Night Owl Cards

How about that Mookie Betts? I spent a good while last night reveling in everything that people had told me all spring and into the summer: a) Mookie Betts will never play for the Dodgers or: b) Enjoy Mookie Betts' 60 games with the Dodgers. Ha, ha! I have news of a 12-year deal for you as my response! And as for never playing for the Dodgers, perhaps you missed last night's game, in which he was instrumental in the Dodgers' 8-1 opening victory. I consider yesterday's game a late birthday present. Just about anything good that happens this month I consider a birthday gift. It's pretty much a birthday month when your birthday is in July. I've still got stuff coming from birthday money I received, and vacations allow me to enjoy my birthday and then extend that through more time off. And then people send me packages, which sometimes I have a sneaking suspicion are birthday-related. Last week, while I was away for a couple of days, an envelope ...

I just want you to know that even as I write this, my grandmother's favorite quote -- "fools' names and fools' faces often appear in public places" -- is ringing in my head. Yes, that is a picture of me. On an Allen & Ginter card. More on that later. I received this card in the mail today from opoohwan from 2008 Allen & Ginter Card-scape . For some ungodly reason, he wants me to autograph it and send it back to him. He's creating a set featuring card bloggers, and since he collects autographs, too, I guess he wants our signatures. I'm much more at ease signing timesheets and checks and my life away than signing cards. But it's as close as I'll get to being a ballplayer, so I might as well humor him (and myself). I only hope that he stays with this project and completes the set. As much as I like Wicked and Troll , there doesn't need to be an aborted set of the 3 card musketeers floating around out there. All right, now about...