the topps dodgers autograph project - the end of the road

here is the final installment of the topps dodger autograph project - a project that was completed in a sort of happenstance way.  i sent out a bunch of ttm requests, and eventually got back a card from each year that topps has put out cards, with the exception of just three - 1951, 1954, and 1955.  i don't count traded or update sets, but when i have a card from those sets, i add it to the list.  also, no player appears on the list more than once.

here we go!

2009 topps, matt kemp

this card, you might recall, was the result of a 50/50 ttm trade i made with reader cory.  quite a good haul there.  i have also received signed 2009 topps cards from juan pierre, clayton kershaw (as part of that same 50/50 deal, and joe torre.

2009 topps update & highlights, brad ausmus

this ausmus card is the only card from 2009 update that i have received signed through the mail.  thanks for the awesomeness, mr. ausmus!

2010 topps, juan pierre

i have also received 2010 topps cards signed by dodgers casey blake, carl erskine and rocky bridges (on the franchise history card), jon garland, and george sherrill.

2010 topps update & highlights, ronnie belliard

the only other 2010 update card i have had signed through the mail was courtesy of hong-chih kuo, who actually signed two 2010 topps update cards for me (base and all-star).

2011 topps, hong-chih kuo

speak of the devil.  h-ck is also the only dodger to sign and return a copy of his 2011 topps card.

2011 topps update & highlights, matt guerrier

guerrier was known as a good signer when he was with the twins.  he signed for folks before games quite a bit.  jerry sands has also signed and returned his card from 2011 update for me.

2012 topps, nathan eovaldi

i didn't get this card back until i sent it to eovaldi c/o the marlins.  it was the second attempt i had made, with the first one going to the dodgers early in the season.  i was happy to see it come back (in september, i believe) as it is the only 2012 topps card that i have had successfully had signed.

2012 topps update & highlights, matt treanor

this one came back just the other day, and is also the only example i have of a 2012 topps update signed card.  i am really hoping that adam kennedy gets around to sending his card back to me sometime soon, though.

here is the final tally, at least until the 2013 cards come out.

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

2005 topps - chad billingsley

2005 topps update & highlights - jason phillips

2006 topps - bill mueller

2007 topps - james loney

2007 topps update & highlights - andy laroche

2008 topps - delwyn young

2008 topps update & highlights - casey blake

2009 topps - matt kemp

2009 topps update & highlights - brad ausmus

2010 topps - juan pierre

2010 topps update & highlights - ronnie belliard

2011 topps - hong-chih kuo

2011 topps update & highlights - matt guerrier

2012 topps - nathan eovaldi

2012 topps update & highlights - matt treanor

thanks to all the players who signed and returned my cards!

topps serves up more dodger variations - a side by side comparison of the 2010 dodgers

yes, it's time to compare the dodgers from the flagship set(s) to their team set counterparts.  2009 was a year with many variations.  how will 2010 fare?  let's find out.  as always, it's flagship/update card on the left, team set card on the right.

first up, lad1: manny ramirez

nice of manny to make an appearance in the team set in 2010.  topps left him out of the 2009 set, i suppose because he was unsigned after the '08 season.  the only variation i detect here is the topps logo, which is slightly displaced.

lad2 is james loney

from the home whites to the away grays.

ronald belisario is lad3

topps didn't issue a belisario card in series 1, 2 or the update set.  maybe they had visa problems.

lad4 is clayton kershaw

it's the same.

as is lad5, jonathan broxton

and lad6, casey blake

lad7, matt kemp

gets a tighter crop in the team set

andre ethier is lad8

with no variation.

lad9 is ronnie belliard

belliard had to wait until the update set to get his regular topps card, which is rotated and not airbrushed like his team set card.  at least i think that's airbrushed.  belliard came aboard at the end of august, 2009 so there is a slight chance he is pictured in an actual dodger uni.

lad10 is chad billingsley

and his card gives us a different angle on his delivery.

russell martin is lad11

and his cards are cropped slightly different.  a fairly weak variation.

lad12 is the departed rafael furcal

the team set photo is a tad racy, with furky standing between musial and slaughter.

lad13 is the also departed george sherrill

mega-crop variation!

hiroki kuroda is lad14

again with the cropping!

lad15 is mark loretta

who was shut out in the topps regular sets.  because he retired.  would have preferred a jamey carroll card instead.

lad16 is hong-chih kuo

whose update card is different from the team set card.  the team set card photo comes from san francisco, which seems to be a default locale for dodgers pitcher's cards

the final card, lad17, is blake dewitt

and thankfully, his topps base card is different from the team set card.  dewitt looks like a vampire on his team set card.  no joe torre in this set, although he is there in dewitt's card, lurking blurrily in the dugout.

final count: 1 logo variation, 6 photo variations, and 4 cropping variations.  plus two cards that had no comps in the base topps sets.  not a bad haul - definitely worth a pick up for the team collector.

the postman rang thrice

i got some mail yesterday.  three baseball card related items.  the first was a 1968 topps ron hunt card that i had sent off in hopes of an autograph.  mr. hunt returned it with a request for $15 donated to his baseball school.  fair enough, but i don't think i will follow through.

the second package was from cliff at capewood's collections.  cliff sent me a nice stack of cards after i inquired about a trade.  we had done good business a while back, and the cards he sent this time were absolutely fantastic.  like this 2011 topps heritage rafael furcal

which just happens to be a short print.  i bought a couple of packs and got exactly two short prints, neither of which were dodgers.  russ mitchell is the other dodger sp.

1988 score tim crews

he's pitching in dodger stadium in what may be the twilight.  i always think of crews this time of year when teams are winding down in spring training.  as you may recall, tim and fellow indians pitcher steve olin died during spring training 1993 when tim's boat hit a dock.  bobby ojeda was injured in the accident.  crews pitched well for the dodgers in 1988 but was left off of the postseason roster.

2003 upper deck victory kaz ishii

i don't recall ishii as clutch, unless you really needed the opposing team to get a walk.  then he seemed to come through quite often.  ha.

2007 topps hit parade luis gonzalez

luis, in one of the few cards te feature him as a dodger, ranked 7th on the active career hits leaders back when this card was issued.  he fell behind biggio, bonds, julio franco (!), steve finley, omar vizquel (still ticking), griffey jr, and sheff.  number 9 on the list was ivan rodriguez who i am sure has passed gonzo by now.

here's reed johnson's only dodger card - a 2010 topps update number

i think johnson is back with the cubs after his lone year in la.  he may even start over alfonso soriano before the season is over, that's how far soriano has fallen.

here's vicente padilla on a 2011 topps walmart black card

he and jon garland are starting the year off on the wrong foot.  maybe ned can swing a deal for kevin slowey.

cliff also sent me my first non-dodger russell martin card

isn't opening day in march this year?  why did topps put april on the cards?  this photoshop job has russell in his yankee roadies playing against the padres.  someone years down the road may be very confused by this card.

there were also a couple of cards featuring a dodger teammate of martin who joined him in yankees camp this year, ronnie belliard and his 2010 topps update card

which brings us to the third piece of mail i received, which was that same belliard card back from the man himself

and he kindly scribbled on it.  i think i saw yesterday that he was released by the yankees.  that stinks, even though he underperformed last year.  we'll always have his 2009 late season performance in dodger blue to remember.

thanks cliff and ronnie, and ron hunt too for filling my mailbox yesterday!

more 2010 goose joak originals

here's a few more goose joak originals for your enjoyment.  or maybe just mine. all of the photos are from getty images.

dodger stadium

the vertical orientation of the design this year wouldn't normally lend itself to a stadium shot, but i saw this one and it works pretty well.  every year around this time i get homesick, and this is a big reason why.  what a great stadium.

ronnie belliard

belliard has been great this year so far in his super-sub role.  at the plate, anyway - he's hitting over .400 thanks in large part to his two three-hit games, including that monster game against the pirates where he was a single short of the cycle.  in the field he's committed 3 errors already in limited action.  yikes.

chad billingsley

bills is an enigma.  the natives are getting restless and feel that he needs to sort things out quickly.  there's a lot expected from him, and so far this year we're not even getting the good first half.

casey blake

no beard this year.  he's been fairly solid, but is tied with belliard and russell martin for the team lead in errors and has only scored 4 runs so far.

jonathan broxton

there haven't been too many save situations so far for brox (thanks george).  in fact, he has just 1 save in 6 appearances.  he's striking guys out, though, with 9 in just under 6 innings.

jamey carroll

this signing surprised me because of the fact that we already had ronnie belliard and blake dewitt on the roster, along with chin lung hu.  no offense, but i think hu should be here instead.

blake dewitt

i was happy to see dewitt get the starting job at second.  with a .426 obp, he's doing what he needs to do, although all those times on base have only translated to 5 runs so far.  maybe a fair number of his walks have been intentional to get to the pitcher's spot, i'm not sure.

speaking of pitchers (sort of), here's russ ortiz

he's no longer a dodger.  which is probably a good thing.  he appeared in 6 games and gave up 8 earned runs in 7 innings.  i am guessing ned owed him something from their time in san francisco.

i have a few more cards lined up but i'll share them another time, although i think you can see them all by going to dave's site.

garland, thome and belliard - oh my!

in what may be the last of the dodgers' 2009 goose joak originals, here are the latest acquisitions.

jon garland.jim thome.ronnie belliard.

that is all.