Gratitude for Free Cards | Thank You (x3)

Quick apology for my recent respite: Sorry. I’ve been busy of late. Good busy though. Most of my preoccupation is owed to a return to the Little League diamond.

Ages 8 and up in my neck of the woods have been welcomed back for an abbreviated summer season, so I'm coaching my older son Luke's team, the AAA Rangers.

Here in Connecticut, we’re one of the few states where Covid cases have been in decline. So with – no kidding – three pages of extra safety protocols, we’re back to playing baseball; we're back before MLB. It’s baseball with masks, restrictions on food (including gum and sunflower seeds), and a distanced dugout… but it’s baseball.

Back to cards...

Busy or no, I’m required to come back – if only – to express my thanks to a trio of bloggers and some generous goodies that have arrived in the mail recently. In the order I received them:

1. Thank you to Nick from Dime Boxes

I participated in three of Nick’s recent Free Stuff Friday giveaways and scored quite a few cool cards. I stuck mostly to the 70s (Ron Santo, Manny Sanguillen, Dock Ellis, Oscar Gamble) but strayed a couple of times off plan (Ron Washington, Satchel Paige).

The highlight, however, was this 1969 Deckle Edge Willie Mays.

I don’t have nearly enough Willie Mays in the collection – in fact the Willie Bloomquist-to-Willie Mays ratio in my collection is completely out of whack. 

2. Thank you to Jon from A Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts

Again, jumped on a few Free Stuff Friday posts, and this time focused on (mostly) on cards for my eldest’s collection: two 1985 Hygrade Jackie Robinsons (he has a growing Jackie collection) and, of course, a few for his Yankees’ binders (Rizzuto x2 and Munson). The Jackie Robinsons aren't pictured as my son scooped them up and added him to his binder before I had a chance to snap a pic.

Plus, a couple odd balls for me…

I’m kind of a Christmas nut. Clark Griswold is a role model of mine. Love these.

3. Thank you to Greg from Night Owl Cards

I lucked into a Night Owl giveaway having earned an entry with a comment on a previous post. Greg offered up 16 prize packs that were so stuffed with cool items that I was paralyzed with indecision while a few items came off the board. I pulled myself together and came away with these four 1979 Topps Baseball Comics.

I’m not going to lie, these were not on my radar before I saw them up for grabs but I was charmed by their pop art-feel and now that they’ve arrived, I’m not at all disappointed with my selection. I may try to acquire the other 29. I love them.

He also added a trio of cards clearly clearly sourced by my recently added “Players I Collect” page. Thank you for that.

Didi goes to Luke’s collection and though the Carter is a dupe, the J.P. Richard card amazingly isn’t.


I’m under no delusions that I can offer any traffic or visibility to these three card-blogging giants, so I can’t steer any readers their way. Rather, I say again, thank you gentlemen. I am floored by your generosity. And as soon as I put together a few things that might interest you, I’ll send them your way.