Night Owl Cards

A couple of different blog posts and some baseball news led me to this post today. You've probably heard that the Twins are naming Paul Molitor their new manager. This is interesting to me because when has there been three managers in major league baseball with rookie cards that are coveted and famous as there is now? Not only do we have 1978 Rookie Shortstops card in the dugout now, but we have these other two notable rookie cards as well: All three of these managers made quite a name for themselves as players, which obviously is why their rookie cards are so valued. This is also interesting because of the old baseball theory that the best players make lousy managers (stop looking at me with one eyebrow raised, Dodgers and Phillies fans). But these cards interest me in another way. And that is: I have all three of these cards. We are now in an era in which a manager's rookie card is perhaps more obtainable than during any other time -- obtainable by me, anyw...

(Today is "Pardon Day," a day of seeking forgiveness. In the spirit of that day, I would like to say to the Padres "I'm sorry I thought your team was crap at the beginning of the year and that your manager would be fired." However, I am not sorry for hoping whoever plays the San Diego Padres in the playoffs beats the s---t out of them. I can only appreciate so much of "Pardon Day." Now, it's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 80th in a series): Most people know this card as the rookie card of both Paul Molitor and Alan Trammell. For them, that's rarity enough -- two standouts at their position featured on the same rookie card. But for me, it's rare for another reason. When I first started collecting, the four-player rookie card was the standard. Four-player rookie cards appeared in the first set I ever saw ('74 Topps) and the first set I ever collected ('75 Topps). It was the first cards I ever cut up ('76 Top...