Nine Add to that a couple people who don't have blogs and the four or five additional people who have signed up to receive some of my extra Dodger...

I returned to collecting current cards eight years ago. In that time, not one active Dodger had graced the wrapper of a Topps or other card company product. The only Dodger that I can remember seeing on a wrapper is Jackie Robinson, the cover boy for last year's Gypsy Queen. So, when I saw that Kershaw was the featured player for Topps Series 2, my first thought was: "Finally" Followed by: "Topps better not jinx him." I don't think think the Topps wrapper jinx has anything on the Sports Illustrated cover jinx, but let's be real. Ryan Howard, Alex Rodriguez, Joba Chamberlain, Ryan Braun and a few others haven't had the best of outcomes since they appeared on baseball card wrapper fronts. But it turns out I had nothing to fear. Mere days after Kershaw first popped up on wrappers all over the country, he pitched one of the more efficient no-hitters of all-time. No walks, one batter above the minimum, 107 pitches, 15 strikeouts. After that...