Night Owl Cards

I asked a Pirates fan the other day what team was considered the Pirates' rivals. A Tigers fan interjected that the Tigers were considered the Pirates' rivals in interleague play, which I immediately dismissed for obvious reasons. The Pirates fan shrugged and mentioned that the Reds were the team's big rivals back in the '70s when they always met in the playoffs. I wondered about the Phillies and he said, yeah, maybe, but he didn't seem too sure about it. This was odd to me. For me, as a Dodger fan, having a team or teams that are well-defined rivals, hated teams, repulsive counterparts going back decades, is one of the key elements of fanhood. Buy your favorite team's cap, collect their baseball cards, watch their game late at night, and root vigorously against their longstanding rival. All of these are one-and-the-same to me. If I couldn't spit on the Giants every year, there would be a hole in my baseball experience. The Giants have always been t...

Now that I've completed the 2009 O-Pee-Chee set, I could explore the other possibilities with this set. I could try for the master set. I could get really insane and collect all the black borders. But I am neither that devoted nor that insane. So until I am that will be it for me. Especially since recently I also finished off the black-border Dodgers team set. The last card came from Robert of $30 A Week Habit . It was the O-Dog card pictured here. No doubt he is fielding a weak pop-up from a San Diego Padre. The black border cards are one of the best things about '09 OPC. Hell, they were one of the best things about 2009, period. Name something else. And if you mention a certain something about the Yankees, we're not on speaking terms. Anyway, I  am very happy to show all of the Dodgers right here. Twenty-two cards is certain easier to handle than the 600 cards I scanned the other day. Here you go: Thank goodness I finished it off be...

I am seriously falling behind in my posting. I have a lot to say, but I just can't seem to fit it in. Between work and home life, bippings and lawsuit settlements, I'm struggling to keep up. For instance, I haven't jumped into the Upper Deck/MLB lawsuit settlement fray like many others have. I have my opinion, and I think I'll address it in a roundabout way soon. But when will "soon" be? I have no idea. I'm overdue to add another badass to the "I'm Badass and You're Not" Club. I mean they're going to start hiking membership dues at the club if I don't find a few badasses quick. I've also been meaning to post another Brush With Greatness segment and write about another one of my 100 favorite ballplayers. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have started spring training and I haven't said a damn thing. Some fan I am. But the most visible sign of backlog is the stacks of wax that I've received over the last couple of weeks. T...