how about the foldouts from the steve garvey binders?

foldout cards kind of ticked me off when they first started showing up.  what good are they if they are to remain folded up?  i remember seeing some hard cases that would display the cards, but i'm a binder guy, not a hard case sort.  it's a good thing, then, that i found some 3-pocket pages (not the postcard kind) that work well with these things.

have a look:

those cards are:

1. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams team terrific game used hat logo relic (with bill russell, davey lopes, dusty baker, ron cey, and steve yeager) /50
2. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams team terrific game used team logo relic (with bill russell, davey lopes, dusty baker, ron cey, and steve yeager) /85
3. 2009 topps sterling sterling season relic autographs /10

three cards that celebrate the teams of my youth - mainly the 1977 and 1978 pennant winning years.  you know that i am a big fan of the timeless teams set, and i sure would like to find the other versions of that foldout relic card.  there's a version with the timeless teams brand (/35) seared into the bat pieces as well as one with the national league logo (/15), and one with stats (/5) - although i'm not sure what the stats one looks like.  i was a bit disappointed to find that the sterling card wasn't a patch card, but rather just material from the team's away jerseys during the time that they had color at the base of the sleeves.

here are the backs:

this is the last sheet in the main card part of my steve garvey binders:

those cards are:

1. 2011 topps triple threads relic combos double (with duke snider, sandy koufax, clayton kershaw, andre ethier, and matt kemp) /36
2. 2013 panini america's pastime hitter's ink booklet (with tony gwynn) auto /25

i really should move that hitter's ink booklet to a 2-pocket page.  i find it interesting that over steve garvey's career, he only had two teammates (for any substantial amount of time - i'm not counting the likes of jim bunning, hoyt wilhelm and frank robinson) who made the hall of fame - don sutton and tony gwynn.  and with this gwynn card, i have dual auto cards for garvey and both of those teammates.

here are the backs:

i mentioned before that i'll have a living post for my garvey collection that i'll update as i add cards. it will be more for my use than anyone else's, i imagine, but it will be cool to have it all in one place.

i'd really like to find one more auto card from 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic for the steve garvey binder

here are the other two 8-pocket pages from my steve garvey binders. they contain the thicker cards that just don't fit in the standard 9-pocket sheets.  you'll see what i meant in the title of this post when you see these sheets.  here's the first one:

those cards are:

1. 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic signatures gold stitch black ink autograph /99
2. 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic signatures gold stitch blue ink autograph /50
3. 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic signatures barrel blue ink autograph /75
4. 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic signatures barrel black ink autograph /50
5. 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic dual signatures gold stitch black ink autograph (with reggie smith) /15
6. 2008 topps sterling jumbo patch relic (dodgers - 36) 1/1
7. 2008 topps sterling jumbo patch relic (dodgers - 13) 1/1
8. 2010 topps update manufactured bat barrel /99

there are plenty more sweet spot classic auto cards to be had, too, as there are red stitch and black stitch and leather cards in various quantities out there, including a red stitch version of the former most wanted dual auto with reggie smith card.  i recently missed out on a leather version of the garvey auto, which is too bad becasuse i don't have one of those, and also because it would have greatly improved the feng shui of the sheet.  those two sterling cards are serial numbered 1/1, but there are a number of them.  there are both dodger and padre versions, and there are at least 36 of the dodger version, since i have one numbered on the back as "sgd36" and the other is "sgd10".

here are the backs:

yes, the gold stitch/black ink card was a graded card when i obtained it. i've kept the grading info for posterity, but the card itself has long been free from its plastic cage.

here's the next sheet:

those cards are:

1. 2010 topps update manufactured bat barrel /25
2. 2011 topps marquee acclaimed impressions dual relic autographs (with '6' inscription; red patch and gray jersey) /126
3. 2011 topps marquee acclaimed impressions dual relic autographs (blue patch and gray jersey) /126
4. 2011 topps update commemorative patch
5. 2012 topps gold world series champions pin
6. 2013 topps museum collection primary pieces four player quad relics (with andre ethier, matt kemp, and sandy koufax) /99
7. 2013 topps museum collection primary pieces four player quad relics copper (with andre ethier, matt kemp, and sandy koufax) /75

once again, i have two versions of the marquee dual relic auto card because of the nice red patch.  speaking of patches, even though i only have the /99 and /75 versions of the museum collection card, i have seen versions from those print runs with patches on the ethier and/or kemp relics.  the /25 gold version definitely features patches from those two.

here are the backs:

so, one more card would fill out the 8-pocket sheets nicely, not that they are too bad to begin with, i suppose.

night owl sent a lot of lefties

i am glad that night owl is a dodger fan.  the well deserved popularity of his blog brings with it an expanded trading pool, and other dodger collectors like myself benefit from the hand me downs.

it's been quite a while since i received my most recent package of dodgers from new york state, yet i haven't finished putting together the return package.  what do you get the card collector that has too few holes in his collection?  i'm working on it.

one thing i noticed was that there were a lot of left-handed dodgers in the package he sent.  like johnny podres, of whom there was a 1961 post card

fast forward about 40 years, and we find kaz ishii on a 2002 fleer tradition update this day in history relic card

and a 2005 topps heritage chrome refractor

the relic card references may 4 (may the fourth be with you, by the way), as that was the day in 2002 that ishii made his sixth major league start, and earned his sixth major league win.  he was 8-10 over the course of the remainder of the season.  i saw his 9th start of the season in milwaukee, and he did not look very good.  he walked 6 in 5+ innings of work, but still got the win since that was the game that shawn green hit four home runs and drove in seven.

here's a 2010 topps update hong-chih kuo relic card

2010 was a good year for kuo. he was an all-star, and his era during the regular season was 1.20.  unfortunately, things seemed to fall apart after that.

2014 bowman chrome prospects julio urias

urias is 18 years old this season, and his k/9 ratio is still well above 11.  his win-loss record at the moment is 1-2 in double-a, but i don't think anyone is worried.

folks shouldn't be worried about clayton kershaw, either, as he shut out the nationals over 8 innings yesterday while striking out 14.  here's his 2014 panini prizm diamond dominance card

receiving that card in the package was a surprise, as it means that at least a couple of people bought packs of prizm and sent that card to night owl.

here's a 2015 topps fernando valenzuela highlight of the year insert

that was nice to receive.  fernando was never my favorite pitcher on the dodgers - i would say bob welch and then orel hershiser held that title during fernando's run - but his start to the 1981 season was undeniably awesome.

enough with the pitchers, here are some lefty batters that also showed up in the package.  this is a 2005 donruss champions jd drew impressions relic card

and this is a 2011 topps lineage andre ethier 1975 mini relic card

like i said, i'm glad night owl is a dodger fan.

the annual topps/topps dodger team factory set comparison

with the release of 2015 topps series 2, i figured it was time to address the differences between the topps 17-card factory dodger team set and the good ol' flagship cards.  last year, as you might recall, there was a dodger stadium card included in the factory set (which was nice, but had become somewhat repetitive), and the only other variation was the orientation of brian wilson's card.

before i begin with the side-by-side stuff, i'll note that topps did not add a set descriptor to the backs of the factory team set cards, as they are numbered 'lad-#', with clayton kershaw being the first card up.

so far, only series one and series two have had the descriptor above the card number.

here we go - flagship on the left, factory team set on the right.

lad-1 clayton kershaw

the only foil on this year's flagship cards is the topps logo, and the factory set cards replace it with white fill.  that's the only difference between these two cards.

lad-2 andre ethier

ethier, who was probably on the fence as far as inclusion in the factory set, has essentially the same card.  the only difference is the location of the topps logo.  i would have thought that justin turner had as good a chance as ethier to make this year's checklist.

lad-3 yimi garcia

yimi's topps logo remains in the same spot, but his rookie card designation got moved, which is an improvement over the flagship card.

lad-4 adrian gonzalez

the topps logo made a move on gonzalez's card, which i see as an improvement.

lad-5 zack greinke

again, the topps logo moved, but everything else remains the same.

lad-6 aj ellis

this is the star of the set, folks.  the series two card shows ellis in his catcher gear on the road while the factory set used a photo of ellis from last year's playoffs - nlds game 1 at dodger stadium - in which ellis hit a home run.  he was 4 for 5 in that game, but has only 12 hits in 26 games this season.

lad-7 carl crawford

nothing to see here except the transient topps logo

lad-8 brandon league

another topps logo relocation

lad-9 joc pederson

the topps logo remains in place, but the rookie card designation migrated to the other side of the card.

lad-10 yasiel puig

no change

lad-11 hyun-jin ryu

the topps logo moved to a better location.  seriously, does topps give no thought to where the logo appears? there is no consistency as far as one corner or the other, so i would think that if the logo were to be moved, there would be some effort to put it where it doesn't land on top of a players' elbow.  i guess not.

lad-12 yasmani grandal

ok, now i've come to the point where maybe i should have waited to do this post.  grandal had a card in series one, but he was shown as a padre.  the factory set photoshopped him into todd hundley's old uniform, which is actually a good job by topps. grandal wore number 8 with the pads, but switched to number 9 for the dodgers, and topps took notice of that.  anyway, grandal should get a card in the update set and we will have to wait and see whether or not it matches this one.

*edit - grandal's update card is, indeed, different than the topps dodger factory set

lad-13 jimmy rollins

topps did get rollins switched over to a dodgers uniform in the flagship set, but they did not do as well with his photoshopping as they did with grandal.  i guess that they did not anticipate him wearing number 11 as a dodger, even though that was the number he wore for most of his phillies career.  oh, there's no substantive difference between the two cards.

lad-14 howie kendrick

kendrick is in the same boat as grandal - he had a card in series one as an angel, and so we must wait until update is out to make a comparison between his dodger cards.

*edit - kendrick's update card shows him at the bat, so that's nice

lad-15 juan uribe

uribe should be in update, too, but he'll be wearing a braves uniform.  here, only the topps logo location is different between the two cards.

lad-16 kenley jansen

same.

lad-17 brandon mccarthy

mccarthy made four starts as a dodger, and was 3-0.  it helps when the team averages about 8 runs per start, however, as mccarthy's era was just under six. as for his photoshopped cards, topps got the number right, and then decided that the logo would look better in an already cluttered upper right corner instead of the open and dark upper left corner.

so, no dodger stadium card. no don mattingly card. no alex guerrero or carlos frias or justin turner, for that matter. just some strange decisions on logo placement and a second guessing of photo selection for aj ellis. maybe grandal and kendrick will get real dodger photos in update and there will be three variant cards in the factory set when it's all said and done. we'll have to wait and see.

before i get to archives...

i understand that 2015 topps archives is live. i also understand that they are using the 1957 topps design for one of the four subsets in the base set.  that's nice, although i do wish that 1978 would get some love sometime before heritage catches up in 2027.  speaking of heritage, the last time we saw the 1957 topps design was in 2006 with the topps heritage set.  this is the dodger team card from that set

it features a photo taken inside dodger stadium - a stadium that didn't exist in 1957.  here are a few more dodgers from that set - cesar izturis

hong-chih kuo

derek lowe

and bill mueller

i rather like the mueller card. it seems like an old-timey pose.  i understand that don sutton is featured in the 1957 topps design grouping in the archives set this year, and i hope that his card is also old-timey in flavor. 

here are some other random cards from my scanned folder.

2006 fleer andre ethier

2006 upper deck jayson werth

2006 topps jim tracy (through the mail autograph success!)

pretty sure tracy is standing in the same spot izturis was for the heritage card up above - notice the palm tree…

2004 topps jim tracy (through the mail autograph success!)

2005 upper deck roy campanella wingfield collection

and 2005 upper deck pee wee reese wingfield collection 

those last two are nice looking cards.  i don't think either campy or pee wee are in archives this year - it's koufax, duke, and jackie as far as brooklyn-era dodgers go.  i'll try to find some of them in a blaster sometime this weekend - stay tuned...

how to assemble an atomic team set

i finally bit the bullet and bought the last few cards i needed to complete the 2011 topps chrome atomic refractor dodger team set.  i really like these kaleidoscope looking things.

clayton kershaw

of the 10 dodgers in the set, mr. cy young/mvp is one of only two players still with the dodgers.

chad billingsley

bills is pitching for the phils now. he's on the dl, but has made a couple of rehab starts in the minors as he works his way back from tommy john surgery.

dee gordon

dee is playing second base for the marlins following an offseason trade. he's hitting .348 with 7 steals so far in 2015.

jerry sands

sands was traded (as one of the players to be named later) to the red sox in the big adrian gonzalez/josh beckett/carl crawford deal, but was flipped to the pirates for joel hanrahan a short time later.  he finally resurfaced in the majors with the rays in 2014, and is currently hitting .381 for the indians in 7 games this year.

those were the last four cards i needed to complete my team set, but here are the other cards just to be thorough about it.

jonathan broxton

broxton is pitching out of the brewer bullpen these days. the good news is that his k/9 ratio is up (10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings so far in 2015), but so his is era (6.75).

ivan dejesus

dejesus was included with sands in the trade with boston in 2012, as well as the trade with the pirates that followed. unlike sands, dejesus played for boston in 2012 - he was 0 for 8.  that was the last big league action he's seen, but he's currently playing in the reds organization and hitting .364 at triple-a louisville.

andre ethier

currently the dodgers' fourth outfielder, ethier has appeared in 14 games and is hitting .276 in 2015.

rafael furcal

furky has been hobbled by injuries the last couple of years, playing in just a few games for the marlins last year after missing all of 2013.  he's currently with the royals, although still injured.

matt kemp

kemp seems to be enjoying himself in san diego, and he's healthy to boot. he's played in all 17 games this season, and is hitting .333 with a couple of triples, 14 rbi, and two steals.

james loney

loney was another one included in that 2012 trade with the bosox, but he is the rays' first baseman now.  he has only appeared in one game this season, however, as he suffered an oblique strain in the season opener.

good ol' chrome.  i think i will shift my attention to the 2007 topps chrome blue refractor dodger team set next.

8 jd drew

23 andre ethier

48 rafael furcal

54 jeff kent

106 brad penny

125 juan pierre

128 chad billingsley

149 jason schmidt

159 matt kemp

173 randy wolf

176 takashi saito

193 russell martin

229 derek lowe

275 greg maddux

please help me out if you can!