Cards to Play With

At least I have 4 1/2 more months of baseball season to look forward to.

The Blazers were eliminated last night. It's not that important in the grand scheme of things. It would be easier to take if, say, the Cardinals weren't as mediocre as a Subway sandwich this year, but there's plenty of time for things to turn around there. Fortunately, the very generous Ethan from Playing With My Cards has a cure for the blues in the form of some very key singles from the 1985 Fleer set.

I'm still bowled over by the generosity of receiving the Clemens rookie. While he's pretty much the scourge of the Earth, it's still the most sought after card in the set and I feel very fortunate to get a copy in such nice shape. Rob Deer was a big deal back when this set was still fairly new, so getting his rookie card is a treat even though this is a card worth pocket change these days.

Don Mattingly is the quintessential '80s guy to collect as far as I'm concerned. I always got more excited about his cards than the flavor of the month like Dwight Gooden or Billy Jo Robidoux. It's a big reason why at least a tiny shrivel of me is fairly sympathetic to the Yankees to this day.

I never liked Ripken, though. I don't know what is wrong with me. I guess I have shortstop envy.

Ethan also sent along a couple of colorful old Cardinals cards. Here's current hitting coach John Mabry making two of his derpiest faces.

Eat fresh!