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.

obectively, brian earned some vintage

i received a package from brian, the brains behind highly subjective and completely arbitrary, a couple of weeks ago now.  i had just sent out 12 packages and a couple of pwe's of my own to various folks, but now need to compile a return package for brian.  there will be vintage included in that package, because brian sent me some older dodgers.  i asked 'who wants to deal for vintage?', and brian responded.  have a look.

1963 topps peel-offs don drysdale

hadn't seen these before.  the backs actually encourage the kids who bought these packs to peel the back off and stick big d on folders and the like.  i'm glad that the kid who got this one didn't follow directions.

1971 topps tattoos wes parker

i did not realize the the mid-80's tattoos were a revival of a previous issue, but here you have tattoos from 1971.  nice of brian to send my way.

1954 bowman carl erskine

there was also a 1954 bowman george shuba card which is a nice upgrade for me, but the erskine was new to my collection. i realized after i opened the package that i hadn't deleted shuba from the want list.  that is sloppy want list maintenance, folks. i'll try to do better.

brian also included some more modern pieces, although still quite interesting.  this is a 1982 national baseball hall of fame sandy koufax card

it's the type of thing you might see in a panini set these days. it's really simple, but way cool, to have hall of fame plaques on a standard card rather than a postcard.

speaking of sandy, here's a 2015 topps archives card that brian also sent

how cool are those two kids over sandy's shoulders?  it would be great to see myself on a card like this.

from koufax to kershaw, with a 2015 panini diamond kings clayton kershaw card

i see now that kershaw (as of 7/9) had the lowest career era of any starter over the last 100 years.  lower even than koufax.

2015 topps heritage hyun-jin ryu holofoil parallel

another dodger lefty, though he hasn't realized as much success as the previous two.

2003 donruss studio hideo nomo studio stars

studio stuck with the credit card insert for many years. too many, in my opinion.

last card of this post is a 2015 donruss carl crawford jersey kings relic card

the card says 'los angeles' but the relic screams 'tampa bay'.

thanks brian!  i'll pull some cards together to send back your way soon!

six of nine from 2 x 3 by pwe

i was the lucky recipient of another plain white envelope from jeff at 2x3 heroes a week and a half ago.  it was a happy coincidence, as it landed in my mailbox the same day that i sent a couple of pwe's and 12 packages out into bloggerland.  one of the packages was sent jeff's way, but i think i need to get another together soon.  here are six of the nine cards that jeff managed to send my way in a standard number 10.

2014 topps chrome zack greinke gold parallel

greinke's got to be the nl starter for the all-star game, right?  and, he's got to exercise his opt-out clause with the poor run support that the dodgers are giving him, right?  i hope i'm wrong about that last one.

2015 topps adrian gonzalez career high relic

at first glance, i thought this card was all about gonzalez's career best postseason ops, so i took a quick look, and gonzalez did, in fact, have a 1.091 ops in the 2013 nlcs, but his 0.833 ops in the nlds that year would bring his total postseason ops down into the .900s. however, topps does a good job on the back letting me know that they are only referring to the 2013 nlcs with this card - hence the "postseason series" text that i overlooked when i first saw this card.  as a matter of record, in his other postseason appearances, gonzalez posted an ops of .828 with the padres in 2006 and a paltry .610 with the dodgers last year.

2015 topps sandy koufax stepping up insert

and johnny podres stepping up insert

now, i would imagine that 'stepping up' usually refers to a batter.  in fact, the phrase 'step up to the plate' has infiltrated everyday lingo, and the cards feature home plate in the background.  so, why feature two pitchers on these stepping up inserts?  i guess "toeing the rubber" doesn't quite have the same sound.  topps does let us know on the backs that they consider koufax to have 'stepped up' in his second big league start back in 1955 when he threw a two-hitter, and podres, of course, 'stepped up' to shutout the yankees in game 7 of the world series that year.  it's nice to see podres continue to get some topps love, but maybe they could throw some attention to don newcombe or carl erskine or even carl furillo once in awhile.

2015 topps yasiel puig heart of the order insert

topps acknowledges on the back of the card that puig has typically hit in the number 2 spot.

there was one non-dodger card in the bunch, and it was this 2015 bowman michael taylor card

featuring a tatooine shot.

thanks as always, jeff.  hope you enjoyed the stuff i sent your way!

here are some cards from 2015 topps series 2

well, topps finally put don mattingly on a card in their flagship set, but they did so on a josh beckett highlight/checklist card

it's not even a final tribute card for beckett.  still, i like it.

i bought a dodger team set on ebay, and found that topps went horizontal a few more times for the dodgers in their series two set - here's the 'team' card

plus two more clayton kershaw cards - cy young

and mvp

it's been said before, but i would prefer the checklist expansion topps heralded this year provide cards for the likes of justin turner and scott van slyke and even juan nicasio instead of four kershaw cards.  i don't mind the base (obviously) or the highlight/checklist cards, but award winner cards are not my favorite. i'd rather see other players from the roster at that point.  along those lines, here's carlos frias

most of the other dodgers from series two were shown in the recent flagship vs. factory set post, and i've only scanned a few cards from a blaster i purchased.  i did get this nolan ryan/sandy koufax eclipsing history insert

about which i have three comments.  first, the design of this insert (and all of the inserts in series two that i've seen) is really boring.  second, the history that ryan is eclipsing was established by koufax as a los angeles dodger, not a brooklyn dodger.  third, if ryan is eclipsing koufax, shouldn't he be in the foreground?  details, i suppose.

there were three twins cards that i chose to scan - the first being this ervin santana card

santana takes the mound for the first time as a twin today after serving his suspension for ped use.  i thought that topps would wait and include him in update as a result.

i like this jordan schafer card

a couple of years ago it would have likely been a variation short print, so it's nice to see topps using good photos for base cards.  schafer was released by the twins just a couple of days before i saw this card, by the way.

here's another twinkies card that features target field

with a clean-shaven joe mauer in the foreground and oswaldo arcia's back on the jumbotron.

i'll finish up this series two post with a couple of double plays - dj lemahieu

and joe panik

i was hoping for another justin turner dp in series two, but i guess i'll have to wait for update.

sixty years since sandy's debut

60 years ago today, sandy koufax made his big league debut.  now here's his 2015 topps museum collection sepia parallel

koufax was 19 years old when he relieved jim hughes (who had been pinch-hit for by johnny podres) in a game against the braves on june 24, 1955.  he went two innings, allowing a hit and a walk but no runs.  in fact, the first three batters koufax faced in the majors reached base - the first batter, johnny logan, singled.  the next, eddie mathews reached on an error charged to koufax, and the third, hank aaron walked.

so, koufax loaded the bases with nobody out and walter alston may have been questioning his decision to keep koufax on the roster over tommy lasorda (or not), but sandy struck out bobby thomson and then induced a 6-4-3 double play from joe adcock to end the inning.  the following innning was a 1-2-3 affair with koufax striking out his second victim, lew burdette, to end the frame and his debut.

koufax went on to pitch in 11 more games during the 1955 regular season, making five starts, two of which resulted in shutouts (one was a 2-hitter), but he did not pitch in the world series that year.

sandy koufax then means a bevy of cards now

the dominance of sandy koufax in 1966 - he won his third cy young award and third pitching triple crown that year - means that he shows up a lot in this year's topps heritage 'then and now' 10-card insert set.  never mind that topps is comparing 1966 (the base set's design year) to 2014 (the previous season).    i guess it's as close as we can get to 'now', because we missed it - just now.

here's a bunch of sandy goodness.

2015 topps heritage then and now #6

this card celebrates the era leaders - koufax posted a 1.73 era in 1966, while kershaw's 1.77 was the best in baseball last year

2015 topps heritage then and now #7

these are your strikeout leaders - koufax had 317 in 1966, and david price k'd 271 batters in 2014. kudos to topps for noting that price split his time between tampa bay and detroit last year.

2015 topps heritage then and now #8

is all about the wins leaders - koufax had the most in 1966 with 27, and kershaw's 21 victories were the most in baseball last year.  three cards into the set, and topps is already recycling a koufax photo. nice.

2015 topps heritage then and now #9

these are a couple of workhorses.  the innings pitched leaders - koufax threw 323 innings in '66, and david price completed 248.1 frames in 2014.  so far it's been all leftys….

2015 topps heritage then and now #10

finally a righty.  these are the shutout leaders - koufax (and 8 others) had 5 shutouts in 1966, while wainwright (and 2 others) spun 3 last year.  and, while i appreciate the photo of koufax standing in dodger stadium, i didn't necessarily need to see it on two consecutive cards.

there could have been more koufax cards in this set had topps made one for complete games, starts, k/9, or batters faced, or a bevy of modern stats like fip and era+.  still, the dodgers dominated the insert set with adrian gonzalez gracing card #2, and dee gordon appearing on card #4

one guess as to which statistical category that card represents.

there's another insert set featuring koufax - a legend retires - but i don't have any of those cards.  i do have this 2015 topps heritage baseball flashbacks card

that notes how koufax clinched the national league pennant for the dodgers on the last day of the season in his last career regular season start

no mention of the final start of his career - a game 2 loss in the 1966 world series.  it's worth noting that koufax's teammate phil regan had a 1.62 era in 1966, although he pitched only 116.2 innings that year, all in relief.  besides, most people would rather have cards of koufax than the vulture.

who's carrying jackie robinson's torch? besides everyone, that is...

this week marks the 68th anniversary of jackie robinson's debut in the major leagues.  however, this post focuses more on the end of his playing days, as i thought i'd take a look at how his career torch was passed.

in his final regular season at bat (on september 30, 1956), jackie robinson grounded out against the pirates' bob friend.  here's jackie's 1956 topps card - the last from his playing days.

jackie did play in the world series in '56, but i am keeping this to regular season games.  for the record, jackie made the final out of the '56 series, striking out against the yankees' johnny kucks.

bob friend, who appeared with sandy koufax on a 1964 topps league leaders card,

retired deron johnson of the reds on september 24, 1966 while he was pitching for the mets.  johnson was the last batter friend faced in the majors.

deron johnson, seen here on a 1974 topps card as an oakland a,

struck out in his final big league appearance to end the game on may 28, 1976 as a member of the red sox against the orioles' grant jackson

on september 8, 1982, grant jackson had a one-game return stint for the pirates after pitching for the royals for the majority of the season.  here's his 1982 topps traded card

he entered in relief with the mets having loaded the bases in the 9th inning with one out, and promptly served up a grand slam to catcher ron hodges.  jackson retired the next two batters to end the inning, the last of which was ron gardenhire.  that was the last time jackson appeared in the big leagues.

ron gardenhire, still with the mets,

struck out in the 9th against jeff reardon to end his major league playing career on october 6, 1985. i like gardy's 1985 donruss card because of dodger stadium in the background.

jeff reardon finished his career in 1994 as a yankee (see this 1994 upper deck collector's choice gold parallel as proof)

allowing a game-tying single to tim salmon with his final big league pitch on may 4 of that year.

tim salmon (shown on a 2003 upper deck mvp card)

popped out against oakland's huston street in his last career at bat on october 1, 2006.  salmon was in the on-deck circle when the game ended.

huston street is still going strong, pitching for the angels following a midseason trade with the padres last year.  here's his 2014 topps update card

there are other, more important ways, in which jackie robinson's legacy lives on, but this sort of playing legacy has always intrigued me.