A hoot and a half

Before I became a blogger, the Dodgers seemed like a lost and faraway franchise.

Sure, I'd see their highlights on TV every once in a while. But I sure couldn't tell you anything about their top prospects or bullpen anchors or anything along those lines.

I can't say any of my few baseball-loving friends cared much about the Dodgers. And I didn't run into many Dodger fanatics on the forums. I was practically devoid of anything Dodgers.

Upon joining the blogosphere, however, I was absolutely blown away. Anything I could or would ever know about the Dodgers (card or non-card related) was being written around here on a daily basis.

As of right now, I probably know of at least four or five Dodger-centric blogs. And I'm sure there are a few more floating around that I haven't found yet.

From the title of this post, I'm sure you've guessed what this post is about by now. Why, yes, it's a great assortment of cardboard I received from the man at the forefront of the Dodger fan base here in the blogosphere, Greg of "Night Owl Cards".

As I've mentioned over and over again, Greg is the one who first introduced me to this whole blogging business. You probably wouldn't be reading this post about him without...well, him.

After nearly six years in the blogosphere, the man certainly knows his way around a trade package.

Here's a nice "behind the camera" shot of the observing Andres Galarraga, courtesy of the '95 Skybox Emotion brand.

Goodness, what an odd set that was.

While his Dodger-centric collection might not be all that random, Greg has shown that he's able to help out a crazy collection like mine from time to time.

Here's former Rockie first baseman Jim Tatum doing...something with his bat. I can't say I've ever seen that particular instrument before, certainly not on a baseball card. It's something wood bat-exclusive, I'm guessing.

We used aluminum bats in Little League. I still hear that familiar ping sound in my head a lot, but I couldn't tell you the first thing about applying pine tar or whatever that thingy is on Tatum's card.

Part of me wishes we got to use wood bats back then.

Ping.

I can't say the Listash fits snugly into any of my various mini-collections.

But it's a card I love anyways. Like the Tatum, I'm not quite sure what's going on there. But that sense of mystery draws me to it all the more.

The Wade, however, makes for a nice "At the Wall" addition. Although I'm having a hard time believing he actually made a game-saving catch at the wall there. A very minor league effort by the photographer.

Actually, I guess that's kind of fitting for a minor league set.

Whether recent stars or HOFers, I always love adding cards to my player collections.

That X-themed parallel (from, you guessed it, Upper Deck X) helps me add to my most prominent collection with Vlad. The Williams, meanwhile, is a beautiful new piece for both my Cubs and Cooperstown themes.

Yes, I actually just described a Gypsy Queen card as beautiful.

I need help.

These are a couple of the greatest cards Greg has ever sent me.

You don't see a whole lot of cards featuring "The Great Bambino" during his Red Sox pitching days too often. Much less amazingly colorized shots like that one. Another great new addition to my HOF collection, without a doubt.

The Conlan is as well, although in a slightly different manner.

After two unspectacular years as an outfielder with the White Sox, Jocko Conlan would go on to have a Hall of Fame career as an umpire, the first modern "man in blue" to be inducted into Cooperstown. (His umping career actually started by accident, funny enough.)

Conlan's prestigious 25-year stint as an ump in the National League made his two-year playing stint in Chicago all but forgotten. That's the first card I've ever seen of him in a White Sox uniform.

I didn't even know any existed before this package came along.

Being a Dodger fan and all, Greg was gracious enough to donate a few of his extra Matt Kemps to my new player collection of his.

It's a task that's actually budding quite well. I'm up to 50 different Kemps as of this writing.

A lot for me, but probably a mere fraction of Greg's and other Dodger fans' Kemp collections.

As long as great writers like Greg and other Dodger fanatics keep blogging, it's safe to say that the Dodgers are going to be part of my daily reading for as long as I'm a part of this place.

And I'm more than okay with that.

I look forward to hearing about guys like Matt Kemp in the years to come.

Thanks, Dodger fans.