the rest of 2005 brings the first steve garvey binder to an end

before i get to sheet 59 in the steve garvey binder, i want to note that i did receive the 2005 donruss greats card in the mail the other day, and so i now know that the first card on sheet 55 is not the base version, but rather the un-numbered silver holofoil.  what that means is that all of these cards are going to shift one spot in the binders when i insert the actual base card in that first slot on sheet 55.  i already have these next sheets scanned, so i'm just going to go with it.

here's sheet 59:

those cards are:

1. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team quads swatch double padres relic (with willie mccovey, tony gwynn, and rickey henderson) /75
2. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team quads swatch single spectrum prime black padres relic (with willie mccovey, tony gwynn, and rickey henderson) /10
3. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team six dodgers (with darryl strawberry, rickey henderson, kazuhisa ishii, paul loduca, and kevin brown) /100
4. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team six swatch single dodgers relic (with darryl strawberry, rickey henderson, kazuhisa ishii, paul loduca, and kevin brown) /150
5. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team six swatch single spectrum dodgers relic (with darryl strawberry, rickey henderson, kazuhisa ishii, paul loduca, and kevin brown) /100
6. 2005 playoff presitge
7. 2005 playoff prestige xtra bases red /150
8. 2005 playoff prestige xtra bases green /50
9. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons /100

again - the padres team quad cards had garvey and mccovey on the back, but they are considered the front in the binder.  it's too bad that garvey has the most non-descript patch piece on the card.  there are many more parallel versions of both the padres team quad and the dodgers team six cards, as well as the playoff prestige cards.  i've only got a few, as you can see.

here are the backs:

there are two different ishii jerseys being cut up for these cards, and i'm guessing that the loduca jersey being used is actually a mets black alternate.  playoff could have left loduca off the card and put al oliver on instead, as they did have oliver relics in that set.

here's sheet 60:

those cards are:

1. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons century silver /50
2. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons material jersey relic /50
3. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons material combo bat/jersey relic /10
4. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons signature material trio mlb auto-bat/bat/jersey relic /10
5. 2005 topps all-time fan favorites
6. 2005 topps all-time fan favorites autograph
7. 2005 topps pristine legends
8. 2005 topps pristine legends gold die-cut refractor /65
9. 2005 topps pristine legends valuable performance relic

just like the previous page, this sheet holds only a fraction of the available parallels for the prime cuts card.  there are also a few more parallels for the fan favorites card, including a refractor that i am currently watching.

here are the backs:

sheet 61 is not full because it's the last sheet of this binder and i figured i should end the binder at the end of 2005, leaving some empty spaces for any additional cards i might obtain featuring the garv between 1989 and 2005.  i've already got the 2005 donruss greats card to add, so i can pick up 5 others without having to add a sheet.  anyway, here is sheet 61:

those cards are:

1. 2005 topps retired signature
2. 2005 topps retired signature gold parallel
3. 2005 upper deck ultimate signature signs of october dual auto (with ron guidry) /250

here are the backs:

yes, it used to be a sign of october when the dodgers and yankees would square off.  it's now been over thirty years since those two teams last met in the post season, and garvey was 2 for 6 against guidry in that most recent clash (1981 world series).

the next binder is on the clock - stay tuned...

sunday morning target dodgers - uncle robbie pays a visit

it must be sunday because here's another 15 cards from a sheet in the 1990 target dodgers 100th anniverary giveaway set. let's get right to it.

doyle alexander

alexander was part of the dodgers' hugely successful 1968 draft class.  he was taken in the 9th round and was pitching in the major leagues three years later.  after going 6-6 with four complete games for the 1971 dodgers, alexander was traded to the orioles in the frank robinson deal.  he may be best remembered for being traded by the braves to the tigers in 1987 for john smoltz.

lloyd brown

brown began his career with the robins in 1925, but found better success with the senators later on. in his lone year with brooklyn, brown was 0-3 in 17 appearances (five starts). from 1928-1932, brown was 58-49 for the senators, and he also pitched for the browns, red sox, indians, and phillies during his big league career.

hal gregg

gregg pitched for the dodgers from 1943-1947.  he won 18 games for the club in 1945 after losing 16 the previous season.  overall, gregg was 37-41 as a dodger during the regular season, and 0-1 in postseason play (he pitched in three games during the 1947 world series) before he was traded to the pirates in the trade that  also sent dixie walker to pittsburgh.

roy henshaw

the dodgers traded for henshaw in 1937 after he had gone 21-11 with a 3.68 era for the cubs over the previous three seasons. with the dodgers, however, henshaw was just 5-12 with a 5.07 era in 42 appearances.  as a result, he was dealt to the cardinals after the season ended in the deal that brought leo durocher to brooklyn.

george kelly

'high pockets' kelly belongs to that list of hall of famers (greg maddux and rickey henderson are recent examples) who are not typically remembered for their time with the club, but ended their career playing for the dodger organization.  for kelly, that was 1932, and he joined the dodgers after spending the 1931 season in the minors.  kelly hit .243 in 64 games for brooklyn, and netted his 1000th career rbi while doing so.  he was elected to the hall of fame in 1973 by the veteran's committee, although he is often cited as the least worthy hall of famer.

ken lehman

lehman was a september call-up in 1952, and struck out the first batter he ever faced in the big leagues (sam jethroe).  he was 1-2 in his four appearances that month, and impressed folks enough that he was added to the dodgers' postseason roster.  he appeared in one world series game against the yankees, and pitched two scoreless innings.  lehman returned to the majors in 1956, pitching in 25 games for brooklyn, but he appeared in just 3 games for them in 1957 before the orioles purchased his contract.

eddie miksis

speaking of the orioles, i think of miksis as one because his 1958 topps card (which featured him as an oriole) was one of the first '58 cards i ever owned.  anyway, miksis started his big league career as a dodger in 1944 when he was just 17.  he hit .220 in 26 games that year, and then returned to the majors in 1946 after a stint in the navy, but hit only .146 in 23 contests.  miksis improved in 1947, hitting .267 and appearing in the world series. he remained with the dodgers into the 1951 season until he was traded to the cubs in the andy pafko deal.

earl naylor

naylor, who had spent a couple of years with the phillies earlier in the decade, appeared in three games for the 1946 dodgers, although he did not play in the field. he pinch-ran and scored a run in his dodger debut, and then was used as a pinch-hitter twice - he grounded into a double play and struck out.

wilbert robinson

uncle robbie, who had a 17-year playing career as a catcher, was the manager of the brooklyn baseball club from 1914 through 1931.  as the team had no official nickname, it took on the name 'robins' during robinson's tenure in reference to the manager.  his robins teams won more than 90 games three times, twice claiming the national league pennant.  for his career, robinson won 1399 games as a manager (1375 with brooklyn and 24 with baltimore when he was a player-manager in 1902) and lost 1398 (1341 with brooklyn and 57 with baltimore).  he was elected to the hall of fame in 1945, and is one of seven brooklyn/los angeles managers so honored for their managerial careers.

dave sax

the older brother of steve sax, dave sax made his big league debut in september of 1982 - the year after his younger brother first played in the majors.  he appeared in just two games that year, going 0 for 2 and seeing action in left field in his second game (most likely due to the fact that it was the 16th inning and tommy lasorda was running out of players - luckily steve garvey hit a walk-off homer to win the game in the bottom of the 16th).  sax was back with the dodgers in 1983 and finally saw some action behind the plate at his regular position, and at the same time that his brother was playing second base.  unfortunately, he was 0 for 8 with an rbi during his stints with the dodgers that year, and didn't make it back to the majors until 1985 with the red sox.

joe simpson

simpson was a september call-up for the dodgers in each season from 1975 through 1978, although he did get a couple of midseason call-ups during that time as well.  he hit .188 in 71 games for the dodgers during that time, and had his contract purchased by the mariners prior to the 1979 season.  simpson is best known these days as one of the braves' broadcasters, as he's been performing that function since 1992.

milt stock

stock joined the robins in 1924 following 11 years with the giants, phillies, and cardinals.  he hit .242 as the team's third baseman his first year, and then moved to second base in 1925 and hit .328.  at one point that year, stock had four consecutive 4-hit games, which is considered to be a record.  stock finished his playing career with just three games in 1926 for the robins, and he went on to manage in the minors and eventually coach in the majors, including for the dodgers in 1949 and 1950.

bill sudakis

sudakis was a third baseman who was drafted by the dodgers in 1964 and made his debut for them in 1968. he was their primary third baseman in 1969, and his 14 home runs were second best on the team that year. in 1970, billy grabarkewitz got most of the playing time at third, and so the dodgers had sudakis play other positions, including catcher - a position that sudakis had not previously played at the big league level, and had only played for a handful of games in the arizona instructional league. it was also curious because he had bad knees.  the mets picked sudakis off of waivers prior to the 1973 season, and he went on to spend time with them, the yankees, the rangers, the indians, and the angels before retiring after the 1975 season.

elmer valo

the owner of one of my favorite non-dodger baseball cards was himself a dodger in 1957 and 1958.  acquired in a trade with the phillies, valo played in 81 games for the brooklyn dodgers in their final season.  in fact, he was the second to last dodger batter at ebbetts field, grounding out before gil hodges struck out to end the 8th inning on september 24, 1957.  the following year, valo played in 65 games for the los angeles dodgers in their first season. it was the second time that valo had played for a team that relocated while he was on the roster (he had previously played for the philadelphia/kansas city a's), and wouldn't be the last (he would later play for the washington senators/minnesota twins).

sandy vance

another member of the dodgers' 1968 draft class, vance pitched in 30 games as a major leaguer - all with the dodgers in 1970 and 1971. he was 7-7 as a rookie in 1970 with two complete games and a 3.13 era.  in 1971, however, he was just 2-1 with a 6.92 era. vance continued to pitch in the minors through 1973, but was unable to return to the majors.

there are only two sheets left in the 1990 target set to show, so we are definitely close to the end.  i'll have one of those sheets next week.  stay tuned….

sunday morning target dodgers - russell and yeager, but not that russell or yeager

happy mother's day!  here are some more cards from a sheet of 15 that was part of the 1990 target dodgers giveaway set.

bob aspromonte

aspromonte was a brooklyn native who signed with the dodgers in 1956, and actually got an at bat that same year as an 18-year old.  he next appeared in the big leagues for the los angeles dodgers in 1960.  after playing in 68 games for the dodgers over the 1960 and '61 seasons, aspromonted was picked by the houston colt .45's in the expansion draft, and he went on to play for that franchise for several seasons.  in fact, he was their franchise's inaugural third baseman, first batter, first batter to get a hit, and  first batter to walk.

ike boone

boone played for brooklyn from 1930-1932.  he appeared in 59 games over that span, hitting .268 with 3 homers and 15 rbi.  in his two full seasons in the majors (with the red sox in 1924 and 1925), boone had hit .337 and .330, respectively. that's not too surprising i suppose, since his career minor league batting average was around .370 over 13 seasons.

eddie brown

brown - nicknamed 'glass arm' for some reason, played for the robins in 1924 and 1925.  he hit .308 in 114 games the first year, and .306 in 153 games the next.  in 1926, brown was playing for the braves, and he hit .328 while leading the league with 201 hits.

george culver

culver had a 9-year major league career, spent mostly in the bullpen.  the dodgers picked him up towards the end of spring training in 1973, and culver pitched in 28 games for them that year - his second-to-last in the majors.  he was 4-4 with 2 saves and a 3.00 era through august 1, but was put on waivers and claimed by the phillies a few days later.

sid fernandez

el sid was thought to be the next fernando valenzuela by some dodger fans in 1983. he was a lefty, but whereas el toro was from mexico, fernandez was from hawaii.  he made two appearances (one start) for the dodgers in '83, going 0-1 with a 6.00 era.  after the season, the dodgers traded fernandez to the mets in the deal that netted them bob bailor and carlos diaz.  fernandez had his best seasons with the mets, helping them to a world championship in 1986.

mickey hatcher

hatcher was a dodger double dipper - you can read all about it here - who seemed to have some bad luck before helping the dodgers win the world series in 1988.  in march of 1981, the dodgers traded hatcher to minnesota, and then went on to win the world series.  six years later, the twins released hatcher, and then they, too, went on to win the fall classic.

johnny hudson

they called him…mr. chips, supposedly because he was a good person to have around when the chips were down according to baseball reference. hudson was a member of the dodgers from 1936-1940, and he appeared in the first night game at ebbets field, which was also the second of johnny vander meer's consecutive no-hitters (hudson was 0 for 1 with a strikeout) in 1938.

chief meyers

meyers was a catcher who had two top-five mvp finishes for the new york giants in 1912 and 1913. he joined the dodgers in 1916, and helped them win the pennant.  meyers was 2 for 10 against babe ruth's red sox in the world series that year, and he returned to the robins for the 1917 season.

fred norman

this may well be the only dodger card of fred norman featuring him in a dodger uniform.  he's still wearing his dodger jersey on his 1971 topps card, but his team affiliation is noted as the cardinals, as he pitched in one game for saint louis in 1970 after they claimed him on waivers from the dodgers late that september.  he had only made his dodger debut earlier that season, and his 1970 topps card shows him wearing a jersey that i believe to be from the kansas city a's (his previous major league team) although he is listed as a dodger. i believed that, but i was wrong - he's wearing his spokane indians minor league jersey on his 1970 topps card (thanks eric).

phil ortega

i can't believe i haven't featured a dodger card of phil ortega on the blog before.  i included him in a post about the frank howard to the senators trade that took place following the 1964 season, but he was a senator on his 1965 topps card that was featured in that post.  ortega was 7-13 with the dodgers over parts of five seasons prior to the aforementioned trade.

jim russell

jim (not bill) russell was with the dodgers in 1950 and 1951. he hit .216 over that span, although that average is somewhat skewed by his 0 for 13 season in 1951.

dick scott

scott pitched for the dodgers in 1963, although not in the world series.  he made an appearance in nine games for the dodgers that year, and he recorded a couple of saves.  after the season, scott was traded to the cubs (that explains his jersey in the photo that was used for the card), and 1964 turned out to be his last in the majors.

don stanhouse

stan the man unusual  was the closer for the american league champion baltimore orioles, when the dodgers signed him to a free agent contract for the 1980 season.  it was a bust of a signing, as stanhouse pitched in just 21 games for the dodgers, amassing an era of 5.04 in 1980.  he didn't pitch at all during the second year of the contract in 1981, and he attempted a comeback with the orioles in 1982.  the dodgers were on the hook for over $400k a year through 1984, however, and some feel that the failed free agent signings of stanhouse and dave goltz made the dodgers gun shy on the free agent market for a few years - until they signed kirk gibson in 1988.

sammy strang

strang was with the brooklyn superbas in 1903 and 1904.  he was their primary third baseman in 1903, hitting .272 in 135 games that year, but he was moved to second base in 1904, and played in only 63 games while hitting .192 in doing so.

joe yeager

joe (not steve) yeager did indeed play both the field and pitch while with the brooklyn franchise from 1898 through 1900.  he was 12-22 on the mound in 1898 when he completed 32 of his 33 starts (he also pitched as a reliever in 3 games) with an era of 3.65, and he also played some shortstop, outfield, and second base. in 1899, yeager played more games at short (11) than he did at pitcher (10), but in 1900, he pitched in two of the three games in which he played.

that's it for this week - take your mom to brunch if you can!

i see you jerry reuss!

as you know, one of my mini collections is cards featuring dodger stadium in the background.  with those cards, sometimes you get the pavilion roof, sometimes you get the old field level scoreboard, and sometimes you get dodger lefty jerry reuss lurking in the background, as is the case with this 1986 donruss joe price card.

what i found interesting about this card is that reuss is on the visitor's side of the field during pre-game, which isn't that common - these days, anyway, from what i've seen at the ballpark.  i emailed him to ask what he was doing, and he was kind enough to let me know that he was headed back to the right field line to do his sprints to centerfield, which were part of his routine in between starts.

here's another from 1986 donruss (sadly without a reuss cameo) of dave lapoint

i remember lapoint as a cardinal, probably because of the 1982 world series, but he pitched for nine teams, including the no-cals.

one more from '86 donruss - here's junior ortiz in dodger stadium

and he's looking happy to be there.

this is a 1989 donruss all-stars rafael palmeiro card

with raffy taking a cut from the dodger stadium left-handed batter's box

and here is hall of famer barry larkin's 1990 upper deck card

with the old low railing behind him

a couple of weeks ago i wrote a post dedicated to the murals that adorned the dodger stadium outfield wall during the late 1990's and early 2000's.  here are a few more cards with some of those mural images in the background

2000 upper deck joe mcewing

that's part of the mike scioscia heroes mural behind little mac

2002 topps tim salmon

with salmon patrolling right field at dodger stadium in front of pee wee reese's retired number mural

2003 fleer ultra matt clement

with the 40th anniversary of dodger stadium mural in the background.  that's kevin brown's face (representing the 2000 season), and shawn green's arms (representing the 2002 campaign).  big kudos to fleer for making a similar card in the '03 ultra set:

that's kevin brown himself on the mound with his face looking on from the mural.  if only fleer had made a similar card of shawn green in right field in front of his image…

i'll finish off this chavez ravine centric post with this 1995 upper deck collector's choice lance parrish card

featuring no lurking dodgers, but instead a dodger usher with some nice shades.

it's been a couple of years since i've been able to get to dodger stadium for a game, so i appreciate having these cards in my collection to remind me of how great the stadium is.

pee wee's patch

harold henry "pee wee" reese passed away on august 14, 1999 at the age of 81.  the dodgers quickly added a memorial patch to their uniforms, to be worn for the remainder of the season.  the patch, seen below

included the nickname "pee wee" and his retired jersey number, 1.

because it was relatively late in the season, examples of the patch on 2000 cards are fairly limited.  here's a 2000 upper deck mvp eric gagne card that shows the patch

it was placed on the left sleeve, above the dodger heroes patch worn by each player.  pee wee was included in the hero patch series, but i do not have a card of mark grudzielanek (who wore the reese hero patch) showing both patches.

this 2000 upper deck victory jeff shaw card

gives us another look at the memorial patch, including a close-up in the inset photo.

the patch is also visible on adrian beltre's 2000 fleer focus card

and the only other card i have that shows the patch is this 2000 pacific dodgers diamond leaders card

there's grudzielanek, but it's eric karros who is displaying the patch.  if only this getty images photo of chan ho park had found its way onto a card...

for the record, i have both the gagne and the diamond leaders card in my memorials binder.  i couldn't choose between the two, so they are both in there.

here are a couple of cards of pee wee himself, a 1992 ziploc card, 

and a 2003 mlb showdown 

i believe that this card is a promo, based on the foil stamp and the 'p51' numbering.  there's another version in the regular showdown set that lack the foil and is numbered 119.  kudos, by the way, to ziploc for using the older dodger logo on reese's card, although they coupled that brooklyn dodger logo with a photo of reese wearing a los angeles dodger cap.  sigh.

reese was the captain of the dodger teams of the 1950's, but he made his debut in 1940.  the following season, he became the dodgers' regular shortstop, and he helped the club win the pennant for the first time since 1920.  that marked the first of seven world series in which reese would play over the course of his career.  the dodgers faced the yankees in all of them, and won only the 1955 contest.

reese moved west with the dodgers in 1958, and was the starting shortstop for the los angeles dodgers' first game.  he played in only 58 more games that year, however, in what would be his last big league season.  reese was a 10-time all-star with 8 top ten mvp finishes over his 16-year career that spanned 19 years (3 seasons were lost to military service during world war ii).  he finished with 2170 hits and 1210 walks for an on-base percentage of .366.  although he later lamented the number of bases on balls he took ("if i had my career to play over, one thing i'd do differently is swing more. those 1200 walks i got…nobody remembers them."), his 1210 walks were within the top 15 career leaders at the time of his retirement and greatly contributed to his having scored as many runs as he did (1338) during his career. in 1984, reese was inducted into the hall of fame, and the dodgers retired his jersey as they do for their hall of fame players.