i chose wisely

i mentioned in the earlier post today that i chose what turned out to be a dud of a rack pack of 2015 topps stadium club from the target shelves, but that i had also ordered some singles off of sportlots.  being able to choose specific cards means that i was not disappointed with the subsequent envelope that showed up in my mailbox.  have a look.

2015 topps stadium club fernando valenzuela

i have wanted this card ever since it was first shown on the sell sheets for the set.  it features fernando up in one of the pavilions at dodger stadium signing autographs, and is a great card with a great image from a great time in dodger history.

2015 topps stadium club yasiel puig

another great dodger stadium shot that showcases something not usually seen on cardboard - clouds and a nice socal sunset.

2015 topps stadium club dusty baker

another shot from dodger stadium - vintage johnnie b. baker.  much better than baker as a brave which was the case with allen & ginter previously

2015 topps stadium club josh beckett

i was really happy to see that beckett got a card in the set.  it's a final tribute, too, so here are the stats on the back

in addition to adrian gonzalez on the front of the card, we get a glimpse of drew butera.  this may be the only cardboard on which butera (who has never hit over .200 in any season) appears as a dodger.

speaking of lurkers, here's don newcombe lurking on jackie robinson's 2015 topps stadium club card

and here's robinson lurking on larry doby's card from the set.

but we aren't done with dodger lurkers yet, as alfredo griffin makes a cameo on former dodger lenny harris's 2015 topps stadium club card

that card features a play at second, but not a double play.  i did grab a couple of twin killing cards, however, including carlos baerga

and brandon crawford

both feature world series double plays, too.

last but not least is this 2015 topps stadium club kevin gausman card

that i purchased due to the fact that he's wearing the alternate black jersey, and so it has the orange text tom clancy memorial patch.  i've updated the post specific to that patch, by the way.

it's tough for me to refrain from purchasing packs every once in a while, and i won't go back to swearing off packs as i did at some point in the past, but it does make a lot more sense to pick cards up on the secondary market.

i chose poorly

i grabbed a rack pack of 2015 topps stadium club the other day while at target and was disappointed in the parking lot when i opened the pack.  clearly, i chose my pack poorly. here are the 12 cards i received

i had already ordered a few cards off of sportlots (including the adam laroche card featured in the recent minnie minoso memorial patch post), and i was hoping for some of the other standout cards/photos.  instead, what was in my pack was some pretty standard stuff aside from maybe the ivan rodriguez and tim hudson (boo) cards.  two yankees, a diamondback, and a giant make for a pretty lousy pack for this dodger fan.  

on the bright side, the adam dunn card was a nice surprise.  since dunn retired after the 2014 postseason, this card is a final tribute, with his career totals on the back

there are only 34 people in history with more home runs than adam dunn (he's tied with jose canseco), but there are only 2 people (reggie jackson and jim thome) with more career strikeouts.

finally, the derek jeter and paul konerko final tribute post

as many of you know, one of my mini collections is 'final tribute' cards for players whom i consider to be significant for one reason or another.  these are cards issued in the year immediately after the player's retirement, and (more often than not) include the player's complete career stats on the back.

in 2015, there were two cards that i was anticipating for this collection - derek jeter

and paul konerko

i added both to my collection a while back.

i have to say that i prefer jeter's card, although konerko's features a pose worthy of a final tribute. i just think cropping the card to include the fans and their signs was unnecessary.

here are the full career stats for jeter

no doubt hall of fame worthy stuff there, even though he never won an mvp award during the regular season.

konerko's stats

are not as impressive as jeter's.  although he is 42nd all-time in home runs, konerko's jaws score has him down in the ryan klesko/tino martinez/lee may realm, so it is unlikely that the hall will be calling for the one time dodger.  still, i look at konerko's career and wonder what might have been had tommy lasorda not traded him to the reds for jeff shaw.  eric karros remained as the dodger first baseman through the 2002 season, but perhaps he would have been moved sooner had konerko been allowed to develop in la.  we would also have likely avoided the fred mcgriff and hee-seop choi experiments (much to jim tracy's delight, i would imagine), but we also might have missed the resurgence of nomar and the emergence of james loney.  i am reminded, however, that konerko has a world series ring while the dodger teams he left behind do not, so it's probably best not to play the 'what if' game.

a number memorial for the yankee clipper

joe dimaggio, teammate to lou gehrig and mickey mantle, died at the age of 84 on march 8, 1999.  he had played 13 years in the majors for the yankees (with 3 of his prime years spent in the military during world war ii), earning 3 mvp awards and 9 world series rings.

in response to his passing, the yankees added dimaggio's retired number 5 to their left sleeves for the 1999 season.  there are plenty of examples of this memorial, including the following cards:

2000 fleer tradition derek jeter alcs

2000 fleer ultra tino martinez

2000 topps stadium club ricky ledee

2000 topps chili davis

2000 topps bernie williams

2000 topps david cone

2000 topps derek jeter

2000 fleer gamers bernie williams

and this 2000 upper deck victory darryl strawberry

i'll take off on a tangent here.  in addition to giving us a close-up look at the number memorial thanks to the inset photo, this card also serves as a final tribute to strawberry's career

those are strawberry's final career stats - a far cry from where most people thought they would be when he retired based on his potential and his first few seasons with the mets.  strawberry played in about 150  fewer games than dimaggio, but he struck out almost 1000 more times than did joltin' joe.

here are the two cards i have in my collection for dimaggio's memorial - a 2000 upper deck mvp alfosno soriano scout's choice insert card that shows the white number memorial the yankees wore on their spring training jerseys

and derek jeter's 2000 fleer ultra card that shows the memorial on the yankee pinstripes

dimaggio was considered to be the 'classiest' yankee, and was perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak in 1941 and his short marriage to marilyn monroe. for the last 30 years of his life, he was also known (officially) as 'the greatest living ballplayer'.  here is dimaggio's obituary from the new york times which obviously expands on his life and impact far better than i could here.

indeed, 'joltin joe has left and gone away.'  so, (i know it's not the actual lyric from the simon & garfunkel song 'mrs. robinson', but…) here's to you, joe dimaggio.

a memorial for the mick

mickey mantle died on august 13, 1995, and the yankees quickly added a black armband to their jerseys for that day's game.  here's a getty images photo showing the players with the armband lined up in a moment of silence that day.

the following day, they added mantle's number 7 to their left sleeves in tribute.  bernie williams' 1996 bazooka card shows both, but the armband is mostly obscured due to the sleeve being upturned.

the memorial is also visible on the away grays of tony fernandez who appears on john valentin's 1996 bazooka card

it's a nice red sox-yankee rivalry double play turn

the number and armband show up on a few cards released well after 1996, too, like jack mcdowell's card from 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams

and jim leyritz's card from 2003 upper deck sweet spot classic

another example is this don mattingly card from 2004 fleer greats

which is a pretty good representation of the memorial.  however, i've got two other mattingly cards in the binder for this particular remembrance. first, this 1996 upper deck collector's choice alds card

which shows the yankee captain (presumably) during the postseason series against the mariners.  the mick's memorial is front and center on the card, plus mattingly is wearing the home pinstripes.

as i mentioned up top, the yankees did play one game with just the black armband.  i think that this 1996 topps stadium club don mattingly card

uses a photo from that game on the front, and possibly the back

but it's hard to tell. mattingly did hit two doubles in that game, so it's possible.  at any rate, i've got this card in the memorials binder as the representative for the numberless memorial.  if i ever come across another copy, i'll put it with my other donnie baseball final tributes.

mickey mantle was a 3-time mvp (he also finished 2nd in the voting 3 times), an all-star 16 times, a world champion 7 times, and he won the triple crown in 1956.  he was a first ballot hall of famer who still holds the record for most world series home runs in a career (18) and for most home runs in a season by a switch hitter (54).

a couple of months before he died, mantle received a liver transplant.  he suffered from cirrhosis as well as cancer of the liver, the former brought on by years of heavy drinking.  shortly after the transplant, it was discovered that the cancer had spread to other parts of his body.  mantle was 63 years old when he died.

i picked 'em poorly but came out ahead

i participated for the first time this past year in cards on cards' college bowl pick 'em league.  i wound up getting slightly less than half of the winners right, although i did get my highest confidence pick correct.  anyway, i was well out of the prize slot, but kerry sent me some cards anyway.  most of these come from his 2014 topps mini break, in which i took the dodgers and the mets.  i was hoping for a justin turner card as part of the mets team haul (he's turning two on the card), but it didn't pan out.  just like my picks.

here are some of the dodgers from the 2014 topps mini set that kerry rescued from sealed packs for me:

clayton kershaw cy young

the now retired josh beckett

the now unsigned free agent chad billingsley

the now unsigned free agent brian wilson

the now red sox left fielder hanley ramirez

the now full-time dodger left fielder carl crawford

the now still a fourth outfielder andre ethier

the dodger right fielder yasiel puig (unless joc can't handle center)

plus a 'the future is now' puig insert

i should probably show some of the ny metropolitans that came my way, so here are bobby parnell

and ey jr

kerry also sent a few cards towards my 2001 topps heritage set, including former and current twin torii hunter

plus a nice 2004 donruss classics rickey henderson card

which counts as a final tribute since rickey didn't appear in the majors after his 2003 stint with the dodgers

no active player has more stolen bases that ichiro, who sits at 487.  rickey had 1406 in his career.  although barry bonds eventually passed rickey in career walks, he is still the career leader in runs scored, with the closest active player (alex rodriguez) over 350 runs behind.

last, and maybe least, here is a 1986 fleer update card of alex trevino

who played catch under the watchful eye of a stalker after joining the dodgers.

thanks kerry! i'll be sending some cards on cards your way soon!