Night Owl Cards

(Greetings on " Live Long and Prosper Day ," a day dedicated to Leonard Nimoy, whose birthday is today, but also dedicated to all of us: Live long and prosper and STAY IN YO HOUSE. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 290th in a series): There are many moments that started me on the road to being the dedicated baseball fan that I am today and have been for the last 40-plus years. I can point to the first baseball card I ever saw, the first baseball card pack I ever bought, the first baseball game I ever watched on TV, the first baseball game I ever viewed in person, the first baseball cap I ever wore, the first baseball glove with an MLB player's signature I ever owned, all of it makes up who I am today as a baseball fan and card collector. It's not quite as easy to pinpoint why I've always liked certain baseball players. Ron Cey, sure, I can give you dates and happenings. But there aren't many more players where I can say: "Yes,...

Today, I sent three card packages into the mail. My gosh, what an achievement. I felt so proud of myself, shipping those packages. All three of them were in response to cards I received before Christmas, possibly even from November. Meanwhile, there are still plenty of pre-Christmas transactions left on my "to send" section of the card desk, reminding me of exactly how long I'm taking to be a neighborly trader through the mail. I don't really feel shame about my delayed responses. Life has been so relentless in the last six months that there's no time to feel guilt, let alone do something about it. But I can't help but admire those collectors who are so on top of things. For example, Marc from Remember the Astrodome . He's sent me three packages in a relatively short period of time. I finally sent out a card package in response to maybe his first mailing and -- boom -- a third package showed up. I hadn't even featured his second mailing on th...

You ever look at certain cards in your collection and get enraged every time you view them? I do. You may be wondering about my blood pressure. I'm happy to say it's perfectly normal. But there are certain cards that I'd never look at in the doctor's waiting room. I'll give you just one example. It's the 1976 Topps Jim Wynn card. If you collected in the 1970s -- if you're familiar with the 1970s at all -- you know that Wynn was not an all-star caliber player with the Braves. By the time the Dodgers traded him to Atlanta, in the deal that land L.A. Dusty Baker, Wynn's skills had all but eroded. He hit a pathetic .207 for the Braves in 1976, and Atlanta quickly sold him to the Yankees, where he performed even worse. Wynn was a very old 35 when he retired. But in 1975, Wynn was still at the top of his game. He had won N.L. Comeback of the Year honors for his performance with the Dodgers in 1974. He made his second straight start in the All-St...

The Dodgers last night clinched their 16th division championship since arriving in Los Angeles in 55 years ago. They celebrated with a pool party (scandalous!), and I am thrilled that I now have two weeks to go before I start sweating out the Cardinals and/or Braves and, hopefully, the Red Sox. It's enough time, in fact, for me to consider my favorite Dodger card that was issued in each of the team's championship seasons. And I went through and found favorites for each of those years. I wanted to add the Brooklyn teams, too, but I'm embarrassingly short on 1940s cards. You could also make a case for each of these being the "best" Dodger cards of those years, but I don't want to get into that. I'd like to be a fan for today and be partisan and biased and irrational. You know, all those things that make a fan great. It's interesting how some of these cards are borderline iconic. That's what happens when you win or reach a championship. You e...

As you may know, I have been the recent recipient of several delightful 1971 Topps -themed packages (yes, I said it. I said "delightful." It's a word. I said it. Move on). The package from reader Doug was supposed to be the last of the '71s for now. He sent me a few 1971 wants in exchange for some early "aughts" cards that I really didn't need. But then, out of the blue, our beloved Collective Troll sent me a package that also included some '71 Topps . And, naturally, that meant that many of the cards that I received from Doug suddenly had a twin! The Jim Wynn card up top became this: Zounds! My Wynn has a twin! It's a Wynn-Wynn situation! ... OK, I'll stop now. Unfortunately, I don't know who sent me which Wynn. They're all mixed up now. I also don't know who sent me which Walt Williams: But I do know both have "No Neck." Here are two Black Barts . Or, if you're going to be formal, Bob Bartons . Black Bart's ...