frankendodger sheet 33 (cards 289-297) - with the card i most recently replaced...

here's sheet number 33 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 289-297:

and the back:

these cards are:

289. 1974 topps rick auerbach
290. 1980 topps steve garvey
291. 1985 topps bob welch
292. 2000 skybox dominion eric gagne/jeff williams
293. 2003 topps franklin gutierrez
294. 1975 topps geoff zahn
295. 1963 topps ed roebuck
296. 1985 donruss mike marshall
297. 2014 topps update zack greinke

the "no brainer" of the day:

it was the last card added to the sheet, but in hindsight it should have been the first.  that would be the 2003 topps franklin gutierrez card. i'll explain below.

about the cards:

when i started writing this post, this is what the sheet looked like:

at first, shane victorino's 2012 topps update card made the cut at 293, but i wasn't happy about it. victorino is on my short list of players that aren't my favorite.  not completely sure why, although he played well against the dodgers in the 2008 and 2009 nlcs.  at any rate, i was pleased to find a double of the gutierrez card among my 2003 dupes, and it was an easy decision to replace victorino in the center rectangle of the page.  the other cards remain unscathed.

rick auerbach came over from the brewers near the start of the 1973 season, but didn't suit up for the dodgers until 1974. it's a surprise that he got a card in the '74 set, but i'll take it.  auerbach hit .342 in 45 games for the dodgers in their pennant winning season, and then filled in for the injured bill russell for much of the 1975 campaign.  the 1980 topps design is a bit similar to that of 1974, and steve garvey's card has the added bonus of the all-star banner.  not my favorite garvey card, but we do get a look at his forearms front and center.

1985 topps may be my least favorite design of the decade.  at least for dodger cards.  look at bob welch's card - it's too cluttered and clunky at the bottom.  the fact that topps used the flying ball logo means that the card says 'dodgers dodgers' which is unnecessary.  plus, the position designation looks like it was shoehorned in.  not that the 2000 skybox dominion design is better as the names on the front of the card are difficult to read.  anyway, the card features two foreigners - eric gagne was born in montreal, and jeff williams was born in australia.  both debuted for the dodgers in september of 1999, but gagne outlasted williams who pitched in his final game during the 2002 season.

franklin gutierrez, another foreigner (venezuela), never did suit up for the dodgers during the regular season. he was traded in 2004 to the indians for milton bradley.  gutierrez was later traded to the mariners with whom he won a gold glove in 2007 and for whom he still plays today.

geoff zahn's 1975 topps card is pleasing to me not only because of the dodger stadium field level scoreboard that is visible behind him, but also because it reminds me that zahn was traded to the cubs early in the 1975 season for burt hooton.  nothing against zahn, but hooton was a big part of the team of my youth.  ed roebuck was a pretty solid reliever over 11 years in the majors. he pitched for the dodgers in the 1955 and 1956 world series, but missed out on the 1959 season and world series.  roebuck was coming off of a 10-2 season in 1962 when this card was released, but he was dealt to the senators during the '63 season for marv breeding who the dodgers kept off of their postseason roster en route to a sweep of the yankees in that year's fall classic.

we've seen 1985 leaf in the set already, but not 1985 donruss, so here's mike marshall.  i was still looking for superstardom from marshall at this point, and he had a good season in '85 with 28 homers, 95 rbi, and a .293 batting average, but his season was overshadowed by pedro guerrero's.  marshall also challenged the dodger single season strikeout record that year, but fell 12 short of billy grabarkewitz's then record of 149.  of course, marshall had about 75 fewer plate appearances.

the last card on the sheet is zack greinke's 2014 topps update all-star card.  that game was played at target field, and the hats the players wore were supposed to be a nod to the twinkies' batting helmets of the late 1970's.

the tradition continued in cincinnati last year,

and this year, the players will wear some sort of san diego padre abomination

(at least during the workout and hr derby).

cards that didn't make the cut:

along with victorino's card at number 293, some others that didn't receive the call include 1996 donruss chad fonville at number 289, 1979 topps davey lopes at number 290, 1986 topps tom lasorda

at number 291, 1960 topps dodger backstops (joe pignatano/john roseboro) at number 292, 1994 pinnacle darryl strawberry at number 294, 2013 topps brandon league at number 295, 1984 donruss greg brock

at number 296, and 2011 topps heritage jonathan broxton at number 297.

my favorite card on the page:

the 1975 topps geoff zahn card wins out over the others thanks to its dodger stadium background and red and blue border.

final thoughts:

victorino also had a dodger card in 2003 just like the guy who replaced him on this sheet, but, like gutierrez, victorino didn't appear for the dodgers at that time.

frankendodger sheet 20 (cards 172-180) - enough with the variety...

here's sheet number 20 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 172-180:

 and the back:

these cards are:

172. 1971 o-pee-chee duke sims
173. 2005 topps heritage jeff weaver
174. 1988 topps phil garner
175. 1989 topps john shelby
176. 2014 panini donruss carl crawford
177. 1991 topps stadium club eddie murray
178. 1980-87 sspc baseball immortals frank robinson
179. 1995 fleer update todd williams
180. 2012 topps allen & ginter's tim federowicz

the "no brainer" of the day:

the frobby card was the no brainer here.  there just aren't too many cards of him in a dodger uniform, and at number 754, his 1972 topps high-number card falls outside of the numbering for this set.

about the cards:

i've written about the sims card before over at oh my o-pee-chee, and there's not much more to say about it other than i am a big fan.  i am only a so-so fan of topps heritage and jeff weaver. i had high hopes for weaver when he came to the dodgers from the american league where he had been somewhat successful, but my hopes were dashed over the next couple of years.  the best/weirdest thing about garner's 1988 topps card is that he doesn't have his mustache.  he could have given lanny mcdonald a run for his money.

with shelby's 1989 topps card, we have successive years of the flagship back-to-back on the sheet.  that's happened a few times before.  carl crawford's 2014 donruss card (i had to double check to make sure it was from 2014 as the design is so non-descript) is a fine example of the worst an unlicensed card can be.

eddie murray had to wait a long time to make the set, but i really wanted this stadium club card in the set.  it reminds me of lucy and ethel in the chocolate factory as he has his hands full with baseballs. i can picture joey amalfitano hitting fungoes to him rapid fire off camera.  the next card is the second hall of famer on the sheet, frank robinson.  his 1973 topps card

would have made the set (on this sheet at 175) if topps hadn't airbrushed out the 'dodgers' on his uniform and labeled frank as a california angel.  that card might be my favorite near-miss dodger card ever.

i bet you were wondering when the 1995 fleer abomination would show up. well, here it is (update, actually) with todd williams representing.  williams pitched in 16 games for the dodgers in '95 but was traded to the a's towards the end of the season and so wasn't around for the team's nlds sweep at the hands of the reds.  last up is tim federowicz's 2012 a&g card.  federowicz is currently getting a shot with the cubs following kyle schwarber's injury. i thought it presumptuous that he, as a catcher, took mike piazza's number when he first came up to the bigs.

cards that didn't make the cut:

a few examples of cards that were considered but not chosen include 2015 topps update adrian gonzalez at #172 (i have a bunch of these cards, but no way the sims was losing out), 1990 leaf kirk gibson at #173, 1970 topps ted sizemore and 1992 upper deck darryl strawberry

at #174, 2013 panini hometown heroes bill buckner

at #175, 1972 topps tom haller in action (it is a dodger card, you know) and 1981 donruss steve garvey at #176, 2009 topps 206 pee wee reese at #177, 2010 bowman manny ramirez at #178, 2003 bowman heritage duke snider at #179, and 1996 upper deck collector's choice hideo nomo

at #180.

my favorite card on the page:

the duke sims team and text o-pee-chee variation is my favorite card on this page.  i wish there were more o-pee-chee variations!

final thoughts:

from here on out, there are no rules - any number can be filled by any player from any set.  however, the next sheet does feature eight new sets, along with eight new players.  i wonder who the repeat player will be?

frankendodger sheet 14 (cards 118-126) - not the best...

here's sheet number 14 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 118-126:

and the back:

these cards are:

118. 1986 topps traded ed vande berg
119. 2006 bowman j.d. drew
120. 1987 leaf bill madlock
121. 2007 ud sp rookie edition andy laroche
122. 1989 donruss baseball's best mike morgan
123. 1996 select greg gagne
124. 1987 fleer star stickers reggie williams
125. 1997 donruss todd hollandsworth
126. 1997 leaf antonio osuna

the "no brainer" of the day:

at this point, i was thinking about relatively obscure sets and/or obscure players that would likely not have already been used in the set.  the result of this approach is sometimes a "meh" page, and i think this is definitely one of those.  however, one of the cards that first came to mind that fit this rather obscure profile was the andy laroche card.  i knew i had doubles of it, and i knew i hadn't used a laroche card or a card from that set.  so, it was a no brainer to include here.

about the cards:

i always liked seeing dodger cards in the traded sets because they meant that i didn't have to wait until the next season to see certain players on cardboard as a dodger.  ed vande berg's 1986 topps traded card was bittersweet for me because it came about as a result of the dodgers trading steve yeager to seattle.  i was thinking about this last week because max scherzer struck out 20 batters in a game, matching the feats of randy johnson, kerry wood, and roger clemens.  clemens was, of course, the first to do so, and he did it against yeager and the mariners in 1986.  i recall that i was pleased that yeager fanned only once in his two at-bats that day.

jd drew's bowman card is from that era of bowman cards that came after 1997 and made it hard for me to figure out which year was which.  i do know that there is a tight window in time to which this card belongs due to drew exercising his 'out' clause after just a couple years in los angeles.

madlock's 1987 leaf card is not his best card as a dodger (although i don't really recall any outstanding madlock cards from his tenure), but i am glad to have the four-time batting champ in the set.  the andy laroche card features a low-angle spring training shot which makes me think of a player avoiding eye contact with fans that have lined up along the walkways to try to get autographs.

donruss used the term "baseball's best" fairly loosely with their sets of the late 80's/early 90's. as proof, here's mike morgan who did have a nice 2.53 era in 1989, but wasn't the ace of the staff or anything like that.  i was happy to see morgan win a ring with arizona in 2001, as i felt he was rushed to the big leagues by charlie finley which probably hurt/stunted his development as a pitcher for his entire career.

prior to joining the dodgers for the 1996 season, greg gagne had been to the postseason twice, and had won two rings.  in 1996, he reached the postseason for the third time in his career, but tasted postseason defeat for the first and only time as the dodgers were swept out of the nlds.  reggie williams, who has a number of cards (and this sticker) from 1986, was traded by the dodgers to the indians prior to the 1988 season.  i bet he was not happy about that.

todd hollandsworth has many better cards than this forgettable 1997 donruss card.  1997 donruss as a set seems too dark to me.  the card next to it was made by the same company, and is much nicer.  two leaf cards on one sheet, 10 years apart. i think leaf did well to create a completely separate set from the donruss design, unlike their mid and late 80's sets.

cards that didn't make the cut:

bob welch's 1988 topps card (with his super long arm)

is numbered 118, as is one of hollandsworth's better cards (his 1997 upper deck card) and the fantastic 2015 topps stadium club yasiel puig card.

sometimes i think i should have violated my frankenset guidelines...

other cards to be disqualified or just not quite be up to snuff include 1981 fleer terry forster (#119), 1999 upper deck jim eisenreich (#120), 1994 topps stadium club brett butler featuring his sweet mustache (#121),

2009 upper deck o-pee-chee orlando hudson (#122), 1983 o-pee-chee bill russell (#123), 1984 topps traded mike vail (#124), 1959 topps ron fairly (#125), and 1965 topps dodger team (#126).

my favorite card on the page:

i would like it better if the osuna card had the license plate (ok, it was not really a license plate, but osuna did wear a really large pendant on a chain when he first joined the dodgers) that he wore on one of his chains showing, but the chain is large and heavy enough in and of itself that i still like the '97 leaf card the best.

final thoughts:

there have been two different reggie williams that played for the dodgers.  just like there have been two mike marshalls, two ramon martinezes, and two mike ramseys.  i think only the marshalls are both represented in the frankenset, but i could be wrong.