Night Owl Cards

My wife knows I love cards more than any other inanimate object. People fuss over their gardens, vehicles, clothing, recipes, golf games and beer. I fuss over cards. She has bought precious few cards for me in the last 10 years. I've never discussed the why with her, but if I were to guess, the reasons are probably that she has no idea what they are and no desire to learn, and -- this is what I don't want to hear, therefore no discussion -- aren't all those cardboard pictures kind of unnecessary anyway? It doesn't matter that she doesn't buy them because I love her, of course. But wouldn't it be nice if I could be as specific as I wanted -- "I would like to complete the 2001 Upper Deck 1970s Decade set, here are the cards that I need" -- and she would find them? But that's never going to happen and isn't she the cutest thing? However, in the last year or so, I've noticed an effort. A couple of times this year, she has come across c...

I believe all baseball fans have read about what Jack Clark said about Albert Pujols on the radio last month. He claimed that Pujols was injected with PEDs and Pujols denied it and threatened to sue. Clark also made veiled insinuations about Justin Verlander and one of my Dodger favorites, Shawn Green. Clark and his show were booted from the airwaves shortly thereafter, and whether you agree or disagree with the move -- freedom of speech and all that -- I don't care. Because I don't like Jack Clark. Never have. Clark was a beacon of hope for Giants fans when he debuted in the late 1970s. The Giants sucked then, as they always should, and Clark had talent. But Clark also had a loud mouth. He got in disagreements with manager Frank Robinson and some of his teammates. Later, with the Cardinals, he argued with Ozzie Smith, and later Tony Gwynn, and later there was bankruptcy over his nonstop accumulation of luxury vehicles, and later there was his inability to get the Dodger...

There are some cards that cause me to emit an audible "ugh" when I see them. This is one such card. It is definitely not "awesome." I'd much rather call it an "unfortunate night card," a "disturbing night card," or a "jerk-face night card." Let's get the "jerk-face" part out of the way first. My dislike for Will Clark is well-established. Prickly, shrill, Giant-loser, these are some of the words I use and have used to describe Clark over the years. I'd like to say he was more enjoyable as a Ranger, but there was too much Giant stink on him by then. Kenny Rogers, meanwhile, was a plain idiot. I will never forget his unprovoked assault on cameramen before a game in 2005. Terribly inexcusable and it blackened my perception of him forever. Don't like the guy. To a lesser degree, there are a couple of other guys on the card who have never been my favorites. Ivan Rodriguez, while an admirable player, fre...