Night Owl Cards

  This is another post inspired by a Twitter prompt. I guess I can never delete Twitter from my phone -- as I've often threatened to do -- because it's pretty clear that half my blog ideas come from there now. I don't know what that says about me. But anyway, the Twitter account Wax Pack Gods shot out a general question the other day, one of those things that always gets a response: what's your favorite Fleer design from the 1980s?   I could have sworn I ranked those sets ages ago on the blog, but the best I could come up with is this (probably should update that one). So I guess I haven't done it before. And I sure don't feel like doing it now. The short version is 1984 Fleer is my favorite of those '80s Fleer designs. It was back in 2010, it is now, it's always been -- except between 1981 and 1983, of course. But there is another '80s Fleer set that's been creeping upward over the years, particularly the last few, probably because I'm col...

I was watching some of ESPN's Sunday Night baseball game between the Indians and Phillies the other day. As often is the case when the Indians' Carlos Santana pops up on the screen and I view his statistics, I quietly lament the Dodgers trading him away back in 2008. Then, sometime during Alex Rodriguez's pointless ramblings and awkward bantering, I started to fantasize about Santana's contributions for the Dodgers if he had stayed with the team. Perhaps he would have solidified the catching position back in 2011-13 or maybe helped out at first base. This "what could have been" thought process often happens during my fan reflections and I have a feeling it's a common part of being a fan. We always want the best for our team and we just hate it when a talented player gets away. The Dodgers have their fair share of "big fish" stories, some of the biggest, and I thought it would be interesting to put together a "One That Got Away...

A long time ago, I overheard my wife try to explain my hobby to my daughter, who was much younger at the time. "I think it relaxes him," she said to my obviously perplexed child. I had never thought of it in those terms prior to then, but now it's fairly obvious to me: collecting cards is a way of relaxing. I don't plop in front of the television after a night of work, I write about cards, sort cards, stare longingly at cards. And I feel the stress quietly slip away. It is a terrific stress-reducer. Last night I endured annually one of the most stressful work nights of my job. This won't compute for anyone who hasn't experienced my job responsibilities, but the college football national championship is the one sports event that causes me the most stress. The major cause of this is the starting time for the game. A start time of 8:15 p.m. eastern standard time is terribly inconvenient for an east coast newspaper sports section. For a sport that ends ...

Matt Kemp's been gone from the Dodgers for three years now. I barely pay attention to him, which would be surprising to anyone who read my blog five or six years ago. I looked up his stats with the Braves this season and he's off to a pretty good start. But he's going to have to keep that going if he wants to match the year when Kemp was king. That would be the year when the above card was issued. The year 2011. Kemp put up the best numbers of his career that season and should have won the National League MVP award. Instead it was stolen by a PED creep and don't think that a lot of people have forgotten it. A lot of people won't. I know I won't. The last couple of offseasons there has been discussion of Braun coming to the Dodgers. Wouldn't that be interesting? Kemp no longer in L.A., but the guy we Dodgers fans disliked so much in L.A? What would you think about that, night owl, hmmm? I've gotten that question a few times. I won't answe...