Night Owl Cards

There was a story out of Oklahoma City yesterday that the Dodgers are moving their Triple A affiliate from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City for next season. The Dodgers have been affiliated with Albuquerque for the last six seasons, and before that, the city and the Dodgers were together from 1972-2000. I grew up thinking that Albuquerque had been the top affiliate for the Dodgers for forever (although most of those great '70s Dodgers actually played Triple A games in Spokane, which was L.A.'s top affiliate throughout the '60s through 1971). Even though I've never been to Albuquerque, I don't like that the team is moving from there. The word is that Dodger management wants a better place to evaluate talent. Albuquerque, with its high altitude ways, has always been known for inflated batting stats, and that often doesn't translate to the majors. Of course that was an issue the first time the Dodgers were in Albuquerque (see Greg Brock/Mike Marshall), which ...

Topps has this product called Pro Debut. Perhaps you've heard about it. This is the second year it's been issued. It's yet another attempt to get us collectors addicted to the "who's next" aspect of collecting that has maintained a death grip on this hobby for the last 20-plus years. I know it's technically a "minor league set." But I'm not buying that when the only place you can find it is in a hobby shop where mojo hunters outnumber collectors like me by at least 3:1. At least at the hobby shop that I know. I don't ever envision a time when I would walk into my hobby shop and order up a few packs of Pro Debut. I might as well walk into the fanciest restaurant I know and demand some Pabst Blue Ribbon. Fortunately, I will never need to do that, because Kris of Cards in the Attic sends me my own version of Pro Debut each year. Usually it's just the set of Triple A Dodgers. He provided that again this year. But he also sent me...

I received my yearly set of Albuquerque Isotopes cards from Kris yesterday. They're always great fun. So after another lengthy work day-night, I pulled the cards out of their team bag, shuffled past the cards of coaches and trainers, and eyed the very first player card. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bastardo??!!!!!!! There is a Bastardo with the Dodgers? (Insert too obvious Frank McCourt joke here). I rolled my chair over to my rolltop desk (what? You think I walk like a commoner?). I grabbed the cards I had just scanned from that Heritage windfall and leafed through them. Bastardo. Bastardo. Bastardo. Bastardo. Bastardo. Bastardo. Bastardo. Ah ... here it is! Antonio. From the Dominican. Alberto. From Venezuela. After a couple more moments of review, I deduced: Yup, they are two different guys! Wow. I don't know how I didn't know this before. Two Bastardos? Two? Topps, I sense a combo card opportunity. ...

I can't hold back this post any longer. I might burst, and you don't want that. It's ugly. Feathers everywhere. So, even though there are many trade packages that arrived at the owl's nest before this one, I've got to get this out of my system. It's a crazy one. On Tuesday, I was upstairs when I heard my wife open the door and what sounded like a postal vehicle driving away. She pulled in a package shaped like nothing that would be for me. I'm terrible at measurements, but I'd say it was about 20-by-30 in dimensions. I immediately dismissed it as some decorating item until I heard someone say, "It's for you." To which I immediately responded with, "holy, crap ... what is THAT?" I do not order large, wide, flat packages. There is a reason why I collect items that are 2 1/2-by-3 1/2. They're manageable. I can keep them under my thumb without fear of an uprising. That was my thought process as I was opening the packa...