smooth sailing out of los angeles

as a team collector, i don't typically avoid dodger cards in bargain bins unless i am certain that i already own them. i do pause, however, when i find parallels of guys like dennis santana, which was the case at a show last year. i wound up bringing home these 2019 panini donruss optic and 2019 topps parallels

but i would have preferred them to be of a current dodger. 

santana seems to have found his groove in pittsburgh which makes me happy. the dodgers in recent years have been quick to jettison young talent that they have developed in exchange for other teams' talent. in santana's case, they dealt him to the rangers for a minor league pitcher who toiled in the dodgers' minor league system through last season, and is now a free agent. i get that they are dealing from a surplus, but i still appreciate the older dodger way that allows me to collect and cheer for "homegrown" players for an extended period of time, as with clayton kershaw or will smith.

other dodgers whose departures i understood but to some degree regretted include joc pederson 

that's a 2016 topps update 500 home run futures club insert. spoiler alert - joc won't get close to 500 homers, but he hit some big ones for the dodgers and i am glad he is no longer in the national league west so i can root for him a little more.

cody bellinger, seen here on a 2022 panini prizm illumination insert

and a 2022 topps 1987 insert black parallel

was another one that was tough to see move on in free agency even though his performance with the dodgers in his last years had not warranted a big contract. i hope he has a nice season for the yankees but is at home in october. i do think the game is more fun when the yankees are good, but i really want the blue jays to get another crack at a title.

i was ready to be a ryan pepiot fan, but adding a proven starter in tyler glasnow was a deal too good for the dodgers to pass up. pepiot's 2022 topps chrome update purple refractor

was the last one i needed for that dodger team set of parallels.

just a couple of weeks ago, it was announced by the rays that pepiot was headed to the il and replaced on the 40 man roster by michael grove, seen here on a 2023 topps chrome sepia parallel

grove is also injured at the moment. i was ready to be a fan of his as well, but now all i will have are random cards to find at shows.

another example of a short time dodger that had a lot of cards available for me to collect is miguel vargas. this is his 2024 topps yellow parallel

and i am sure i will be finding vargas dodger cards in bargain boxes for years to come. will i buy them? time will tell. adding tommy edman and michael kopech in the trade that sent vargas to the white sox was a great move by the dodger front office, so i hope that vargas finds his way in chicago and lives up to a bit of the hype that surrounded him in his earliest dodger days to pay back that championship level deal that is currently a bust for the sox.

gavin stone, seen here on his 2023 topps chrome update refractor

and landon knack, shown on his 2025 topps gold parallel

are still dodgers as of now. they are both on the injured list, and who knows what will happen once they are healthy. there's not a lot of room on the pitching staff at the moment, so it's possible that these two become trade bait once they prove themselves healthy. i hope not, especially knack who i like, but i get it if it is the case.

and then there are guys like dalton rushing. 

his 2025 panini donruss card is one of many that i already have of him, and who knows how long he will be a dodger? blocked by his fellow university of louisville alum will smith, who is signed to a long-term deal, and too good to be in triple-a, he's not getting a lot of playing time. so far this year he is playing very well when he does play, but is it just enough to entice another team to make an offer that fills a different dodger need later in the season?

we will have to wait and find out who will join the likes of santana in the former dodger makes good elsewhere camp, and then subsequently haunts the bargain boxes and collections of team collectors like me.

that's the holiday spirit!

we are currently six months out from christmas, and i am finally getting around to posting some cards that came my way shortly after santa wrapped up his 2024 tour and baby new year ushered in 2025. this is an oversized shohei ohtani ornament

from 2024 topps holiday, and this is a yoshinobu yamamoto christmas light necklace short print variation

from the same set.

the yamamoto came from brian at highly subjective and completely arbitrary at the january club show. he handed over some other yamamoto rookies, including a 2024 topps update duo of foil parallels

plus a "let him cook" insert

which is actually a blue parallel of the insert. i am not familiar with the turn of phrase, but i can guess as to what it means. i also didn't know what "drip" was until big league included some inserts a few years ago. i am old and not hip to these terms.

here's a gold foil parallel of landon knack

and a purple holo foil kyle hurt parallel

which are also from topps update last year.

i was happy to see this 2024 topps rip night mookie betts card

in the stack as i didn't have any of these and really didn't know of any local rip nights. not that i would have participated, but i do like to get oddballs like these. 

to top things off, brian exorcised some of my 2024 topps stadium club demons by giving me six pink parallels!

some big names there, too.

a week or so later, i was inspired by brian's luck to try my hand again at a hanger pack of stadium club, now located on an endcap in the toy section of my target. finally, i found a dodger pack with three needed pink foils!

yay for my collection.

as for the ohtani up top, that was sent by madding of cards on cards around the same time as i was meeting brian at the card show. kerry also sent some 2024 topps archives needs

they were needs and new back then, but old hat now.

here's a 2021 panini contenders zack mckinstry rookie of the year contenders insert

and a 2023 topps chrome platinum anniversary bobby miller refractor

that were needs as well.

i generally steer away from buying bowman product, and i didn't buy any in 2023, so this mairoshendrick martinus green pattern border parallel

was new to me. hailing from curacao, martinus is currently playing third base for the dodgers in a-ball. i suppose his name may bring to mind key & peele college football bits, but in baseball players don't introduce themselves that way.

to bring this post full circle, i ran into brian at the june club show last weekend. rather, he found me at what has become my traditional first stop, the bargain boxes set out by one of the regular sellers at these shows. this time, we had the presence of mind to document the meetup with a photo of our wallet cards

that's twins world champion junior ortiz for brian, and one-time twins draft pick steve garvey for me (he didn't sign). brian told me that he's been running an instagram account in lieu of blogging - check out tradingcardoftheday on insta if you are so inclined - and that his dodger luck in opening packs is still strong. to prove his point, he handed over more cards, including a host of 2025 topps dodger parallels.

austin barnes rainbow foil

will smith confetti

chris taylor holofoil

yoshinobu yamamoto fanatics topps logo foil

teoscar hernandez diamante foil

james outman holiday (sun)

not to mention a freddie freeman ops leaders insert

and a clayton kershaw 1990 35th anniversary insert

that is some good dodger luck, indeed.

brian also gave me a 1997 leaf todd hollandsworth banner seasons insert

a 2023 topps trea turner major league material relic card

a 2024 topps brusdar graterol blue holofoil parallel

and my first look at 2024 topps japan edition with a freddie freeman base

and a yoshinobu yamamoto strikezone heroes insert

brian even hit my tatooine minicollection with a 2019 bowman draft conner capel

and a brand spanking new 2025 topps barry larkin 1990 35th anniversary insert

i gave brian a small team bag of twins that i had been stockpiling and we went about our card show business. i stayed at those bargain boxes for a while but ran into brian again near the exit. i gave him a couple of cards i had found in a dime box and pulled for him, and he handed over another card that he found for me at the show (a 2004 topps brady clark gold parallel)

and then mentioned that he had an oversized card that he had forgotten to give me earlier - it was a 2024 topps holiday mookie betts ornament!

i love it when a post comes together!

thanks brian and kerry! and, only about 182 shopping days until christmas!

my topps series 2 hobby box was good to me

my hobby box of 2025  topps series 2 that i ordered directly from topps showed up on thursday, the day after the official release date. that was quicker than i expected, but i waited until friday afternoon to open it up. being a dodger fan, the box was good. nothing really exciting, but good.

shohei ohtani is the cover guy for series 2 - here's a wrapper

i don't know how people attack boxes, but i open packs by the stack. this time, i started with the lower right hand stack. 

pack 1

josh smith, esteury ruiz, st. louis cardinals

the most prominent person on the cardinals' card is an umpire.

jd martinez, andy pages, jarren duran

first dodger just five cards into the box!

austin martin, jon singleton, victor robles

i will give you a closer look at singleton's card in a bit. robles with a bubble during a swing is not something you see a lot of.

billy cook, clayton kershaw and sandy koufax dynamic duos, milwaukee brewers

first pack comes through with a decent dodger insert! here's a closer look:

nowhere on the card, front or back, does it say "dynamic duos". the card number has a "dd" prefix though.

pack 2:

james outman, ezequiel duran, darren baker

another pack, another dodger. plus the son of dusty!

jose soriano, nathan lukes, cubs 3 and no-no checklist

soriano looks like he's straight out of 1979 with the classic california angels' uni.

sean murphy, reynaldo lopez, frankie montas

juan yepez, jon singleton blue rainbow foil #44/150, grayson rodriguez

two packs, two jon singleton cards. here's that closer look i promised

new for series 2 are a number of colored rainbow foil parallels. this is the blue one, and i much prefer it to the holofoil parallels that have all that noise. as for singleton's card in particular, his bat is almost hidden as it breaks the border in a pretty spectacular way.

from here on out, i will list the cards, but only show a select few.

pack 3:

michael massey

paul goldschmidt

and so the photoshopping begins. i expected to see goldy (and many other players in series 2) with their new teams in update, but that is not the case.

thomas saggese

shota imanaga

ryan weathers

stone garrett

minnesota twins

a different viewpoint here, with the photographer on the line in front of the player headed for home. i really like these twins uniforms!

pittsburgh pirates

jonathan cannon

nestor cortes

the last pitch he threw as a yankee was hit by freddie freeman into the right field pavilion at dodger stadium.

alec bohm 1990 35th anniversary

simeon woods-richardson

pack 4:

jake meyers

another cropping fail by topps, in my opinion. show the entirety of his glove!

cal raleigh

2025 home run machine! 

michael mercado

eduardo rodriguez

joey estes

edward cabrera

yariel rodriguez

chicago white sox

kevin alcantara 

this won't be last you see of kevin (not sandy) alcantara

david fry

landon knack

making good dodger team set progress!

shane mclanahan

pack 5:

jack flaherty

no photoshopping the world champion here; this is a pre-trade deadline shot of flaherty from last season.

josh lowe

roki sasaki

what in the wide world of sports is going on here?! i am thankful to have pulled sasaki's rookie from a pack, but i really wish topps would have waited until update or worked harder to get a real photo of him for the base set. his golden mirror card uses a photo from his initial workout at dodger stadium, so they could have made it happen instead of giving us this photoshopped monstrosity. seriously, it reminds me of the worst of topps' airbrushing in the past. like 1984 topps traded ron reed bad.

that card is so bad, i don't even have it in my "name/number on the back" collection. instead, it's in my sportlots inventory. 

darell hernaiz

bobby miller

that's a nice way to cleanse the palette. noticing miller's cleats and glove reminds me to wish everyone a happy father's day, by the way.

max scherzer

another one that should have waited for update.

zach brzykcy

instead of commenting on the name, i will note that this photo is a breath of fresh air among the majority of the pitcher cards. there are a lot of cards like scherzer's and a lot of screaming pitchers, but not many with a photo like this one.

heider montero

nolan jones 

michael conforto gold parallel #1341/2025

this box likes me.

gerrit cole summer superstars

a summer themed card using a photo of cole from game 5 of the world series. maybe even the fifth inning?

teoscar hernandez and bobby witt jr mutual admiration club checklist

i believe there are three dodger checklist cards in series 2.

now moving to the upper right corner of the box.

pack 6:

taijuan walker

brady basso

elias diaz

eguy rosario

yosver zulueta

zach mckinstry

jordan hicks

nick castellanos

gustavo campero

pavin smith

kevin alcantara 1990 35th anniversary

there's alcantara again!

gordon graceffo

pack 7:

daniel schneemann

javier baez

casey schmitt

ben casparius

hand over heart

luis peralta

christian javier

fist over heart.  now, there are only so many poses that are displayed on the field, but it seemed to me that there were a few packs where similarly posed (i know it's not really a pose) players were featured closely in the same pack. 

blake snell

10th dodger of the box!

isaac collins

joey bart

jack neely

matthew boyd 

ryan mcmahon

pack 8:

kutter crawford

that's the most chest hair we've seen on a card since 1984 fleer.

jose iglesias

zack gelof

matt mclain

gleyber torres

kumar rocker

jorge mateo

there's another example. two guys doing a josh harrison impersonation in the same pack.

trea turner

grant holman

brayan bello

rafael devers summer superstars

isiah kiner-falefa

pack 9:

tyler o'neill

this is a fantastic card. i love it. the green monster has been assaulted since the last time (or is it never?) the panels were replaced. and we can see (almost) all of o'neill's glove!

byron buxton

another fantastic card for buck. he's still my favorite non-dodger, and i really like this card!

heston kjerstad

detroit tigers c'mere you! checklist

willie adames

aaron nola

toronto blue jays

the city connect uniforms are showing up on cards way too often. the true photo version of this card would have me scratching my head for a bit.

max fried

another card that would have been better served by a real photo.

kevin alcantara 1990 relic card

so here's my guaranteed hit. it's a kevin alcantara hot box!

player worn relic, witnessed by topps. all the hallmarks of a dressing room session featuring who knows how many jerseys.

julian aguilar

only 10 cards (instead of 12) in that pack thanks to the hit.

pack 10:

spencer strider

brandon woodruff

jose tena

new york mets

nick fortes 

bo bichette

harrison bader

jared jones

mookie betts and freddie freeman two in blue checklist

that's the second dodger checklist of the box.

jonathan cannon purple rainbow foil #150/250

and the second colored rainbow foil parallel.

jackie robinson 1990 all-star 35th anniversary

the box keeps on giving!

wenceel perez

on to the lower left of the box.

pack 11:

miguel andujar

gavin lux

i am thankful for lux's last at bat as a dodger.

taylor walls

steward berroa

tyler anderson

michael wacha

victor scott ii

spencer evens

bryan reynolds

jairo iriarte

ben joyce

kenley jansen

this photoshop job is not as bad as the others i've seen in this box so far.

12

adam duvall

gary sanchez

jacob young

san francisco giants

wyatt langford

alex bregman 

this photoshop job isn't bad, either.

jorge polanco

kyle isbel

brendan donovan

troy taylor

mark mcgwire 1990 all-star 35th anniversary

i was surprised to find a card of big mac. i wonder if pete rose cards are in our future now that he is off the ineligible list.

ronny mauricio

pack 13:

felix bautista

pablo lopez

i do not care for the twins' official city connect uniforms.

endy rodriguez

elly de la cruz and cj abrams think fast! checklist

seth johnson

javier assad

the cubs' city connect uniforms strike me as a local town ball team's with the "wrigleyville" text

oswaldo cabrera

noelvi marte

alek thomas

austin barnes

former dodger, but two-time world champion!

luis peralta rainbow foil

parker meadows

pack 14:

nick madrigal

sean manaea

here's one of those screaming pitchers. good view of the bud harrelson and jerry grote memorial patches.

sal frelick

alexis diaz

edmundo sosa

hayden birdsong

steven kwan

jonathan aranda

tomoyuki sugano

lenyn sosa

jackson merrill ops leaders insert

jake fraley

i am going to show the next pack in its entirety because it reminded me of opening flagship packs back in 1978. no inserts. no big names. just a bunch of guys.

pack 15:

jeimer candelario

austin gomber

will wagner

bo naylor, jt realmuto, bryce teodosio

brendan rodgers, randy vasquez, luke weaver

jackson jobe, austin hedges, hunter brown

two guardian catchers in the same pack. i don't think i pulled johnny oates and steve yeager from the same pack back in 1978 or 1979. 

on to the final stack!

pack 16:

blaze alexander

mookie betts

more dodger goodness!

yandy diaz

not sure how the rays' city connect jerseys connect to the city of tampa.

hyeseong kim

another guy i expected to wait until update.

kansas city royals

kyle mccann

eury perez

marcus semien

garrett crochet

juan soto

luisangel acuna

tyler fitzgerald

so pack 16 is the antithesis to pack 15. a bunch of good looking cards, including two of the biggest names in the game and a couple of rookies that i am at least aware of.

here's the back of soto's card

my only complaint continues to be the lack of set recognition on inserts. it's ok to admit that upper deck did it right!

pack 17:

randal grichuk

salvador perez

jordan walker

sean burke

zac gallen

mj melendez

nolan gorman

when i first saw this card, i assumed it was a variation, because the photo comes from the rickwood field game. however, it's just gorman's base card.

kirby yates

i figured that yates wouldn't get a card as a dodger until update, if then. i was wrong.

brandon eisert

christian walker

francisco lindor and juan soto dynamic duos

javier sanoja

pack 18:

mike burrows

anthony santander

santander was an oriole when this photo was taken at dodger stadium.

garrett mitchell

max muncy

last dodger of the box.

michael helman

dominic fletcher

carlos rodon

walter pennington

mason miller

jon singleton

jackson jobe 1990 35th anniversary

it shouldn't be a surprise given his last name, but jobe will be undergoing tommy john surgery.

robert suarez

there were some doubles there in that pack, unfortunately.

pack 19:

stuart fairchild

minnesota twins hi mom! checklist

it's father's day weekend, but this is a decent card.

miguel amaya

kodai senga

wilyer abreu

tobias myers 

shane bieber

lucas erceg

valente bellozo

more screaming pitchers.

victor robles

billy cook

reynaldo lopez

jaden hill

and a few more doubles, too.

pack 20:

caden dana

alex cobb

johan rojas

jt ginn

jason foley

frankie montas

juan yepez

pittsburgh pirates

yordan alvarez summer superstars

adley rutschman

that last pack confused me. there were only 10 cards, including a few doubles, but no relic or anything else. topps owes me two cards, i guess.

i am not sure how much more of series 2 i will buy. i've already ordered the few dodgers i am missing from the team set plus a couple of additional 1990 design inserts. i don't miss finding the stars of mlb in every pack so i will probably avoid retail packages. never say never though.

the box was topped with the anticipated silver pack. here's what was inside:

david ortiz

ezequiel tovar

jose ramirez

william contreras

my dodger luck had run out!

there was also a promo for toppsripped

that featured 2025 card images

i spy the dancing dodgers mookie betts variation there. you know, he's not dancing he is doing an oblique crunch. the dancing is both arms over your head like freddie freeman at the usher concert. anyway, the series 1 promo for toppsripped featured 2024 card images, so i am glad topps made an update.

speaking of update, i guess we should prepare ourselves for a host of rookie debut cards and other nonsense.