Night Owl Cards

(I ignored a card show today that I usually go to, one that I went to last year . Early September is just not a good time for shows for me, and setting it up on the first Sunday of the NFL season is weird. I'm sure some attendees who live nearby went to the show early and then left to watch football. But I am neither an earlier riser nor live close to the show. But no big loss. There's something next month. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 324th in a series):   The last couple of times I've updated my post on "The best Dodger card for every year I've collected," I've received questioning comments on this particular card. They're mystified that I would choose this as my pick for 1981. Well, maybe I've thrown them off by titling the post "the best" instead of "my favorite." But I do make sure to mention in those posts that these cards are my favorites of the year, not "the best," decided by some impartial co...

(Welcome to Presidents' Day. I am old enough to remember when there were separate school days off for Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday but no full weeks off between Christmas and Easter. Somehow we made it through. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 221st in a series): Apparently this is "favorite players of the past" week. Orel Hershiser, watch out. I am relieved to read that Pedro Guerrero is doing a little better after initial reports this morning that he had suffered a stroke, brain hemorrhaging and was hospitalized in ICU in his native Dominican Republic. The latest reports say that he has suffered minor bleeding in the skull after losing mobility in his left arm. But there was no stroke, and he's talking and in good spirits. Guerrero, as I've mentioned before, was my favorite player when I was in high school. He was probably the first player that I followed from the minor leagues and knew about his greatness long befor...

When I found the Willie Davis card for the anniversary post, it occurred to me that I hadn't featured a "Dodger Numbers" post for awhile. I thought a write-up on the players who have worn No. 3 in Dodger history would be a nice follow-up. Then I saw how many players that had worn No. 3 over the last 50-plus years. There was no way I was writing that up last night. I'm in a slightly more perky state today, so I'm willing to go through them all now. But I'll keep the words to a minimum, because there are lots and lots of names here. No. 3 is definitely not a Babe Ruth number for the Dodgers. During the Brooklyn Dodger days, the main wearers of the No. 3 were Jersey Joe Stripp, a third baseman in the 1930s, Pete Coscarart, starting second baseman in the early '40s, and, most famously, third baseman Billy Cox of the Boys of Summer. A couple of other players who went on to successful management positions also briefly wore the number during the 1940s....

(It's Mardi Gras. Another "holiday" that means nothing in the Northeast. We've got no beads. We've got no jambalaya. We've got no girls willing to flash anything. I mean it's 6 degrees, for crying out loud! Here's to appreciating the Northeast. At least it keeps out the riff-raff. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 104th in a series): Do you associate moments or stories with a certain player that have nothing to do with the player, or at least nothing to do with what he accomplished in his chosen profession? If you're anything like me, then you do. You do it all the time. This player's card reminds you how your little brother puked in the car on the way to Cooperstown. That player's card reminds you how you stashed all your cards in the closet when your new girlfriend came over for the first time because you didn't want her seeing them. Surely you have cards like that. This card -- in fact, every Rudy Law card -- re...