Night Owl Cards

I received exactly four cards from The Lost Collector recently. All four cards were of Dodgers. All four cards were of infielders. All four cards were cards that I needed. Do you know how difficult that is to do? Send me just four cards, of Dodgers, and have each one fill a hole? That's operating on a whole other level. I'll start with 2015 Jimmy Rollins here. Those of you who know my collecting ways might be questioning my above statements already after thinking I must have this card already. And after becoming slightly concerned that you know and care that much about my collection, I would say: "Ha! It's a trick! It's not a 2015 Topps Jimmy Rollins card at all!" It's a 2015 Topps TEAM SET Jimmy Rollins card! This is an important difference in the crazy, padded room world of baseball card collecting in which we team collectors reside. Second card. Another former Philadelphian. This card also resembles a flagship card. Howeve...

When The Lost Collector sent out his package a couple of weeks ago, he added this Hideo Nomo insert with a note attached that said it was one of his favorite inserts of the '90s. High praise, yes. And it made me think about what my favorite Nomo inserts were -- because I must focus on Nomo, none of this inclusive stuff. As I was formulating a post plan, my friend Greg from Twitter mentioned that one day I should do a post on the best Mike Piazza inserts from the late '90s. "Hmmm," I said. "I'm already thinking about doing a similar post for one of his teammates." That was two signs now that this apparently was meant to happen. Today, it's Hideo Nomo's birthday. So now I have to write a post about my favorite Nomo inserts. Everything is pointing me in that direction. Nomo is a special figure in the hobby. Not only did he become an international sensation at the same time the hobby was exploding with variety, but the man basically inv...

I've used the term "digital cards" in the past. I've decided I'm not going to do that anymore. Because there is the phrase "digital cards," Topps has now come up with the term "physical cards" to describe, you know, actual cardboard cards . That is too weird. People don't play a video football game and then play a game in the park and call it "physical football" (unless the game gets physical). I'd hate to see where that would lead. ("I took my physical dog for a walk in the physical park where he physically pooped on some physical grass."). Those pieces of cardboard you can touch, scuff and ding are simply cards. No adjective needed. And those "cards" that you see on your phone are images of cards. Sure, they're collectible. I won't argue that point. Collect all the images you want. But you're collecting images of cards. The cards I can touch without a screen between me and my fingers ar...

1998 was filled with baseball, but it didn't mean a lot to me. Sure, I watched the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. But I felt more detached from baseball than I had ever been. In March, my daughter was born and the first thing I think of when "1998" is mentioned is her. She had a way of pushing everything else that I thought was important aside. I ignored old standbys of tracking time, such as sports and music, for the first time since I was in grade school. Hobbies and pastimes didn't exist anymore. The year was spent tending to human basics, feeding, bathing, sleeping, cleaning -- trying to keep everyone happy, basically, and not just the baby. On top of that, I was learning a new and complicated job. And an ice storm uprooted the family and our life for nearly a month. Baseball cards? Ha. Barely a thought. But, apparently for everyone else on the internet, 1998 rained down a bounty of cardboard on collectors. The most amazing cards an...