Night Owl Cards

 (I've experienced a lot of low points in my 50 years as a Dodgers fan but last night's game might have topped them all. I think I finally see what lots of other Dodgers fans have seen for years. Time for Dave Roberts to go. Also time for Cardboard Appreciation! This is the 356th in a series):   You are viewing my 537th buyback from the 1975 Topps set. Yup, I'm still on this thing. In fact this year happens to be 10 full years since I first decided to collect the buybacks in the '75 set in an effort to get one of every card.   I knew then that it would be an impossible task. I still know that. But I also had no idea that I would get this far in the quest. I've passed 80 percent of the set in buyback form (81.3% to be exact). Didn't even know way back then that there were that many to chase.   Even with the boost from 2024 Heritage the quest is getting more and more tricky -- prices have rocketed on some of the ones I still need and I'm all too aware that som...

I write a lot about the cards I collected as a kid. It's the period of collecting that means the most to me. I want as many of those cards as I can get. But I don't like everything that happened with cards and my collecting habits when I was a tiny cardboard addict. I have spent a lot of time and money on updating the cards I collected because I am much pickier about card condition than I was then. The very first cards I bought from packs are suitable for framing, sure. But for collecting? I can't have it. So I updated my entire 1975 Topps set from the ones I accumulated as a 9-year-old. It only made sense, I had to get all the cards that I didn't find as a kid, and adult me certainly wouldn't go looking for versions that were scuffed, bent and lacked corners, and the OCD wouldn't let me mix mintier cards with moldier cards. I did the same with 1976. And 1977. That's where I stopped. Because with upgrading it always feels like you're spending...

I am entering day 4 of my 10 straight days of work. So far, so good. My attitude remains high, my sarcasm level low, and I haven't thrown a single thing. But it's only four days. And since I'm entering uncharted territory, I really don't know how I will feel or react by the end of 10 days. All I know is that I'll be working away in the sweat shop every SINGLE day until Monday, and there is a good chance that I will slowly fade into dust and they will carry me out with a broom and a bin. .......... Ah, that's happy, isn't it? We need some cards to lighten the mood. So, here is a representation of my progress through my relentless work schedule. You'll note that each card depicts a sweating player. That's because they're working, silly. Here we have a guy who has been working maybe two straight days. Getting out in the sun and enjoying some physical activity feels good. It feels American. What's the big deal, right? Toss the rock around, get...

I am almost certain I will not be able to post again until sometime Friday, so I better write something now. Also, I'll be announcing the winner of "the completely random multiple choice guessing game" contest on the weekend, so get in your guesses (and I do mean guesses) on the previous post . OK, the card featured above actually isn't awesome at all. From my perspective, it is "the saddest night card of all-time." This is a card of the key moment of Game 5 of the 1974 World Series. In fact it was the key play in the entire Series. In 1974, baseball received a glimpse of the future with the first All-California World Series, Oakland vs. Los Angeles. The two-time World Series champions vs. the young upstarts. This was before I started following baseball, but if I was of "baseball-watching age," this would have been a big moment for me. Oakland won the Series in 5 games for its third straight championship. The clincher was a solo home run by Joe Ru...