last word on the pete rose memorial patch

i've been keeping an eye out for memorial patches on late year 2025 and 2026 card releases since there were a number of teams that wore patches during the 2025 campaign. i've already shared the card that represents the dodgers' fernando valenzuela patch in my collection, and this post will do the same for the reds' pete rose patch.

perhaps if my 2026 topps heritage hunter greene black border parallel hadn't been damaged (still waiting on a replacement card from topps) it would have been the one to represent the black circular patch with rose's number 14 in white, but instead, i am using elly de la cruz' 2025 topps allen & ginter card

topps photoshopped out the kroger patch that the reds wore below rose's tribute, which is odd to me since they haven't done that on any flagship cards that i've seen.

rose passed away in september of 2024, and i wrote some thoughts here. i was glad to see the reds recognize his passing with a patch, which seemed like a no-brainer but you never know when it comes to charlie hustle.

i remain unsetisfied - 1978 topps signed edition

i have a saved search for 1978 topps signed cards. i have no intention of completing the set in autographed fashion, but there are a few cards that i wouldn't mind adding to my effort, and after the national last year where i failed to fully peruse one vendor's wares, i felt the itch to add to this collection.

over the course of the last few months, i've added 36 cards to the collection. this put me over the two-thirds mark for the set, as i now have 501 unique cards signed out of 726, and 547 total cards signed. anyway, here are the new cards to share:

ron guidry

i had tried to get guidry via ttm a couple of times with no success, so i went the third party route. once i added this card, i decided i wanted to get to 66.7% which meant at least 18 more cards to track down.

the next card i added was ken brett's

brett passed away in 2003 and i was surprised to see this card for a pretty low price. his '78 topps card was well known in my neighborhood because of the back

he was good for a dinger when we played the game using card backs.

rick rhoden

i have a rhoden ttm signed card as part of my dodger collection, but i didn't have a second one for the (semi) set build. the only other dodgers i need a second signed card of are johnny oates and ted martinez.

i'd like to get as many of the manager cards in the set as i can, so i added a few more in this endeavor. here's bobby cox

i guess that could be his signature. it's a leap of faith with many of these, and i was sure to not spend too much on this one in particular.

bob lemon

i am pretty confident about this one, which was one of the cards i most wanted to add.

gene mauch

danny ozark

earl weaver

i think the only managers i still need are vern rapp and darrell johnson. nope. i just checked and i also need herman franks, sparky anderson, chuck tanner, and billy martin.

mike flanagan

mark fidrych

two guys gone too soon

for some reason, the tigers featured a lot of players i either didn't try or don't sign ttm. so, here's chuck scrivener

and fernando arroyo

brian downing

doesn't sign at all these days from what i can tell. i have his certified auto from 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams, but was glad to add this card.

amos otis

as with guidry up top, i had tried to get otis ttm but was unsuccessful. one of my favorite lines from ted lasso was "way to notice, amos otis".

jamie quirk

and jim slaton

represent the brew crew

with this bombo rivera card

i am just three cards away from having the full twins team set signed.

marty perez

is good to have, but the a's i really wanted were mitchell page

and manny sanguillen

i would be absolutely giddy if i were able to find a willie crawford signed 1978 topps card.

right after sandy alomar sr passed away, i picked up his signed card, along with three of his teammates

tom paciorek

the former dodger signed a 1974 topps card for me in a private signing, but i didn't send his '78 card, prioritizing a dodger card over this effort.

bill plummer

from what i can tell, plummer signed all of his 1978 cards the same way in the same place

pepe frias

love the shiny jacket that the then-future dodger was sporting

stan bahnsen

the former rookie of the year reminded me and my friends of lenny from laverne & shirley

bob davis

like plummer, all of the bob davis signed cards i've seen make use of his bat

pat scanlon

came from a seller who also sold me a dave freisleben signed 1978 topps card, except he sent a 1976 card

by mistake. i was refunded so no harm no foul

freddie patek

was one i really wanted for the set, and he doesn't sign. i also added the stolen bases league leader card

but have no path i am aware of to have frank taveras sign it. i did find taveras' individual card

which features one of the more eclectic photos in the set. colors and stripes and netting, oh my!

tony perez

and fergie jenkins

were high on my list of players to add. i have a 1978 topps perez buyback auto from one of the archives releases, but am happy to have this loose version in my set.

finally, one of the cards i really wanted to add the most was that of bobby bonds

i settled for this one that is made out "to bill". there were a couple of authenticated bonds cards i came across, but the prices were high and the autos maybe not as bold. i have a couple of things signed by bonds, and the auto looked good to me with a reasonable price. besides, i figure if it's a fake, it wouldn't have the endorsement.

i wish that young gcrl had taken some 1978 topps cards to the hot stove events i attended as a kid instead of a ball that has now almost completely faded or an autograph book that is not as fun to flip through as a binder of cards.

i haven't added any new cards to this collection for a bit, but i am sure i will eventually get that itch again. stay tuned!

more days of archives

here's another late to market post, sharing my second wind roundup of cards i've added from 2025 topps archives to advance my dodger collection, mostly. 

to finish up the 1964 dodger cards, i added dalton rushing

and chan ho park

both are spring training shots typical of the eras in which these players played. 

i have most of the 1996 cards added as well - here's teoscar hernandez

clayton kershaw

and will smith

all at dodger stadium. not sure if i mentioned it before, but it annoys me slightly that the inset "phantom zone" (as i call it) photo is not skewed the way it was on the original '96 cards.

here's more of the dodger team set using the 2005 design - hyeseong kim, river ryan, mookie betts

and yoshinobu yamamoto

i like the betts card very much because of the world champion gold-lettered jersey he is wearing. i appreciate topps creating a few cards featuring dodgers in these duds in 2025 and i hope they make some in 2026 and beyond! here's the back of yamamoto's card

i found it interesting that they went with a straight "3" for his era below the photo of him on the back. era is always shown to two decimal places except here when the tenth and hundredth places are zeroes.

one of the other 2005 design cards belongs to orel hershiser

his card back is even more interesting

because i really don't know what's going on with the stat that shows up under his photo. i think it is supposed to be 204 to match his wins total (and the "w" above the .304). they just forgot to edit the number from a batting average and change the first digit. that's the best i can do in trying to figure it out.

those cards above all came from sportlots. i was able to find two of the three dodgers i was still missing at the february card show in those dig boxes i posted about previously. jackie robinson and sandy koufax

don't look too bad on these modern card designs.

i like the black foil parallels again this year, and picked up sandy's from an online seller

just like i did to obtain kershaw's 2007 all-star design insert

the other archives card i tracked down this year was barry larkin's

and that's because he is shown (finally) on the 2005 design, making this a final tribute. here are his complete career stats as they should have been presented 20 years ago

i don't have larkin in my hall of famer collection, but my final tribute collection is less restrictive.

all of this left me one card short of the dodger team set, and i should have that last card in hand soon. not that it's a big deal card (it's not) but it does provide fodder for a separate post. stay tuned!