Night Owl Cards

Evening greetings. It's snowy owl here presenting you with another snow ... er, night card. Snow happens to be on my mind. Really, it's on everyone's mind who lives around here. It. Will. Not. Stop. That storm that passed through the east coast a few days ago? Dumped quite a bit of snow, right? Then it was gone. And you cleaned up. And waited for the next one. Not here. A big snowstorm here is just an excuse to create -- yay! -- more snow!!! The lake effect picked up as soon as the snowstorm left and now there is not a snowbank in the city that isn't taller than me. The weather forecasters are useless. "It's going to end at 1 p.m.," then "it's going to end at 1 a.m.," then "it's going to end at 7 a.m." Each time you fall for it. And you're shocked when you wake up or get out of work and "what the hell? ... MORE SNOW?????" People not from this area ask me "well, how much did you get?" I don'...

It's been awhile since I received a Clayton Kershaw card in a trade. I did receive a couple from Project '62 recently that broke a prolonged slump. And I'll post them ... eventually. But other than those two, it's been quiet. On top of that, I've noticed Kershaw's cards going up in price in the online shops. Nothing drastic. But apparently people are finally getting wise to the idea that he's something special. It only took them four years. So, with everyone marching behind the Minotaur, I decided to do a little something and grabbed some Kershaw cards myself. Collectors collect, right? They can't wait by the mailbox all the time. I didn't get anything flashy. I don't have the cash. So that means no autographs, no relics and definitely no patch cards (some of which are gawdawful). But it does mean: COLORED PARALLELS!!!!!!!! My favorite parallel of all-time! Zowie! I love the colored parallel. I hope it stays around forever. First,...

Being a Dodgers fan means you take the bad and the good. Your team's postseason history isn't filled with never-ending highs, like the Yankees. Your team's postseason history isn't filled with demoralizing lows, like the Cubs. It's sort of in between. I try to dwell on the positive sides of the Dodgers in the postseason. Kirk Gibson. 1981. Koufax. The '63 sweep. Charlie Neal. Johnny Podres. I attempt to avoid the negative sides. Tom Niedenfuer. Gary Matthews. Reggie and his hip. Joe Rudi. The '66 O's. Wait 'Til Next Year. Mickey Owen. The most embarrassing part of the Dodgers' postseason history is something I have rarely mentioned on this blog. That's because I don't like mentioning it. It's the matter of that little no-hitter that Don Larsen threw in the 1956 World Series. It was the only no-hitter in postseason play, and it came against the Dodgers. I wasn't alive then, but damn that must've been embarrassing. ...

You remember this guy, don't you? It's been quite a while since I wrote about him. When last we visited young Bowman Strasburg, he had been sent on a journey, shipped off in the U.S. mail after being sold for almost 100 bucks. Meanwhile, I was looking forward to turning the 20 dollars I spent on the blaster that yielded the Strasburg into a 1950s card, preferably Jackie Robinson or Koufax. And that's when the Strasburg hit the fan. The guy who bought the card said he never received it and filed a claim. I was furious. Never once, out of all the packages that I have sent out in nearly two years, has anyone said that they didn't receive their cards. I called bullshit. Rob, of VOTC , who proxy-sold the card for me, called bullshit. A week later, as Paypal looked into the matter, the buyer said everything was cool. I don't know what happened that made him suddenly change his mind, but I'm hoping a guilty conscience had something to do with it. After vowin...

I hope this makes sense. I don't have much time, and I am literally giddy with excitement right now. You know that thing I said about there not being any Bowman or Topps Series 2 in my area? Forget it. They were the babblings of a crazy man. I was at Wal-Mart today. Both Bowman and Topps Series 2 were there. In relatively plentiful supply. So I nabbed a cereal box of Series 2 (haven't opened it yet) and a blaster of Bowman (I most definitely have opened that -- and uttered something really loud in the parking lot when I opened it). I won't go into the details because no one cares, including me at the moment. Here is the last card of the last pack in the blaster: Yay for me! I love pulling a parallel of my favorite player. OK, nobody cares about that except for me. So, on we go with something everyone seems to care about. Here is the sixth card of the second pack of the blaster: The man himself. Numbered to 999. All purpley. I know I just advised anyone who...

Let's establish the back story: 1. I am not a prospector. I have a very difficult time focusing on players who are not in the major leagues, even prospects from my own team. 2. I generally ignore Bowman, a set filled with prospects since its re-emergence in 1989. I think you could fill an average-sized shoe box with the number of Bowman packs I have purchased over the last 20 years. I am not interested in players who very well could be the pizza delivery man dressed in a baseball uniform for all I know. 3. I tend to poke fun at Bowman because of its repetitive design, and because of the ever confusing number of sets under the Bowman name. Then there are the sets within sets and the incomprehensible numbering system in which you might see BP10 or BPDP10 or BPDPBB10 or BPDPICAN'TFIGUREOUTWHICHDAMNSETTHISCARDBELONGSIN10. Now, given all that, here is some rather conflicting information: 1. I've written about 2010 Bowman on this blog about 6 or 7 times a...