Long Break

The Dodgers can be blamed for the length of nap that I ended up taking after they lost to the Pirates 6-3.  The Dodgers put on another lackluster performance which saw them have few chances on offense to do some damage.  This was just another dismal loss and the games are getting pretty boring in general.  The Dodgers could be a little more courteous to their viewers and add some excitement into each game by getting involved in bean ball wars.

Since my midday sleep is over, I thought that I should continue on sorting through a box of around 4,000 baseball cards.  The box is going to take a lot longer to go through than I had originally thought.  Each handful of cardboard goodness that I pull leaves me a joyous card for my personal collection.

The box has yielded me some cards for my hall of fame collection.  I love the photograph on this card of Roberto Alomar peering at the baseball he had just struck.  Did Alomar just lay down a bunt?  Or did Alomar just "slam" a slow dribbler down the line?

I also believe this photo must have been taken during a playoff game or an opening day.  I think this to be true because of the red, white and blue banner in the background.  Those banners of our country's colors only seem to pop up during big event games.

Not only does this card fit into my hall of fame collection, but this cardboard gem is also from a Fleer Ultra set that is brand new to me.  I do not recall seeing 2003 Fleer Ultra before.  I have been categorizing the cards that I have been skimming through.  One of the types of cards that I have been setting aside are of cards from sets that were once thought to not exist in my head.  2003 Fleer Ultra was once one of those mysterious sets for me.

I have also been placing cards of ex-Dodgers in different uniforms aside.  I have been placing these types of cards in two separate stacks.  The two stacks are for the Dodger players that I enjoyed watching play in LA like Casey Blake and the other stack is reserved for the Dodgers I loved to mock as they frustrated me with their shabby on-field performance in LA.

This Blake card intrigued me because he is photographed as clean shaven and is listed as a third baseman while he is depicted catching a pop-up while playing first base.  That little quirk makes this search through a mystery box more fun.  The fact that I can go through the box at a leisurely pace while studying the photographs and set designs.

 
Casey Blake was once the Dodgers beard champion in 2008 through 2011.  Blake sadly has nothing on this dude, Burke Kenny.  Kenny won the full beard, styled mustache category at the 2007 World Beard and Mustache Championship in England according to the back of this Allen and Ginter card.  Blake can't compete with being a world champion at beard growing.

I will probably continue to dig up some gems from my latest purchase throughout the evening.  More posts should follow and I may even run another contest that will favor all the folks that like to stay up late on Sundays.