Night Owl Cards

Happy Canada Day, once again, to my Canadian readers. This is getting to be a bit of a tradition now that I've referenced Canada Day on the actual day the last three years. Tell me, non-Canadians, what's the first thing you think of when someone mentions "Canada"? If you didn't respond with "hockey," you need to try again. Hockey is such a Canadian institution that if someone were to tell me that a famous athlete from Canada never played hockey, I'd be more surprised by that than just about anything. Even professional baseball players from Canada played hockey before they made baseball their career choice. Larry Walker, one of the greatest baseball players to ever come out of Canada, wanted to be a goalie in the NHL when he was growing up. One of his childhood friends was Boston Bruins great Cam Neely. Walker never played professional hockey. But there are several MLB players who were drafted by an NHL team, played in pro hockey leagues an...

I wasn't going to do a breakdown of the game I went to last night. Everyone reading this has been to a baseball game before -- multiple times -- including myself. But, no matter how many times I go, I always find something interesting -- usually something I've never seen before -- and that was the case again Friday night. So here is a top 10 on what was Interesting To Me at last night's Norfolk Tides-Syracuse Chiefs baseball game: 10. Jamie Hoffmann: Hoffmann was one of two former Dodgers to play in last night's game. You'll read about the other one later. Hoffmann had some enjoyable moments for the Dodgers in 2009, but now he's kicking around on the Orioles' Triple A team. He started in right field and went 2-for-4 with a triple. My daughter only knows him as "The Former Dodger." 9. Pink batters boxes: It was Breast Cancer Awareness Night at Alliance Bank Stadium. The Chiefs wore uniforms with pink accents on the jersey. Some of...

I'm at the ballpark tonight, taking in my annual Syracuse Chiefs game. Tonight, they're playing the Norfolk Tides, the Triple A team of the Orioles. Former Dodger prospect Jamie Hoffmann is with Norfolk. Other Tides of interest are former Dodger Dana Eveland, collector favorite Pat Neshek, and Nate McLouth. (Brian Matusz is due to get the start for Norfolk against the dreaded TBA). If I happen to bump into one of them at the concession stand, I'll try to get their autograph. But I don't expect that to happen. And I won't hunt them down either. I like to relax at the game. Sit in my seat, keep score for 3 innings before deciding I'm bored with it, grab a hot dog, and bask in the glory of the best sensory experience on the planet. But what are you poor folks going to do while I'm out enjoying the game? I was nice and found some cards for you to view. These are from Cards on Cards . They were part of a cards-for-cards and periodical-for-periodical...