April Fool's!

     Today is a wondrous day where all the jokesters of the world get to act as jovial as they please without need to take responsibility, unless they commit a crime.

    Perhaps the worst statement I've ever made on the blog....don't listen to my advice.

    Aaaaanyway....

    Pranks are something I hold dear to my heart - especially when I was the pranker or got to witness one.

    I remember one prank I pulled when I was a kid. I reckon the only reason I still remember it is because my victim has mentioned it many times over the years.

    I offered to get a glass of milk for my younger brother. Unbeknownst to him, the milk was accompanied by a large amount of mayonnaise which I mixed into his drink. When he took a sip........I GOT 'EM!

    Man, those were good times.

    Being the pranker is usually more fun than the victim. I've been the target of many a chair pulled away over the years. Right before you hit the ground you wonder what went wrong in your life. It's a little bit humbling. 

    

    A quick google search of 'best pranks in mlb history' revealed a great article from MLB on some of the league's best prankers.

    One that especially caught my attention occurred in 2008, when the Phillies convinced pitcher Kyle Kendrick that he was traded to a team in Japan. Even Kendrick's agent was in on it!

    That may be not only the greatest prank in MLB history, but perhaps the greatest prank I've ever heard of. 

    

    Have y'all played a really good prank (or been the victim of one) that you would like to share?

    Thanks for checking out the blog, make sure to have a great rest of the week, and APRIL FOOL'S!!!

Are you seeing what Greg's seeing?

    (Disclaimer - I cropped out the borders of the first two cards because it seriously looks as though the previous owner spilled coffee on them. Nonetheless, enjoy this Don Cardwell production)

'Hey, you seeing what I'm seeing?'

'Where? I can't see it'

'Oh, I see it. It's - it's...'

BOINK

    Whoever the photographer for that last card was is in need of a serious raise. 

    

    Thank you, goodnight!

What to do with an ugly picture frame

     Do you have a picture frame that you wouldn't even put your worst enemy's photo in because it would be too insulting? Well I know exactly what to do!

    Obviously that's a bit of an exaggeration (maybe). But I did come across an interesting picture frame almost a week ago while re-organizing my closet. 

    It's a square picture frame made out of concrete (I think) with a bunch of lines in it and a tiny little panel for the picture to go in on the upper left-hand side. Maybe that sounds pretty bad, but perhaps not. Don't worry, you'll see it in just a sec. I remember somebody on my street was giving it away a while ago and I thought it looked interesting, so I took it. And it sat in my closet for a long time before I found it again.

    At this point you may be thinking to yourself, 'Ginko, this has nothing to do with cards. It's called a 'card blog' for a reason. Why on earth would I care about a picture frame you don't even care about? Why the heck am I reading this blog anyway?'

    Before you close the tab and crush my dreams, I would advise you to bear with me if you'd like to know what I did with the frame. It does have something to do with baseball cards, in fact, don't you worry.

    I took a little bit to formulate an idea for the frame; at first I said I'd give it away as a wedding gift, lol. But I wouldn't want to insult the couple. Eventually, with the help of a brother who was hanging out with me at the time I found it, I came up with an idea to transform it from a rather ugly brick taking up space in the closet into a lovely card collector's mantlepiece.

    This is literally sitting on the mantle to my left as I write this post.

    Firstly, I flipped the frame over to put the panel for the picture in a better position. The frame stands up on its own or can lean against the wall, so it didn't matter that I flipped it.

    After thoroughly cleaning up the dirty glass panel that protects the photo, I found that I could fit a baseball card in a top loader into the frame as a replacement for a photo without causing any damage to the card itself. Clearly it's not a perfect fit, but I don't have a picture that would fit in there anyway. 

    As to which card I should place into the frame, that's where that brother came in. He suggested that since the frame is more or less a rock, a Rockies card would be the perfect one to use. And I agreed with him wholeheartedly while also chuckling a little. A quick look into a few binders, and I was down to three Rockies to choose from. Ultimately I chose the 2025 Topps Drew Romo, #296. I did so for a few reasons; firstly, I wanted to leave my serial-numbered gold parallel in its binder. Secondly, it's a rookie card, which is cool. And finally, Romo's a catcher, and I thought it best for a catcher to go into the frame (get it???). 

    Like I mentioned before, the entire card didn't fit into the opening, but I can assure you it's safe; I didn't want to harm any of my cards in the process. It's not perfectly centered, but I didn't mind it enough to change it. 

    Well, there you have it. If you have a strange-looking picture frame and want to do something cardy with it, I hope I've been a help to you. If not, well, I have failed you. I'm quite satisfied with the way this quick little craft turned out, and think it'll have a permanent home on my mantle.

    Thanks for checking out the blog! Make sure to have an amazing rest of the week (almost at the weekend) and happy collecting!