random cards from the scanned folder are like a box of chocolates

look deep into scott erickson's eyes on his 2005 topps total card

he'll make you forget that this is a post of cards thrown together with little to no thought or common theme.  just a bunch of cards i have scanned over the years, but not posted for one reason or another.  as an aside, i forgot all about this card when i went to a signing that erickson attended three years ago when the twins celebrated the 1991 world series team.  that's ok - his wife was there, and i forgot all about baseball cards for a moment.

now it's time for some edwin jackson.  this is a 2005 topps turkey red card

and this is a 2005 upper deck all-star classics

jackson made his big league debut on his 20th birthday (9/9/03), squaring off against randy johnson and the diamondbacks.  the dodgers made him a winner that day, and again a couple of weeks later in san francisco (a game that i attended).  jackson was wild in that game, walking 8, but he struck out barry bonds and allowed no runs and only 2 hits in his 6 innings of work.  jackson was back with the dodgers for a handful of games in 2004 and 2005, but was traded to the devil rays prior to the 2006 season.  in his 12-year career (so far), jackson has pitched for 8 teams.

2005 upper deck espn cesar izturis web gems

izturis won a gold glove in 2004 which largely explains his appearance in an insert set

2011 panini playoff contenders chris reed

reed was the dodgers' first round pick in 2011.  he was born in london, but attended high school in socal and went to stanford after that.  he's currently a double-a chattanooga. 

2011 bowman andre ethier gold parallel

and 2011 bowman ted lilly gold parallel

ethier only gets one parallel in this post, but lilly gets three.

2011 topps ted lilly diamond anniversary platinum parallel

and 2011 topps update ted lilly cognac parallel

i still prefer lilly's 2013 topps card.

here's a few more from 2011 topps update.  remember javy guerra?

who comes in cognac form

and platinum parallel fashion as well

guerra was picked up on waivers by the white sox earlier this year, so he and ronald belisario are making it deja vu all over again in the chisox bullpen.

one more from 2011 topps update - it's matt guerrier

guerrier was dealt to the cubs last year for carlos marmol, but signed with the twins prior to this season. he was just recently dfa'd by the club, although aside from his last outing he hadn't pitched that poorly.  i was a fan - as much as one can be of a non-closer reliever.

in other news, chris capuano is now a yankee.  here's his 2012 topps update card

and his 2013 topps gypsy queen white framed parallel

he had started the season with the red sox after two years with the dodgers, but was released on july 1. after a short stint with the rockies' organization, capuano had his contract purchased by the yankees and made a start for them just the other day.  he turned in a quality start, but didn't get a decision.

nothing compares 2 u

well, it's time for the annual 'topps flagship/topps dodger factory team set' card comparison.  in 2012, topps issued a 17-card set chock full of dodger variants.  let's take a look.  as always, it's flagship on the left, factory set on the right.

i'll start with the factory set card that has no equivalent in the flagship set - the dodger stadium card - which also happens to be card number lad17, the last card in the set.

it's real purty.

now we'll go in number order - from lad1 to lad16.  here's number 1, matt kemp.

it's the same.

lad2, jerry sands

a photo variation!  can't wait until 2013 topps comes out, and we can see one of these images photoshopped into red sox stuff.

lad3 - mark ellis

photo/cropping variation.  also photoshopped.  it's hard to believe that topps couldn't get an actual photo of ellis in a dodger uniform for series 2.

lad4 - juan uribe

i'm not sure that we want to get a closer look at juan uribe, but the factory set takes us there just in case.

lad5 - juan rivera

back to the same ol', same ol'

lad6 - ted lilly

more of the same.  will he even be in the factory team set next year?

lad7 - andre ethier

mild - not extreme - closeup.

lad8 - clayton kershaw

it's the same.  still a nice card.

lad9 - james loney

same goes for loney.  still a nice card

lad10 - kenley jansen

more adventures in tighter crops

lad11 - aaron harang

ditto.  makes me wonder why they left ted lilly alone.

lad12 - tony gwynn, jr

finally, another true photo variation!  although i prefer the photo from the flagship set.

lad13 - dee gordon

it's the same, but it's a good card.  i am glad the factory team set used this photo and not the one from gordon's rookie cup card.

lad14 - chad billingsley

this one was best left alone.  nice bullpen shot in the background.

lad15 - javy guerra

there's no use even trying to improve upon the handshake card.  thanks topps, for not even trying.

lad16 - nathan eovaldi

and, we finish with 4 cards in a row that are the same between the two sets.  still, there were 8 cards that were different.  i'm hoping 2013 brings even more.

not just a double dipper, dioner navarro is a double lurker

he may not have had a card in the 2011 topps set, nor have a team in 2012 (yet), but dodger double dipper dioner navarro is so far taking up space on two topps cards in their 2012 flagship set.  here's javy guerra's card

on which navarro is offering some postgame congratulations to the dodgers' young closer.  and then there is george kottaras' card

on which navarro is out at the plate!

i don't know and didn't bother to try to figure out which game is represented on the guerra card, but the kottaras card was easy - it was the only game kottaras appeared in against the dodgers all year.

8/15/11, a game best remembered for james loney hitting into a triple play in the second inning, also included navarro being thrown out at the plate by jerry hairston (now a dodger) with kottaras applying the tag in the third inning. the score was 0-0 at that point, and the dodgers went on to lose 3-0.  worth noting that navarro flew out in the 7th inning with the bases loaded while all three brewer runs came on solo shots.

the brew crew won the game behind another dodger double dipper, randy wolf.  ted lilly, who by my definition is not a double dipper since he did not appear in a game for the dodgers during his first run with the organization, took the loss.

keep 'em coming, topps - i can use some more navarro lurker cards!

one fell swoop

no more packs! i mean it.  anyone want a peanut?  right.  i decided last year sometime that i was done buying packs.  so far, so good.  instead, i bought the 2012 topps series 1 dodger team set on ebay.  it came along with a bunch of dodger inserts, too.  so, for the price of maybe 3 packs, i got five jackie robinson golden greats inserts

topps has got to be running out of jackie robinson images to use.  we've seen these photos way too many times in the last few years.

i also received three sandy koufax golden greats inserts

topps should try to find some non-blurry koufax images to use.

there were also a bunch of these things. are they gold? cognac? whisky? what?  anyway, here's tim federowicz

not the catcher who wore 31 that i am used to

javy guerra

with dioner navarro lurking.  nice of topps to get navarro on a card so that his dodger double dip is properly recorded.
tony gwynn jr

i was disappointed that gwynn jr didn't get a card in 2011 update, so it's nice to see him in series 1
here's one of the three (!) league leader cards that matt kemp appears on

having a dodger on a league leader card was a big deal to me when i was a kid.  the 1981 era leaders card is one of my favorites because it seemed like a long time coming to me as i started collecting in 1978, too late for the andy messersmith 1976 cards and the davey lopes cards in 1976 and 1977.
hong-chih kuo

looks like he's pitching in a forest fire
ted lilly

at this point, i am already bored with these cards.  no offense, mr. lilly

here's that dee gordon gold futures insert

someone said this looks like an upper deck card and i agree

more matt kemp!

30/30 = golden moment.  yessir. 40/40 would have been nice, too
here's kemp sharing space with a giant

although i don't really have anything against willie mays.
finally, free agent to be andre ethier and his 1987 style mini

i think it was nice of topps to do this as a nod to the fact that 50 years ago they went with a wood design (1962) and then 25 years ago they updated it (1987).  i would have been disappointed, however, if their flagship design was another play on wood.  so, having an insert set that acknowledges the timeline is ok by me.

see you when series 2 comes out topps!

javy, you're a star

i'm catching up with the evolution posts today.  as you might recall, the chain of closers for the dodgers ended most recently with jonathan broxton, but in 2011, his injury (and ineffectiveness, perhaps?) gave way to javy guerra

guerra made the jump from aa chattanooga in may, and didn't miss a beat.  he was 2-0 with 10 saves before he blew his first save opportunity.  he finished the season at 2-2 with 21 saves and just 2 blown saves.

i'm hoping donnie baseball doesn't mess with the kenley jansen-guerra 1-2 punch in 2012.