don't worry, bo also sent some dodger cards

this will be the last post about the cards that bo from baseball cards come to life sent me recently.  it was a great package containing double play cards, tatooine cards, cards featuring memorial patches, and, of course, dodger cards.

i am surprised that i have not yet shown this 1993 topps stadium club orel hershiser card

on the blog previously. its got the bulldog sitting in dodger stadium on a beautiful day for baseball.

this 2002 leaf rookies and stars brian jordan card

also features dodger stadium as a backdrop, with jordan running between the kevin brown and shawn green images on the outfield wall mural.

this 1992 classic best roberto mejia card

however, features vero beach's holman stadium as its backdrop.  that may well be carlos delgado kneeling behind mejia, by the way.  the dodgers lost mejia in the expansion draft to the rockies, but at least he made it to the majors.  that can't be said about the next guy.

1992 upper deck minors ryan luzinski

the dodgers' first round draft pick in 1992 made it as high as triple-a with the dodgers and later the orioles, but never got the call to the big leagues.

1992 upper deck minors todd hollandsworth

how convenient for the dodgers' bakersfield affiliate that they could use the brooklyn dodgers 'b' on their hats and helmets.  holly, of course, was the 1996 national league rookie of the year, but before that, he apparently enjoyed sorting grains of sand.

another dodger prospect of the mid-90's was paul konerko.  here's a 1994 topps stadium club card

celebrating the dodgers' first round pick in the 1994 draft.

originally a catcher, the dodgers moved konerko to first base, presumably because they had mike piazza behind the plate.  konerko is fielding his position on this 1998 pinnacle performers card

as well as this 1998 topps stadium club

they also tried him at third base and even the outfield.  he was, after all, the second best prospect in all of baseball heading into the 1998 season (as ranked by baseball america).  today, i don't think you trade that type of prospect for a closer.

i'll finish up with a couple of dodgers hanging out on tatooine - 1993 score select lenny harris

and jose offerman

one last thank you, bo! that was a fun package to sort through!

when a dodger card isn't fully a dodger card

sometimes, team collectors can miss out on cards that they may otherwise choose to add to their collection.  for example, this 1992 topps kids eddie murray card

shows him as a dodger, but then again - he is 'now with the mets!'.  is it a dodger card or a met card?  i consider it to be a non-dodger dodger card. so there.

here are some others that fit that bill (and fit into my collection as a result):

1993 donruss rudy seanez

a dodger up until the expansion draft

2000 pacific crown collection raul mondesi

pacific almost fooled me, using a photo of rauuuuuuul in the blue dodger alt jersey

2000 skybox dominion raul mondesi

obviously a dodger in all but team name on the card

2004 upper deck first pitch brian jordan

a while back i took a good look at the flagship version of this card. then i came across the first pitch version

and then there is this 2014 topps stickers joe mauer sticker

mauer is wearing the saint paul saints throwback in a game against the brewers in 2013 (i was at that game, by the way).  the saints uniform he is wearing comes from the time when they were a dodger affiliate.  in fact, there are some pictures hanging in one of the target field restaurants recognizing both the saints and the minneapolis millers (a giants' affiliate) as part of the twin cities' baseball fabric.  the photo for the saints features roy campanella rounding third being congratulated by walt alston.  pretty cool.  the millers photo features some guy named willie mays.  anyway, the mauer sticker is not a dodger card, but a cool item that i pulled from a pack and sent off to 2x3 heroes - i think.

if i haven't, i will - i've got quite a few packages ready to be sent out to folks, including baseball cards come to life, night owl, off hiatus, too many verlanders, bob walk the plank, and probably a couple of others.  you can always check my trade tracker on the right to see if i am aware that i owe you cards - let me know if i do and you don't see your name!

one does not simply post random cards on friday

unless one lacks inspiration for a proper post, and there are still a bunch of cards sitting idly in the scanned folder.

such is life.

2002 topps tribute zach wheat

wheat actually had 476 career doubles, which was still about 300 shy of the all-time leader (tris speaker) when he retired.  speaker is still on top of the list, with wheat way down at 81st all-time (and about to be passed by torii hunter) now.

2004 topps heritage don newcombe flashback

newk won exactly 20 games in 1955 (as he had in 1951), but was 27-7 in 1956 to win the cy young and mvp awards.  he lost game 1 of the '55 world series, so i guess that's why the flashback card references the 1955 regular season.  always good to see don newcombe cards in newer releases!

1985 donruss ken landreaux

i liked '85 donruss at the time. definitely more than i liked '85 fleer (and i am a fan of the 1970 topps gray border set).  landreaux here is swinging away in dodger stadium, while delino deshields is in vero beach on his 1996 upper deck card

1996 upper deck got a little too fancy for me.  there are some nice cards in the set, but all the gold foil didn't do much for me so i bought very little of this back then.

2002 topps chrome davey lopes refractor

that's a shiny card of the former dodger second baseman who was fired by the brew crew 15 games into the 2002 season.

2002 topps chrome traded brian jordan

i don't know if the chrome traded veteran cards are short printed, but i was pretty ticked that topps did that with the regular traded set that year.

2010 upper deck jonathan broxton biography insert

broxton was indeed 6-0 after june 5, 2009 with 13 saves to his credit to boot.  after the game on august 18, 2009, broxton was 7-0 with 26 saves.  he took the loss the next day.

2010 topps cards your mom threw out 1953 topps johnny podres

this is the 'original back' version

at some point between 1953 and 1978, people stopped using the phrase "pulls a rock". i had not heard that until reading the back of this card.

2005 topps carl erskine 'dem bums' insert

oisk is trying to run away from this post as fast as he can. i don't blame him.

sunday morning target dodgers - double dutch and an oyster. or, more guys i know nothing about.

i actually enjoy it when a sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger set features 15 players (in this case 14 because wally hood was a double dipper who gets a separate post) i know very little (or in this case nothing) about.  off to baseball-reference!

morrie aderholt

aderholt played for the dodgers in 1944 and 1945 after some success with their farm team in montreal.  he had played in the infield for the washington senators in a few games in each season from 1939 through 1941, but the dodgers used him exclusively in the outfield.  he left brooklyn during the 1945 season after being claimed on waivers by the braves, and finished his playing career by hitting .333 in boston over the remainder of that campaign.  aderholt returned to the senators' organization as a minor league manager and then scout until he died of a heart attack at the age of 39 in 1955.

ray berres

berres began his major league career by playing in 39 games for the dodgers in 1934.  he returned to the big leagues in 1936 as the dodgers' primary catcher, playing in 105 games and hitting .240.  berres went on to become a successful pitching coach for the chicago white sox, serving in that capacity from 1949-1966, and again from 1968-1969.  he passed away in 2007 at the age of 99.

oyster burns

this card reminds me of those upper deck 'draw your own card' inserts from the mid-1990's.  burns was an original brooklyn bridegroom, playing for the 1890 team in its first season as a national league franchise.  he led the league with 13 home runs and 128 rbi that season as the bridegrooms won the pennant.  burns' brooklyn career actually began in 1888, and it lasted into the 1895 season.  in all, he hit  and even .300 as a member of the brooklyn franchise.

mal eason

eason's card feels like a lesson in pointillism.  eason completed 38 of his 53 starts for the superbas over his two seasons with the franchise (1905 and 1906), but compiled a record of just 15 wins and 38 losses.  eason also pitched for the chicago orphans (later known as the cubs), the boston beaneaters (later the doves, rustlers, and then the braves), and the detroit tigers.

dutch jordan

jordan was with the superbas in 1903 and 1904, his only two seasons in the major leagues.  his career average was .208, with an ops of just .518.  immediately following his playing days, jordan became a minor league manager.

jim korwan

baseball-reference notes that korwan's nickname was 'long jim', but they don't say why.  his tenure with the brooklyn franchise consisted of a single game for the 1894 grooms.  he pitched 5 innings in relief on  april 24, 1894, giving up 14 runs (8 earned) for an era of 14.40.  he trimmed his career era in half (to 6.92) three years later by pitching for the cubs in a handful of games in 1897 to the tune of a 5.82 era.  two years later, korwan died from tuberculosis at the age of 25.

lew riggs

riggs was an all-star third baseman for the reds in 1936 and won a ring with them in 1940.  the following year, he was in brooklyn playing third for the dodgers.  he hit .305 that season, helping brooklyn win the pennant although they lost the world series to the yankees.  riggs suited up for the dodgers again in 1942, and then went off to war.  he returned to the club for a single game in 1946 to wrap up his playing career.

sergio robles

that photo of robles is as grainy as the bigfoot photo, but there is evidence that robles existed and even played for the dodgers.  he came close to being a double dipper, as he was originally drafted by the dodgers but was traded to the orioles in the frank robinson deal before he could reach the big leagues.  after cups of coffee with the o's in 1971 and 1972, robles eventually found his way back to los angeles in 1976. he appeared in five september games as a late inning replacement behind the plate, going 0 for 3 at the dish.  his last two games featured him catching dodger closer charlie hough, and to his credit, robles allowed only two passed balls while trying to tame the knuckleball.

andy rush

rush was a member of the 1925 brooklyn robins, pitching in four games and earning a record of 0-1 with a 9.31 era.  that was the sum total of his major league experience.

george shoch

shoch had a fantastic mustache, and he played for the grooms/bridegrooms from 1893 through 1897.  those were the final five seasons of his 11-year career, and he hit .281 in 381 games for brooklyn during that span.

gene snyder

snyder was traded by the phillies to the dodgers after the 1958 season as part of the package in exchange for sparky anderson.  his only big league experience came the following season as he pitched in 11 games for the world champion dodgers.  snyder earned his only big league win in his major league debut (a relief appearance against the cardinals), and then suffered his only big league loss in his very next outing (a relief appearance against the reds).

dutch stryker

stryker, the second 'dutch' on this sheet, pitched in two games for the 1926 brooklyn robins.  he posted a 27.00 era as a robin which was somewhat tempered by the fact that he earned no decisions in either game.  his only other big league experience came in 1924 as a member of the boston braves.  i believe stryker is shown here in a boston uniform as that's the only way i know of that the black armband makes sense.  i'll address that in a separate memorials post somewhere down the line.

eddie wilson

wilson was a mid-season call-up for the dodgers in 1936 who hit .347 in 52 games over the latter part of the season.  he started the 1937 season with the dodgers, but was sent down a couple of weeks into the season after a slow start.  he returned to the majors later in the season, but did not duplicate his previous success, and finished his big league career with hitless pinch-hit performance on the final day of the 1937 season.

hank winston

winston pitched in one game for the 1933 philadelphia a's and then waited until 1936 to get another taste of the big leagues.   he made it into 14 games for the dodgers in '36, going 1-3 with a 6.12 era.  unfortunately for winston, that was all she wrote as far as a big league playing career was concerned.

have you ever really looked at brian jordan's 2004 upper deck card?

take a look at brian jordan's 2004 upper deck card

there's a lot going on there.  now, jordan was with the rangers when this card came out, but that's ok - i'll take all the dodger cards i can get. especially when they are as unique as this one.  what then, is the most interesting part?

is it the use of holman stadium and its color stratified seats as a backdrop?  that's certainly been done before.

is it the presence of at least six khaki-clad media types walking and standing around in the background?

or is it the presence of the golf cart?  golf carts are always fun to see on cards.

how about all the spring training equipment clutter laying around?  there are a few equipment bags, some bats, a helmet, and even a pine tar rag strewn about.  quite the mess.

plus, there is the random shoe on the left border, next to the equipment bag that is closest to jordan.  whose foot is that, i wonder?

and don't forget about the dodger stadium scene embedded in the bottom part of the card.  that may well be my favorite part of the 2004 upper deck set (from which i actually have very few cards).

jordan himself is not so interesting here, as his pose is nothing out of the ordinary.  however, i do find it interesting that his number is written on the end of the bat barrel.  isn't it usually just found on the knob?

back to the golf cart - did you notice the cooler?  i know what's in most coolers on golf carts.  i wonder what's in that one.

the more i look at this card, the more i realize that just about the only thing missing is manny mota's bicycle.  i wish there were more cards like this.  not a lot of them, but just a few to mix things up.

sunday morning target dodgers

for the second day in a row, i am leading off a post with a card of jim lefebvre! it's lefebvrepalooza time, apparently.  yes, jim lefebvre's card was on this week's sheet of 1990 target cards.  let's have a look (at 14 of the 15 from that sheet, anyway).

jim lefebvre

he's turning two!  i actually put this card in my double play binder - i bought a single online so that i could keep the sheets intact.  i think the only other target single i have is steve garvey.  anyway, lefebvre was the 1965 nl rookie of the year and he was also a henchman of the riddler on the batman tv show.  top that justin turner or dee gordon!

hal janvrin

janvrin was on the red sox team (along with babe ruth) that beat the brooklyn robins in the 1916 world series (he hit .217 in the series as the second baseman for the sox).  he joined the robins in 1921 following a midseason trade from the cardinals, and remained with the club through the 1922 season.

roy jarvis

jarvis may well be the shortest tenured of all the dodgers.  as an 18-year old in 1944, he had one solitary plate appearance and struck out (he also caught a few innings that day).  it was his only appearance as a dodger, although he did resurface in the major leagues with pittsburgh in 1946 and 1947.

tim jordan

jordan is the only member of the brooklyn/los angeles franchise to have led the league in home runs more than once - his 12 home runs led the national league in both 1906 and 1908.  jordan spent 4+ seasons with the superbas before his big league career ended in 1910.  he continued to play minor league ball until the age of 41.

frank kellert

kellert spent only one season with the brooklyn dodgers, but it was a good one.  he was acquired via trade from the orioles in march of 1955 in exchange for erv palica, and he went on to appear in the only world series that the brooklyn dodgers won.  kellert hit .325 in 39 games during the regular season, with many of his appearances coming as a pinch hitter.  in the world series, he was 1 for 3 (all appearances were as a pinch hitter) although each game he appeared in were games the dodgers lost.  after the series, kellert was claimed on waivers by the cubs which was unfortunate because topps then had time to put him in a cubs hat on his 1956 topps card.  kellert did get a dodger card in the 1995 topps brooklyn dodger archives set, though.

clyde king

this card would have been killer in color - it would be great in the 1957 topps set.  anyway, king is a dodger double dipper and a former yankee gm.

tony lazzeri

speaking of yankees, lazzeri is best known as the second baseman for the yankees (including the 1927 club), as he spent 12 seasons in new york and won 6 world series between 1926 and 1937.  lazzeri joined the cubs in 1938 and took them to the world series, where they lost to the cubs thanks to a called shot and a billy goat, supposedly.  in 1939, he returned to the east coast as a member of the brooklyn dodgers.  he hit .282 in 14 games for the dodgers and was released.

bill marriot

marriot played for the robins in 1926 and 1927.  he was the team's primary third baseman in 1926, hitting .267 in 109 games.

len matuszek

a modern era dodger!  matuszek came to the dodgers in 1985 in the al oliver trade with toronto.  he stuck with the team as a pinch hitter through the 1987 season, and was 1 for 1 in the 1985 nlcs.

fred mitchell

mitchell's contract was purchased by the superbas during the 1904 season.  he made 8 starts for them that year, and had a record of 2-5.  he returned for the 1905 season, and was 2-7 in 12 pitching appearances, although he also played in the field in more than a dozen other games.  he spent the next few seasons in the minors, but returned to the major leagues in 1910 with the new york highlanders (yankees) as catcher.  mitchell later turned to managing and led the 1918 chicago cubs to the world series in that role.

eddie morgan

morgan hit .188 in 31 games for the 1937 brooklyn dodgers following a cup of coffee with the 1936 saint louis cardinals.  morgan has the distinction of being one of the few players to hit a home run in his first major league at bat, and it was the only home run of his career.

val picinich

valentine here was a catcher who joined the robins in 1929 and stayed with the franchise until he was released during the 1933 season.  he appeared in a total of 187 games during that span, and hit .255 with 6 homers.

bill schardt

schardt's major league career consists of 46 games spread over the 1911 and 1912 seasons, all as a dodger.  he posted a record of 5-16 in those appearances and completed 10 of 22 starts.

nick tremark

tremark also spent his entire big league career with the dodgers.  he played in 35 games over the course of three seasons - 1934 through 1936.  he hit .247 and at 5'-5", he was the freddie patek of his day.

thanks as always to baseball reference for shedding light on these guys.  it makes the set much more enjoyable the more you know about the players.