Night Owl Cards

The farther I get away from the age 18-49 demographic, the more the players that dominated the sports scene for seemingly forever fade out of the conversation.   You could have never convinced me in the 1970s and 1980s that guys like Reggie Jackson would slowly disappear, that their names would cease to be on everyone's lips, on every magazine cover, in every card set, in every sports column and TV broadcast.   Fewer and fewer sports fans can relate to the significant players and moments of the '70s and '80s and, yes, that means I have less to discuss on social media sites and the like. There are more modern players and moments that get all the attention and I sit on the sidelines either puzzled or with nothing to say.   One of those notables of the past who has become less and less significant with each passing year is Steve Garvey. I know a lot of people my age don't want to acknowledge that, but it's true. If someone isn't a Dodgers (or even Padres) fan and d...

   Trading cards takes a lot of time. Also, sometimes it takes a lot of work.   Everyone collects differently and sometimes it's difficult to match up with another collector. That happens all the time. No big deal really. Then there are the fellow collectors that drag out trades for too damn long.   I never participated in collectors forums, but I've heard that trades were often like that there. I have no problem trading away nice cards, but I'm not going to send a couple dozen messages back and forth to come to an agreement on an exact accounting of precise compensation. I've dealt with this in the past with a couple bloggers. It's not fun. Trading is supposed to be fun.   That's why I gravitate to super simple trades. My favorite are: "I'll send you some cards whenever and you send some cards whenever." That's how most trades go on the blogs. It's about the only ones I make these days.   It's also why I participate in stuff like Diamo...

  A couple of months ago I ran a Dodgers card giveaway in hopes that collectors would both relieve me of some of my many, many dupes and also enjoy what I was sending.   There wasn't much of a response. Four or five folks. Blogging giveaways aren't what they once were. Plus there are all those deluded Yankees and Giants fans who have yet to come to grips with the one true team 😃. What I did send made somewhat of a dent, but there is so much left.   Meanwhile, the collectors who took me up on the offer were appreciative. One collector, Jeremy, even sent something back. He didn't have to. But it's nice to know that he really liked the cards. In fact, his two kids did, too, and sent a couple of drawings.   It's great seeing young Dodger fans. They're so rare around here.   The goodies in the box mostly came from Dodger Stadium giveaways, I think. Those drinking cups at the top recognize the Dodgers' World Series title, appearance in the postseason and Opening ...

  Fifty years ago today, Major League Baseball played the All-Star Game in Milwaukee. The National League won, 6-3 (yay!). Bill Madlock and Jon Matlack shared the MVP award. (Reggie Jackson went 1-for-3).   At the break, the Dodgers had played 92 games or 56.8% of their schedule. This season -- 50 years later -- the Dodgers reached the All-Star break having played 97 games or 59.9%. Yet I read a social media complaint just a week or two ago about how the All-Star Game -- the supposed "midsummer classic" -- takes place too late because more than half of the season has passed.   The All-Star Game hasn't shown up at the halfway point of the season in a very long time. (And we're not even close to halfway through summer).   The ASG regularly pops up on either the second or third Tuesday of July. It's been that way for decades. It doesn't matter when the season starts, or how many games have been played, the second or third Tuesday of July is when the ASG exists.  ...

  March is kicking my ass per usual. But I have a hobby to off-set that, and when I get the time, I dig into the greatness and realize my life should consist of nothing but sorting all the goodies people send me!   I've been swimming in new-to-me cardboard for the past month or so and it was ramped up when my friend Greg ( @grogg.bsky.social ) sent another amazing package -- rather a big ol' box -- that I knew was coming, and even knew some of the contents, but was still not prepared for the greatness.     There's the box now (with the dreary winter backdrop -- right now the wind has decided to howl for three days straight). Inside that box were several smaller boxes, with lots of variety but with one thing in common -- I collect that stuff!!   Now whenever I show off an arrival this size with this kind of variety I usually go for the big finish. But I realize some readers don't care about the old stuff (although I've probably driven away all the people who only...