Night Owl Cards

  It's another Labor Day spent at work for me. I tried to think of the last time I had Labor Day off and I eventually gave up. I know I was off in 2002, but since then, no idea. It's safe to say that I have worked way more times on this day than I have not. That's the nature of this job and our school system in this part of the country. School starts immediately after Labor Day, which means school sports start then, too. In fact, Labor Day used to be the unofficial start of school sports. They've since pushed into August, a full week or so before classes begin. Still, no matter when they start, I'm not getting a third day off this week. It'll come later on this month. I am writing this post at work right now. I had hoped it would be an easy night with the new set-up that I had mentioned in my blog post last week. But, of course, it's work, so there's a snafu immediately that makes tonight just another grind. So I'm writing this post quickly.   I ofte...

  It's a periodic tradition around here to find a Labor Day theme and blog about it on Labor Day. Heck, I'm working on the holiday most years (this year included). so might as well fully embrace it.   Showing the Mike Marshall buyback card the other day gave me the idea. There was a time when relievers were described as "workhorses" -- I don't know, maybe they still are -- implying that they were so reliable that you could call on them as often as you wanted and they'd get the job done. I thought it'd be fun to feature the most dedicated workhorses in MLB history and find a card for each of the pitchers who have appeared in the most games in a single season in major league history. You probably know the first two, but I bet you're kind of hazy on who comes after that. I know I was.     1. Mike Marshall, 106 games played (1974, Dodgers)   As remarkable now as it was then. Marshall appeared in 65% of the Dodgers' regular-season games in 1974 and al...

A long time ago -- more than 20 years now -- I drove up to Montreal to interview some major leaguers for a story. It wasn't the easiest process. Only somewhat familiar with the city and Stade olympique, I didn't know any of the players, other than their names and vaguely what they looked like. I didn't know where I could find them or their routines either. So, as I wandered around the locker room and clubhouse as players and coaches went about their business, I searched in vain for someone who would be good to talk to about my topic. Someone told me that one player who might help was veteran infielder Royce Clayton. I happened to spot him walking through the locker room with a bat in his hand and asked him if he had a minute to talk. He turned to me hurriedly and said, "I've gotta go work," and vanished. That annoyed me. And it continued to annoy me for almost 20 years. First of all, I needed maybe two minutes of his time, five at the most, to ask...

(I know I'm late, but Happy Labor Day. Once upon a time, this day was known as "the end of the summer." That was before high school athletes started playing games a week and a half before school started. Summer is getting shorter and shorter. Welcome to Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 262nd in a series): This seems like an appropriate card to show on one of the busiest days of the year for U.S. national parks. It is kind of an odd card, even odd for Allen & Ginter. A&G is known for featuring objects on its cards, but this isn't even that. It's a card representing an organization, a government agency. I don't recall if this is the first time A&G has devoted a card in its base set to an organization. I'm guessing there is at least one other instance. I'm not sure how I feel about this as a trend. It could get messy. But parks? Who has a problem with parks? Yay, parks! I loved going to Greenwood Park when I was a kid. We weren...

We're just three months shy of the 40th anniversary of the advent of free agency in major league baseball. No matter what you may think of that development and the consequences over the following decades, you cannot deny Marvin Miller's impact and how he brought the basic concepts of organized labor to MLB players. Today, on Labor Day, I'd like to go back to that time of early free agency, specifically the first real group of free agents. Free agency began in December 1975 when arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in favor of Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, who had requested to be free agents. From that point, players were allowed to seek out better contracts from other teams. The offseason of 1976 featured the first group of genuine free agents. And 25 of those players signed new deals with other clubs. It was a brand new world. Players were paid record salaries. Teams who had little hope to contend, like the Angels, Padres, White Sox and Rangers, suddenly looked li...