Night Owl Cards

I am not a dedicated player collector because it doesn't fit into how I view baseball and how my collection reflects the history of baseball. Set collecting and team collecting, I believe, do a better job of telling you what's going on in the sport in any given year. And that's important to me. During my less kind moments, I consider player collecting "stalker-ish," but I do see the value in gathering cards of specific players. I do it myself, but it's a low-key pursuit. There is no drive behind it and no real goals. The fact is, I do admire certain players instinctively or subconsciously, players who never played for my favorite team. So, when Jeff of Wax Pack Wonders offered one of his latest giveaways, presented in a very player-collector friendly format, I actually took part, and I didn't pick exclusively Dodgers either. (Confession time: I didn't pick exclusively Dodgers because my Dodgers collection is a bit, shall we say, "advan...

Today is Free Comic Book Day, which is yet another modern-day celebration that would have been a lot more useful to me in, say, 1980. That's when I read comic books. That's when I bought the few that I bought. It's an interest that didn't stay with me long nor follow me into adulthood. While I appreciate comics and cartoon drawings and story-telling immensely, I have no desire to read through a comic book anymore and haven't for years. When Free Comic Book Day comes around every year, I look at the offerings online with faint interest. But the days of wanting to turn those pages are gone. Besides, cards take up all my free time. I decided to look at a few instances of comics on the fronts of cards. I talk all the time about how much I love the cartoons on the backs of cards (and how they should be on the back always ). But comics on the front are a rarity. This is by no means an exhaustive, historical look. I don't have the time today. I just want t...