Blog, Batta, Blog!

That's Alex "Some Tough City" Rodriguez. He plays third base for the Yankees.

Just in case you've never heard of him, I mean, since you're all wrapped up in your Ty Cobb and your Tris Speaker.

Anyway, Topps, which is a company that makes baseball cards (they actually started in 1951

, but you don't collect anything after 1943, so how would you know?), produced a set this year that's modeled after the T3 Turkey Red set.

The cards are small, though. Not particularly attractive, either, but they WOULD be, if they were the right size. Real nice illustrations, gorgeous backgrounds, stuff like that. There's a great card of Randy Johnson, doing what he does best - chatting on the mound with Jorge Posada, stalling for time while the Yanks get a relief pitcher warmed up.

Anyway, if you buy a whole box of these Topps Turkey Red cards, there's something called a "box topper" in it. It's a big plastic envelope, with this B18 blanket thingy inside.

Best-looking shiny card I've ever seen.

EVERYTHING about the blanket (except the Topps copyright info) is true to the old B18s. Similar material, similar design, even that weird, warping thing that B18s do. They're the same size, even. I've got A-Rod in a frame, right next to the real B18s I have of Bobby Wallace and Zach Wheat. They're cool. I saw a complete set of them sell on eBay for, like, $50 the other day. Worth every penny, if you ask me. They're just cool.

This has been a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood card geek.