a moment for ryne sandberg

i have mentioned previously (here, here, and here are good examples) my fandom and affection for ryne sandberg, but i couldn't let his passing go without doing so again.

in 1984 i caught cubs fever. sandberg's coming out party that year, along with the fact that he was a second baseman (a position i was transitioning too at the time) made him an easy choice for me to follow. of course, ron cey was in chicago at the time, and davey lopes joined the cubs later in the season, but ryno was the one that i focused on.

i had a nice pc of his cards going from that point on through 2002, with his 1983 topps rookie card

being the anchor.

i have a couple of dozen ryno cards in my double play collection, including one of my all-time favorite dp cards - his 1994 topps card

which was one of the first cards i scanned when i started my first blog (you can tell by the blue background). i later had this card signed through the mail, which was shown in one of the linked posts above.

sandberg exists in my steve garvey collection, too, thanks to this 2004 donruss leather & lumber rivals insert

that reunites the clubs from the 1984 nlcs. sandberg was more of a "rival" of tony gwynn, but i am not going to complain about having a garvey/sandberg card to collect!

i had read recently that sandberg's cancer had returned or spread, but nothing in the news i read would have indicated that his death was imminent. i am really feeling for his family, friends, teammates and fans.

one of my favorite final tribute cards of his is this 1998 pacific invincible card

one last tip of the cap for the hall of famer. rest in peace, ryno.

nefarious needs, some dirt cheap

after noting that the longtime most wanted card from my "nefarious nine" list was off the board (not because i had acquired it, but rather because i doubt its existence), i figured i should post some of the most recent acquisitions i have made based on cards that have been on that list at one time or another.

i'll show two "nefarious nine" worth's of dodger cards in roughly the order that i added them. unfortunately, i no longer have a record of where they sat on the list at the time of their entry into my collection. i don't have pricing handy either, although there were only a few that would have been more than a couple of bucks.

1. 1984 renata galasso baseball collector series sandy koufax

this is a pretty nondescript oddball, but i added it to the list after picking up the jackie robinson card from the same set and decided that i should go ahead and complete the two card dodger team set.

2. 2011 topps gypsy queen jon garland sp

garland seems like an odd choice for topps to short print, but they did with this gq card that completed my team set. garland rejoined the dodgers for the 2011 season (double dipper post here) but topps apparently chose to photoshop an image of garland pitching for the padres (note the lack of a red jersey number) rather than use a photo of him from 2009 in dodger duds.

3. 1998 topps chrome adrian beltre

not beltre's most sought after chrome rookie card, but this one helped me complete my dodger team set of '98 chrome. i had added this shortly after i picked up his 1997 bowman chrome rookie, which is the one most collectors covet.

4. 2003 topps heritage duke snider/alex rodriguez then and now

for a long time i resisted putting inserts on the most wanted list, but i have a thing for heritage then and now cards, and this one was the only one i was missing that featured a dodger in the "then" spot. i'm hopeful that we start to see some dodgers from the team of my youth in the "then" spot in the next couple of years, meaning i hope topps uses hits and stolen bases as statistical categories for these cards.

5. 2004 topps retired signature duke snider

another team set completer after i mistakenly ignored it thinking that duke was featured as a met as he had been in the 2003 set.

6. 2015 topps opening day yasiel puig opening day stars

this one eluded me for some reason. it's not as tough to find as these cards from 2014 opening day, but puig was pretty hot back then so maybe that's why.

7. 2014 topps update zack greinke red hot foil

i wanted to complete the 2014 red hot foil dodger parallel team set, and greinke was the last one i needed to do so. i see he is throwing in arizona, and i hope he signs with someone to get to 3,000 strikeouts sometime this year.

8. 1994 panini album stickers mike piazza

needed to complete the team set

9. 1998 topps tek gary sheffield

i just wanted one of sheffield's card to complete the team set. i have one of each of the four dodgers - i don't care about the background design - and i consider the team set complete.

10. 2005 upper deck flyball giovanni carrara

i thought this one would be on the list for a long time, but it really wasn't. it completed the team set, and someone actually listed it on ebay for a buck or so. i figured it would wind up being a comc find but that's part of the fun of collecting - you don't know where the card you are looking for will pop up.

11. 2010 topps 206 matt kemp sp

this is the kemp card that has a different photo and different back

than his base card, but is not considered a variation because there is no card number. it completed the team set.

12. 2017 topps chrome joc pederson green refractor

i went for a refractor rainbow of joc's 2017 topps chrome card, and this is the last card i picked up to that end.

13. 2001 upper deck decade 1970s manny mota game used bat

i had finally completed the dodger team set as far as bat cards from the 2001 upper deck vintage set was concerned, so figured i would do the same for this set. with the manny, i now only need maury wills' card to finish the four card dodger set (steve garvey and bill russell are the others included).

14. 1990 baseball wit manny mota

i already had a mota card from this set, but i needed the one that was numbered on the back

to complete the team set in that regard. to this day, the first mota i owned is the only dodger card i have that is the unnumbered version.

15. 2010 upper deck manny ramirez pure heat

it's been long enough that i miss upper deck baseball products. this was from their final release, and their lack of care regarding logos (even though it's barely visible) means it outshines panini product with ease.

16. 2023 topps mookie betts stars of mlb chrome

i needed mookie to complete the dodger team set of chrome parallels of the overproduced insert

17. 1989 pacific baseball legends joe black

another card for team set completion.

18. 1994 topps gold roger mcdowell

this card completed my dodger team set of the 1994 gold parallels, and is the most recent card to be struck from the nefarious nine.

and now, just like the list itself, here are some bonus non-dodger cards. these all fit into a mini-collection or player collection, just like the nine bonus non-dodger cards that currently sit on the list.

1. 1998 upper deck fernando valenzuela national pride

i actually owned this card at one time but sold or traded it before i decided to collect fernando's post-dodger cards as part of a pc.

2. 1993 pinnacle delino deshields/carlos baerga team pinnacle 

deshields is on the front of the card, but it's the baerga side that i wanted for the double play collection. bonus glimpse of gene autry's retired number on the outfield wall at the big a!

3. 2020 topps allen & ginter 9 ways to first fielder's choice

another dp turn, assumedly unsuccessful as the point of the card is that the batter reached first base on the play.

4. 2016 topps (and topps chrome) byron buxton perspectives

and 

5. 2016 topps andrew mccutchen perspectives

technically, i only had the flagship cards of buck and cutch on the list, but picked up the chrome buxton at the same time. these are for my name/number on the back mini collection.

6. 2001 fleer platinum travis lee

it may be blurry, but that's dodger stadium's outfield wall behind lee, so this was wanted for that mini-collection.

7. 2004 donruss alex rodriguez

same for this arod card. don newcombe's mural is on the wall behind rodriguez, who may well be turning two here.

8. 2004 fleer ultra preston wilson

mookie's kid is also in dodger stadium, with steve garvey's mural in the background! this is one of two cards that will forever be on the most wanted list - the other is kent bottenfield's 2001 fleer triple crown card - because of garvey's appearance in the background. i've considered doing the same with thurman munson's 2023 topps stadium club card, but haven't pulled the trigger on that yet.

i currently have 10 bottenfields and the same number of wilsons, but only scanned five, along with one of the gold medallion parallels

i would love to add more!

9. 1980 topps football dan dierdorf

this card was wanted because of the black armband dierdorf is sporting. the st. louis football cardinals added the memorial for teammate j.v. cain who passed away during training camp prior to the 1979 season. it's only the second football card i have in my memorial collection, with the other being a card showing the patch the cowboys wore for tom landry.

lastly, i will show this 1993 pinnacle mike piazza home run club

card for some reason. this card came from a box set and is the lone dodger, so my team set is complete! i am not sure why it is here because it was never on the most wanted list, but yet i scanned it and added it to an early draft of this post. perhaps it was a card that was destined to join the list but was acquired before that could happen.

at any rate, there are nine dodger cards on the list today, along with nine non-dodger cards, so please take a look at my "nefarious nine" and see if you can help a blogger out. you will be rewarded!

my retired number collection - 25

this is the 24th post in a series that shares the cards i have in my retired number mini-collection. you can find the links to the previous posts down at the bottom of this post. if you're eager to learn more right now, you can check out the full list of retired numbers along with what this collection will entail over at my want list site.

without further ado, here are the four people for whom number 25 has been retired:

jose cruz (retired by the astros in 1992) 1979 topps

jose cruz was one of the first nemeses that i recognized in my early fandom days. the dodgers and astros played each other a lot, and cruz was always in the lineup for houston. he spent 13 years there, earning a couple of all-star nods and two silver sluggers as an astro. he helped the club to their first postseason appearance in the history of the franchise by leading the charge against the dodgers in game 163 of the 1980 season. his fielders choice in the top of the first inning resulted in the astros' first run of the game, and they never looked back.

his 1979 topps card gives us the best view of his number of any cards i could find, thanks to the uncommon pant numbering. although it was last worn by denny walling in april of 1992, the astros retired 25 for cruz on october 3, 1992 in a ceremony fitting for the player who was not a hall of fame player, but was the franchise's all-time leader in games played and most non-power offensive categories at the time. of course, the astros were facing the dodgers that day.

barry bonds (retired by the giants in 2018) 1995 topps

like his father, barry bonds wore number 25 for the giants. he spent the last 15 years of his career with the team, slugging 586 home runs and winning five national league mvp awards during that time. the team rewarded him with a number retirement ceremony on august 11, 2018 - almost 11 years after he played in his final game. the giants kept the number out of circulation, so he was the last person to wear it.

it's only because willie mays spent his entire career with the giants that bonds doesn't dominate the all-time leader boards for the franchise, although he does lead in obp and ops. no matter what you think about bonds, he was a dominant player and the pose captured on his 1995 topps card is one that we saw literally hundreds of times during his career. while not in the hall of fame, i believe that bonds' career is certainly worthy of recognition by the eras committee in the future.

jim thome (retired by the guardians in 2018) 1994 topps

thome spent nine full seasons in cleveland, along with parts of four others (including a short return stint in 2011), and hit 337 of his 612 career home runs during his time with the indians. 336 of those were hit while wearing number 25, and he is well above albert belle on the franchise's all-time leader board for round trippers. it's no surprise that the club retired the number in thome's honor on august 18, 2018 following his induction into the baseball hall of fame.

thome's number 25 is visible on his 1994 topps card which coincides with his first full season in the majors. he spent time in cleveland in each of the three previous years, but 1994 was when he took over the third base position full time. he left as a free agent after the 2002 season, and the indians reissued his number. he reclaimed it in 2011, but the team still reissued it in 2012. jason giambi was the last player to wear the number, doing so in 2014.  

andruw jones (retired by the braves in 2023) 1998 score

jones had his number retired by the braves on september 9, 2023, making alex dickerson in 2022 the last braves player to wear it on the field. regarded as one of the greatest fielding center fielders of all-time, jones spent 11 full seasons with the braves and won gold gloves in ten of those campaigns. he was an offensive threat, too, as he clobbered 368 home runs as a brave.

he's not in the hall of fame yet, but if i had a vote he would be. maybe 2025 will be his year, as he had 61.6% of the writers' this past january. 1998 score is not very fancy, but it gets the job done here with most of jones' number visible. perhaps at some point i'll find a better card to use. 

i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.

retired numbers by team (through the 18 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21

guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 455

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 23, 24, 85

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 24

braves - 3, 6, 10, 21, 25

astros - 5, 7, 24, 25

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18, 24

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22

dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20, 24

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 72

brewers - 1, 4, 19

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16, 23

cubs - 10, 14, 23

royals - 5, 10, 20

padres - 6, 19

athletics - 9, 24

angels - 11

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays - 12, 66

diamondbacks - 20

blue jays

rockies - 17

mariners - 11, 24

nationals - 11

marlins

retired number frequency:

1 - retired by 9 teams

2 - retired by 5 teams

3 - retired by 7 teams

4 - retired by 8 teams

5 - retired by 7 teams

6 - retired by 7 teams

7 - retired by 4 teams

8 - retired by 6 teams (retired by yankees for two players)

9 - retired by 6 teams

10 - retired by 9 teams (retired by expos for two players)

11 - retired by 8 teams

12 - retired by 1 team

13 - retired by 1 team

14 - retired by 10 teams (retired by mets and dodgers for same person)

15 - retired by 2 teams

16 - retired by 4 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024)

17 - retired by 3 teams

18 - retired by 3 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024) 

19 - retired by 5 teams

20 - retired by 11 teams (retired by orioles, reds, and guardians for same person)

21 - retired by 4 teams

22 - retired by 2 teams

23 - retired by 4 teams

24 - retired by 8 teams (retired by giants and mets for same person)

25 - retired by 4 teams

66 - retired by 1 team

72 - retired by 1 team

85 - retired by 1 team

455 - retired by 1 team

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 110

running total of non-hall of famers: 42

my retired number collection - 22

this is the 21st post in a series that shares the cards i have in my retired number mini-collection. you can find the links to the previous posts down at the bottom of this post. if you're eager to learn more right now, you can check out the full list of retired numbers along with what this collection will entail over at my want list site.

without further ado, here are the two people for whom number 22 has been retired:

jim palmer (retired by the orioles in 1985) 1976 topps

palmer was 19 when he debuted with the orioles in 1965 and 38 when he made his final big league appearance, still with the o's. in between, he put together a hall of fame career with three cy young awards, three world series championships, 268 wins, and an era of 2.86 in 3,948 innings. speaking of the hall, he was inducted in 1990 on his first ballot. 

the orioles retired retired his number on september 1, 1985 to honor one of the greatest pitchers in their franchise's history. in fact, palmer sits atop the franchise's all-time leaderboard for pitchers in almost every significant category. he was the last oriole to wear number 22, and it was put back in circulation so that he could wear it during his comeback attempt in the spring of 1991. 

palmer's delivery with the arched back provides a good luck at his number on his 1976 topps card. speaking of cards, back in 2020, i was hopeful that topps would issue a card of palmer in the 1985 design to provide a real "final tribute" of sorts. unfortunately, while he was included in some topps checklists, he was not part of the 35th anniversary insert sets. 

will clark (retired by the giants in 2022) 1994 topps

will the thrill was a fan favorite during his time with the giants, that's for sure. the club retired his number on july 30, 2022 as a way of recognizing his eitght year tenure with the team during which time he was a five-time all-star and finished in the top five in the mvp voting four times. as i understand it, the ceremony was supposed to occur in 2020 but was delayed due to the pandemic.

clark helped the giants to the postseason in 1987 and 1989. in '89, he propelled the club to their first pennant since 1962 by hitting .650 with 2 homers and 8 rbi in the nlcs against the cubs. clark is one of only two giants to have their numbers retired while not being in the hall of fame (we will get to the other in a few posts), but unlike bonds, clark's number was recirculated for years after he left the club. andrew mccutchen was the last giant player to wear the number (he did so back in 2018).

clark's 1994 topps card shows his number (and name) clearly, making it a good choice in my opinion for this collection. of course, jack clark wore number 22 for the giants in the 70's and early 80's so "clark 22" is not my favorite sight. it's worth noting that the giants display their retired numbers without names, so there is no confusion about which "clark" the giants are honoring.

there is no doubt that the dodgers will eventually retire number 22 for clayton kershaw, and perhaps the pirates will do the same for andrew mccutchen. roger clemens wore the number as a yankee and astro, so maybe 22 will be retired eventually by one or two more franchises as well. only time will tell.

i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.

retired numbers by team (through the 18 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21

guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 455

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 85

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20

braves - 3, 6, 10, 21

astros - 5, 7

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22

dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 72

brewers - 1, 4, 19

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16

cubs - 10, 14

royals - 5, 10, 20

padres - 6, 19

athletics - 9

angels - 11

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays - 12, 66

diamondbacks - 20

blue jays

rockies - 17

mariners - 11

nationals - 11

marlins

retired number frequency:

1 - retired by 9 teams

2 - retired by 5 teams

3 - retired by 7 teams

4 - retired by 8 teams

5 - retired by 7 teams

6 - retired by 7 teams

7 - retired by 4 teams

8 - retired by 6 teams (retired by yankees for two players)

9 - retired by 6 teams

10 - retired by 9 teams (retired by expos for two players)

11 - retired by 8 teams

12 - retired by 1 team

13 - retired by 1 team

14 - retired by 10 teams (retired by mets and dodgers for same person)

15 - retired by 2 teams

16 - retired by 4 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024)

17 - retired by 3 teams

18 - retired by 3 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024) 

19 - retired by 5 teams

20 - retired by 11 teams (retired by orioles, reds, and guardians for same person)

21 - retired by 4 teams

22 - retired by 2 teams

66 - retired by 1 team

72 - retired by 1 team

85 - retired by 1 team

455 - retired by 1 team

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 101

running total of non-hall of famers: 36

going for gold

the 2024 olympics are a few months away, so this post is about cards and not medals. i've picked up a few new topps flagship gold parallel cards recently and figured i would run through a full slate of these parallels now that 2024 series 1 is out.

the first gold cards showed up in 1992

i remember these being a pretty big deal, with one of my local shops offering a bounty for the barry bonds parallel. there was also a redemption offer in which you would receive these same parallels with "winner" stamped in gold above the team names. 

maybe one of the first "paraallel parallel" sets.

1993 saw a similar gold treatment

but with the addition of the "topps gold" logo

in 1994

there was only the name to make gold.

after that, topps took a break from the gold parallels. when they returned in 2001

there was full border foil, along with the names, and the cards were serial numbered (not shown) to the year of production.

the 2002 gold cards

aren't as obvious as scans because of the gold border that topps used for the base design. this was the first year that they added the "xx years of collecting", building from the "topps 50" logo on the 2001 cards. i've posted in the past about anniversaries vs. years of collecting so i won't bother to get into it again here.

in 2003

the names and borders were made gold, but topps left the remainder of the design blue.

2004

2005

and 2006

each had white border base designs that were changed to gold.

in 2007

the base design was black. there were no black parallels that year - instead topps used copper for the numbered "years of collecting" parallels

the next several years - 2008

2009

2010

2011

and 2012

had their white borders and names turned gold, but the "years of collecting" text fell off the cards in 2012

in 2013 

and 2014

topps applied the gold to the full design

after 2014, topps got more graphically creative with their flagship design. the golds were a pretty standard conversion in 2015

but in 2016 

the gold leaked into the photo as there was no border to color. same in 2017

and in 2018 it was all over the photo

partial gold borders were achieved in 2019

and 2020

and then back in full force in 2021

more of the same in 2022

but for some reason the gold cards in 2023

didn't get gold all the way around.

this year, 2024,

we are back to full bordered gold.

for my money the 2001 and 2007 gold parallels are my favorite, although i don't have  a lot of them. in fact, i've only completed the 1992 (and the 1992 "winners") dodger gold parallel team sets, although the last 1994 card i need is on its way to me. night owl just recently shared his complete 2008 dodger gold parallel team set, and i think i need to start making more progress in this regard - i mean just look how chunky the gold borders are on the 2007 topps dodger team card

my gold rush is on!