i forgot the 1989 topps steve garvey card that should have been

a few days ago when i posted the don sutton and rick rhoden cards that were left out of the 1989 topps and 1989 topps traded sets, respectively, i overlooked another card that should have been, featuring a member of the 1978 topps dodgers.  i use the phrase 'should have been' very loosely here, as there really was no way this card was even a thought back then, whereas i would like to think that the folks at topps at least considered sutton and rhoden.  this is a season highlight card commemorating the retirement of steve garvey's number by the san diego padres.

it's modeled after the record breaker subset in 1989 topps - here's the orel hershiser card from the set

with dodger stadium as the backdrop even though the card celebrates the achievement of 59 consecutive scoreless innings, which the bulldog reached in san diego.  and, san diego is where the number retirement took place on april 16, 1988.  here's the back with all the details:

if you look closely at the photo i used for the card, there is a giant reproduction of garvey's 1982 donruss diamond kings card behind him.  the actual display showed up on ebay a while back, with the seller asking for $1000 or some such.

garvey was the first player to have his number retired by the padres, although he has since been joined by randy jones, dave winfield, tony gwynn, and trevor hoffman.  the dodgers held garvey's number out of circulation for 20 years (from the time garvey left the club in 1983 until his hall of fame balloting days were almost through in 2003), and then jolbert cabrera was allowed to wear it, as you can see on this 2003 upper deck 40 man card.

i don't recall hearing about the number retirement back when it happened, but i do recall being pleasantly surprised to see his number up on the outfield wall at jack murphy stadium the first time i visited, probably in 1990 or 91.  somewhere i have a photo from that game of the number 6 in front of some palm trees that were planted behind the fence.

it is highly unlikely that garvey will make the hall of fame (he's been on a couple committee ballots and failed in recent years), and so the padres will be the only franchise to have retired his number.  at least i have a card to remember it by.

culling dodgers from capewood's collection, part two

the recent trade with cliff at capewood's collections was too much for just one post, so here's the second batch of cards i randomly selected from the dodger bounty.

2004 topps retired davey lopes.i like old school players on current card designs almost as much as i like current players on old card designs. unlike 2009, these cards were a whole separate set. well done, topps.

2006 topps matt kemp rookie debut

the bison's debut was less than memorable. he started his career by striking out in his first three at bats. he did single in his 4th at bat, though, and the next day went 2 for 3 with 2 rbi and a stolen base.

2005 topps all time fan favorites steve garvey

certainly my all time fan favorite. here they kept the horizontal layout of garvey's original 1974 card and used a photo that is probably pretty close to that year. unlike the 1973 design that used a 1980 photo in one of their other fan favorites releases.

2004 fleer jolbert cabrera

a true utility player, cabrera played every postion for the dodgers in 2003 except pitcher and catcher. i remember him as the first dodger to wear number 6 since garvey left. there's still hope, though - mitch webster wore number 20 prior to don sutton being voted into the hall of fame and getting the number retired. currently, joe torre is wearing garvey's number.

2004 topps bazooka eric gagne

i am disappointed that there is no appearance by bazooka joe.

2005 fleer showcase preacher roe

i had only seen cards from this set in repack boxes. elwin charles roe was 22-3 in 1951. he was traded to the orioles after the 1954 season and missed out on the 1955 world championship.

2002 bowman heritage duke snider

the duke was around for 1955, though.

2003 topps traded james loney

man, i dig james loney. hopefully the line drive doubles turn into home runs, but the guy is pretty clutch. i learned today that his nickname is 'geoffrey' as in the toys-r-us mascot. nice.

2002 fleer greats of the game hack wilson

one year after he drove in 191 runs, wilson was traded twice in the span of 2 months. first, the cubs sent him to the cardinals of all places, and the cardinals flipped him to the dodgers. in his first (of 3) seasons with the dodgers, hack drove in 123 runs and finished 13th in the mvp voting. not bad. still, this card would upset me if i were a cubs fan. it's kind of like all those upper deck sweet spot cards that show garvey with the padres. it just ain't right.

2004 bowman brian pilkington

pilkington had a pretty decent 2003 season splitting time between high-a and aa. he went a combined 13-6 with a 3.77 era. he didn't pitch at all in 2004 - i am guessing he was injured - and returned to high-a in 2005, his final season.

2005 topps update & highlights hee seop choi

man, i really rooted for this guy, partially because jim tracy seemed to despise him. he hit 5 home runs in the home run derby - this was the year it was the us vs the world - but was not a member of the all star team.

2002 topps total terry mulholland

a genuine loogy (lefty one out guy), mulholland pitched in 20 seasons for 11 different teams, including 2 stints with the giants and phillies. he was in la for part of the 2001 and 2002 seasons going 1-1 in 40 games, including 3 starts.

2003 bowman chrome edwin jackson

jackson made his debut in a much hyped 2003 game against randy johnson on his 20th birthday. he won, going 6 innings and giving up only one run on a sacrifice fly. i saw him pitch at san francisco in his 4th and final start that season. he gave up only 2 hits in 6 innings and struck out 7 (including bonds once), but walked 8. he was a bit wild, but clearly had potential. i guess that's why he was traded by ned to the devil rays for lance carter and danys baez. yikes.

thanks again cliff! i'll probably be sending you some more astros and phillies very soon!