Night Owl Cards

  The sad news of Nate Colbert passing away broke last night. As you might have read in the comments yesterday, I did a little Twitter tribute that was picked up by some national web site (sorry, I had never heard of it before).   My mind immediately went to his 1969 Topps card, because that smile surpasses everything. The first Colbert card I actually saw was the 1977 Topps Record Breaker when I was buying packs in '77. I had never heard of Colbert before that (didn't pull his card in either '75 or '76 Topps) and his feat seemed like ancient history to me even though it was only 5 years old at the time.   So you've really got to make an impact to overshadow that kind of "first-card" history but that smile does it. It also is one of my favorite cards in the 1969 Topps set, which I've been pursuing lately. The last card purchase that I made for 2022 involved a small selection of 1969 cards from Twitter seller @Tec872. Trevor is also who sold me my 195...

I was at the dentist earlier this month. I look forward to/enjoy the dental visit about as much as you can imagine. But I still go because I keep hearing about what happens if you don't. The last couple of visits have been slightly more enjoyable because I have a new dental assistant. The office features three different dentists and several more assistants. I couldn't tell you how many. It seems like about 50. They seem to try to keep certain assistants with certain patients, which I appreciate. And I think I like Rachel quite a bit. She's one of those people who talks about interesting, relatable topics, and even though I'm at least 20 years older than her, I felt -- right there in that dentist chair -- that she could be a long, lost friend. She also didn't talk to me when my mouth was full of water/instruments. Major bonus. So, there we'd be, talking about high school experiences or parents' unfamiliarity with technology when suddenly Rachel would...

Ten reasons that you need to find this card for your collection: 1. It is an awesome night card. 2. The card has no words. 3. Nate Colbert -- I swear that's who is on the card even though there are no words -- is a Montreal Expo in the picture. Everyone remembers him as a San Diego Padre. 4. It is a super close-up picture. 5. Colbert's teammates considered him ugly. 6. They thought he was so ugly that they nicknamed him "The Iguana." 7. It is a super close-up picture of an ugly iguana. 8. Colbert played for last place teams from 1968-76. The only year he did not play for a last place team was in 1966. That team finished 8th. There were 10 teams in the league back then. The two teams he finished above were the Cubs and the Mets. So, really, he finished last every year of his career. 9. Colbert hit five home runs in a doubleheader in 1972. Look at the photo. He's practically dying to tell you about it. 10. I can't come up with a 10th reason. Just g...