Night Owl Cards

There is a contest about who can act more presidential taking place on television tonight. In case you haven't noticed, I detest politics, and I detest even more people getting animated about politics. So I'm steering very clear of anything that has to do with the words "debate," "moderator," or "let me finish." But I know how some people must have things to discuss and questions to answer, so I'll throw this out to you: I received this Starting Lineup card of Fernando Valenzuela from Classon Ave. a little while ago. It was part of a package of Dodgers and oddballs, which are really the best kind of packages -- there's no debate about that. Now, the whole Starting Lineup craze did not land in my wheelhouse. When kids were playing with their little SLU figurines, I was figuring out how anyone expected me to attend my 9 a.m. law of mass communication class if the bar was open until 4 a.m. Near as I know, there were little plastic ...

Back in the early stages of this blog, I wrote about the concept of a player not being able to take a bad baseball card picture. They're photogenic, but on cardboard. They're "cardogenic." Some players just have a knack for appearing on excellent baseball cards every single time. No awkward portraits. No strange expressions. No weird action shots. My favorite in this area was Russell Martin -- before his Yankeefication, of course (his cards have taken a downturn that corresponds with his batting average) -- particularly his  2008  cards. But I've mentioned other players who have this ability as well. Hideo Nomo has gobs of fantastic cards. Just about every card he graces is a work of art. I'll even grudgingly admit that Eric Young Jr. can light up a baseball card every time. He's never been a Dodger -- like his papa was -- but he somehow acquired skills in the cardogenic category anyway. Good genes, I guess. But before these guys, there were oth...