Night Owl Cards

  I mentioned the other day that I picked up this 1953 Bowman Color Gil Hodges card on the occasion of his announcement to the Hall of Fame. It arrived yesterday and I'm proud to display it in all of its majesty.   The various creases and folds, the flecks of paper loss, cannot mask one of the greatest pictures of Ebbets Field to ever appear on a baseball card.   I'm aware that the setting is likely mid-day, possibly under overcast skies, but the yellow sign above and to the left of the red Bulova Watch sign makes it appear in my mind as a scene at dusk. Wishful thinking, of course.   But the star of the show, besides brand-new Hall of Famer Hodges, out in right-center field is the familiar Schaefer Beer scoreboard (with the Bulova clock at the top!). It's one of the certain indicators that your baseball card setting is in one of the most famous bygone ballparks in history.   The scoreboard began advertising Schaefer's beer in 1947 and I didn't know until today...