allow me to show you one of my favorite sheets from my steve garvey binders

sheet 31 from the steve garvey binders keeps us in 2001, and it features what may be the jewel of my steve garvey collection.  take a look:

those cards are:

1. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (bronze)
2. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (silver/career)
3. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (gold/season)
4. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (century) - red patch
5. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (century) - blue patch
6. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (jersey number) - red patch
7. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's
8. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's (award winners)
9. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's bellbottomed bashers insert

2001 leaf certified materials is hands down my favorite relic set ever.  i have a few other dodgers, including a drysdale jersey number patch and an adrian beltre jersey number/logoman patch, but the garvey jersey number is my favorite card.  as you'll see on the back, it's numbered 6/6.  here are the backs, by the way:

the bronze version of the jersey relics are unnumbered, with the silver/career version being numbered to some significant career number.  in garvey's case, that would be 272 - the number of home runs he hit in the major leagues.  the gold version is numbered to a season related number, and for the garv, that number is 33 - the number of home runs he hit in 1977 (a career high).  it's strange that the front of the card talks about his 115 rbi that year, and not the 33 homers.  the century version is numbered to 21 (the 21st century), and i have two of these.  one features the red patch from his jersey number on the front of his uniform, and the other features a blue patch from elsewhere within the chest script.  i used to have a third century card with a blue patch, but sold it several years ago.  the sixth card on the sheet is the 6/6 card and it is gorious.  i am a big fan of the red dodger patch.

not to be ignored, the 2001 upper deck decade 1970's cards continue on sheet 32:

 those cards are:

1. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's decade dynasties insert
2. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat relic
3. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic all-star game mvp's
4. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic la dodgers
5. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic national league mvp's
6. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic 1974 world series
7. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic 1977 world series
8. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial
9. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial relic

lots of great 1970's players featured on those bat cards - joe morgan, bill madlock, dave parker, johnny bench, george foster, reggie jackson, bert campaneris, willie stargell, and graig nettles, not to mention garvey, ron cey, bill russell, and rick monday.  every time i look at that particular card, i am reminded of how close upper deck came to creating a garvey cey russell lopes relic card.

here are the backs:

i suppose that it is worth noting that the upper deck minor league centennial card doesn't feature a photo of garvey from his minor league days, but rather a dodger photo with the team identifiers airbrushed out.  cards from that set continue on sheet 33:

 those cards are:

1. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial relic (gold)
2. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial auto
3. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial auto (gold)
4. 2001 upper deck prospect premieres heroes of baseball relic
5. 2001 upper deck prospect premieres heroes of baseball auto/relic
6. 2001 upper deck prospect premieres heroes of baseball dual relic with reggie smith
7. 2001 upper deck sp authentic cooperstown calling relic (gray swatch)
8. 2001 upper deck sp authentic cooperstown calling relic (white swatch)
9. 2001 upper deck sp game bat milestone edition quad relic

i found it interesting that the gold parallel jersey card was serial numbered to 25 by way of printing, while the gold auto parallel was hand numbered to 25, as was the auto/relic from prospect premieres and the 'base' version of the minor league centennial auto.  i believe that the dual jersey card with reggie smith was at one time reported to have an autographed version, but i've never seen one.  i may not be remembering that correctly, but the design of the card sure looks like it was set up for autographs.

you know that i had to have both white and gray swatch examples of the somewhat depressingly named cooperstown calling jersey cards from sp authentic, and it is again a bit sad that garvey is the only non-hall of famer on that last quad relic with puckett, winfield, and ozzie.

here are the backs to that sheet:

featuring lots of assurances from richard p. mcwilliams.

next up from the garvey binders, a whole lot of tony perez.  stay tuned.

who is rick monday's career torchbearer?

in his final big league at bat, the dodgers' rick monday, the center fielder on the team of my youth, faced the reds' jeff russell 6/20/84 as pinch-hitter and struck out.  this is monday's card from the 1984 dodgers police set

mo finished his career with 1619 hits and one huge postseason home run.

jeff russell, shown here on his 1995 fleer update card,

pitched in his last game on 9/27/96 as a member of the texas rangers. the last batter he faced was the angels' randy velarde who drew a walk.

here's randy velarde on his 2002 topps total card

which is appropriate because velarde played in his final game on 9/29/02 for the oakland a's and grounded into a 5-4-3 double play in his last at bat.  the pitcher that induced the dp was cj nitkowski of the texas rangers.

on june 7, 2005, nitkowski (i could only find a 2001 topps card of cj)

pitched in the big leagues for the final time.  he was with the washington nationals then, and in a game against the a's, he gave up a single to eric chavez and then walked scott hatteberg before being lifted for a reliever.

now with the reds (as evidenced by this 2008 topps year in review insert that i lifted from ebay), hatteberg

was used as a pinch-hitter on may 25, 2008 against the padres.  he faced off against bryan corey and fouled out to the catcher in what turned out to be his last big league appearance.

corey, who had relieved greg maddux to face hatteberg, made his last big league appearance just a couple of months later.  he doesn't seem to have many cards, so i'm showing a 2006 topps '52 card of him in a bosox uniform.

anyway, in the padres' game on august 9, 2008, corey was summoned from the bullpen to start the 9th inning against the rockies' 3-4-5 hitters.  with an 8-2 lead, corey allowed a single to matt holliday and then another to brad hawpe, and he was removed in favor of cla meredith.

brad hawpe, shown as a padre on his 2011 topps card,

eventually made his way to the angels' roster in 2013 where he played his last game in anaheim against the twins on july 22, 2013.  playing first base, hawpe's final big league at bat ended in a ground out while facing sam deduno - a former teammate of hawpe on the 2010 rockies.

deduno

pitched for most of 2014 with the twins (that's his 2014 topps card above), but was picked up on waivers late in the season by the astros.  i'll assume that he'll continue to carry rick monday's torch in 2015 for the 'stros.  if not, curtis granderson becomes monday's torchbearer which would be ok - from one center fielder to another.

i've got a case of the mondays

not really a case, just three cards of former dodger rick monday.  the first one is a relatively new addition to my collection, and it comes from 2014 panini prizm

yes, that's mo in dodger gear and a sticker auto.  last year, panini released some autographed cards of monday as a cub and i didn't bite.  i was happy to see this release this year.

here's a 1987 mother's cookies a's card of the first overall draft pick in the first ever amateur draft

i believe that the a's recognized their all-stars throughout their time in oakland in the 1987 set rather than their current roster.  monday was a member of the all-star team in 1968 which was also the first year that the a's were in oakland.  he wouldn't make it to the midsummer classic again until 1978 when he started the game as a dodger.  love the sanitarys, by the way.

speaking of which, here is his 1983 fleer card, just because.

always good to see half of steve yeager.

unlike the boomtown rats, i do like mondays.  especially in dodger blue.

more from the garvey oddball binder - 1984 union oil dodgers most memorable moments sheets

here are some more sheets from my steve garvey oddball binder.  these come from the 1984 union oil dodgers most memorable moments set.  similar to the 1982 volpe portraits, these were available at your local southland 76 station (murph was the proprieter in the commercials, i believe).  there are some good moments captured in these sheets, including bob welch's strikeout of reggie jackson in game 2 of the 1978 world series and roy campanella night at the coliseum in 1959.  

garvey shows up on 5 of the 16 sheets in the set, and those are the ones in the binder.

30-home run quartet

in 1977, garvey, dusty baker, reggie smith, and ron cey became the first four teammates to hit 30 home runs in the same season.  topps didn't make a card (so i did), but seven years later, union oil came through with a sheet.

1977 nlcs

garvey shares space with teammates cey, baker, bill russell, davey lopes, vic davalillo, tommy john, manny mota, and don sutton.  cey is front and center on the sheet, but dusty baker was the series mvp with 2 homers and 8 rbi.  the majority of the text on the back pertains to game 3 of the series (black friday as it's known in philadelphia) wherein the dodgers used a bunt single by davalillo, a double by manny mota, and an infield single by davey lopes to tie the score, all with two outs.  an error and a bill russell single later, and the dodgers had taken a two games to one lead in the series.

the 10th player

this sheet is a tribute to dodger fans, with garvey, cey, sutton, mota, jerry reuss, and joe ferguson appearing on the front.  the fan tribute is centered around the end of the 1980 season when the dodgers were three games out of first with three to play.  as luck would have it, the astros were coming to town. the dodgers swept the series behind some big home runs by ferguson, garvey, and cey, but lost game 163 as the astros advanced to the postseason for the first time.

1981 world championship

garvey shows up on this one as part of the three-steves celebration - jumping in the air after the dodgers' game 6 win with steves howe and yeager.  also appearing on the sheet are series co-mvp's cey, yeager, and pedro guerrero.  tommy lasorda and nlcs hero rick monday round out the sheet commemorating the dodgers' first world championship since 1965, and first reached by beating the yankees since 1963.

record setting infield

this is, quite obviously, my favorite sheet.  it's all about the infield.

more garvey goodness to come; stay tuned.

all i see are all-stars

with the all-star game tonight, it seems appropriate to show this 1992 trak auto sheet of stamps that honors every dodger all-star from 1962 through 1992

as you can see, it was available for purchase at trak auto stores, either on its own or with a case of valvoline motor oil.

the full sheet of stamps is in one of my steve garvey binders, because i can't find this particular stamp all by its lonesome

1977 was a big year for dodger all-stars, but not as big as 1962, 1975, or 1978 when the dodgers had seven players on the national league squad, or even a few years when they sent 6 players.  garvey represented the dodgers in eight straight all-star games, and was the mvp of the 1974 and 1978 contests.  here is a better look at the stamps for the stretch of games in which garvey, as a dodger, was the starter for the national league at first base.

you may have noticed that the only dodger to get his mug shown twice on the whole sheet is tommy lasorda.

as a member of the padres, garvey returned to the all-star game in 1984 and 1985 as the first base starter for the national league, making his final all-star appearance in the '85 midsummer classic, which was the last time the all-star game was held in minneapolis.  here's a 1986 donruss all-stars pop up card which commemorates his appearance in that game, complete with underside of the metrodome's roof in view

garvey, at age 37, was a participant in the home run derby prior to that all-star game - the first home run derby prior to the all-star game - and hit 2 out.  dave parker won the derby with 6.  it wasn't the same back then.

anyway, happy all-star game day!

1978 topps redux

because it was the first set i collected, i think that the 1978 topps set design is great.  i plan on buying some heritage in 13 years due to that fact, and, i have completed my 1978 topps extended set by acquiring the variation and 'missing' cards that were included in the various 1978 burger king releases and 1978 topps zest.  heck, i even created a bunch of cards for the dodger players from 1977 and 1978 that weren't featured as dodgers or at all in the set.  i love this set.  

now, like many others, i can see a touch of the 1978 topps design in the 2014 donruss release.  it's really too bad that they also tried to incorporate 1987 donruss into it as well, because the borders are too wide as a result.  i am not a fan of 2014 donruss.  i am a fan, however, of topps archives and fan favorites releases that used the 1978 design for some of their cards.  like dusty baker here from 2005 topps all-time fan favorites

that card would have fit right in with the rest of the dodgers in the real 1978 set.

as would have this jack clark card from 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

and this mark fidrych card, also from 2003

i pulled an autographed version of this from one of the two boxes i broke back in '03.  i'm too lazy to go find it right now, however.

ron guidry's card is nice, but the black armband means it would be better as a card from 1980, 81, or 82.

still, i'll take it.

the last of the cards from the 2003 topps atff release that uses the 1978 topps design (as far as i know) is this jim rice

it's nice, but i like the laughing jim rice better on his official 1978 topps card

moving on to the 2005 topps all-time fan favorites set, and in addition to the johnnie b. baker card up top, we have a good looking bob boone card

and another dodger, rick monday

this card is much better than mo's actual card from 1978 upon which he is wiping mustard from his chin.  the back is nice - it keeps the 'home run' value that his original card had - but it adds a reference to his 1981 nlcs home run

rather than his 3-homer game in 1972, which is what his original 1978 card had.

when topps archives was released in 2012, i was curious if the 1978 design would be used.  it did wind up on a couple of autographed short prints, like this greg luzinski

and a george foster card that i have yet to obtain.  if anyone wants to pick a foster up for me, rest assured, you will be rewarded.

in 2013, there were two short prints from the topps archives set that used the 1978 design - larry bowa

and the cobra, dave parker

i'm not used to seeing parker look so happy on his cards, but i sure am glad to see this card design again.

sunday morning target dodgers

lots of good dodgers on this week's sheet.  these 14 shared space on the same sheet as double dipper lloyd waner.  let's have a look.

first up, is the penguin - ron cey

what can i say about cey that i haven't said before?  not too much, i don't think.  he is one of three dodgers from the team of my youth to appear on this particular sheet.

eddie ainsmith

ainsmith was born in russia, and while not the first russian born player, he enjoyed the longest career of any to date.  he caught walter johnson as a member of the senators for 9 seasons from 1910 through 1918 before moving on to a number of different teams.  one of those teams was the brooklyn robins, for whom he appeared in 2 games in 1923, amassing 10 plate appearances and 2 hits.

joe black

black won the nl rookie of the year award in 1952 thanks to his 15-4 record and 2.15 era in 56 games, 54 of which he appeared in as a reliever.  he also finished third in the mvp voting, although he received as many first place votes as did hank sauer, the winner of the award.  he pitched for the dodgers in both the 1952 and 1953 world series, but unfortunately for black, he was traded to the reds during the 1955 season and missed out on brooklyn's lone world series title.

dick egan

egan pitched in 20 games for the dodgers in 1967, his last of four seasons in the major leagues.  he has remained in the game as a coach and scout, mostly for the marlins and tigers. i like this card because of the angle of the photo, which gives a good view of the left field pavilion.

kirk gibson

gibby!  gibson won the mvp award in 1988 and hit a big home run for the dodgers as we all know, and that absolves him in my mind from trying to beat the dodgers as the diamondbacks' manager.

bill hallman

hallman appeared in 134 games for the bridegrooms in 1898.  he also played for the phillies, browns, a's, quakers, and something called the cleveland blues.  according to baseball reference, he is the only player to have increased his batting average 9 years in a row.

gene hermanski

hermanski played for the dodgers in the 1940's, debuting in 1943 and returning to the majors in 1946.  he was a dodger until 1951 when he was traded to the cubs in the andy pafko deal.  aside from helping the dodgers win pennants in 1947 and 1949, hermanski's career highlight was likely the three-home run game he had as a dodger in 1948.

tom lasorda

lasorda was the manager of the team of my youth, as well as the team of my early adult years.  from late in the 1976 season until the middle of the 1996 campaign, he was at the helm of the team.  i do not know why he had tom niedenfuer pitch to jack clark.

rick monday

monday was the center fielder on the team of my youth, and like cey up top, i have written about him quite a bit.  he may well be the only player honored with a solo bobblehead giveaway in which he is wearing a different team's uniform.

jerry nops

the orioles traded nops to the superbas prior to the 1900 season.  he was 4-4 in 9 games for brooklyn and then returned to baltimore for the following season.

harley payne

payne pitched for the bridegrooms in 1896, 1897, and one game in 1898.  he was 29-33 in 75 games, 67 of which were starts.  it's hard to see in the photo, but he also had a fine moustache.

jerry royster

royster was signed by the dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1970, and made his big league debut for them in 1973.  he had cups of coffee with the dodgers in 1974 and 1975 as well, amassing 13 hits in 29 games over those three seasons.  prior to 1976, he was dealt to the braves in the dusty baker deal and had several productive, or at least full, seasons there.  he retired after the 1988 season and eventually went into coaching.  he later replaced former teammate davey lopes as the brewers' manager in 2002.

bill singer

singer won 20 games for the dodgers in 1969, and later won 20 for the angels after being dealt in the andy messersmith/frank robinson trade.  he also threw a no-hitter in 1970, and was the first pitcher to earn a save after the statistic became official in 1969.

woody williams

woodrow wilson 'woody' williams was named for the 28th president of the united states - woodrow wilson - although he was born prior to wilson winning the white house.  for the dodgers, he played shortstop and third base in 1938, hitting .333 in 51 at bats.  williams returned to the minors and returned to the major leagues in 1943 with the reds and was their regular second baseman in 1944 and 1945.