I wonder how much my 1974 Brooks Robinson baseball card is worth?

That question came to mind as I read Liz Farmer’s article on the National Sports Collectors Convention, which opens Wednesday in Baltimore.

I found the card last weekend, as my 12-year-old son and I sifted through three shoeboxes worth of baseball cards, circa 1972-1976, which I had collected when I was younger than he.

In addition to Brooks (similar ) I came across a Belanger and a Boog (but not a Bumbry); a McNally and a Cuellar (but not a Palmer); an Etchebarren; and a Grich.

There were non-Orioles, as well, including the New York Mets Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Wayne Garrett, Cleon Jones and John Milner, who made 1973 a magical summer and heart-breaking fall; Pittsburgh Pirates stars Willie Stargell, Richie Hebner, Manny Sanguillen and Rennie Stennett, whom I remember watching on NBC’s Game of the Week with Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek; and there was the Los Angeles Dodgers Al Downing (who I watched surrender Hank Aaron‘s 715th homerun on April 8, 1974) and Tom House (the Atlanta Braves pitcher who I saw catch the ball in the bullpen).

Yes, I wonder how much those cards are worth… On second thought, they are not for sale.

A water main break has closed Baltimore County Circuit Court today.

WBAL is reporting the break happened on the fourth floor, which is where construction crews are building three new courtrooms.

I’m still trying to determine if the two are connected. Stay tuned for updates …

It seems like anyone with an e-mail account could’ve seen this one coming.

Last month, a Silver Spring attorney filed suit against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its National Universities Commission, alleging he had been hired, but not paid, by the NUC to collect nearly $1.9 million of the government agency’s money that had somehow been misplaced when the scandalized Riggs National Bank was taken over by PNC.

Sound familiar? The old “Help me access millions of dollars in some foreign bank account and we’ll share the proceeds. It won’t hurt a bit …” solicitation?

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