Night Owl Cards

I haven't written a "Legends of Cardboard" post in almost three years. That's because it's taken me that long to get this card. Who knew a card of someone who barely registered on a major league roster, from 1993, would be so elusive? Yet, every time I searched for the famed Oscar Azocar "bat-hugging" Stadium Club card on COMC, it would be sold out. A few times (such as now), it's available on that site for almost 6 bucks. No thanks. I ended up finding it on Sportlots for 18 cents. And, how about this for a development? It arrived today from someone who lives in my town. Heck, he could have driven over and dropped it in my mailbox. Finally, it's mine. I wanted to hug it like Azocar is doing to his bat. Azocar is the latest Legend of Cardboard -- keep in mind Legends of Cardboard are those players who didn't necessarily excel on the field but certainly excelled on cardboard. He is a Legend of Cardboard because he not only produ...

(In the top 10 of most appreciated concepts is the word "vacation." I've got one arriving in a matter of days. Let's all think about that for a moment. .... OK, that made me happy. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. It's the 69th in a series): The news came Monday that former major league player Oscar Azocar died at the too young age of 45. Azocar's major league career lasted only three years and 202 games. Historic-minded Yankees fans might remember him as a semi-hopeful prospect of the late 1980s, known mostly for never seeing a pitch that he didn't like. As a historic-minded cardboard fan, I remember nothing of Azocar's playing time. What I remember is his 1991 Topps card, one of the most memorable ones in a memorable set. As someone in the newspaper business, I am aware of what photographers must go through when asked to take a portrait photo of an athlete. There are only so many different poses that a photographer can devise. I w...