black and blue ryu and some other dodger cards

i'm continuing with a sort of random rambling theme today.

this is a 2013 panini black friday hyun-jin ryu card

it was somehow available on black friday, 2013. i don't recall how i obtained it (sportlots, maybe), but it is not worth standing in line waiting for stores to open to obtain.  still, panini did the same sort of thing last year, and i'm guessing panini is doing it again this year.  ryu is out for the season now, following shoulder surgery.  

this is a 2013 panini pinnacle matt kemp museum collection parallel

it doesn't scan as well as the museum collection inserts from the 1990's.

still more panini - this time from 2014 panini golden age

dusty baker

davey lopes

and zack wheat

as pleased as i was to see dusty and davey and other dodgers from the team of my youth in this set, i don't consider them to be from the golden age.  wheat, sure, but not the others.

wheat also got an insert card in the release - it's a 1913 the national game card

and i wish this had been the base set design

now here's a 2007 topps turkey red andy laroche card

and a 1999 topps chrome jeff shaw card

moving on to 2010 upper deck, here's a biography insert of jeff weaver

marking the time that he beat his brother jered in a game between the dodgers and angels.

olmedo saenz didn't have too many cards, but he spent four seasons with the dodgers and made it into the 2007 topps update & highlights set

even though 2007 was his fourth year with the club.  not much of an update there - more like an omission.

last card for today is a 2008 topps stadium club beam team autographed card of delwyn young

i secretly hoped that delwyn and delmon young (no relation) would have wound up on the same team just for the potential confusion factor.  would they have had their full names on the backs of their jerseys? who knows.

ain't 2007 the sweetest spot

upper deck debuted sweet spot in 2001, and my collecting mind was blown by the inclusion of signed pieces of baseballs included in some packs.  in fact, it was later versions of the sweet spot releases that included the first thick cardboard blanks because it had previously been too easy to find the packs that included the autos.  at least that is what i was told by a clerk at one of the local card shops in the early 2000's.  anyway, the format of the autos was a bit clunky from that first year through 2005 - they were framed into the card by a non-descript border with a small player photo somewhere on the card.  in 2006, upper deck added a generic stadium shot as the background, but in 2007, they did it right - they went to team specific stadium shots.  here's a don sutton auto card from 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic

it's the wood version, numbered to 75, and the stadium in the background is none other than dodger stadium.  awesome.  i'm still looking for a reggie smith/steve garvey dual auto from this set, by the way.

there are the fading issues with some of the later releases, including 2007, as either the ball material or the pens used by some of the players were not the right types, but the wood versions that i have seen do not suffer that fate.  i recall a signing i went to where harmon killebrew and i simultaneously chastised a guy who offered the killer a sharpie to sign a ball with.  you would think that upper deck would have made sure that the cards were signed properly, you know, if in fact they had a representative witness the signings.  oh wait.

anyway, 2007 is my favorite sweet spot year, even though steve garvey is included in the classic set as a padre.  there are plenty of dodgers on the checklist, though, including the aforementioned sutton

i guess the only bad thing here is that each base card is serial numbered, as they were in some of the previous sets.

here are some of the other dodgers from the 2007 ud sweet spot classic set

roy campanella

campy suttons.

pee wee reese

both the campy and reese use photos that are now quite familiar to us.

here's don drysdale

in the type of photo that we would not have seen on a card back in his playing days.  i'm glad upper deck didn't try to lighten the shadow under his bill.

maury wills

still looks like he's ticked at topps.

the set also included more 'modern' dodgers, such as their former manager tom lasorda

and a welcome appearance by a pitcher from the team of my youth, burt hooton

it's not too often we see hooton in card sets.

the regular 2007 sweet spot set had some dodgers, too, but the card i want to show is this adam laroche auto card

that includes some plastic-injected molded helmet thingy and a faux wood signing area.  this is not so much my favorite, but it is somewhat unique.

i have a bunch of other sweet spot cards in the scanned folder, so i'll show them even though they are from the 2005 set.  also not so much my favorite.

jd drew

eric gagne

dj houlton numbered to 99

i think that's a parallel as opposed to a shorter printed rookie subset

jeff kent

derek lowe

and one of the very few cards made of one of the biggest busts in dodger history - norihiro nakamura

i think the 66 looks better on puig - he certainly has done more while wearing it.  and, i think the 2007 sweet spot looks better than any of the other versions before or after it, thanks in large part to the pavilion roof and palm tree on the dodger auto cards.

thoughts of managers and other cards

adam from thoughts of sox sent me some cards a while back, including this 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts card of hall of fame manager walter alston

he managed the dodgers to 7 pennants and 4 world series titles in 23 years, winning 2040 games and finishing below .500 just 4 times.  he was four games short of managing 23 full seasons, as he abdicated his managerial role late in the 1976 season, allowing tommy lasorda to take over.  that got me thinking, so i pulled my lasorda card from the same set

(which features a photo from the 1998 all-star game - after lasorda had retired from managing), and i scanned the backs of the cards together

these two cards together summarize the dodger franchise performance from 1954 into the 1996 season - 42-plus seasons.  crazy.

back to the cards adam sent, here's a 2005 bowman draft picks and prospects russ martin gold parallel card

that i should have shown on canada day

here are a couple of andy laroche cards from 2007 upper deck sp rookie edition

laroche was last seen in 2013 with the blue jays.  he's still in their system, but hasn't appeared in the majors yet this year.

from 2011 topps chrome, here's a rafael furcal refractor

the many permutations of 2011 topps furcal cards combine for one of my favorite dodger double play cards, even though some of them (including the card above) list furky as an outfielder

also from 2011 topps chrome was this ubaldo jiminez refractor

that was sent along due to the 'ksm' patch on the jersey, just above the glove.  i wrote about the patch here as part of my memorials collection.

thanks for the cards adam!

odd combinations

i don't have too many cards from the various topps co-signers sets in my collection.  i think they are kind of strange, actually.  still, i am open to picking some up if and when the opportunity arises.  like with this tommy john/bob welch dual-sticker auto card from the 2006 release.

there aren't too many certified auto cards of welch as a dodger, and that's a shame.  however, i find the pairing with john odd.  their dodger careers overlapped by just one season - 1978.  john moved on to the yankees for the 1979 season, and welch moved into the dodger rotation full time in 1980 after splitting two seasons between starting and relieving.

perhaps a better match for john would have been don sutton, who was john's teammate for six years.  and, while i am thinking about it, a better match for reggie jackson on this 2004 donruss leather and lumber 'rivals' card would have been bob welch

sutton did face reggie in four different postseasons (1974, 1977, 1978, and 1982) but i am pretty sure everybody recalls welch's strikeout of reggie to end game 2 of the '78 series over any sutton/jackson matchup.  but, then this card would be more of the 'classic confrontation' variety i suppose.

let's enjoy a few other combo type cards, like this 1997 bowman's best mirror image insert

i have this card because it features wilton guerrero, along with the suggestion that he might make some folks think of craig biggio.  the other side of the card features chuck knoblauch and donnie sadler, by the way.

this pairing makes some sense - todd hollandsworth and derek jeter on a 1997 pinnacle inside card

as they were both rookies of the year in 1996.  holly last played in 2006, and jeter is still (sort of) playing.

forget batman and robin, the real dynamic duo is delwyn young and andy laroche according to this 2007 topps 52 card

these two were teammates in la during the 2007 and 2008 season, and then were reunited in pittsburgh in 2009 and 2010.  laroche made an appearance for the blue jays this year, but young was released by washington prior to the start of the season.  as dodgers, they combined for 6 home runs and 26 rbi.

last, but certainly not least, here's a 1961 topps card featuring sandy koufax and johnny podres.

they're both leftys so why not put them on a card together?  it doesn't matter that koufax was only 8-13 in 1960 when the decision to make this card was made (podres went 14-12 in 1960).  poor danny mcdevitt, the dodgers' other southpaw in 1960, who went 0-7 and didn't make the cut for the card.

the topps dodger autograph project - 2005 through 2008

time for the next installment of the topps dodger autograph project.  these cards were signed free of charge through the mail.

2005 topps, chad billingsley

bills has signed a few cards for me through the mail.  i've also received cards from this set signed by edwin jackson and milton bradley.  however, that billingsley card above (which also features the guy i thought was going to be my baseball jesus, joel guzman) was obtained in a 50/50 ttm/trade event i had with reader cory a couple of years ago.  there are more from that fantastic transaction to be showcased in this and the next post.

2005 topps update & highlights, jason phillips

phillips signed this card for me while he was serving on the mariners coaching staff.  he might still be there, i don't know for sure.  i've also had success with blake dewitt and jose valentin from this set

2006 topps, bill mueller

topps didn't photoshop mueller for the flagship set, but the team was changed to 'dodgers'.  jim tracy and jason phillips are the only other 2006 topps dodgers who have signed for me through the mail.  i recall seeing a mueller ttm success in which the sender asked him a question along the lines of 'what does it take to be a big leaguer?'  mueller's answer was 'you have to fall in love with preparation'.  i like that quote, and have actually used it a couple of times.

i don't have any cards from 2006 topps update & highlights signed

2007 topps, james loney

other ttm successes i have had from this set include chad billingsley, luis gonzalez, juan pierre, and delwyn young.  plus a i have a purchased grady little signed 2007 topps card.

2007 topps update & highlights, andy laroche

i also have a 2007 topps u & h card signed by hong chi kuo from the 50/50 ttm/trade

2008 topps, delwyn young

in addition to delwyn (which was the result of a regular ol' ttm request), i also have a 2008 topps ramon troncoso autographed card from the 50/50 ttm/trade

2008 topps update & highlights, casey blake

although i have had a ttm success with blake directly, the card above came from the 50/50 ttm/trade deal.  in addition to blake, i have a card from this set signed by angel berroa that also came from that deal.  we'll see a couple more next time. 

thanks to all these players for signing my cards!  here's a running list of the topps dodger autograph project:

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

1975 topps - ron cey

1975 topps mini - joe ferguson

1976 topps - bill russell

1976 topps traded - dusty baker

1977 topps - steve garvey

1978 topps - dave lopes

1979 topps - charlie hough

1980 topps - jerry reuss

1981 topps - doug rau

1981 topps traded - ken landreaux

1982 topps - dave goltz

1982 topps traded - jose morales

1983 topps - ron roenicke

1983 topps traded - rafael landestoy

1984 topps - fernando valenzuela

1984 topps traded - mike vail

1985 topps - burt hooton

1986 topps - enos cabell

1987 topps - steve sax

1987 topps traded - matt young

1988 topps - len matuszek

1989 topps - mickey hatcher

1990 topps - kal daniels

1990 topps traded - juan samuel

1991 topps - tim belcher

1992 topps - roger mcdowell

1993 topps - dave hansen

1993 topps traded - tim wallach

1994 topps - jody reed

1995 topps - chris gwynn

1996 topps - todd hollandsworth

1997 topps - brett butler

1998 topps - greg gagne

1999 topps - jose vizcaino

2000 topps - jeff shaw

2001 topps - chan ho park

2002 topps - andy ashby

2002 topps traded - joel hanrahan

2003 topps - jim tracy

2003 topps traded - ron coomer

2004 topps - edwin jackson

2004 topps traded - milton bradley

2005 topps - chad billingsley

2005 topps update & highlights - jason phillips

2006 topps - bill mueller

2007 topps - james loney

2007 topps update & highlights - andy laroche

2008 topps - delwyn young

2008 topps update & highlights - casey blake

sports cards that blew my mind

sometimes when i will try to initiate a trade, i'll get a response along the lines of 'i don't think i have anything that you would want for that card'.  that's ok - no problem.  of course, it usually doesn't take much to get  stuff from me, but if you have sent all of your dodgers to any of the other dodger collectors out there in our blogosphere, that's ok.  i understand.

i don't have a trade bait page, and conversely not all of my want lists are up to date or even comprehensive.  maybe i can be tough to trade with from that aspect.  still, i have been able to complete a number of trades over the past few months and i have not been disappointed.  hopefully, my trading partners can say the same.

case in point, i contacted scott at sport cards ate my brain and offered a vintage brave and some others for some random dodgers.  then i noticed his trade bait page (maybe i have to get me one of those) and i asked about a couple of cards he had listed.  he agreed to send me the cards i inquired about, along with some other dodger cards.  um, yeah.

here's one of the cards that caught my eye - a 2008 topps co-signers dual sticker auto card of andy laroche and chin-lung hu

in addition to the cards i specifically requested, he sent some bowman.  gold bowman

shiny bowman

refractor bowman

crazy xfractor bowman

photoshopped shiny confusing set name bowman (of the son of the dodgers' third base coach)

seriously, what is this set?  2009 bowman chrome draft? 2009 bowman chrome draft picks and prospects? 2009 bowman chrome draft picks, prospects, and wbc?  put the name of the set on the back like upper-freakin'-deck did in the last few years of their existence.  that would be a big help.

here's a 2008 upper deck goudey card that i must have even though it didn't look familiar to me at all.

do ken griffey jr. super collectors include the national league cards from this set in their collections?  just curious.

there was even a 1995 classic 5 sport auto card of roger cedeno in the package.

but the coolest card in the package was probably this 2010 topps update manufactured bat barrel card of manny ramirez

thinking back, i asked if the manny 'relic' or the laroche/hu auto would be available.  scott sent them both.  that is several kinds of awesome.

consider my brain eaten, or mind blown.  just a great trade.  thanks scott!