frankendodger sheet 69 (cards 613-621) - bat flip!...

here's sheet number 69 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 613-621:

and the back:

these cards are:

613. 2015 topps josh beckett
614. 2003 topps kevin brown
615. 1969 topps len gabrielson
616. 1994 donruss dave hansen
617. 1986 donruss bill madlock
618. 1994 score raul mondesi
619. 1992 pinnacle brett butler
620. 1977 topps don sutton
621. 1975 sspc mickey vernon

the "no brainer" of the day:

given the lack of manager cards in topps' flagship series, the beckett card featuring don mattingly was an easy choice for the set.

about the cards:

josh beckett's 2015 stadium club card features the better photo, but i still like his flagship series 2 card for the mattingly appearance and for the fact that topps recognized beckett's no-hitter even though it came in his final season and he didn't get a regular final tribute card in the set (this card is a checklist).

the 2003 topps kevin brown card doesn't use the typical side view of a pitcher in their delivery, but the best part about this card (aside from the blue border that made 2003 topps a great set for dodger fans) is the inset photo of brown with a batting helmet on.  i was never kevin brown's biggest fan, but i did watch him warm up in the bullpen a few times, and also saw him throw on the side before a couple of games, and i will not forget the sound of the ball hitting the catchers' mitt. dude threw hard.

len gabrielson brings us the last 1960's card of the set. his 1969 topps card notes that he led the dodgers with 10 home runs in 1968. those 10 homers were a career high for gabrielson, who followed up that performance with just one home run in 1969.

dave hansen's 1994 donruss card actually shows him in the field, which is nice. hansen had played 108 games at third in 1992, but that number was down to just 18 in 1993 and then just 7 in 1994 as his career as a pinch-hitting specialist took off.

the best thing about bill madlock's 1986 donruss card is pinky tuscadero in the background above the dodger logo. i have no idea who that really is or what they are doing on the field.

1994 score gave us this raul mondesi card with the disgusted bat flip. i am guessing that the umpire who made the bad third strike call is either joe west, angel hernandez, or eric gregg.

the 1992 pinnacle brett butler card is pretty cool in that it dissects the bunt process. i know of a few major leaguers that could use a bunting tutorial, with byron buxton being at the top of the list.

don sutton is not suttoning on his 1977 topps card, but that's ok.  instead, he's striking the go-to full windup, hands behind head pose.

last card is the 1975 sspc mickey vernon card. vernon never played for the dodgers, but he was on walt alston's coaching staff as the team's hitting coach in 1975. vernon had begun his coaching career with the pirates in 1960 (he was their first base coach), but was activated in september of that year as the pirates were headed to a pennant and world series championship - vernon was manny mota before manny mota!

cards that didn't make the cut:

bill madlock at number 617 may be the only non-target set option at number 617, but i had these cards to consider at the other spots: 1990 score jose vizcaino at number 613, 1991 bowman eddie murray at number 614, 2013 topps mark ellis

at number 615, 1972 topps joe ferguson

at number 616, 1993 bowman raul mondesi at number 618, 2008 topps heritage blake dewitt at number 619, 1974 topps al downing at number 620, and 1973 topps joe ferguson

at number 621,

my favorite card on the page:

if you've been following along with this blog, you probably know that a coach card is going to beat out most others.  i like the beckett and the butler and the mondesi, but the vernon card is my favorite of the bunch.

final thoughts:

i know that the 1975 sspc set is really a 1976 set (kind of like 2012 panini prizm which came out in 2013). i refer to it as 1975 because of the copyright date, but i think most call it 1976 because of the release date (which was delayed due to legal issues if i recall correctly).

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.