Night Owl Cards

There is a card show this weekend that I've barely thought about because everyone picked this week to run around screaming with their hair on fire and there is collateral damage everywhere. Usually by this time I've prepared a card show strategy and a list. I don't live in one of those places where there's a monthly card show. I need to reacquaint myself with the whole scene every six months or so. But I haven't had time to make any list. And I have only a vague idea of what I'll seek out. Let's see if I can formulate some sort of plan in the precious few minutes I have to write this. If I am focused and find the right dealers, I should start with the 1956 set. It's about time I do some real damage with that set. Not Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays damage, because who knows when that time will come when I win the lottery, but damage to some of the pesky pricey cards. Such as team cards. The team cards in '56 Topps are rather vexing. Not o...

The Society of Baseball Research (SABR) has released a new book , titled '75: The Red Sox Team That Saved Baseball , in recognition of the 40th anniversary of that Red Sox team that went to the World Series and revived interest in the game ("saved" might be a little hyperbolic, but, hey, you gotta draw people's interest). Also, the Red Sox are recognizing that very team at tonight's ballgame in Fenway Park. This is an excellent opportunity to present my thoughts on that team, which has fascinated me since the first time I viewed baseball highlights on the black-and-white TV in the front room. The room was to the left of the staircase and, for famished kids, acted as a shortcut between the front door and the kitchen. The '75 Red Sox bring out every childhood emotion in me. Fascination. Wonder. Amusement. Fear. Exhilaration. And they are all documented in the 1976 Topps set, which is the set I associate with the '75 Red Sox (someday I should do a po...

It's funny how a World Series can affect you when you have no horse in the race. By "funny" I don't mean "oh, golly gee, this wacky timeless diversion that tugs on our heartstrings that we collectively adore through every delightful morsel, this base and ball of hills and valleys that we relish no matter who the participants. Jolly good show lads, jolly good show." No, by "funny," I mean IS THIS GAME EVER GOING TO ENNNNNNDDDDD SO I CAN GO HOOOOOOOOMME????!!!!!!!! I don't have an interest in the Red Sox or Cardinals. I'm rooting for the Red Sox by default, but by "root" I mean, "oh, so, the Cardinals won that game? What was the score? Has the boxscore come in yet? Where's my story? WHERE'S MY STORY????? ... Oh, damn, the Cardinals won." I have seen only snippets of this series, which is is sort of expected for the job that I hold but not to this extreme. Through a quirk of scheduling, every game that ...

A lot of baseball followers may complain about the respective Boston and St. Louis fan bases and the respective cities' media, but I think what they're really saying about this upcoming World Series is this: "This just happened." People, now more than ever, want something new. They want to be interested, intrigued. They want to be constantly stimulated. A Red Sox-Cardinals World Series does not do that. Look at the two players celebrating on this card. They're both still on the team! It's from last year! Granted, Jason Motte's out for the season, but there are two people who were on the 1988 World Series champion Dodgers team who are DEAD. How is that fair? Yes, "fairness" enters into the equation, too. "What about my team?" lies under the surface of "this just happened," which lies under the surface of "those Red Sox and Cardinals fans are so smug." I can only imagine if the Yankees and Dodgers were fac...

With all the hubbub over that situation in Boston, I was wondering whether I should post anything today. Nobody seemed to be interested in somebody's baseball cardboard anymore. They just wanted to talk about bombs and shootings and cops and CNN and "24." And then I realized that was only my Twitter timeline -- where nobody can stay focused -- and that we're not all in lockdown. Card bloggers know they can still blog about cards, thank goodness. And I thank you all for continuing to show cards and not suddenly transforming into the Police Scanner Blog. But I want to acknowledge Boston in some sort of card-related type way. I have affection for Boston. My brother used to live there. His former in-laws still live there. I have enjoyed my time there immensely, which is not something I can say about every big city I have visited. Yet, in the last 10 years or so, I have encountered too many people trashing ... well, mostly the Red Sox. But by extension, the fans ...