feeling complete, except for some cards that should have been that i didn't make

i certainly didn't think this would happen, but i completed my 1955 topps brooklyn dodger team set recently by adding ed roebuck's card to my collection.

that means that my topps flagship/update dodger team sets are complete from 1954 through 2013, including variations (except for those super short printed 2012 topps update cards of the red sox three), and through 2015 if we are just considering the base cards.  add in a 1955 bowman team set, a 1963 fleer team set, and what i believe to be 1960 and 1961 fleer team sets, and i'm feeling pretty good about that part of my collection.

speaking of 1955 topps and completion, quite a while back i completed the 1995 topps archives brooklyn dodgers set, which includes some cards that should have been, including a 1955 topps tom lasorda card

topps created backs for these cards, too

because of this card, a 1955 topps lasorda card was never on my list of 'cards that should have been' to create, but 1956 and 1957 topps lasorda cards were.  bob lemke created a 1956 card, but i've never gotten around to a '57 lasorda.  speaking of '57's, jackie robinson was on my list of cards to create, since 1957 would have been a final tribute year with jackie's last season coming in 1956.  bob lemke has a '57 jackie, but he's in giants gear which is frankly disturbing.  still, i haven't made the time to finish that card that should have been, either.  other cards on my list were also final tributes that i haven't gotten around to, such as a 1980 topps willie davis card, and a 1995 topps steve sax card. some of the cards on that list, however, have been created by others.

for instance, here's a 1958 topps roy campanella

created by bob lemke

a 1959 topps pee wee reese

that would fit right in with the '59 set. unfortunately, i've misplaced the source for this card. if you know who created it, please let me know and i'll update the post.

a 1965 topps duke snider

created by cards that never were.  only slightly less disturbing than seeing jackie in giants gear.  and to think that the duke actually suited up for the nocals.

it's not just final tributes that were on my list - there are some cards just plain missing from history, like this 1977 topps reggie jackson

created by bob lemke, although i believe that there is a test/proof of this as an actual topps card out there (in keith olbermann's collection?).

still, most of the cards i wanted to create were final tributes, like this 1978 topps brooks robinson

created by uncle doc's card closet - when topps had (base)balls also created a final tribute for brooks, who was given the al kaline treatment and just had a season highlight card in what should have been his final tribute set.

in keeping with the oriole theme here at the bottom of the post, here are some cards that i made for ryan at o no another orioles blog a while back.  they are all of o's pitcher jamie walker.  i made a 2007 topps

a 2008 topps

and a 2009 topps

for ryan, who, like me, lamented the lack of cards given to non-closer relievers in sets these days.

as for all of the other cards i've created, i think there are some good ones in there, and certainly there are a lot of talented folks out there making their own cards that should have been, never were, or just need to be.  one of the best is travis from punk rock paint/the baseball card blog.  i still think that topps should pick up his 'pugilists & other pugnacious princes of play' idea and give us a real copy of this chan ho park card

made with a 2009 topps allen & ginter-ish feel.  come on, a set with that card, juan marichal wielding a bat, alex rodriguez getting punched by jason varitek, and aj pierzynski getting clocked by michael barrett among others? it's a no-brainer set that really ought to be made.  i'd collect the whole thing.

2006 brings some epic cards in the steve garvey binders

my second primary steve garvey binder begins with cards from 2006.  here is the 62nd sheet of cards from the binders, but the first in binder number 2:

those cards are:

1. 2006 fleer greats of the game
2. 2006 fleer greats of the game pewter parallel
3. 2006 fleer greats of the game auto
4. 2006 fleer greats of the game autographics auto (print run of 50)
5. 2006 fleer greats of the game dodgers greats
6. 2006 fleer greats of the game dodgers greats memorabilia relic
7. 2006 topps triple threads relic /18
8. 2006 topps triple threads relic autograph /18
9. 2006 topps triple threads relic combos (with rickey henderson and tony gwynn) /18

so, upper deck bought the rights to fleer and issued the greats of the game set in 2006.  there are 26 different cards available for steve garvey from that issue (many of which are 1/1 printing plates), and i am missing most. some of those are also rare bat barrel cards, but others are a /299 copper parallel and /50 dodgers greats auto cards.  speaking of the dodgers greats cards, i appreciate the dodger stadium at sunset inset photo.

on to triple threads. garvey has two triple relic cards. the one i have the "base" version of spells out "mvp".  the other spells out "lad".  likewise, the relic/autograph cards have two versions (mvp and lad), and we'll see a version of the other on the next sheet.  as for the combos card with rickey and gwynn, beckett tells me that the rickey relic is from his cleats.  that beats the garvey bat and gwynn jersey pieces for sure.

here are the backs:

this is sheet 63:

those cards are:

1. 2006 topps triple threads relic autograph gold /9
2. 2006 topps triple threads relic combos autograph (with don mattingly and dan johnson) /18
3. 2006 upper deck artifacts awesome artifacts jumbo relic /45
4. 2006 upper deck epic epic endorsements auto /45
5. 2006 upper deck epic epic foursome fabrics relic (with gil hodges, pee wee reese, and jackie robinson) /10
6. 2006 upper deck epic epic triple materials relic (with eddie murray and don mattingly) /49
7. 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts /550
8. 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts bronze parallel /99
9. 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts chronology gold /550

so here i have the gold version of the "lad" triple threads auto/relic, as well as the "base" version of the don mattingly/dan johnson auto/relic.  there was a bit of prospecting going on with these triple threads combo cards at the time, which was not the case with upper deck's epic release as they used steady eddie murray to take johnson's place on the sixth card of the sheet.  just next to that one is a pretty cool card.  i don't fully understand the use of garvey as a fourth to gil hodges, pee wee, and jackie, but i am not complaining.  and, for all the ebay 1/1 geeks, my version is 06/10 which is garvey's jersey number.  one card from that set that i would love to have is a true 1/1 bat barrel card featuring garvey, manny mota (!), steve yeager, steve sax. that would truly be epic for this dodger fan.

elsewhere on the sheet, i am a bit embarrassed that i only have one card from 2006 upper deck artifacts as there are a number of other garvey relic and auto cards out there from that set.

here are the backs:

the back of that artifacts jumbo relic that i do have, however, let's us know that the card features game worn pants, which is the bottom of the relic hierarchy.

still more to come - stay tuned!

a quick trip to tatooine

with the trade of juan uribe to the braves, i would expect alex guerrero to eventually settle in at third base. at least until hector olivera is ready.  however, most of guerrero's playing time of late has been in the outfield, since both yasiel puig and carl crawford are injured.

last year, topps included guerrero in many of its sets, and listed him as a second baseman.  that made sense then, but he has yet to play at second in the major leagues.  here are three of those cards, with guerrero turning two to boot.

2014 topps walmart blue

2014 topps chrome purple refractor

and 2014 topps mini pink parallel

notice that the cards show guerrero throwing to first without a lick of grass in sight.  that's what makes a tatooine card a tatooine card.

here are some others from my mini collection

1994 donruss bobby bonilla

1995 upper deck luis lopez electric diamond parallel

1996 upper deck brady anderson vj lovero showcase insert

2000 topps stadium club bobby abreu

2001 fleer tradition corey koskie

2011 topps carlos beltran

and 2012 topps emilio bonifacio

i am guessing that there is all kinds of mischief one can get into at mos eisley spaceport, so the vegas code probably stands - what happens on tatooine stays on tatooine.  unless you're luke skywalker bragging about taking out womprats to a group of rebel pilots.

a final word (for now) on memorials

first, let me take a moment to note that today is memorial day. hopefully, we all take some time out of our day to remember those whose service required the giving of their lives.  there have been too many.

many of you know that one of my mini collections is cards that feature memorial armbands or patches.  as an aside, even though the 1999 fleer tradition rod beck card represents the harry caray memorial in my binder, i could not pass up these three sammy sosa cards from 1999 topps stars when i found them in the bargain bin at the lcs a couple of months ago.  here's harry, comin' at you!

now, in addition to beck, i've got quite a few cards in the memorials binder commemorating uniform tributes to teammates, owners, relatives, team employees, victims of tragedies, and others from 1909 through 2014.  however, try as hard as i might, i have not been able to find cards for many of the memorials.  i'll use this post to show some of them using images i've found online.

this 1925 postcard of walter johnson

shows the big train wearing a black armband for christy mathewson.  both the senators and the pirates wore the armband during the 1925 world series.

thanks to uniwatch, i have this photo from 1929 of babe ruth, tony lazzeri, and lou gehrig

wearing black armbands for their former manager miller huggins who passed away late in the 1929 season.

this is a photo from 1931 featuring chuck klein of the phillies

he's wearing a black armband for the team's owner william baker, who died in december of 1930.  baker was known as a tightwad whose penny pinching led to the team's fall from pennant winners in 1915 to 15 consecutive losing seasons.

in may of 1950, pirates slugger ralph kiner graced the cover of sport magazine

his jersey features a black armband that the team wore towards the end of the 1949 season for their teammate tiny bonham. bonham had been hospitalized following a game in august, and had surgery to remove his appendix.  unfortunately, he died due to complications from the surgery on september 15.

[edit: thanks to night owl showing this 1991 sportflics kellogg's card 

on his blog, i now have a card to represent the armband worn for bonham. it looks like the same photo as the magazine cover.]

in 1956, the orioles former treasurer, howard jones, passed away. the team added black armbands to their uniforms as seen on this getty images photo of tito francona

francona is wearing it on his left sleeve, although i've seen another photo with it on the right.

i found this next photo online at spokeo while searching for a different armband.

that's a picture of the angels' jim fregosi waiting to bat against the yankees in july of 1962.  i couldn't find any information about the armband, but knowing that the angels were playing in dodger stadium (or chavez ravine as the angels referred to it) that season, i took a chance and asked dodger historian mark langill if he had any information regarding the memorial.  he was kind enough to answer my question, noting that angel manager bill rigney's father passed away earlier that month, and it was most likely that the armband was worn in the elder rigney's honor.  langill included a copy of a page from the sporting news that noted rigney had missed the previous series to attend the funeral, but returned in time for the games against the yankees.

in 1964, the houston colt .45's wore a black armband for teammate jim umbricht.  this is a picture of manager nellie fox's jersey showing the armband

and here's a photo of ken johnson pitching with the armband

umbricht had been diagnosed with lymphoma late in 1963 following a season in which he posted a 2.61 era in 35 games.  he passed away in april of 1964, and the team, in addition to the armband, retired umbricht's number 32.

i mentioned earlier that i found the jim fregosi photo from 1962 while looking for a different armband.  the memorial i was searching for was the armband that the angels wore for during the last homestand of the 1978 season in honor of their murdered teammate lyman bostock.  the closest i could come was this photo of the club

recognizing a moment of silence in chicago the day after bostock was killed.

the dodgers played an exhibition series in japan following the 1993 season, and they added a memorial patch to their jerseys for that series.  you can see just the edge of the black rectangular patch on tommy lasordas jersey in this photo

the patch was worn for owner peter o'malley's longtime assistant akihiro 'ike' ikuhara who first joined o'malley in 1965.  ike was 55 when he died from stomach cancer in late 1992.

in 1995, the a's lost their owner walter haas, jr. to prostate cancer, and they wore a circular patch with his initials and a dark green armband on their right sleeves in his memory.  here's a getty images photo of mark mcgwire that shows the patch, but not so much the armband

the armband shows up better on this getty images photo of terry steinbach

haas had been the ceo of levi strauss & company since the late 1950's, and he bought the a's from charlie finley in 1980 in order to keep them in the bay area.

across the bay eight years later, in august of 2003, bobby bonds passed away at the age of 57.  the giants, the team for which bonds had played for the first seven years of his career, added a patch with his initials for the remainder of the season.  here's a getty images photo of bobby's son barry wearing the patch

i met bobby bonds at a hot stove dinner in the late 1970's or early 1980's, and he signed my autograph book for me.  he seemed nice, but the thing i remember most is the crushed velvet shirt he was wearing.

card manufacturers didn't seem to use many photos from blue jays home games in the late 2000's.  unfortunately, that meant that i couldn't find any cards that showed the memorial that the team wore during home games only for their former chairman sam pollock in 2007.  instead, i only have this getty images photo of frank thomas to share

pollock worked for the blue jays from 1995-2000, but was better known for his twenty years as an executive with the montreal canadiens of the nhl. pollock helped to build the habs dynasty from the late 1950's into the 1970's, and has his name engraved on lord stanley's cup twelve times.

also in 2007, the nationals

yankees

and red sox,

along with virginia tech alumnus joe saunders of the angels, all wore the virginia tech 'vt' logo (the nationals and saunders wore hats, while the yankees added the logo to their hats, and the red sox put the logo above the red sock patch on their sleeves) in response to the killing of 32 people by a gunman on the university campus on april 16, 2007.  the nats wore the vt hats on april 17 as noted on this 2008 topps year in review card (thanks jeff!),

while the yankees wore the logo on may 23.  joe saunders wore the virgina tech hat during his start on april 20, which is commemorated on his card from the 2008 topps year in review insert set

the red sox also wore the logo on april 20, the same day that they wore another memorial.

the green jerseys and caps that the red sox wore that day (here's another photo featuring david ortiz)

were in honor of the boston celtics' legendary coach and executive red auerbach, who had passed away the previous october.

another one day memorial was worn by the padres in 2011.  they wore their 1984 throwbacks (minus the ray a. kroc memorial) on july 14, and added a memorial patch for their former manager dick williams who had died a week earlier.  here's a photo of heath bell from that game

and here's a better look at the patch which featured williams' initials,

and was not done in the same manner as the kroc memorial - in order to differentiate the two, i would imagine.  williams, of course, led the padres to their first pennant in 1984, and was elected to the hall of fame thanks to his four pennants, two world series titles, and 1,571 career wins as a manager.

in addition to wearing memorial patches for johnny pesky in 2012, the angels sported the stan musial memorial patch in 2013.  here's coach alfredo griffin showing the patch

while the angels had no connection to pesky or musial, former cardinal slugger albert pujols considered stan the man to be a friend and insisted that the team wear the patch during a july series with the cardinals. because they were already wearing a patch for their team doctor, lewis yocum, the angels wore the musial patch only on their batting practice jerseys.

also in 2013, the astros wore a patch honoring the houston fire department and the four firefighters who died during a hotel restaurant fire on may 31.  the astros wore the patch, visible in the getty images photo of jd martinez below

for their june 4-6 series only.

the rangers, meanwhile, wore a 'support west' patch on their right sleeves on july 5 (seen here in this getty images photo of adrian beltre)

to bring attention to aid efforts for the city of west, texas and the families of the 15 people killed by a fertilizer explosion on april 17.

in july of last season, the a's held a 25-year reunion for their 1989 world series championship team.  one member of the team, that year's cy young award winner bob welch, had died at the age of 57 the previous month.  prior to the game, members of the 1989 team each laid a rose on the pitching mound in welch's memory, and the team added a 'bw' patch to their jerseys.  here's a getty images photo of luke gregerson from that july 19 game

and here's a photo of welch's teammates sporting the patch

i am glad that the a's took time to honor welch during this reunion, and i'm glad that welch won his second ring in 1989 instead of 1988.

so far this season, there have been memorials worn for oscar taveras (cardinals), ernie banks (cubs, royals, yankees), minnie minoso (white sox), al rosen (indians), lon simmons (giants), and sara buck (phillies). whether or not they get posted here, i'll certainly be on the lookout for those memorials in this year's update set and next year's offerings, too.