Night Owl Cards

I am genuinely happy for collectors when they land a key vintage card or a great pull of whatever gimmick is popular these days. Their success is success for the collector in general. It's cool. It's inspirational and a reason why I dial through the blogs every day. Even when my fellow Dodger fans display the great Dodger cards they've acquired, I can't help but be pleased for them. We share a mutual appreciation for the best cards on earth. We should be happy for each other, regardless of whether we have that card or not. But then there are the collectors who are fans of other teams that display their cool Dodger cards. Ooof. I try. I really try to be happy for them. I even rehearse to myself what I'm going to say in the comments: "Great card! Nice pick-up. Oooh! Good for you!" But that's rarely what I write. Sometimes I don't write anything at all. Sometimes I do write something. It goes along these lines: "Wow. You...

My last card show experience was a mess . I wasn't prepared. I never made it to the show. I beat myself up over not going. It was not pleasant. There is another show in Syracuse this weekend. And since it has been six months since my last show, I am more than ready. You want lists? Oh, I have lists. I know the places to be and the people to see. The only thing that might throw things off is they've biggie-sized the show. This used to be a Sunday-only show. It is now a Saturday/Sunday show, and they've bumped up the admission a dollar. I'm still going Sunday because I have to work Saturday. My irrational fear is all the good stuff will be gone by Sunday. But this is a card show, not a garage sale. And I'm not picky either, so I'll ignore that voice in my head. What's bizarre is the number of people they have signing autographs. Usually there is one or two. By my count there are eight this weekend. On Saturday, Jim Lonborg is going to be there. I love th...

The two card sets represented here don't have a lot in common. The card on the left represents 1975 Topps, my favorite set of all-time. It is colorful and BRIGHT in all of its '70s glory -- just how I remember the '70s as a kid. The card on the left is a 2006 Topps Updates & Highlights. It's the typical modern-day base card. Action photography. Colorful, but slick, in all its definitions. But to me the two card sets are forever linked. The 1975 set is the first set I ever collected. I can remember every instance in which I bought a pack of cards that year. It's a big part of my childhood. Meanwhile, the 2006 set is the first major set I collected upon my return to the hobby. It also holds a place in my heart. It is the set that reminded me of what I first loved about collecting way back in 1975. About the only other thing the two have in common is on the back: Cartoons! The 2006 set represents the first flagship Topps set to feature cartoons on the back ...

ESPN.com and MLB.com are reporting that former major league pitcher Dock Ellis died Friday of a liver ailment at age 63. Ellis had cirrhosis of the liver and had been on a waiting list for a liver transplant for seven months. Ellis was known as a wild man during his playing days. The most famous story is his claim to have been on LSD when he pitched a no-hitter against the Padres in 1970 (I'm sure that made the Padres hitters feel even better about themselves). He walked eight batters in that game. Ellis had many other controversial moments during his career. He was outspoken against the racism that he saw throughout baseball. In the minor leagues he once charged a heckler with a bat in Batavia, N.Y. (where many of wife's relatives live, by the way). In Cincinnati, he was maced by a security guard who wouldn't let him into the Pirates clubhouse. A moment I particularly remember reading about is when Ellis showed up at the ballpark with curlers in his hair. Commissio...