Night Owl Cards

(Today is "National Watermelon Day." How about that? I've got one in the fridge. I'm all set. And I've got a bunch of baseball cards, too. So it's time for Cardboard Appreciation and the 42 nd in a series): I am going to have to make this my business card. Here is why. I hope it makes sense: I am forever trying to get across to people who don't enjoy baseball as much as I do exactly how much I care about the sport. I try to find some story, some analogy, something that will turn on that light bulb above their head, so that they never buy me socks for Christmas ever again. I'm still searching for the perfect illustration. Right now my response is exactly what is demonstrated on the card above. Because when I'm trying to explain to someone what my ideal afternoon is, I say that it is watching the Pirates and Brewers on TV. Now, this might not make sense to someone in the Midwest, particularly folks in Wisconsin, where the Brewers are part of the da...

I'm a person who is well aware of his faults. No need for you to call attention to them. I know the rundown. I have the list. I check it daily. But even though I could start a blog on the topic, there are times when I come across a fault of mine that I never knew I had. Trading cards through the blogosphere has brought one particular previously unknown fault into focus, and here it is: I suck at pulling Minnesota Twins cards. You may think this isn't much of a fault or that it doesn't even fall under the definition of the word, but let me tell you: if you are trading cards with a Twins fan, it's a definite shortcoming. I don't know what it is. You may think it's because the Twins are a small-market team and the card companies don't feature as many Twins players. Well, then how come I have no problem pulling Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros? How do you explain my Carlos Lee temple o' cards in the basement? I most certainly pull small-marke...

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...