the start of the post-playing career card sheets from the steve garvey binders

sheet 26 in the steve garvey binder is where we find the start of his cards issued following his retirement (post-final tribute stuff, anyway).  in the beginning, these were mostly oddball releases, but once card companies began making retro-themed sets, look out! there was a garvey card explosion.

here's sheet 26

the cards:

1. 1989 smokey dodger greats
2. 1989 padres magazine
3. 1990 baseball wit
4. 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary
5. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (gibson & garvey)
6. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (football)
7. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (batting)
8. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (posed)
9. 1990 pacific legends

here we have the first photo re-use, thanks to two dodger stadium giveaway sets, plus four cards from the michigan state spartans set.  i think the photo of garvey in his football uniform (he was a defensive back) has been used in a panini release (not entirely sure, however), but i know that the posed photo was used in last year's upper deck goodwin champions set.

i'm also missing a couple from these years - the 1989 michigan state pepsi card (never seen one), and 1990 pacific legends glossy (never bothered to find one).

here are the backs:

moving on to sheet 27, we once again see some photo re-use and a few oddballs:

those cards are:

1. 1990 swell baseball greats
2. 1991 line drive
3. 1991 swell baseball greats
4. 1992 action packed
5. 1992 mci ambassadors
6. 1993 ted williams
7. 1993 yoohoo
8. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes
9. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes (heroes of baseball)

i really appreciate that first upper deck card with the photo from the 1974 world series, and the fact that it gives some relief from all of the photos of garvey with a bat.  another item worth noting is the mci card and its photo of garvey with the dual-ear flap helmet.

and now the backs:

those mci ambassador cards were apparently distributed at military bases where select retired players appeared and played in games for the troops.  upper deck arranged some 'old-timer' games of their own, which is where the photo on the second card from the 1994 ud all-time heroes set was obtained. this was a tie-in to all of those sheets upper deck issued around that time.

speaking of sheets, we are two pages into the post-active garvey cards, and we are already in 1994.  don't fret, as there are plenty more cards to see.  stay tuned.

one step closer (and one step back) to finishing off the garvey oddball binder

like many of you, i did some card shopping on black friday. i bought some cards on ebay and from check out my cards, and put in a sportlots order over the ensuing weekend.  one of the cards i bought from check out my cards was quickly inserted into the steve garvey oddball binder once it was delivered.  that would be this 1982 on deck disc

it looks a lot like the blank back msa discs from 1981 (which are actually the same thing as the peter pan/sunbeam discs i recently discovered), except these ones are not blank on the backs

there are still a number of garvey discs from the late 1970's that i don't own, and that's ok, although i currently have room for three more in my binder since this one is in a four-pocket page all by itself.  i'll probably do something about that eventually.

here's another sheet from the binder - it features a 1983 colorano silk cachet and a 1996 dodgers ticket

the cachet celebrates garvey tying billy williams for the national league consecutive games played record.  there's another one (that i could own for $1.98 right now on the bay if i really wanted it) that celebrates the next night's game (which i attended) when he broke williams' record.

the ticket stub comes from the 8/23/96 game against the mets.  i think these were the seats that my company had that i was able to use from time to time for free, usually on short notice.  there were four tickets, and sometimes only two or three of us would go to the game.  in this case, i decided to save the unused ticket that featured the first foursome to reach the 30 home run plateau in the same season.  the dodgers won the game 8-5, by the way.

the oddball binder is also home to the 1979 post raisin bran steve garvey's baseball tips set that i showed previously

it also contains the 1984 star set that reviews the garv's career through the 1983 season.  i've shown this set before, too, so it is featured here with no commentary.

what's left to show are non-certified autographs and cards that should have been.  here are a couple of oddball autographed items from a page in the binder

on the left is a 1983 padres postcard that i purchased in a lot of garvey stuff probably about 10 years ago, and on the first is a signed dodger sticker that is most likely from the late 1970's.  i got one as a kid that was signed by gerry hannahs, but i don't know where it is now.  the dodgers would have players sign these stickers at autograph stations before certain games.  these days, they have postcard type items printed up for the signers.

as for cards that should have been, here's one that bob lemke made - a 1955 topps football style card that features garvey in a michigan state spartan uniform.

that sits in an 8-pocket page all by itself.  we should get to the main garvey collection binders soon, unless i keep buying more oddballs to add (and post about) to the oddball binder.

cards that should have been that really are, thanks to bob lemke

i noted a few days ago when i completed my 1955 bowman dodger team set that there were no jackie robinson, sandy koufax, or duke snider cards in the set to slow me down.  still, knowing that bob lemke had created cards that should have been for both koufax and the duke, i couldn't resist tracking those down, too.

i was happy to read that bob had decided to sell copies of his cards after taking a break.  in addition to the '55 bowman style cards, i ordered a few more.

the 1956 topps tommy lasorda card that should have been

now i just need a 1957 style lasorda final tribute.  tommy was included in the 1954 topps set, of course, and topps created a 1955 style card of the future dodger skipper for the 1995 brooklyn dodgers archives set.

i also picked up a hard copy of this 1956 topps bill mazeroski card that should have been

it fits nicely into my double play binder

last but not least are the 1969 topps steve garvey card that should have been

(one of them, anyway), and a 1955 topps football garvey as well.

thanks bob!

and you shall know him by his hat

are you ready for some football?  me, i am only mildly interested.  anyway, the season kicks off tonight and so i figured it was an appropriate time to show what will likely be the last football card you will ever see on this blog.  it's a 2001 fleer tradition glossy card of the cowboys' emmitt smith

i wasn't following football too closely in 2000, but i knew about landry's passing and the fedora patch that the cowboys wore in his memory.  i have since come to appreciate it enough to add this card to my memorials collection.  it is the only football card in that collection, and i am pretty sure it will stay that way (no 2013 cards with the ravens' 'art' patch for sure).

even though i grew up as a fan of the rams, who had a hard time beating the cowboys, i respected tom landry and his wardrobe, even if it was a bit out of time.

also, thanks to whomever it was that sent me this link to a uni-watch article when i first started pulling this collection together.  it reminded me of the landry patch, and inspired me to obtain a card example of another non-baseball memorial patch for the collection.  stay tuned.

it's been everywhere, man

yes, the travelin' box finally made an appearance in the land of 10,000 lakes.  i got skipped in the last go around, but got first dibs on this round along with my normal slot (yet to come).  for those of you who don't know - here is a primer on just what the box is all about.

and, for some perspective, the cards i sent in for my initiation into the rotation were a 1960 topps al kaline, a 1963 topps gaylord perry rookie card, a 1971 topps tom seaver, and a 1973 topps babe ruth/hank aaron/willie mays card.

now that i am trading with the box, i added a card from 1958 topps, a 2002 topps tribute hall of famer bat card, a hall of famer rookie card from 1966 topps, plus a few more cards of the vintage and relic and star variety.

here's what i traded for.

1958 topps eddie mathews all star

i undertook a project back in the early 2000's where i completed a sampler set for all topps releases from 1952 through 1969 (the years i figured i would never complete the full sets).  basically, it was (at least) one card from every team, every subset, every design variant.  i had a 1958 nellie fox all-star, but didn't yet have a national league equivalent.  now i do.

2009 topps juan pierre black parallel

serial numbered pierre.

1996 sportflix mike piazza

thanks to all who put dodgers in the box.

next up are some cards that spoke to me, since i do sort of have a soft spot for the twins.

2005 diamond kings johan santana dual jersey

1967 topps jim kaat

and more impressively, 2000 fleer greats of the game jim kaat autograph

i have given up hope regarding a 1978 topps kaat auto (i don't want to pay $25 for it) so i was happy to see this certified auto in the box.

last, but certainly not least, is this 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures card of la rams great jack youngblood

i was a huge rams fan from 1977 through 1980 (the super bowl year) and even a little bit after that.  i was upset at the time that they didn't keep vince ferragamo (he went to canada in 1981), and didn't fully get back on the bandwagon when he returned in 1982.  instead i turned my attention to the minnesota vikings.  anyway, my favorite player was jack youngblood.  it started with the name.  youngblood.  the rams also had a jim youngblood on the team, but jack was the better player by far.   plus, he played in the 1979-80 postseason with a broken leg, and even played in the meaningless pro bowl after the super bowl.  i had been looking at his autos off and on over the past few years, but never pulled the trigger.  until now.

i can't wait for the box to make its triumphant return this way.