Night Owl Cards

I had no plans to participate in the Big Fun Game over at Willinghammer Rising . I remember when Napkin Doon was running the BFG and it seemed like a lot of strategizing and paying attention. Nope, I didn't have time for that. But Breakdown Cards volunteered me for the BFG and I was officially in, so, heck, I guess I had to pay attention now! And then, JBF randomized the names and I came up as selecting last. That's the perfect spot for someone who's no good at strategy (see: my fantasy baseball teams). I could sit and wait and watch while everyone else selected, and without worrying whether someone was going to steal the card I wanted. When my turn came, the best card of all the really nice cards offered up by JBF in the BFG was up for grabs. And I grabbed. The glorious Carl Yastrzemski rookie card from 1960 Topps -- one of the most notable cards of the '60s -- is now mine. The card is so notable that it has been a topic of numerous Topps reprints over the ...

I was a little bit relieved that the Dodgers reached an agreement with Brian Wilson yesterday. It's not because I particularly care whether he's on the team or not. It's because I wanted there to be at least someone listed with the Dodgers in the Topps Update set who was STILL WITH THE DODGERS by the time I completed the team set. Topps Update is a tricky thing and it's another one of the reasons why I look at the set with a sideways glance. It comes out at a time of year when teams are wheeling and dealing. So here you are, supposedly getting the latest and greatest players in their latest and greatest (*gasp*) new uniforms , and they aren't in those uniforms anymore. What the hell? But I was able to thwart all of these conspirators recently by completing the entire Dodgers base set in Update before every player had left. These are the last three players I needed: Shockingly, they are all still with the Dodgers. Each of these cards -- including em...

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I attended my 30-year high school reunion last week. I didn't communicate with three-fourths of my class when I was in high school, but it was a pretty mind-blowing time last weekend. In fact, if you're approaching that same reunion milestone and have never gone to a previous reunion (like me), I recommend going. At the very least, it will be amusing. The most gratifying thing about that weekend for me may have been having the opportunity to return to a place where everyone remembered the early 1980s. The entire room was filled with people who knew the area where I grew up, knew how we got from there to here, and know how perplexing it is sometimes to live in our current virtual world of gadgetry. Everything that existed then is viewed differently by the people who came after. Our ways then don't make sense to them now. It felt good to be among those who could still make sense of those times. As one tiny example, take the Def L...

A little more than three years ago, I made a list of the 10 players that I am the most sick of pulling from packs. Those are the players that show up the most times when I buy packs, or maybe it's just a player that I've never heard of who keeps popping up over and over. Or maybe it's a player who's a downright irritant, no matter how many times he appears. I decided to update that post , even though I don't buy nearly as many packs as I did back then and don't exactly feel qualified to do this post. It was interesting to look back on my innocent viewpoint back then. For one, I didn't have much of a problem with Mark Teixeira, relatively speaking anyway. I also had barely heard of Zack Greinke. For those who don't enjoy clicking links, here was the top 10 three years ago, in reverse order: 10. Mark Teixeira 9. Alex Rodriguez 8. Jose Vidro 7. Nook Logan 6. Zack Greinke and Tom Gorzelanny 5. Jeff Weaver 4. Eric Chavez 3. Carlos Lee 2. To...

I wasn't going to do this this year. But when you're scratching and clawing for ideas, you grab onto anything that will keep the blog afloat. Like I said last year, I don't feel all that qualified to present the worst card of the year. I don't buy as many new cards as I did two years ago. I don't feel that I have a complete view of everything, and therefore my idea of "the worst" is skewed. But, what the hey. "Worst" is subjective anyway. And there ain't nothing more subjective than a blog. So let's subjective the hell out of some stupid-looking cards! This card is disturbing and it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a Giant. It looks like Matt Cain is well on his way to becoming a shrunken head. Who's neck is as wide as their head? Plus, Topps' off-center presentation of Cain, combined with the blurry background, just draws you to Cain's contracting noggin. Every year, since I was little, there have b...

Topps Heritage seems intent this year on featuring ballplayer's hairstyles. It's an ugly turn that's excused as "staying true to the original." However, I think most of the players who were not wearing caps in the 1962 Topps set didn't wear them because either they were just traded or Topps thought that they would be traded. Baseball expanded by two teams in '62 and there were players moving everywhere. So Topps asked the player to take off the cap. Just in case. Then, when the player was traded or drafted by an expansion team, Topps had a capless photo at the ready. I could be wrong, but I don't think there was any MLB expansion in 2011. I also don't think Ian Kinsler has been traded. Or is about to be traded. (Or is that short). The same goes for Carlos Gonzalez or Hanley Ramirez or Carlos Lee or Jason Bay or Hunter Pence. Yet, all are devoid of headwear in 2011 Heritage. This is very irksome. Why am I so cranky about this? Well,...