Night Owl Cards

I tracked down a 1 1/2-inch binder today and paged my complete 2011 Topps Lineage 1975-style mini insert set. Here is a quick snapshot: Isn't it beautiful? I admit I am a bit concerned that the thrill of both completing this set and having pages that fit these cards is fading a little. The excitement of both feats should stay around forever. I guess that's why I blog, to keep the thrill going a little longer. Completing a 200-card insert set is no easy achievement and these minis marked the first time I ever thought of doing such a thing. If the cards weren't a tribute to my favorite cards from the first year that I collected, I never would have attempted such insanity. Now I'm standing over my purchased binder with the cards all paged, yelling to myself, "THIS WAS DIFFICULT, DAMN IT! DON'T YOU REMEMBER? BE MORE EXCITED!" Anyway ... After having paged the "real" 1975 Topps mini set and now the Lineage mini set, with the perfect...

This is not 1919. There are no nine-game World Series anymore. So later tonight (or early Saturday morning), we will experience the final day of the baseball season. Thanks to David Freese, I will be able to witness Game 7 of a World Series for the first time since, well, the last one, in 2002. I was off on that night, too. But since I don't have a huge rooting interest to distract me, I will spend too much of the game mourning the fact that this is the last major league baseball game I will see for five months. We are about to enter the less happy portion of the year. Big fat bummer. As usual, I have a baseball card connection for this bittersweet experience. It is called "the last card in the set." The last card of any set -- well, any traditionally large set -- is the final chapter in a novel that you never want to end. The greatest baseball card sets are epic in nature, colorful and fascinating from beginning to end. When you turn to the final page -- or re...