Night Owl Cards

We are living in that no-man's land between last year's cards and the first Topps release of the 2017 season. There are two full weeks left in new cardboard purgatory. I'm eager to put 2016 and its cards behind, but when you can't get your hands on 2017 cards yet, there is nothing more new than cards from 2016. Plus I need to clear out some cards from the scanned folder. So here is one last look back on cards I scanned in 2016 but didn't feel like showing you when it would have been more appropriate. I believe this card came from Cards On Cards . It's a numbered item from 2016 Chrome. I think I didn't show this because I was so devastated by the fact that blue chrome cards used to be my all-time favorite "fancy" cards back when THERE WERE BORDERS. This card makes me sad. But it's too rare not to show, so here you go, after the fact. I pulled this card out of the only Bowman pack purchase I made last year. I admit I was st...

Tonight is Game 7 of the World Series, which means no one will be reading this. But I don't care. I've done a bunch of half-assed research and I must spill it somewhere. There have been 36 Game 7s in World Series history. Tonight's game between the Cubs and Indians is the 37th. I know fans are bracing themselves for an epic battle, the so-called "instant classic," but Game 7s produce dramatic games about as often as regular-season games. And that's why we constantly repeat the Game 7s that are memorable, because what we actually wished for came true. Other times, it's the Tigers beating the Cubs 9-3 in 1945 (I know you don't remember that, but it happened). Fans looking for a close Game 7 may or may not get their wish. There has been just one more extra-inning Game 7 (1924, 1991, 1997) than Game 7s that ended 11-0 (1934, 1985). There have been 12 one-run Game 7s and seven decided by more than four runs. Surprisingly, there have been nine shuto...

Joaquin "You Never Know" Andujar is the main player in the most bizarre meltdown that I have ever seen in postseason baseball. During Game 7 of the 1985 World Series, Andujar lost it over a ball call by home plate umpire Don Denkinger , charging the ump and getting tossed one pitch after manager Whitey Herzog got thrown out of the game. The meltdown wasn't as disastrous as I remember. The Royals were winning 11-0 at that point and basically had the Series clinched. I think the reason I thought it was so costly all these years is just because I had never seen a team go so loopy during a game of such magnitude. I remember thinking when watching the game, "Holy smokes. This is Game 7! What are they doing ?" The Cardinals obviously let the famous botched call by Denkinger at first base the night before -- the safe call on Jorge Orta in the ninth inning of Game 6 -- get under their skin. They even famously complained about Denkinger working home plate t...

All right. I am absolutely certain that this card is a night card. There can be no dispute. We have the lights on. We have the dark sky. We have Jerald Clark bathed in illuminosity. We're batting 1.000. I bring this up for two reasons. First, two bloggers have sent me this particular card over the last few months. I do enjoy it when another blogger actually makes the effort to track down a night card, and there is no question that this is a beauty. The second reason I bring it up is because there seems to be some question as to whether the card below is a night card. Motherscratcher sent this card to me because he thought it was a night card. Two other people commented on the previous post that they thought it was a night card, too. I, on the other hand, am not so sure. I'm saying that it's not a night card, although there's not a lot of confidence behind that statement. The reason I say it's not is because the bank of lights is turned off. Also, the sky looks da...

I believe I've officially arrived as a card blogger. I say that not because I received four separate card packages in the mail today (although that is way beyond awesome), but because those four packages mean that I am now majorly behind in returning cards to folks, and I've come to the realization that that is the way it's going to be from this point. So, if you're expecting a package from me, it IS coming. You are on my list. It just may take awhile, and with me being out of town for a few days, that won't be speeding things up any. And if you're not expecting a package from me, you may be getting one anyway. Because some of you are on my list for that, too. I'm also about to get behind on my emails because after tomorrow I probably won't be near a computer for a few days. But we could all use a little break from cards anyway, right? Riiiiiiiiiiiigggghht? Stop looking at me that way. Anyway, on to the post topic: I quite enjoy playing all the guessing...