Gone, but not forgotten

I handle loss pretty well. At work, they constantly say I don't like change, which is pretty far from the truth. I dislike change at my job because it's the standard "here's what's different, ok?" with little information and nothing that says why the change happens. I need to understand how my actions matter in the change. But change is inevitable. I know that. Change must happen for progress to occur. You can't stay in one place just treading water - you have to pick a direction and swim or you will be swamped by the waves.

But with change must come loss. A restaurant may change ownership and with that, the menu. There goes that sandwich you loved. Or your waistline changes and those killer shorts no longer fit. Seasons change and life cycles with it. But I'm okay when change means the loss of something or someone you love and enjoy. That's not to say I am not saddened, or I don't feel pain - I'm not a monster.

But I am A-DOOOOR-ABLE!

With each passing year, we gain and lose blogs around our tight knitted group. I can think of a few that are sorely missed (Napkin Doom, 30 Year Old Cardboard, Uncle Doc's), the one I miss right now is Garvey, Cey, Russell and Lopes, run by Jim. We didn't lose Jim - he is still around commenting and trading. But we lost his blog, and well....it sucks. Everyone has their reason why they start writing, and equally have their reason why they stop. Even if the reason is B.S, Jim!

Yup - bullsh*t.

But Jim still sends out cards, and dropped a fine batch on me recently.

I lost track of the number of miscuts Jim found (40?), but boy was there a ton! Years were represented with this being just a small batch of all the pages I filled. I especially love the OPC in the upper right that was cut dead in the middle. Jim included six, and I was able to match a few of the cards together in the binder.

Regular cards also appeared to add substance to the Sox box. What the hell was Bowman thinking with that rainbow foil border? The 90's were a weird time indeed.

Bunts and broken bats? Better believe ballplayers were beget as such.

As were some glorious throwback cards. Or faux throwbacks as the card in the middle shows. I can tolerate these fake uniforms more than the Rays faux backs. I mean, I give the Rays credit for going with such an ugly era to explore, but still find those things hard to appreciate.

Here's two of the stars from the package. Night Owl just talked about Rivera yesterday. This card has been a search for me for the bunting binder, even though I need it for the '54 Sox team set. The set will have to wait. And I will gladly throw a Cubs card at the front of a binder when it's as beautiful and miscut as that Hoak.

Masterson was the star of the package. It's a card what was on my most wanted list for a while. I actually obtained it......and forgot to pull it off the side bar when Jim picked this one off ebay. I commented to him that is better had not have been the card that the seller had for $50 for the card was not worth the price. Jim says it was the card one and the same, but totally low balled the guy and he accepted. I rarely have the nerve to best offer at 50%, so I hope you threw an offer at him of 2% his asking price. But the card has that nice two color piece in the middle, and it goes well beside the one I picked up for $8 a while back. The Wynn? Just some more sweet postage, but none of you will find it on a PWE from me. Some big names can be found in that 1989 release from St. Vincent (near the bottom of the page, but Dodger fans - check out halfway down).

Thanks again, Jim, No - I haven't forgotten you. There is still a divider in the card box with your name on it, and a slowly growing stash of cards that will be coming your way. Let's hope the calendar doesn't change before I mail them.