Night Owl Cards

I was ready to put a postscript on my childhood today and then Bob Welch died. This is tough. Welch was the first rookie sensation who I was aware of who played for my team. My brother had Fred Lynn. My other brother had Eddie Murray. And then, in October 1978, I had Bob Welch. A lot of people are remembering Welch for his 27-win season and that '91 Score card that features just a ball and his two fingers. But, to me, Bob Welch will never be an Oakland A. He will always be a Dodger. In all of my memories of him, he is wearing Dodger blue. Welch is the first person -- before Sparky Lyle, before Jim Bouton (I read those books later) -- who taught me that baseball players are people, too. They have the same hopes and failings as everyone else and there is no one who steps between those white lines who is a golden god of invincibility. This is the book that told me that (I have the original hardback with the original sleeve). This book opened my eyes wide -- to baseba...

(Welcome to part 2 of The Most Defective Sets That I Know. Read, reflect, be grateful that you're not as defective as these sets are. Or at least I hope you're not). 5. TMDSIK: 1989 BOWMAN I have a box of 1989 Bowman. In the original box issued that year. I bought it at a department store for super cheap. The return of Bowman was a big deal in 1989, which is probably why it was such a disappointment. We expected so much more. But the look is only part of the problem. The problem is THAT  look on THAT card size. 1989 Bowman is too ugly to be featured that large. I was so frustrated when I found out that '89 Bowman wasn't 2 1/2-by-3 1/2 that I have left most of the cards from that set in the very box that I purchased. The vast majority of my completed sets are in binders. But I didn't bother with '89 Bowman. In fact, I cared so little for it, that I broke up the set. I have only about half of it now and I'd have even less of it if I could find...

Up until the last day or so, trades had dried right up for me. I've had no time to strike up any deals, and with Listia and a card show and some online arranging going full force, cards were occupying my time in other ways. But the time has come for me to get off my ass and actually be a fully functioning member of the bloggery again. Now that I've scrounged up some money for mailing supplies, a few select people will be getting some cards next week. And then a few more after that. Before you know it, it will be 2009 again and we'll all be clawing our eyes out because of all the trade posts. One person who hasn't stopped sending out cards recently is Spiegel . I got a very cool assortment of cards from him a couple weeks ago and am just now getting finding time to discuss them. So let's see if I still know how this "show your latest cards" thing works. I think you turn it on ... Like this ... Is it working? Ah, here we go ... I shall st...

The other day Matt F. posted this card during his rookie card series on his blog . This is a card that releases many memories for me. So when I saw it, I wrote what I felt at that moment: "The best rookie card ever." Matt came back with "That's some bold talk!" and he's right, it is. I was only thinking about what the card meant to me. If we are classifying cards by their "rookieness," then that's the rookie card that means the most to me, therefore, it is "the best rookie card ever" in terms of my experience. (But it's not my favorite rookie card ). But then I started to think about what Matt said. My comment could be taken in another way -- that I think this is THE best rookie card and should be judged as the best rookie card when stacked with all the other notable rookie cards in history. Then, yes, that's definitely some bold talk. But, what the hell, I've been known to have an opinion. I've been paid t...

And it's definitely "not going" at all. I haven't received an autograph in the mail in months. And, just as telling, I haven't sent out an autograph request through the mail in months. I'm not sure why that is. Either life got in the way, or stamps got too expensive, or the disappointment of a couple TTM failures affected me, or I just stopped caring. Probably a little bit of all four. But I am committed to posting a periodic update on my limited foray into TTM tries, so here is my latest one. I continue to wait for a return of my autograph request to Bob Welch , one of my 100 all-time favorite ball players. I sent out the request in August. People tell me waiting a few months is nothing. So, I'll continue to wait. I've waited even longer for Orel Hershiser . I sent out a request in June. Still nothing. I know people have waited a year or more and received an autograph in the mail. But I also know that folks have received a TTM autograph from Hers...