#SuperTrader Mark Hoyle

Mark Hoyle was the first person I ever traded with who simply commented on my blog and who does not have a blog of his own. Part of me is envious of that, since the time it takes to write blog posts is not inconsequential. 

But, I enjoy the creative (okay, sort of creative) writing that I get to do here. I get to let my madman run wild here, so to speak, and just let the posts go where they go based on the cards I get, the music in my head, or the music that the cards lead to.

I have a post brewing inside me coming up that has nothing to do with the cards I've received or traded away, but I think I need to cogitate for a while on it. At least until after this post is done.

So, let's stay light and happy and highlight the cards that Mark sent my way!

That's right -- clap along if you feel like that's what you want to do! Even if the scan of this first card is really dark and the card itself is a bit dark in hand thanks to Topps not doing a very good job with the card's concept and printing in the first place:

When the light catches this "Diamond Stars" insert of Derrick Turnbow from the 2007 Opening Day set just right, it's a really cool card. Looking at it directly without any reflected light, it looks like a bad attempt at an Upper Deck hologram logo sticker from 1991. 

Wait, that's not Happy!

Let's try again.

That's it! Let's be happy together! What makes everyone happy? Cards of legends, that's what. Everyone appreciates a Hall of Famer, or at least respects the Hall of Famer, right?

These two cards were needed for my Paul Molitor collection. Can you tell that the Topps Magazine card of Paul Molitor is from the early 1990s? Really, you could? What was the give away? Oh, yeah. The very 1990s design, of course. Surprisingly, this card's back notes that it is "Design-a-Card Winner #1," which means that someone at Topps not only had to wade through all kinds of crappy designs, but it means that there were all kinds of crappy designs far worse than this one!

The other card shows Molitor suited up and giving his induction speech in 2004. Man, that was 12 years ago already? Molitor turns sixty years old this year? Gah. And, he's married to a woman named Destini? Really? Now I'm getting depressed again.

Dang it, I was trying to be Happy! Let's try this again...

If there is anything that is almost always guaranteed to make me happy, it is music from Athens, Georgia. In my time there for law school, I ran into/saw (and left alone) Michael Stipe several times. He was a strange guy, no doubt -- wearing clothes that no one else on the planet would wear -- but everyone in Athens really just let him live his life because, well, the guy is a legend. 

Even better is that Kate Pierson is stunningly gorgeous in this video. I freely admit that I had a pretty huge crush on her around this time...and here's a little secret: in this video in 1991, she was forty-three years old! Wow. Even today, now that she is married to her longtime girlfriend and is sixty-seven years old, she still looks pretty good...which sounds weird to say but it's true.

These cards are a bit like Kate Pierson in that B-52s video -- they are forty-two years old now, but they still look damn good. Sure, Felipe Alou's card has some writing on it -- probably some youngster trying to fix that satiny hat and giving up -- but Tom Murphy has sharp corners on it. It's a very rare card in my collection that is over 30 years old and has sharp corners! So, Murphy is definitely a condition upgrade for the one currently in my Brewers collection.

Okay, now I'm feeling better...gotta keep things light and happy, right? Light...

Wait, The Smiths tend to be universally depressing, what with Morrissey's never-ending yearning and with lyrics like, "And if a double decker bus, crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die."

Wow, that got dark. But if we are talking about baseball and lights that will never go out -- and to be completely serious for a moment -- there is no better personification of overcoming years and years of racism, ugly treatment, and demonization than Hank Aaron.



Hank truly is a light that will never go out, in many ways. He is, of course, a legend in Atlanta and Milwaukee. I chose not to collect him as a player collection in large part because he really is identified much more with Atlanta despite spending more of his time in Milwaukee thanks to breaking Babe Ruth's record as an Atlanta Brave. Of course, he also resides here and is a special assistant to whatever general manager the Braves have at any point in time. Still, these cards are excellent and much welcomed.

We've gotten a bit wistful here now. Let's pick up the pace again for the last song:

What Jeremiah the bullfrog was doing with mighty fine wine, the world will probably never know. Also, I'm a little suspicious of Three Dog Night as well since they want to throw away cars and bars with wars. I like going to bars. 

Still, I can't argue too much with this song, such that it glorifies being a straight-shootin' son of a gun.

And it's joyful, so let's be joyful about my original "main" player collection from the 1980s alongside my "main" player collection now:

That Gary Carter collision at the plate is pretty cool. It must come from the late 70s or early 80s, because that sure looks like a Padre-clad Ozzie Smith there. Still, I don't know why the card refers to Carter blocking the plate in the 1979 All-Star Game with this photo/drawing on the front...since Smith and Carter would have been on the same side in that game, of course.

Finally, that Robin Yount 3000th Hit card. Sure, no logos, but still a great action shot. If cards simply showed players playing baseball with normal photos -- not overly redone, not overly painted up, not overly airbrushed/photo shopped, not overly blurred in the background such that the player could be playing literally anywhere, and not overly zoomed in -- maybe we collectors wouldn't find as many reasons to complain as we do.

Oh, who am I kidding? We're a cantankerous bunch of old guys (and gals). We're programmed to complain and not to be happy.

Mark, thank you very much for these and all the rest of the cards you sent my way. They are very much appreciated. 

And to the rest of you?