Night Owl Cards

It seems strange to say in our phone culture, but there used to be a time when you didn't necessarily take pictures when you went to a baseball game. You certainly didn't take pictures of yourself, I know that. I own zero photographic proof of the first Major League Baseball game I ever attended, the Royals and Yankees at Yankee Stadium in July of 1978. My father may have taken some photos with his camera, he was the picture-taker until my mom took over. But I've never seen any. Any images of that game have resided solely in my mind's eye for 42 years. Such was the case for a number of major and minor league games that I attended through the 1980s and '90s. Camera? Why would I want one of those? There's a game to watch out there! And food to eat! There's no time for snappy, snapping! Well, that thought process certainly changed. Look at the stands of any baseball game. The phone, with that camera, seems much more interesting to many people in the ...

Twenty-seven years ago today, the Dodgers won their most recent World Series title. It wasn't a forgone conclusion that they would win when Kirk Gibson hit that home run against Dennis Eckersley in Game 1. But I think it gave L.A. a significant boost, considering they were pegged as large underdogs to the A's going into the Series. In years past, I've remembered the Dodgers side of things in that game, for obvious reasons. But today I want to focus on the man who gave up that home run, Dennis Eckersley. I felt a little bad for Eckersley when he surrendered that homer. See, I've always liked Eck and heaven knows there are plenty of pitchers that I would have rather seen give up that home run. Eckersley started the first Red Sox game I ever saw at Fenway Park. The first time I heard of him was when Boston acquired Eckersley from the Indians during spring training of 1978 for Rick Wise and a bunch of Boston prospects. But I knew Eckersley the most from his baseb...

I received a healthy stack of 2015 Stadium Club in the package that Dave sent last week. I still consider this the set of the year and, indeed, that's what Dave wrote on the team bag that contained the Stadium Club cards. This stack of almost 50 cards -- only 2 or 3 of them dupes -- means that I should finally put up a want list for this set. And, even though you've seen all of these cards before, I still feel obligated to show some of them because they are so striking. Here they are with no commentary: You get the idea. The reason that this set is so great is that the photography is so great, and that's because the photos were culled from the best of the best by the best photographers. Most, if not all, of the Stadium Club photos were acquired from Getty Images, meaning that these photos are also available to you -- separate from the image that you see on a baseball card -- for a fee. Want this image to put up in your spare room, ...

It's the end of March. Every year at this time I look around, do a quick inventory, check myself in the mirror, and celebrate that, yes, I am still alive. The month didn't kill me. This year I had resolved at the start of the month that I would not let it get to me. And then a different firecracker went off in my face for the next 31 days. But that's over now. Here we are -- as this fiendish month draws its final breaths -- still going. I recognize that fact each year by acquiring a few celebratory cards. Just a few, because who has time to scope out a palette of cards in March ? The cards arrived the other day and you'll see them in several different posts, but right now I want to show the ones that most make me smile. Because March is dying, dammit, and I'm ready to smile. I decided to make an effort in my quest to complete the 2001 Upper Deck Decade '70s set. But except for the above absolutely amazing Dennis Eckersley card, I didn't end up pic...