Night Owl Cards

  Set completion seems to have gotten more and more challenging over the years, so I like to celebrate every instance I can, big or small.   I finished off a long-neglected project this past weekend when I received an envelope from Max of Starting Nine . Inside was a card from the 2002 Upper Deck Vintage Night-Gamers insert set, which was the Pudge Rodriguez you see here. It's the last card I needed to finish it. It's a 12-card set, which does not fit at all in a nine-pocket page, unless you double-book like I often do and then it fits, but it's awkward. Here they all are neatly. It amazes me that the Jeter card wasn't the final one I needed. It was second-to-last. I didn't know this set existed before I discovered card blogs. In fact, I didn't know that Upper Deck Vintage existed or even that UD made cards at that time, outside of the 2001 UD Decade '70s set that I discovered at a Fay's Drugs in town, probably in 2002. This was the dark period for my co...

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, ...

Don't you love my overly dramatic post titles? I'm afraid you'll be disappointed if you're expecting some great truth to be revealed here. I'm just cleaning stuff off my desk this week that's been sitting there too long. This is a pack that was sent to me by Shane at Shoebox Legends . But the pack got me thinking. I have the entire 1991 Topps Traded set already. But I couldn't tell you how I got it. I probably bought the whole thing for 14 cents somewhere. And those three previous sentences, my friends, is a commentary on how far baseball cards have fallen in the eyes of its collectors. The 1991 Topps Traded set was issued 23 years ago. And it's treated with a dismissive shrug by many collectors. I let this pack sit unopened for weeks. But if you were to hand me cards from 23 years ago when I was, say, in high school, I would flip out. Cards from 1959? Are you kidding me? These are the most precious items in the world! That, to me, sums up h...

It's about that time of year when I begin to figure out who I will be cheering for in the postseason. I only do this when the Dodgers are out of it. And I think it's safe to say that the Dodgers are out of it, despite Ted Lilly's best efforts. I haven't had to do this since 2007 when L.A. finished in fourth place (a position they know well this year). But I think my choice of teams to root for have changed since then. Traditionally, I pick a team or two from the National League as my favorites. There are teams contending right now that I usually like. I'm referring to the Cardinals and the Phillies. But I don't think I can root for the Cardinals this year. As stupid as Brandon Phillips was to say the things he did when he did, he's kind of right. The Cardinals are annoying in that bitchy kind of way. And I totally blame La Russa. So, they're out. The Phillies are out, too. They have broken Dodgers fans hearts way too many times over the last co...

Let me clarify: the only card on the Million Card Giveaway site that anyone wants. Sorry, I couldn't fit that all in the title. I'm almost ignoring the Million Card Giveaway site now. My days of buying Topps are over until Series 2 comes out, so there are no codes to redeem. Plus, no one is paying attention to any of the trades I'm putting out there. And I have nothing but junk in my card account, so it's not like anyone is trying to trade with me. But there IS one card that keeps drawing offers. It's the 1993 Ivan Rodriguez card. Judging by the response, I am gathering that Pudge is quite the popular player. I have no desire to hang onto this card, but I rejected the first two trade offers that came my way. One was a 1992 card that didn't interest me. I don't even remember what the other one was. Then I began to notice a pattern. All within the last week, and all from different people, I was offered the following three cards: Jim Rice, Turn Bac...

It's still a couple of months away from Rickey Henderson's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but timeliness is for newspapers. Here, I get to write whatever I want whenever I want. And, like many fans, I am interested in what cap a player will wear on his plaque when he's in the Hall of Fame. Henderson's plaque will feature him wearing an A's cap, as it should be. He played for many teams, but his most memorable moments were with the A's, for the most part. In this era of players switching teams every four years, the Hall's task of deciding who wears what cap is more difficult than it once was. To illustrate, I've selected some current players who might be appearing in the Hall some day and will determine what cap I think they should wear. I've included several choices for each player so you can play along. I know I've left some players out, as I simply pulled some of this year's cards. So if you want to debate whether Mike Pia...