Night Owl Cards

I've come to terms with the fact that Clayton Kershaw very well could be the best pitcher that I have seen in my lifetime. Yeah, I know, you have issues with that statement. Maybe you're a Felix Hernandez or Matt Harvey or Max Scherzer fan. Sorry, Clayton's better. Maybe you know how old I am and that in my time following baseball, I have seen Steve Carlton, Greg Maddux, Dwight Gooden, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Pedro Martinez, Roy Halladay, Randy Johnson, Jim Palmer and Roger Clemens. But I think Clayton will surpass all of them in one way or another if he continues like he has. Maybe you're questioning my use of the phrase "come to terms" -- aren't I a Dodger fan? Yes, of course I am. But the more unfair Kershaw gets, the more people will want to collect his cards. And I can't compete with that. As noted before , I now have 300 cards of Kershaw. I want more. But look at these numbers: -- He leads the major leagues in strikeouts (182), E...

A while ago, Thorzul Will Rule featured one of those card war podcasts, and I actually made it through the entire thing. (Don't get offended. I merely have no time to watch entire videos or listen to entire podcasts. It's not the content. It's the format). On the podcast, Thorzul made a comment about the 1972 Topps set containing a lot of players featuring one particular character trait. He called it "freaky blue eyes." I knew immediately what he was talking about because I had noticed this, too. I also noticed it because I, in fact, possess "freaky blue eyes." It's OK. I'm all right with it. Chicks happen to dig them. Isn't that right, Jim? But, it's true, they can be viewed as "freaky," in that vacant, soul-less, stare-right-through-you-so-they-can-absorb-your-life-essence sort of way. Kind of like Dennis here. Don't look directly at him. I don't know why this aspect seems so noticeable on 1972 T...

Every year at this time, I try to start gathering together the best cards that I've seen from the past 12 months. I still hope to do that, but with upheaval and chaos being the general rule of life lately, I've learned not to guarantee anything. Besides, when you've found what you're looking for, why wait, right? So ... Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, chicks and chickers: THE CARD OF THE YEAR!!!!! Was there any doubt? The Target red border card comes from Chuck at Lifetime Topps . The gold border Gordon is from Thorzul . Thorzul also made good on a shipping slip-up as I was supposed to get a Kershaw liquorfractor, too. It all worked out for the best as I ended up with the Kershaw card elsewhere, and I got this from Thorzul: It's my first autograph card of Dodgers reliever Ramon Troncoso, who hasn't done much lately. But he was big in '08, which is from where this card hails. I didn't even know Upper Deck X had autograph ...

( Note from the night owl: This is an actual new post. It is not a post you have read before. Blogger is somewhat back to normal. ... We now return you to your regularly scheduled post -- scheduled to publish Thursday night, that is). I received this "postcard" from Thorzul in a trade a week or two ago. I use postcard in quotes because although it's postcard size, the back is thoroughly blank. I don't think you can send this card through the mail in the traditional fashion, unless you want postal goons at your front door the next day. Thorzul had no idea what the card is or when it was issued, so he thought I might be able to figure it out. You know, because I'm a Koufax fan, and a Dodger fan, and have gobs and gobs of free time on my hands. Heh. But I enjoy a good research project. Besides, I didn't think it would take me much time to figure out. After all I do have this: You might be saying that this is a book about baseball cards and wha...

I pulled an envelope with my own writing on it from the mailbox the other day. In the giddy old days of my first foray into TTM autograph hunting, that would mean someone had signed a card for me and returned it. But I decided TTM really wasn't for me -- the disappointment was just too much for something that's only a hobby. So I rarely receive envelopes featuring my own writing anymore. Besides, this envelope was different. It was wrapped in a clear plastic bag, like those that you see wrapped around newspapers. There's the bag now. Look at all the festive words leaping off the plastic. "Damaged," "Inconvenience," "Apologies," "Regret," "Constantly Striving," "Milwaukee." Ah, I feel like a party. How 'bout you? I attempted to read the message intended for me, the "dear postal customer," but I couldn't remove the white sheet inside the plastic. It was attached to the plastic, and the ...

I've been completely out of the loop today. First, I had relatives visiting, then the usual kick-ass time at work, then a graduation to attend. I've hit the blogs for a grand total 10 minutes. If something important happened, you'll have to fill me in (and by "important," I don't mean anything involving a sport in which you play an entire game and no one wins -- or loses). So, let's go to a time when I was clueless in a different way. When I first started this blog, I had never participated in a group break. I didn't even know what they were. I came upon card blogging by reading Ben Henry's The Baseball Card Blog and going from there. I started blogging purely from a writing interest. But I know that's not how everyone comes to card blogging. There are others who start blogging from a card acquiring/trading interest. For them it's nothing to participate in group breaks on forums or watch breaks on youtube. I don't do any of...