mini post for mini collections

here's a quick post celebrating some of my mini-collections and some recent cards added to said collections.

2015 topps chrome derek jeter

this one is for the "final tributes" collection as it includes all of the captain's career stats on the back

i grabbed this card from a bargain box at a show earlier this year.

same with this 2022 topps stadium club chrome hank aaron card

that features willie mays and so goes into my "lurkers" collection.

2002 donruss originals albert pujols

2015 topps rookies rising gold parallel

2016 topps stadium club bryce harper

2018 panini donruss nolan ryan retro 1984 variation

these cards all slot into my "names/numbers on the back" collection. the pujols is a card i've had since 2002, but the gold card and the harper came from those same bargain boxes as the jeter. i picked up the nolan ryan card in a san jose card shop when i was there back in the spring. 

2020 topps chrome dee gordon sepia refractor

2024 topps holiday carlos correa

these two are obviously for my "double play" collection. i found the gordon in a bargain box at a show, but the correa was sent to me by rod at padrographs.

thanks rod!

bobby grich is in my hall of famer collection

with dave parker and dick allen being elected to the hall of fame by the classic era committee, there should be some room on the ballot when that committee reconvenes in three years. i would expect to see tommy john, luis tiant, ken boyer, and steve garvey on the ballot again, and i am hopeful that bobby grich is added to that list. i've added him to my hall of famer collection with this card as his entry:

that's a 2004 topps retired signature autograph. here's the back:

adding grich to this collection is not something that i considered until a year or so ago when looking at second baseman stats at baseball reference. i had been a fan of grich from my days of growing up in southern california, and i followed his career pretty closely until he called it quits after the 1986 postseason. i have a grich model rawlings glove, and have an affinity towards second basemen and those who wore number 4.

grich was a four-time gold glove winner and a six-time all-star whose lack of counting stats (only 1,800 hits and fewer than 3,000 times on base) is counteracted by his defensive prowess. and, defensive prowess as a deciding factor can't be overlooked when bill mazeroski is a hall of famer. if you trust war, grich has a higher overall war (bwar) than ryne sandberg, roberto alomar, or craig biggio, and his peak war is higher than alomar or biggio as well. among his peers, only joe morgan and rod carew (who moved to first base halfway through his career) are in the hall of fame, and they are no-doubters. by "traditional" means, grich seems like a stretch for the hall, but we are in a new world now.

i saw grich play in person a couple of times, including august 19, 1979 when he went 3 for 4 with a homer and three rbi against the blue jays. i also saw him at the big a once after his retirement. i assume he was working with the team in some capacity, but i didn't ask. we walked out of the stadium at the same time and i could tell he was in a hurry so i didn't say anything to him.

i recently added some of his final tribute cards to my collection - 1987 topps

and 1987 donruss

i'll keep my eye out for an extra 1987 fleer card as well.

i also bought an oddball single to add to my "master" 1978 topps set

that card comes from a sga on bobby grich night at the big a in 1987. cards from his career were printed on a sheet, hence the perforations. the back is a different color than regular '78s

otherwise, it's the same. as the card mentions, grich played shortstop for the halos in 1977 but moved back to second base in 1978 after they traded jerry remy to the red sox.

a hall of fame claim for grich is definitely a "big hall" opinion, and it would add a few more names to the "if he's in then so and so should be in" discussion, but i think he has a solid case. we will see if the era committee agrees in three years time.

the marshall matters post

i got an email from gio, the proprietor of when topps had (base)balls, about a month and a half ago about one of his custom sets that was for sale. this particular set focused primarily on final tributes that should have been, as well as some single-player rookie cards that could have been. the kicker was that gio created stat backs for these cards, and as i am always looking for a good final tribute card that topps missed, i ordered a set.

there were a couple of key cards for me in the set, and as usual, gio hooked me up with a couple extras for a small amount. first, here's a 1958 topps roy campanella card that should have been

gio chose to go ahead and show campy as a los angeles dodger to fit all of the other dodger cards in the set, but we know that he sadly did not get to suit up for the club in california. here's the back:

solid!

gil hodges was the other player that i was looking to get a dupe of for my final tribute collection. here's his 1964 topps card that should have been

and the back

hodges was actually included in the 1964 topps set, but as a manager for the senators. that would have been ok if topps had done what they did for joe torre in the 1978 set and put his playing stats on the back, but instead, they went with a standard manager narrative writeup. happy to have a playing days hodges final tribute finally!

knowing that i am a dodger fan, gio also sent an extra 1961 topps style don newcombe card

that covers his final season which was spent with two ohio teams. here's the back

newk was only with the indians for a short time, appearing in 20 games in 1960. as such, the hatless photo comes in handy.

here are the other cards in the set, in threes:

the 1957 musial is just a lost card, but the 1959 lemon card would be a final tribute and the 1960 williams card a rookie card that could have been.

here's stan the man's back:

it's an uer thanks to the birth year which made me do a double take!

continuing with the next three cards

which are rookie, rookie, and final tribute. for some reason i thought that freehan had a rookie parade card in 1962 but i guess he didn't show up until the 1963 topps set.

next up are three more rookies that could have been

of the three, only raines had a multiplayer rookie card. lyle and gibson went straight to solo cards in 1969 and 1981, respectively

last up are these three

minnie minoso's 1981 card covers his two short stints with the white sox that made him a five decade player. here's the back:

a nice touch by gio to note his position as pinch hitter.

seeing the mike marshall 1982 topps card there reminded me that he was absent from topps sets after 1977. here's the back of what would have been his final tribute card:

seeing the card also reminded me that marshall was in the 1982 fleer set for real, and that i should add that card to my final tribute collection.

and so, here it is

with complete career stats on the back, just like gio's card

although fleer did not include the 10 saves that marshall earned in 1967 in their stats. saves weren't an official stat until 1969 so i assume that is why.

i will note that 11 year old gcrl may not have immediately connected the dots between this mike marshall returning to cardboard for the first time in five years back when 1982 fleer packs were being opened and the record setting, cy young award winning mike marshall who pitched for the dodgers. once i looked at the back and saw the stats it made sense, but i didn't understand why he was not in any other sets. besides, there was another dodger mike marshall who showed up in 1982 fleer and had more of my attention.

another final tribute card that i added to my binder is gil hodges' 1972 topps card

i mentioned this card when i posted about dusty baker's 2024 topps heritage card which serves as his managerial final tribute, and so i went and pulled a dupe of hodges for the collection as well. here's the back

hodges sadly passed away just before the 1972 season began, making this card his last.

gio's set included a couple of bonuses - this missing 1951 topps joe dimaggio card

(it's a blue back), a 1973 topps mike schmidt solo rookie card 

that was gio's original prototype for printing

and an official wthb@lls membership card featuring mark fidrych

here's the back:

i have another membership card that features reggie jackson on the 1978 topps design - both are great.

finally, gio included a stan musial sticker

if you aren't already, be sure to get on gio's email list to know when these sets are being offered. they are fantastic. thanks gio!

gary sheffield is in my hall of famer collection

it will be about 22 hours after this post goes live that we will learn whether or not gary sheffield will be inducted to the national baseball hall of fame via the writer's association. regardless of what is announced, sheffield is now a member of my hall of famer collection, with this card as his entry:

that's a 2020 topps chrome black autograph card. here's the back:

and yes, i have another one of these in my dodger collection.

to me, sheffield is a dodger. he absolutely mashed during his time in los angeles (his .998 ops in those three and a half seasons is the best all-time for a dodger of any significant tenure) and helped me get over the loss of mike piazza. of course, just when i was ready to consider him as a favorite, he decided he wanted out and so the dodgers traded him to the braves.

that's kind of the story with sheffield - he played in a lot of different places. starting in milwaukee, he was traded to the padres, who eventually traded him to the marlins. from there he was traded to the dodgers and then the braves before signing as a free agent with the yankees who eventually traded him to the tigers. the tigers released him after two seasons, and he signed with the mets to finish out his career.

i did get to see sheffield play in person a few times, including on june 16, 1998 when the dodgers were playing in san diego. he went 3 for 5 that day with a home run and 3 rbi. his home run came off of former (and future) teammate kevin brown in the top of the first. he also homered the next time i saw him - august 28, 1998 against the mets in mike piazza's return to dodger stadium. that was a three-run shot, also in the first inning. piazza also homered in that game, by the way.

i saw him twice in saint louis in 1999 (he was 4 for 9 with two doubles and 3 rbi in those games), and then saw him back in los angeles on opening day (april 2) 2001. he was actually standing at the left field entrance to dodger stadium handing out the rally towel giveaways at one point. i doubled back after my dad mentioned it to me, and i am pretty sure sheffield isn't 5'11" like it says on the back of his cards. he was definitely imposing, however. he hit a solo homer that day.

the last time i saw him play in person was on june 10, 2002. sheffield was a brave at that time, and they were playing in the metrodome. the game went 15 innings and my friend and i stayed for the duration. sheffield played the whole game, too, going 1 for 5 with two walks.

sheffield hit a total of 509 home runs (good for 24th all-time at the time of his retirement as we will see in a moment) and drove in 1,676 runs. he also stole over 250 bases and walked 1,475 times. these are all top-30 numbers in the history of the game, and i think they make sheffield a hall of famer. if he is not elected, it will be because of performing enhancing drug suspicions (he has admitted to using "the cream" at one point). i don't think that should keep him out, just like i don't think known user of "the cream" and "the clear" barry bonds should be kept out.

i also pulled some of his 2010 cards to add to my final tribute collection, including his topps base

and heritage releases

both have his full career stats

on the backs

there's the note that he retired 24th all-time in home runs (he's now 27th) and 25th in rbi (now 30th). that's hall of fame material to me.

as a reminder, you can see sheffield and the other members of my hall of famer collection here!

something about old acquaintances

we are about to enter 2024 and i suppose that means some people somewhere will be singing "auld lang syne". to quote sally albright, "it's about old friends". one old friend that returned to the fold in 2023 was kiké hernandez. he showed up as a dodger in the 2023 topps holiday set and again in 2023 topps heritage high numbers. his card is the lone dodger short print, but i picked it up for not much more than the cost of a regular base card:

the fact that hernandez played for the dodgers just a couple of years ago means that topps has a number of photos already on hand, so his inclusion in these sets is not surprising to me. in fact, topps used that same photo on a previous hernandez card, although they photoshopped him in to a red sox uniform.

they actually did a decent job, too. still, it's good to see the original photo on cardboard.

conversely, even though he too is a dodger double dipper, miguel rojas was a dodger a long time ago and there is no cardboard evidence of his first tenure in dodger blue. he did get a very nice card in high numbers, and is joined below by a very bad photoshop job on gus varland's card, plus the long awaited clayton kershaw 2024 heritage card

the varland card is interesting to me. i mean, topps obviously knew that varland was a dodger, but they didn't know what number he was wearing? he returned to the franchise in may but didn't make his dodger debut until august, so i suppose it is possible that topps created the card in between those dates and took a guess. still, he didn't wear 99 for the brewers earlier in 2023 so i am not sure where that came from

and yes, i said varland "returned" to the dodgers because he was in their system prior to being claimed by the brewers. however, he never pitched at the big league level for the dodgers prior to this season so i don't consider him a double dipper. 

finally, i thought maybe we would get an homage to claude osteen's flamingo pose with kershaw's card, but instead we get a photo that should have been used on a portrait card. 

there are two more landscape cards in the dodger team set - bobby miller and michael busch

of the five shown, the rojas card is the best in my opinion. not sure why topps refuses to show full feet on these cards. i wouldn't mind having doubles of the rojas and miller cards for the dodger stadium collection, too.

topps used similar photos for miguel vargas and j.d. martinez

and these cards are giving me some yin and yang vibes. one features a rookie, at night, in the home whites. the other features a seasoned veteran, in a day game, in the road grays. i am just thankful that none of these cards feature the fake backgrounds we have seen in heritage for the last few years.

the last dodger base card in high numbers is lance lynn

with lynn signing with the cardinals so early in the postseason, i didn't think we would get a dodger card of him, but here we are. he's already an old acquaintance but i was glad to see him included by topps.

not a dodger but another old acquaintance of sorts, stephen strasburg did not pitch in the major leagues in 2023. in fact, he's only appeared in eight games since he helped the nationals win the 2019 world series. despite his efforts, it appeared that his career was over when, late in the 2023 season, the nationals announced that they would hold a retirement news conference for their former ace (including news of a number retirement in 2024). but then, they cancelled and announced that they expected him to serve out his contract.

after all this transpired, it was a surprise to me to see strasburg included in 2023 topps update.

the back of the card tells the story of his career

i think it is likely that this card will be a true final tribute, as it seems he will not make it back to a major league mound in the future. i don't know enough about the contract terms to speculate on the reasons behind the nationals' reversal but it sure wouldn't surprise me if it were somehow financially motivated as it has been reported that there was no insurance policy taken out on his contract.

if strasburg's career is over, he will have unfortunately failed to live up to the ridiculous hype that surrounded his entry in to professional baseball while still compiling one of the best k/9 ratios in history. he had nearly 1,700 strikeouts through his age 30 season and was certainly on pace to pile up a lot more. i wonder what happened to the guy who spent way too much money on his bowman superfractor auto or whatever it was back in 2009 or 2010. it made national news as i recall. maybe that guy has similarly invested in jasson dominguez.

in other news, we are now 80 days away from the dodgers' season opener which will be held in south korea on march 20. here's a 2023 topps now card of emmet sheehan 

to accentuate the 80 day milestone until we have regular season baseball again. it's kind of dumb, though, as spring training will continue for the dodgers and padres after they return from their two game set in south korea. still, it's the 2024 season and it is only 80 days away!