Night Owl Cards

It is becoming apparent that looking for cards in a big box store card aisle is going to be a futile exercise at least through the end of the year. I refuse to hunt down the distributor's schedule and stalk the poor worker, congregating with other stalkers amid a pandemic. There is absolutely nothing released in 2020 that is worth that. I collect cards. I don't flip them and almost never sell them. So, really, what's the point? I don't need you card aisle. Yes, you and me have been friends -- along with card counter and card end cap -- since the 1970s. You have been a happy destination for many, many years. But it's time to address what has become mere habit for too long. Nothing in your card aisle is needed anymore. Find a set like 2015 Topps flagship or Allen & Ginter between 2006 and 2011, or a scenario when Fleer and Upper Deck shared the shelves with Topps, or when Chrome had borders. Then give me a call, card aisle. I'll be there. Repeat...

As a youngster, I enjoyed reading the comics in the daily paper. The concept of a new amusing strip each day fascinated and entertained me, and I remember at an early age cutting out individual strips of Peanuts or Blondie and stacking them up for months and then going back and reviewing past strips. We didn't get the Sunday paper at our home. But my grandmother did. So when we'd go over to her house, the Sunday funnies from that week, and previous weeks, would be waiting for us in the room where she kept all the toys for the grandkids. I had my favorites and others that confused me. I don't know if anyone remembers "They'll Do It Every Time," a one-panel strip that addressed the frustrations of everyday life. That just seemed too adult to me. I had no idea what it was saying. As I got older, I'd appreciate more sophisticated, off-beat strips like Tank McNamara and Bloom County. But anyway, comic strips were an everyday part of life. My brother ...

Young parents are always fascinated by their child's tendency to play with the box the toy came in, or the wrapping paper, instead of the actual present. Well, I have a collecting version of that. This fine, oversized card arrived from Mark Hoyle. It is one of two "bonus" cards that came with the 1979 TCMA Baseball History Series, a set of 291 cards that is one of the greatest-looking TCMA sets ever made, as it evokes the '53 Bowman style. One of the bonus cards shows the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers championship team, obviously above, and one shows the 1957 Milwaukee Braves championship team. If you ordered the complete set, you got the two bonus cards. That's all well and good and it's fun to pick out Newcombe and Campy and Snider and Jackie. But what I was really excited about was -- no, not the envelope -- but the page it came in. See? I've already allocated it for my oversized, postcard-sized cards. This is the four-pocket page and it's...

Today is a recovery day for the previous week. Nothing unusual about that, of course. Last week wasn't the most stressful of weeks but it did contain a variety of challenges that most weeks don't: an uncomfortable conversation about a future uncomfortable task, a long journey to an unknown place, unusual waking times on more than one occasion, discussions with people whose job titles I find intimidating ... oh, and shopping for clothes. Let's just say I'm smarter than I was before the week started, but I need a break. I need a break if only to let out all the clutter that's been clanging around in my brain that I have had no time to get out. For example, see the Brian Anderson card from 2018 Opening Day up there? Do you realize he is the third different Brian Anderson to play major league baseball in the last three decades? A decade ago, a White Sox player named Brian Anderson roamed the outfield for about five years. I had forgotten all about him ...