Goodnight J.B., wherever you are.
As many of us did in the uncertain early days of the pandemic, I sought out the learned scientific counsel of immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci. While watching an interview with Dr. Fauci , I scanned the items sitting behind him, as one does in this strange new world of home studio set design. My eyes locked on two familiar objects over his right shoulder, small rectangles featuring round photos: I knew those two objects to be Topps baseball cards of a certain vintage. How did I know, you ask? Well, that's largely why I'm here today. One of my most treasured books, which I've managed to keep through all the moves away from the Oak Square triple-decker in which I grew up in the 1970s, the address for which is inscribed inside the cover, is this most colorful little paperback called The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book : It featured vignettes and faithful reproductions of baseball cards of players that had impressed upon its authors, Brendan...