Night Owl Cards

(Greetings on "Waffle Day". A week or so ago I read about somebody putting brownie batter in their waffle maker and I haven't been able to think about anything else since. It's time for Cardboard Appreciation. This is the 253rd in a series): Yesterday was Garry Templeton's birthday. Ballplayers' birthdays are always a nice occasion to dig out the birthday boy's card and showcase it on social media. I chose this particular card because everyone had already shown the rookie cup Templeton card and because who doesn't appreciate the very cool stat of one player getting 100 hits from each side of the plate in a single season? I've known about Templeton's feat since it happened, it was kind of a big deal. And the record breaker card always helps hammer the achievement home in my memory. I started to wonder what other switch-hitters had achieved 100 hits on both sides of the plate since Templeton. I had known that Willie Wilson had accompli...

Last week I pulled from the mailbox my third or fourth package in the last couple of months from Cards on Cards  (sorry about the spill, dude). The pace he's on is crazy. Here I am trying to keep from slipping more than a month behind, and madding's firing off cards and -- just as amazingly -- finding cards that I NEED at about the same rate that I go grocery shopping. I'm baffled at how he does it, but happy that he does. The cards this time, as they always are, were directly from my want list. I think madding's been finding '90s goodies at some card shows lately, so he's been passing those never-before-seen items on to me. So, of course, there were ... Piazzas ... and Nomos ... ... and other assorted '90s items (not all shown here). But what really caught my eye ... or, shall I say, caught my nose , were some 1979 Topps needs. Here's the very first card in the set. And here's the rookie card of a player we ...

While leafing through my collection of 1982 Fleer to track down some cards for another trade, I couldn't help but notice two of the elements that define this problem child of a set. The first is blurry photos. It's probably the first thing many collectors think of when '82 Fleer is mentioned -- that, or the cavalcade of errors. The second thing is off-center photos. There are some beautiful disasters in that department. Hal McRae, Dickie Noles. A whole bunch of shots where apparently the sky is the protagonist in the photo. ("Step aside Mr. Brett, I just spotted the most incredible CLOUDS in my viewfinder!") But the third notable aspect of 1982 Fleer is something near and dear to my heart: night cards. It's the reason why I have a soft spot for the set while virtually everyone else smirks at it. I didn't really realize until recently how many night shots exist in this set. It's not a lot, but considering the era, it may be the first set with more tha...

This is my 300th post. Once again, thank you to anyone who has ever stopped here to read my meanderings. You guys and gals are great. Truly. On this occasion, I thought I'd run through some of my favorite .300 seasons (300 posts/hitting .300, get it?). Batting average isn't the be-all and end-all of statistics like it was when I was growing up. We have many better statistical indicators of a player's performance -- many of which make my eyes glaze over when I try to understand them. But the magic .300 level still means something to me. And certain players' .300 seasons stand out more to me than others. In most of the examples I'm listing, the player won the batting title. But not all of them. Here's what I got: 2006 - Freddy Sanchez, .344. If conditions are right, I'll root for the underdog like anyone else. That's why I am a full supporter of Freddy Sanchez's 2006 batting title. He played for the Pirates, a team that has been going nowhere for 15 y...