In Rance We Laugh

It's been a tough week, and blogging has taken a back seat.

For starters, I've been under the weather. What I thought was a bad cold has since been diagnosed with Flu A, despite my flu shot in the fall. It's not fun, especially because I'm past the window of symptoms where Tamiflu will actually work. So I wait.

I hate letting five days go between blog posts, but I just had no desire to fire up the computer or scan a card.

But the flu will get better in time.

What's going to take a bit longer to heal is my heart, as I said goodbye to our family dog yesterday. I know many of you have shared losing a pet, and man, it's tough.

He was doing fine last week, but on Tuesday and Wednesday his breathing started picking up for no real reason. I figured he might have my cold. He started to lose his appetite. He wasn't touching his wet food, which for him, is odd. He usually gobbles it right away.

Friday morning, my wife took him to the vet. I figured he just had the dog version of cold, and would get some meds to clear it up. But about 20 minutes after arriving, my wife called me and said, "I think he's really sick." I could hear it in her voice.

I got out of bed and met her at the vet, where they showed us his x-ray. His lungs were cloudy, but the vet couldn't say if it was an infection...or if it was cancer. I think the doctor knew, but wanted a second upon with a radiologist, so she sent his results away and said we should hear back by the end of the day.

At around 4pm, she called back.

Cancer.

So we knew we had a tough decision to make, and he was having a tougher time by the hour. We knew we needed to put him to sleep. They offered us a time later that evening, but I selfishly said no, and that I wanted the dog to have one more night with us and the kids, and we'd take him in the morning.

In hindsight, it was selfish and I really regret it. He suffered a great deal on Friday night. I had hoped he'd be lethargic and would just lay around with us, but his breathing kept him up and he didn't sleep. Neither did we.

At about 7:45am, it started to happen. I'll leave out the details, but it was tough to watch. He passed away on our living room floor, 15 minutes before the vet opened, and about 3 hours before he was to be put to sleep.

I took a moment, then wrapped him in his blanket and we took him to the vet, where he'll be cremated and his remains will be returned to us.

He was my buddy, and I'm having a tough time looking at the spots where he liked to lay, or seeing his leash quietly hanging on its hook. I know it'll get better, but after 27 hours, it still hurts.

It's hard not hearing his nails on the wood floor, and it was weird locking up the house for the night early, knowing I didn't need to take him out one last time before bed.

Needing to get out for a minute yesterday afternoon, I ran to Walgreens to pick something up for my wife. I also got a 100-card repack to open to feel better. And you know what the second card behind the one in the window was?

Yep. Rance!

As some of you have seen, Napkin Doon and I used to send each other Rance Mulliniks cards as a joke. I forgot how it even started, but we took it pretty far, including sending graded copies back and forth. It's not a joke about Rance - he had a fine career - it's just that he's our own version of Bip Roberts.

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw that card, and man, I needed it.

It was a small distraction, but certainly welcome.

Napkin Doon is still out there...somewhere

Don't let him fool you. Napkin Doon is still out there. Lurking. Watching. Waiting. Creeping.

Just before I moved, Napkin Doon sent me a big old package of cards. He had the option of waiting until I was at my new address, but chose to send to my old one so I would have more things to pack. That's just how his sick mind works.

However, he did send me a very generous stack of cards, highlighted by the omnipresent Rance Mulliniks. I know you've all been Bipped, but being Ranced is equally effective.

Napkin was also kind enough to send a card for my son's binder:

Just kidding.

And I don't have much to say about this that is PG. Troy popping a nut.

While the above cards are certainly desirable, Nap did in fact send some less valuable stuff that made me equally happy, including this 1963 Topps Whitey Ford. I love vintage Whitey!

Any vintage card with Mickey Mantle on it is welcome. This poor kid only had a Ralph Houk and Mike Cueller according to the checklist. I think Mantle was mocking him with a sly look of disdain.

More vintage, including this sweet Virgil Trucks and a Thurman Munson that was was definitely some kid's #walletcard.

Oh wait, that's better!

In terms of the non-vintage, Nap found a pretty sweet Tino bat for me. I can't believe he played for the Devil Rays.

Pitchers batting is so stupid. It looks like Pettitte was getting ready for his three year cameo in the NL with this uninspiring swing versus the Mets at Shea.

Finally, some Big Mikes, and a Jeff Weaver shiny gold card. Weaver was pretty horrendous with the Yankees, but damn this card looks like it would fall out of a Wonka Bar.

 

Napkin Doon, thanks for the package. We miss you around here. Come back.

Napkin Doon is alive

Napkin Freakin' Doon lives!

Well, his blog doesn't. It still is the third most-visited website of all time, but there hasn't been a new entry in a few months. But Napkin Doon the man is in fact alive! I know this because he recently sent me a pretty darn cool package of cards.

Sadly, the first card was the Rance Mulliniks pictured above. It's in a very heavy duty case. Nap and I tend to send each other Mulliniks cards. It all started by him sending me one that had mold all over it from old Topps gum. It's only gotten more and more out of hand since then. He won't have the last laugh though, I'll tell you that. I'm going to send him the actual Rance Mulliniks one day.

Other than the sweet Rance, by far the coolest card is an eTopps Phil Rizzuto mini. This crappy scan doesn't do it justice. It's refractory and really stands out, especially on a T-206 design. I wish eTopps was still around. Every card I've gotten in hand has been exceptionally cool.

The Doonster also sent me a few more cards, and a really cool coloring book for my kids. Well, I think it was for them. Or maybe now. I may color a few of these pictures myself and send one to Nap to hang on his fridge. I'm sure his lovely wife won't mind.

Nap, good to see you around, my friend. We miss you.

Rance'd by Napkin Doon

I’ve been by Rance'd by Napkin Doon. In what will surely become 2013’s version of Bipping, Nap included three Rance Mulliniks cards in our latest card exchange. Little does he know, these cards are already on the way to Rance for a TTM ‘graph. I’ll have the last laugh, Nap. Just wait.

He actually sent me some cards I wanted as well. My favorite of the lot was a group of 2013 Bowman Yankees with some fancy flags in the background. Interesting that the USA players have their state flag in the background instead of a US flag.

He also sent this awesome Jeter. I love Diamond Kings. 

Not only did he send me cards, but included three cards for Joey’s HOF binder. The highlight for me is this 1960 Fleer Mickey Cochrane. Such a cool card from a great, underrated set. Nap also sent a Goose, and a Gehrig. Since I’ll never own an original Gehrig, I’ll gladly put this in the binder, as I might as well have an awesome card like this Diamond King instead of a Topps Golden Moment or something. 

And in his signature move, Napkin included a pack of 1990 Topps. The highlight for me was this Edgar Martinez. Look at that pornstache and sweet jacket.