Mickey Tettleton, 1988 Score Rookie & Traded #31T

Orange is not a color that's frequently used in baseball card designs. For obvious reasons, I'm always eager to get my hands on cards with border colors that complement the Orioles' orange and black uniforms. You probably won't find many other collectors who give the stamp of approval to 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best, for instance. Topps has had orange-bordered refractor parallels in its Chrome products since 2008, and yet I don't have a single orange refractor of an O's player. But sometimes all you have to do is ask nicely, so I went a-beggin' when I saw that Night Owl had pulled pumpkin-hued Nick Markakis and Mark Reynolds shinies from 2011 Topps Chrome. Out of the kindness of his heart, Greg sent both cards, along with some other chromy Birds of recent vintage.

On Friday afternoon, I rode up to the family cottage with my father to close up for the year. On my way out the door, I saw Greg's bubble envelope waiting for me in the mailbox. So I grabbed it and checked out the goods while sitting shotgun en route to northeastern PA. Do you want to guess where those cards are now?

Yep, they're safely stored back in that envelope...220 miles away, sitting on a shelf in the living room of the cottage. I will not see these cards again until May 2012. That's what happens when you try to pack up in the morning.