Night Owl Cards

With the news of Ryan Braun yesterday, it occurred to me that Topps has had extraordinarily poor luck in selecting who should lead off their flagship set. In the last 17 years, Topps has picked Braun twice, Alex Rodriguez four times, and Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire once for the No. 1 card in the set (and don't forget John Lackey, too). These aren't exactly people you want to be your kids' role models -- not that the No. 1 card should reflect the most outstanding citizens on the planet -- or that players should be role models -- this is not the topic I want to discuss in any way -- please don't get indignant on me -- let's move on. I've already addressed the history of the first card in past Topps flagship sets. I've also addressed the history of the last card in past Topps flagship sets. And really, who wants to be first or last? We've seen what it takes to be No. 1 and what it can do to a person all too often these last 17 yea...

(It's about time I got back into the Cardboard Appreciation rhythm of things. Did you know I haven't done one of these things in three weeks? Did you know that these things are habitually the most read features that I do? What's wrong with me? It's high time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 95th in a series): There seems to be a bias against non-ballplayers in baseball card sets. Maybe it goes back to childhood when you reacted with disgust when you pulled a manager card. But I still know people who collect that way. They'll take all the player cards, and discard the rest. I always liked a good manager card. And I don't mind the occasional card of someone who might not wear a uniform, but is connected to baseball. This card of A. Bartlett Giamatti, issued after his untimely death in September of 1989, was kind of a special-case situation, but it illustrated what I'd like to see. Instead of throwing cards of microwave ovens and circus animals in...