Night Owl Cards

  Just a few minor things to mention today, nothing that will appeal much on its own. Readers seem to be catching up on outside time anyway. I took a look at my two stacks of 2024 Topps flagship sitting on my card desk and they looked pretty high. That inspired me to add my wants to TCDB and, in a flash, I'm down to the final 40 cards to finish the set. I barely had to lift a finger, except to search for the cards requested in exchange, which always can be fraught with peril. My remaining wants are on TCDB but I'll put them here as well. Per usual, guys like Elly De La Cruz and Aaron Judge aren't popping up in trades. Topps couldn't possibly double-print those guys now could it? So here's the list ( List edited as of 9/8) : 141 - Elly De La Cruz, 375 - Matt Vierling, 442- Shota Imanaga, 593 - Carlos Rodon, Wilyer Abreu, 695 - Kyle Gibson Also I haven't accounted for needing a second Dodger card for Series 2 on TCDB so add 492 - J.D. Martinez, 500 - Shohei Ohtani...

I don't know if you heard but Vin Scully made his social media debut yesterday. Yup, the 92-year-old decided the time was right to enter the online swamp and start up a Twitter account . I hope it goes well for him. He said he misses the fan interaction and people probably will be mostly civil to such a legend. Scully is one of the few phenomenons in life that everyone on Twitter can agree is a treasure, and hopefully the trolls will leave him alone. Outside of when Scully started becoming the main voice for NBC baseball during the 1980s, I didn't grow up listening to him like many Dodgers fans. And I've had to learn many of his well-known phrases second-hand from fans who repeat them quite often. One of the most-common is "old friend" or "old friend alert." Scully turned the conflicting feeling of seeing a former Dodger on an opposing team, often playing against the Dodgers, into a friendly sentiment. It's become such a popular phrase tha...

I received four card packages in the mail today. I don't have time to open any of them, but it's nice to know I have those in the back pocket when January is getting me down. It's a slightly healthier way to cope than alcohol. It's been so hectic around here (just got stopped by a cop who told me I had a brake light out -- yes, sir, I'll add that onto the pile!), that I still haven't cleared out all of the packages I received in 2015. I'm about three weeks behind on this stuff, which is actually pretty good for me. Just after Christmas, I received my annual Phungo cards from team Phungo . These usually appear in January as the first new cards that I receive all year. But this time they showed up in December. The package arrived just as I was about to head out on a Christmas trip to the in-laws. So I threw the package into the suitcase and opened it in the guest bedroom 200 miles away. Yes, it is my goal to open packs in as many places as possible. ...

I don't know why I bag on January so much. After all we did just get rid of college football last night. Also, January is the month when anticipation for the year's baseball cards is at its highest. How can I dislike a month when it signals the arrival of baseball cards? Why just today, Topps said this . Come on, man, despite what you think of Topps' modern baseball card ways, NEW BASEBALL CARDS ARE COMING! IN LESS THAN A MONTH! So what does one do to tide themselves over until then when they've been built into such an anticipation frenzy that they're running around the bedroom nonstop? Well, if you're lucky like me, you get Phungo Cards ever January! Another reason to like this month! I've received Phungo Cards from Phungo for at least the last five years. They are the first cards of the season. You could even call them the precursor to Topps' annual set. Because, like magic, once Phungo Cards arrive, Topps appears shortly afterward. As u...