Night Owl Cards

Out of all of the kinds of cards that I have obtained since I returned to collecting, there is only one that mocks me. But it's not the oversized cards that will barely fit in a shoebox or the mini cards that will disappear down the cold-air intake floor register. It's the sticker. I used to love stickers. I still love stickers. Although now it's more the IDEA of stickers that I love. Stickers take me back to the time when I plastered them everywhere and announced my devotion to my favorite team. I would stick them on my notebooks. I would stick them on my folders. I would stick them on my book covers and my baseball card binders. I would stick them on my Big Wheel and then, later, my bike. I would stick them on the posters on my wall. When I was feeling particularly daring, I would stick them on my desk at school. But not right on top where the teacher would see. Stickers were meant to be stuck. Periodically, you'd see stickers on trees or sign posts (...

Everything I've learned, I've learned from baseball cards. ... What? You don't believe me? Well, here are just a few examples: Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. Don't bury the lead ( who won this Series again?) Don't count on the photographer to get your good side. Speak softly and carry a big stick. There are advantages to being left-handed. Everything old is new again (thanks for the photo, Baseball Dad !) (More life lessons from baseball cards to come).

When I saw yesterday that the Dodgers had signed lefty reliever Will Ohman to a minor league deal, my first thought was "who?" I felt guilty about that, so I read some more, and saw that he had pitched for the Braves and Cubs. My next thought was "um, yeah, I think I kind of, sort of remember him with the Braves." Then I figured I'd mention the acquistion on the blog. Which prompted this thought: "Where am I going to find a card of Will Ohman?" It turns out I had one -- the 2006 Upper Deck card up top here. I forgot that when you want a card of just about anyone, you turn to Topps Total ... uh, er, Upper Deck. So, not only did I forget who Ohman was, but I forgot who he was even though I had a card of the poor guy. I tell ya, situational lefty relievers who are 31 years old get no respect. A few snippets about Ohman: he appeared in 83 games for the Braves last year. He missed two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery while with the Cubs. He was ...

I have a semi-unhealthy obsession with lists and categorizing things, which explains why every couple of years I rank all of the major league teams in order of preference. From my most favorite, bestest team in the whole world all the way down to the team that I wish had never been born. It had been awhile since I had updated the list, so I decided it was time to revise it, and present it here, as well, so you can see where your favorite team rates in my little world. These ratings are based on a variety of things: history, players on the team, cities, fans, and most importantly, how does said team affect my favorite team, the Dodgers? Are they nice to my favorite team or are they evil pains in the tuckus? So these are the latest, greatest ratings according to me. From 1 to 30. No backward counting on this list. The best team deserves to be mentioned first. 1. LOS ANGELES DODGERS. No kidding, right? It's no secret why I like the Dodgers, but in case you're late to the g...