the numbers don't add up to junk

it's not often that i receive a package of cards that contain no plain old base cards, but that's what happened a while back.  for some reason, i've been delinquent in posting about this particular trade package that i received from wes at jaybarkerfan's junk, but that doesn't reflect my level of appreciation for it.  there were 8 cards total, with all but one being serial numbered.  have a look.

2002 fleer tradition update eric gagne all-star glossy edition; numbered /200

the sport goggles! game over!

2003 donruss studio hong-chih kuo numbered /1500

that's a nice angle on the top deck and reserve sections of dodger stadium behind the giant kuo.  these days, those seats are baby blue or sea-foam blue or whatever it was that the o'malley's originally had installed in the stadium.  as for the card, this is kuo's base card, but he was a rookie, so his card in the set is serially numbered.

2003 topps kevin brown gold parallel numbered /2003

2003 was brown's bounce-back season for the dodgers as he returned to form with a 2.39 era and made the yankees want to trade for him despite his huge contract.

2003 topps chrome andy ashby gold refractor numbered /449

that is a nice shiny card.  unlike brown, ashby was 3-10 with an era over 5 in his final year with the dodgers.  still, he wasn't unwanted, as he returned to san diego as a free agent for the 2004 season.

2004 donruss classics edwin jackson numbered /1999

similar to the kuo card, this is jackson's base card - it's just numbered because he was a rookie.  i've mentioned seeing jackson's final 2003 start before - it was in san francisco, and he allowed 2 hits and no runs over 6 innings.  he struck out 7, but gave up 8 walks!  still, the dodgers were up 1-0 after 8 innings, barry bonds had struck out twice (and walked and was hit by a pitch), and i was looking forward to seeing eric gagne get a save.  the dodgers went and scored three times in the top of the 9th, so even though gagne pitched, he didn't get the save.  in fact, i think that the only game in which i saw gagne earn a save in person was the night before shawn green's 4-homer game in milwaukee.  that was in the early part of gagne's career as a closer, so it wasn't quite the event that a gagne save eventually became.

2006 topps finest jd drew xfractor numbered /250

moving on…

2007 bowman russell martin orange parallel numbered /250

martin has caught nine extra-inning complete games this season, including a 16-inning affair.  i don't know if that is abnormal or not, but it's a cool stat.  he's also hitting .292 on the season which would look nice for a catcher in a dodger box score these days.

so i noted that there was only one card in the package that wasn't serial numbered, and it was this 2014 topps ricky nolasco trajectory auto

topps went all out with nolasco in 2014, adding his sticker auto to cards in multiple sets, and then he went and signed with the twins.

thanks again for all the cards wes!

cards from ten years back

continuing with my efforts to clear out the scanned folder, here are some cards from that year of years, 2003...

hey! do you recognize this card? 

i would guess not, as it is not a regular 2003 topps card of chad billingsley, but rather one of those 'factory set exclusive' cards that topps used to (they don't do this anymore, do they?) put out to get you to buy the factory set after you had put together a hand collated set by purchasing packs.  jonathan broxton got one in 2006 as well.  i have the bills and brox cards with my topps dodger teams sets, but not the five 2007 cards that came in the dodger factory set that year.  inconsistent much?

here is a regular 2003 topps card, and it is of andy ashby

good lord, that's mondesi's number!

2003 topps chrome dave roberts

best remembered for half a season (or just one postseason game, really) for the red sox in 2004, roberts wasn't a full-time player until he joined the dodgers at the age of 30.

rickey henderson didn't join the dodgers until the age of 44.  here's his 2003 topps traded card

rickey had spent the first part of the season in the independent atlantic league before finishing out his big league career in dodger blue.

2003 donruss signature series hong-chih kuo

kuo was hurt in 2003 and didn't debut in the big leagues until 2005.  we'll always have 2008 and 2010, though - those were some nice seasons.

2003 fleer ultra hideo nomo

nomo was coming off of a great rebound year when he won another 16 games in 2003.  he threw the last two shutouts of his career that season, a four-hitter in his first start of the year, and a two-hitter a couple months later.

2003 leaf certified materials cesar izturis

and joe thurston

the double play combo of the future!  izturis stuck around for a couple of solid years (before being dealt to the cubs in 2006 for greg maddux), but thurston spent most of his time in the minors and then bounced around the majors after the dodgers sent him to the yankees in 2005.

2003 upper deck edwin jackson

speaking of bouncing around, jackson might give mike morgan and octavio dotel a run for their money.  he's pitched for 8 teams in his 11 years in the big leagues.

last, but certainly not least, 2003 upper deck vintage adrian beltre

can't wait for next year's vintage!

andy ashby through the mail successes!

former dodger pitcher andy ashby signed some cards for me through the mail a few years ago.  he pitched for the dodgers at the same time as jeff shaw, whose ttm generosity was showcased earlier today.  unlike shaw, however, ashby had a card in the 2001 upper deck set.  and, it was a much better card than the standard pitcher card.  he signed a copy for me.

ashby signed with the dodgers as a free agent after the 2000 season, and he was 2-0 with a 3.86 era in his first two starts of the season when he was sidelined with a muscle strain that turned out to be a torn flexor muscle which cost him the remainder of the season.  he returned to pitch for the dodgers in 2002 and 2003, but was not as effective as everyone hoped.  still, that bp he obviously took paid off in 2002, as he swatted his lone career home run that year.

here's his 2001 topps card signed

as well as a 2001 bowman heritage.

both are much more boring cards than that 2001 upper deck piece of cardboard.

thanks for signing my cards andy - we'll always have those first two starts and that great upper deck card!

victory is mine! along with a complete list of the double play cards in my collection!

so i picked up a few upper deck victory singles a couple of weeks ago from both 2001 and 2002.  some of which featured double plays, like this adam kennedy card from the 2002 set

and this jose offerman card from the 2001 set

and these cubbies - ricky gutierrez

and eric young, also from the 2001 set

and i can't forget about damian easley from the 2002 set

or this dick schofield card from 1991 upper deck that seems to show kenny lofton getting a cheekful of glove after trying to break up a double play

these cards have been added to my double play binder, as well as the complete list of double play cards in my collection that is now posted over at my want list site.  any card not listed there is greatly desired by me. 

another card on that list that is fairly new to me is this 1995 upper deck minors danny klassen card.

klassen, the pride of leamington ontario, played in the majors for a handful of seasons, but never had a better card than that.

i also grabbed this nomar garciaparra card.  i know - it is not a non-red sox nomar - but at first i thought it might be a shot of the aftermath of a dp turn.

turns out, i think bernie williams has just stolen a base.  false alarm.

some of the impetus to pick up the victory cards came because i was looking for some cards of obscure dodgers.  it doesn't get much more obscure than bruce aven.

aven played in a total of 30 games for the dodgers over the course of the 2000 and 2001 seasons.  he had 13 hits as a dodger, 3 of which were home runs.  two of those homers, including one of the ones that resulted in the photo used for his 2001 upper deck victory card shown above, came in his second game as a dodger at the expense of kerry wood in chicago.

there are more cards of andy ashby as a dodger than there are of bruce aven, but this one features the good ol' former team's uniform

not that he wore the dodger uniform much in 2001.  ashby won both of his starts for the dodgers in 2001, each of which came against the eventual world champion diamondbacks.  he then missed the rest of the season due to an elbow injury, but returned to pitch for the dodgers in 2002 and 2003.

jim leyritz only appeared for the dodgers during the 2000 season, his last in the big leagues, making this 2001 card a final tribute.

unfortunately, i didn't scan the back.  if i had, you would see that he hit 1 of his 90 career home runs for the dodgers.  he appeared in 41 games as a dodger and hit an even .200 after starting the season with the yankees.

that was .125 points below gary sheffield who led the team in batting average over the course of the 2000 season.  how did i know that? because i picked up a team leader card, too.

i was excited about chan ho park's 2000 season - 18 wins, more than 200 strike outs, an era of 3.27, but he still had way too many walks.  he led the team in wins in 2001 as well, although his total dropped to 15 and his era crept to 3.50.  after that, he was gone to texas.

whatever, this post was about some double play cards and my comprehensive 'have' list of people turning two or at least a reference to a twin killing.  check it out and let me know if you have any cards (or just know of any) that aren't on the list!

'o' no another group break

no surprise - i took the dodgers in ryan's latest group break at 'o' no another orioles blog. the cool thing is that i knew that i was guaranteed to get the entire dodger team from the 1998 fleer tradition update set, all of which were new to my collection.  here's my favorite of the bunch, adrian beltre's rookie (or is it x-rc?) card

i like cards that feature shots like this.  i may start a new type collection.  stay tuned.

here are a couple of the other dodgers in the set - mike metcalfe

and jeff shaw

metcalfe made his big league debut in 1998 by way of pinch hitting for juan castro in a september game against the giants.  robb nen struck him out.  he made three more appearances that season, all as a pinch runner, and had two stolen bases as a result.  he returned to the big leagues in 2000, when he collected his lone big league hit, an infield single off of jamie moyer.

ryan also busted some 1999 topps chrome, and i received this roger cedeno card as a result

looks like roger is breaking up a double play here.  very nice.

not so nice was kevin brown, but this 1999 upper deck hologrfx card is not too bad.

in fact, it's ausome, apparently.

2002 upper deck mvp was a favorite set of mine when it came out.  here's andy ashby

and some guy with the last name 'rookie'

no, that's victor alvarez.  i don't know why upper deck didn't stick with the player's name like the other cards. if only that silly rookie card logo had existed back then, maybe we would have had a consistent card design.

my second team in the break was the indians.  here's the worst card of the bunch - 2010 upper deck progressive field card

do you think they even bothered to roll down the window as they were driving by?

ryan also did me a favor and included this 2012 bowman dee gordon parallel that i coveted

thanks for the break and trade ryan!

the topps dodger autograph project - 2002 through 2004

short and sweet today with the latest installment of the topps dodger autograph project.  that would be dodger ttm successes for each year of topps cards.  traded sets are not included in the completion of the project, but i will show them if i have them.  for this post, i am three for three with the traded sets.

2002 topps, andy ashby

ashby spent three years in la after pretty much owning the dodgers during his career with the padres and phillies.  he was 8-3 with a 2.22 era in 21 games (18 starts) against the blue.  as a dodger, ashby managed just a 14-23 record in 53 appearances.  he's a good signer with a nice autograph.  i also have had 2002 topps ttm successes with jim tracy, jeff shaw, and chad kreuter, plus i received a signed davey lopes card in a trade with padrographs.

2002 topps traded, joel hanrahan

hanrahan never pitched for the dodgers.  he left the organization as a free agent in 2006 and signed on with the nationals.  a trade with pittsburgh later, and he's a two-time all-star closer.  i have also had 2002 topps traded cards signed through the mail by steve garvey, koyie hill, and brian jordan (with fee).

2003 topps, jim tracy

tracy managed the dodgers from 2001 through 2005.  he was able to get them back to the postseason for the first time since 1996 in 2004, but he went kind of crazy with his lineups in 2005 and was relieved of his duties.  he has since managed the pirates and the rockies, with his best work probably coming in 2009 when he took over in colorado and had the team playing at a .638 clip over the last 116 games of the season.  other dodgers from the 2003 set who have signed their cards through the mail for me include franklin gutierrez, brian jordan (with fee), and dave roberts.

2003 topps traded, ron coomer

the coom dog lowered the boom for me at the twins autograph party one year, so this isn't a ttm success.  it's the only 2003 topps traded card that i have signed, however, so i'm going to show it anyway.

2004 topps, edwin jackson

i saw e-jack pitch in san francisco towards the end of the 2003 season.  he gave up only a couple of hits but allowed 8 walks in that game.  the dodgers still won the game, which is the only one i have seen in person at pacbell/at&t park.  i did see a 49ers game at candlestick about a year later and i have to say i am happy to have not seen a baseball game there.  as for jackson, he has bounced around a bit since then, but signed a couple cards for me on one of his stops.  chicago, i think.  the only other 2004 topps dodger success i have had was jim tracy.

2004 topps traded, milton bradley

bradley signed this card during the spring that he spent with the mariners.  it's the only card from the 2004 topps traded set that i have signed, and i really like it.  i rooted hard for bradley, not only when he was a dodger, but everywhere he went.  i hope he is doing well now, too.

thanks to all these players for signing my cards!  here's a running list of the topps dodger autograph project:

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

1975 topps - ron cey

1975 topps mini - joe ferguson

1976 topps - bill russell

1976 topps traded - dusty baker

1977 topps - steve garvey

1978 topps - dave lopes

1979 topps - charlie hough

1980 topps - jerry reuss

1981 topps - doug rau

1981 topps traded - ken landreaux

1982 topps - dave goltz

1982 topps traded - jose morales

1983 topps - ron roenicke

1983 topps traded - rafael landestoy

1984 topps - fernando valenzuela

1984 topps traded - mike vail

1985 topps - burt hooton

1986 topps - enos cabell

1987 topps - steve sax

1987 topps traded - matt young

1988 topps - len matuszek

1989 topps - mickey hatcher

1990 topps - kal daniels

1990 topps traded - juan samuel

1991 topps - tim belcher

1992 topps - roger mcdowell

1993 topps - dave hansen

1993 topps traded - tim wallach

1994 topps - jody reed

1995 topps - chris gwynn

1996 topps - todd hollandsworth

1997 topps - brett butler

1998 topps - greg gagne

1999 topps - jose vizcaino

2000 topps - jeff shaw

2001 topps - chan ho park

2002 topps - andy ashby

2002 topps traded - joel hanrahan

2003 topps - jim tracy

2003 topps traded - ron coomer

2004 topps - edwin jackson

2004 topps traded - milton bradley