The Kindness of Strangers

Isn't is great that people who I've never met, who don't know me from Adam, would be willing to send me gifts in the mail, with only an email and a secret handshake to seal it? We are a brotherhood (and sisterhood) of like-minded goofballs who play with kids' cards and try to outdo each other to see who can supply everyone else with cards that will elate, surprise, and otherwise bring joy to that person. Like I said before, I get more of a kick out of helping someone else finish a set than I do from opening a pack of cards.

Greg the Night Owl and Duane from Ohio (no blog yet) have both been very generous in helping me to achieve a few goals.

Duane sent me some '897 Donruss, which is slowly but surely starting to come to a close. One of the interesting things about this set, besides supplying the background for the Stale Gum blog, is that it is the anti-Topps in terms of a meritocratic system of assigning card numbers. In fact, they assign checklists to the most valuable real estate in that set: the 100's. 

  

One card he sent in particular takes me back to the 70's, when fireballing flamethrowers prowled the mounds of the American League, including Nolan Ryan and his teammate Frank Tanana. Together, they made one of the great one-two punches in power pitchers since Spahn & Sain. I did know that Tanana played for the Tigers, but what I didn't know was that he was a Ranger before he was a Tiger. Despite having an ERA under 3.25 in two of his three full seasons with the Rangers, who was only 22-24 those two years. 

The Night Owl is a team man, his team being the Dodgers, and as such, he is always prepared to ship cards from your team to you. All you have to do is ask, nicely, and send him some Dodgers. Here is what I got in the mail from him:

  

Some 2009 Stadium Club. Gotta love a Grady card, and Fausto and Masa are nice additions, too.Now that I see it in person, it is nicer than I expected, but for the price, you can get five times as many Upper Deck base, with photography and card stock just as good if not better than TSC.

But better yet, he sent these two also:

 

A 2006 Victor Martinez Turkey Red, and a 2009 Upper Deck Aaron Laffey Inkredible. WOW! I don't deserve such good friends. OK, maybe I do. But this was above and beyond. 

Thanks, Duane and Greg.