Cards From a Night Owl

 Hello Friends!

I will admit this winter is kicking my ass so far. It's been very isolating. That said, I have been getting out into the hallway of my building to talk to the person two doors down from me and to give scritches to her pug loaf. 

That said, I believe Greg, also known in these parts as Night Owl, had some cards to send my way last month but was delayed by the wonderful strike by Canada Post. There was a little note hoping the cards would be a pick me up and thanking me for posting. 

I think our little circle of bloggers keeps shrinking as life or blog burnout rear their ugly heads. I'd love to write more than what I do sometimes, but there are times where getting the motivation is... Difficult.. I'm sure fellow bloggers can relate. 

ANYWAY.. You're here for cards.. I'm here to show cards.. So in the immortal words of Bender Bending Rodriguez... "Let's Go Already!!!"

First up is a nice 83 OPC Bill Virdon. I already have one, maybe two of it, so this helps with the Expos project. 

Ever since I saw them, I absolutely loved the SuperVet cards in 1983. This one was a need for my set build. 

A 1983 Topps All Star glossy send in card. Doesn't it look like a precursor to the 1990 (?) Bowman set?

Always a pleasure to get a card of one of the best pitchers in the 80s. 

Vladdy! Now.. This one was hard to figure out. I knew it was Chrome. I go to the Chrome checklist. 21 is something different. I see Vlad is 201.. Different photo and so I figure "Ok, this is from somewhere else.. " 

Happen to look in Chrome Update.. And it's there.. I know they normally notate on the back the Update set, but there was nothing there.. Very confusing.. Anyway.. I needed this one too!

Now, the next couple are from Heritage. Above is the back scan from TCDB of the Jordan Hicks card below. Obviously, if you've held the card in hand, you know it's even darker. I don't remember (or more to the point haven't dug out my Expos) if the original 75s were that dark. In order to see anything I needed to put a flashlight on it. 

And here's the front of the Hicks card. I see last year he was a Giant. I also see he started most of his games.. Was he used as an Opener? Or did SF actually stretch him out to be a starter?

Finally two Heritage minis. Whit Merrifield was a weird get for the Jays. I recall it was around the time that there were still some travel restrictions between the countries from Covid. I believe you had to be vaccinated to cross without being quarantined. There were some players who balked at it so when the teams came to Toronto, those players were considered inactive for the series and the teams, I believe, were able to replace the players.. 

I remember Merrifield was one of those who didn't want to get the vaccine.. But ended up getting it once he was traded to Toronto. He did decently in his time with the Jays but I saw last year he kind of fell off a cliff. 

Jose Berrios has been a somewhat solid pitcher for the Jays since his signing. I just noticed that there's just a slight difference in colour on his cards. I know they're supposed to be two-toned.. I just thought they used contrasting colours. To my eye it looks too similar. (I am slightly colourblind though, so... ) 

Anyway, thank you Sir Greg of Night Owl!

The cards and the note were much appreciated!

Help on a Project

 Hello Friends!

Today I wanted to highlight a couple cards that came in the mail today from a friend online, Ron Easton. He's commented here a few times, and is on TCDB as RonEaston. 

He knows about my collecting goals and helped out with a few cards.. 

Kellin Deglan is a Canadian currently in Buffalo for the Jays. He's been in the systems of the Rangers, Yankees, and Blue Jays. He's 30, so really no longer a prospect and his window for a MLB debut is rapidly closing.. He might really top out as a 2.5 A player...

Next, Jeff Francis makes an appearance. I'm glad it's framed to be a regular sized card as opposed to a straight mini. 

Scott Diamond also has an auto show up here. Because I took the photo of this one in my hand, you may see the edge of my thumb. It's not so noticeable here, but on the back photo I took you can see it more. 

50 Years of the Montreal Expos. I Need these cards in my collection. These and the autographs. Rondell White is a new addition. 

Finally, Zach Pop auto. The card scan from TCDB is very dark, as Chrome cards tend to do, but it's a nice card in hand. The Deglan card is more blue than what the scan shows too, by the way. 

Thank you, Ron! I really appreciate the cards!

Conlon Collection Cards

 Hello Friends!

I wanted to show a few cards from my collection from a series that went from 1991-1995. The Conlon Collection.

It was a series of cards put out by Megacards in partnership with The Sporting News. Conlon was a photographer in the early 1900s that took photos of baseball players

Now, the interest I have in this series is that there's Canadians in it. The early days of baseball had some Canadian content, as I've mentioned on here before. The subjects in the Conlon Collection that fly the Insignia of the Dominion of Canada (Our flag wasn't born until 1967) are players such as Jack Graney, George Gibson, George Selkirk, Jeff Heath, and Russ Ford. 

I decided to show the cards in my collection from this series. 

Fun little tidbit, Joe Krakauskas was the last pitcher Joe DiMaggio got a hit off of in his 56 game hit streak. 

George Selkirk, who took over Left Field and #3 for the Yankees after Babe Ruth left, could have had a nicknames card in here as well. He was nicknamed Twinkletoes. 

George Gibson, the last Canadian to manage in the Majors until Rob Thomson, is also in this set. 

Thunder Bay's Jeff Heath. Well, technically Fort William, as the twin cities weren't amalgamated yet. 

Bob Emslie was a player and then an umpire in the early days. 

Russ Ford was an early pitcher for the Yankees. 

I think the cards are really well done. This is one of those things where if I had unlimited money, time, space, and infinite collecting focus, I would try to complete as a set.. The full set from 1991-1995 runs 1400 cards. 

As is, I'm missing four cards. 

#481 Jack Graney 

1075 Polo Grounds 

1247 Jack Graney

1366 Jack Graney

The middle two are from 94, the last one 95. I believe the first Graney is 92... 

Just wanted to give a quick look. Have fun!