Night Owl Cards

  I became aware of this card probably several months ago, filed it away as a future conquest, promptly forgot about it, then came across it again a couple of weeks ago.   It's now in my possession and it couldn't be more fantastic. I grew up with Luis Tiant as a key member of the Red Sox and then wrapping up his career with the Yankees and Angels (I was not old enough for the Indians and Twins version of Tiant). He is firmly entrenched with the AL East in my mind, one of my childhood favorites, and that's why it's so bizarre and so wonderful to see him in a Dodgers uniform.   Sure, El Tiante is part of a low-level team in the Dodgers' chain, but it doesn't make the card any less intriguing.   It's part of a litany of cards of players and other baseball figures in unfamiliar uniforms.   We've all seen the short-term stops cards for players, there's been plenty of blog posts about those. But what about coaches and managers? There's some weirdness ...

I believe all baseball fans have read about what Jack Clark said about Albert Pujols on the radio last month. He claimed that Pujols was injected with PEDs and Pujols denied it and threatened to sue. Clark also made veiled insinuations about Justin Verlander and one of my Dodger favorites, Shawn Green. Clark and his show were booted from the airwaves shortly thereafter, and whether you agree or disagree with the move -- freedom of speech and all that -- I don't care. Because I don't like Jack Clark. Never have. Clark was a beacon of hope for Giants fans when he debuted in the late 1970s. The Giants sucked then, as they always should, and Clark had talent. But Clark also had a loud mouth. He got in disagreements with manager Frank Robinson and some of his teammates. Later, with the Cardinals, he argued with Ozzie Smith, and later Tony Gwynn, and later there was bankruptcy over his nonstop accumulation of luxury vehicles, and later there was his inability to get the Dodger...

Some of you may have gathered by this post that I don't exactly care for 1986 Topps. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding. I actually quite enjoy '86 Topps. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be collecting it. But, like I said, part of my reason for collecting it is it's kind of a misfit among the other fine Topps offerings of the 1980s. Blurry photos, odd poses, etc. Anyway, Matt of Heartbreaking Cards either read my post or saw my huge '86 Topps want list and got the gist of what I was saying: I collect these babies. Then, he did something wonderful: he asked if I wanted a whole mess of 1986 Topps that he had purchased long ago and had barely touched. And he said he'd send them to me without hope for anything in return. Wow, Matt, merry Christmas to you, too. The 338 cards off my want list (take a look at the '86 want list now. It's gone on a diet) arrived when I was out of town. I'm kind of going out of order in terms of when the card packages...