hand me downs that fit my collection perfectly

i used to receive hand me down clothes from my cousins in the late 1970's.  that was a dangerous time for hand me downs due to the many strange fashions of the time. these days, my hand me downs come in the way of cards, and night owl's unwanted cards are among the ones i appreciate the most.

thanks to the large number of folks who send cards to night owl, he accumulates lots of cool dodger doubles, and so i wind up with some nice hand me downs. should i say hand me downs again, or just show some cards?  right.

2011 topps roy campanella cognac parallel

the mustache was not a good look for campy.  my favorite thing about these retired player short print cards in 2011 was the dirty/aged baseball topps used behind the logo.  it was a nice touch.

2011 topps jonathan broxton diamond anniversary parallel

i must have missed the trade last year that sent broxton from cincinnati to milwaukee.  it's good to see his k/9 ratio is back up with the brew crew, but so is his era, unfortunately.

2008 topps chrome andruw jones xfractor

even andruw jones dodger cards are welcome.  i'm not entirely sure night owl had a double of this one - he may just have wanted andruw out of his house.

2011 bowman platinum prospects allen webster xfractor

webster was part of the big 2012 trade between the dodgers and the red sox. he started 18 games for boston over the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and is now in the diamondbacks organization.

it's not all parallels and shiny stuff that comes from night owl - there are other cool cards like this 1989 jj nissen superstars orel hershiser oddball

jj nissen is a bread company, by the way.

i even accept junk (or is this just trash) cards like this 1995 fleer ramon martinez card

it's still a dodger card, and it might just be one that i need.

here's a 1998 fleer metal universe card of catcher henry blanco

actually, blanco never caught for the dodgers.  he made his big league debut with the dodgers in 1997 and hit a single in his first at bat and a home run in his third, and played third base and first - not catcher.  he spent 1998 in the minors and then began a ten-team journey through the major leagues that lasted through the 2013 season.

here's another backstop who actually did catch for the dodgers - todd hundley on a 1999 upper deck victory card

hundley had two stints with the dodgers, the second of which was pretty bad.

2003 donruss diamond kings odalis perez silver foil parallel

perez was actually worthy of being a diamond king following the 2002 season. he posted the best numbers of his career, winning 15 games with an era of 3.00 and a whip of 0.99.  he also gave us a ball during a game in anaheim in 2006.

2002 topps roy campanella 1952 reprints

and so the post comes full circle, although this is a clean shaven campy.

i've got more night owl hand me downs to show some other time, and i'm pulling together some of my own to send back his way.  thanks greg!

the star of 2014 topps update is justin turner

in 2011, it was dee gordon.  in 2012, adam kennedy.  last year, nick punto's topps update card was my favorite.  this year, i am getting a kick out of justin turner's card.

that's some good double play turning right there from one of the best free agent signings of last offseason (the best after phil hughes and nelson cruz? or better, since he signed as a minor league free agent?).  oh, there are better cards in update - kurt suzuki has a couple, and i do like pat neshek's all-star card, too - but if there were a card i would chase a rainbow of this year, it's turner's.

after finding only chone figgins and scott vanslyke cards in the update stuff i bought, i went ahead and ordered (most of) the other dodger base cards from sportlots.  have a look.

erisbel arruebarrena

his name didn't fit on the card properly.  still seems weird to see a dodger other than manny mota wear number 11.

dee gordon

if not for jose altuve, i am guessing he would have been the littlest all-star.  nice gatorade cameo, by the way.

zack greinke

not a fan of the all-star caps, except for the teams like the twins and padres who actually have worn caps like that during their existence.

clayton kershaw

almost reminds me of the 1978 topps rick monday card where mo seems to be wiping mustard off of his face.

chris perez

and hello lurking juan uribe

yasiel puig

i hit as many hr derby homers as he did…

chris withrow

now i realize that i forgot to order a paul maholm card.  anyone have an extra?

i did pick up a couple of turner parallels - gold

and red hot foil

i could use another red hot foil for the dp collection…

here's kershaw's red hot foil parallel

and one of the inserts - a fernando valenzuela world series heroes card

el toro was 3-1 in 5 starts in the 1981 postseason, but made only one start in the world series - he threw a complete game in the dodgers' game 3 5-4 win over the yankees.  i had hoped to see a ron cey/pedro guerrero/steve yeager card in this insert set instead of fernando, if i'm being honest.

meanwhile, justin turner parallels and paul maholm have taken over the nefarious nine (see list at right on the web version of the blog).  please, help a blogger out!

i have many leather bound books and this card that looks of rich mahogany

actually, this 2005 bowman heritage brad penny mahogany parallel

does not really look like rich mahagony, but this post needed a catchy title.  after all, it's just a random cards from the scanned folder post.

here's a 2002 upper deck adrian beltre card

it features a pretty standard photo angle at dodger stadium - a nice photo of a right-handed batter taken from the first base dugout photographer's well.  we've seen it before, many times, like on bill madlock's 1986 woolworth's card

and raul mondesi's 2000 topps opening day card

other stadiums have the same vantage point, including the nameless stadium that provided the backdrop for this 1994 upper deck sp holo fx mondesi card

and, not all batters from that vantage point are right-handed, either.  case in point, this 2003 upper deck odalis perez card

complete with visible undie lines.

here's a better card of perez from 2005 upper deck

the home whites look really sharp on that card.

back to 2003, fred mcgriff's upper deck card from that year

makes good use of the horizontal design, thanks to the stratified seats at vero beach.

this 2003 upper deck 40 man card of beltre is almost a tatooine card

spoiled only by that little bit of grass by his left foot.

here's a 2010 topps 206 james loney card

it is a bronze parallel, i believe.  i was a fan of the 206 set when topps first released it in 2002 (loney had a card in that set, too).  not so much in 2010.  i have a partially completed 2002 set, in fact.  i will have to get my want list posted and take a run at finishing it.

finally, here is a 2008 etopps manny ramirez card

i picked this up cheap online sometime last year.  i am guessing that a lot of people had topps ship their cards after it was announced that etopps was ending.  i had bought a few cards from etopps in the early 2000's, but always had them shipped.  i didn't understand the idea of not having the physical card.

until the next time i am hurting for a post, stay classy scanned folder.

2013 topps update variations of a different kind

i recently participated in a group break of 2013 topps update over at andrew's baseball cards.  in addition to my dodgers, i was given the milwaukee brewers.  while i received a good number of dodger cards, there was only one insert (1971 topps mini jackie robinson).  i was able to obtain an emerald parallel of a brewer, however.  here's juan francisco in oz.

as i shuffled through the brew crew cards, i noticed a variety of uniform choices.  that francisco card shows the first baseman in the away grays.  here's jim henderson in the home whites

and here's johnny hellweg in the alternate blue jerseys

kyle lohse is featured in the set wearing the pinstriped throwbacks

and logan schafer is wearing the mustard alternate top

at least the brewers are consistent.  back in 2002, when the all-star game was held in milwaukee, the national leaguers were forced to wear mustard jerseys during the workout and other pre-game activities.  here's a couple of 2002 mlb showdown cards as proof - eric gagne

and odalis perez

looks like the roof is open on odalis' card.  do they even bother to open the roof anymore?  the games i saw there in 2002 featured it open one night and then closed the next day.  when it was closed i felt like i was watching a game in a shopping mall.  better than the metrodome, but only just.

there was an all-star jersey on a brewer in 2013 topps update, too.  here's carlos gomez wearing the mets orange jersey

so that's six different jerseys that the brewer players were wearing in this year's update.  just something i noticed.

thanks for hosting the break andrew!

pwe bombs part 2

here's a peek at the contents of the other 5 pwe bombs i received on friday from jaybarkerfan

pwe #6:

1982 fleer davey lopes

1982 fleer bobby mitchell
2009 ud icons chad billingsley
2007 topps jason schmidt
1996 leaf steel todd hollandsworth

pwe #7:

1997 leaf hideo nomo

2012 topps hong chih kuo
2012 bowman platinum clayton kershaw
2012 bowman platinum matt kemp
2011 bowman prospects allen webster

pwe #8:

1982 topps pedro guerrero

1983 topps ken landreaux

1984 topps steve sax

1985 topps terry whitfield
1986 topps rick honeycutt
1989 topps jay howell
2009 ud opc jonathan broxton

pwe #9:

1997 pinnacle hideo nomo (clout)
1988 fleer star stickers orel hershiser

2004 topps total darren dreifort
2012 topps ted lilly
2012 topps clayton kershaw (league leaders)

pwe #10:

2003 topps brian jordan
2003 topps omar daal
2004 upper deck vintage odalis perez

2011 bowman prospects rafael ynoa

thanks!

showdown throwdown

let us team collectors mourn the 2000's - with upper deck victory and topps total and upper deck 40 man and the like - sometimes the only way to get cards of our third string catcher or long reliever.  not quite as heralded as those releases was mlb showdown.  still, in 2000, it provided we dodger fans with a card of pedro borbon jr!

borbon jr was almost a dodger triple dipper - he was originally drafted by the dodgers in 1986, but did not sign.  they later signed him as a free agent in 1998, and he pitched in 70 games for them during the 1999 season.  after that, he was included in the raul mondesi for shawn green deal, but returned to the dodgers in the spring of 2003.  unfortunately, he was released before the season started so he didn't even double dip according to my definition.  anyway, i think that the 2000 mlb showdown card is the only one of borbon's that i have showing him in dodger blue.  it might be the only card made for him now that i think about it, as he was a loogy but never a closer.  ok, no.  he has a few cards from his mid-90's stint with the braves and even has one in 2002 ud 40 man as a blue jay.  good for him.

oh, and using my 20-sided die (thank you dungeon master), i rolled a 13.  looks like borbon got me to fly out.

here's another card from 2000 mlb showdown.  it's mark grudzielanek

it's too bad the g-man and doug mientkiewicz didn't both play for the cubs.  harry caray, who had enough trouble with grudzielanek, would have had a heart attack trying to describe a routine ground ball.  anyway, before grudz was dealt to the cubs, he had a few years with the dodgers and got a lot of cards.  he got me a single just now, as i rolled a 14.

another guy with a lot of cards, including one in the 2000 mlb showdown set was todd hollandsworth

i have to admit that i really don't understand this game.  are we to believe that todd hollandsworth does not fly out?  whatever, i rolled a 6.  first and second, one out baby!

hey, it's todd hundley from his first stint in dodger blue.

i rolled a two. figures. a strikeout.

raul mondesi was still a dodger in the 2000 mlb showdown set.

i really like all dodger cards from 2000 a lot.  many of them show the dodger heroes patch on the left sleeve that were worn during the 1999 season.  here, we can see mondy paid tribute to number 11, manny mota.  shouldn't borbon have worn mota's patch?  he wore a tommy lasorda patch instead.

upon closer inspection, i see that the hundley and the mondesi cards are 'edition 1' cards.  parallels, perhaps? who knows?  anyway, i rolled a five - mondy walks to load the bases. mondy walks - yeah right.

devon white has a few dodger cards, including a 2000 mlb showdown card

what will he do with 2 outs and the bases loaded?  if you guessed strike out, you are correct.  i rolled a one.

the last of the 2000 cards i will show is eric young's.

ey is rocking the jackie robinson patch, and he gets to lead off our second inning.  he walks with a rolled 6.

that brings up shawn green on a 2001 mlb showdown card

shawn green is certainly not a guy with only a handful of dodger cards.  no, he was in every set, every subset, every insert set - you name it, he was in it.  he also just cleared the bases with a 2-run home run thanks to a roll of the die that equaled the average age of the us serviceman in vietnam.  19.  19. 19 19 19.  at least according to paul hardcastle.

so, it's 2-0 if in fact i am doing this right, with nobody out in the 2nd inning.  here's a 2003 mlb showdown card of another frequently featured dodger, kevin brown

between brown and gary sheffield, i had a hard time buying dodger cards 10 years ago.  maybe that's why i branched out my pc's around that time to include more non-dodgers.  anyway, brown just pu'd with a 1.  and what's with the 21+ category?  does he have a bat +1?  and if so, then how many hit points?

here's shawn green again, this time working the goatee on a 2003 mlb showdown card

will he go deep twice in the same inning? no, he will not.  he will strike out with a second consecutive 1.

that brings up marquis grissom

grissom was traded by the brewers to the dodgers for the aforementioned devon white after the 2000 season.  he spent all of 2001 and 2002 with the dodgers, and actually played in 246 games as a dodger. he has that 2001 topps traded relic card, too, of which i swear i have a dozen copies.  by the time this card came out, grissom was up in san francisco hitting .300 for the nor-cals.  i rolled an 8, so he's on base with a two-out walk.

also gone from dodgertown in 2003 was eric karros, although he still got a dodger card in 2003 mlb showdown

the all-time los angeles dodger leader in home runs hits a single with a rolled 13.  actually, i'm sure he hit a gapper, but could only muster a wide turn of first thanks to the piano that he carried with him on the basepaths.

let's see what the guy who was supposed to replace karros can do, shall we?  here's one of fred mcgriff's few dodger cards, also from the 2003 mlb showdown set.

i'll assume that grissom went to third on karros' single, but it doesn't matter since the crime dog drew a walk with a 10 on the die.  bases loaded.

do you remember odalis perez's 2002 season?  15-10 with a 3.00 era and an all-star berth.  he was just 12-12 the year this 2003 mlb showdown card came out.

now i really know i am doing this wrong.  i rolled a 20, so that's a double.  maybe it's impossible for perez to homer.  4-0 with runners on second and third with two outs.

now we're back to why i started this post in the first place.  this is one of just a few paul quantrill dodger cards.

quantrill did get cards from topps in 2003 and 2004, most likely due to the fact that he led the league in pitching appearances in both of those seasons.  like borbon jr, he was drafted by the dodgers in 1986 but did not sign, so he's not a double dipper either.  he is a rally extender-er, though, as he just drew a two-out walk with a 19.

and that brings us to one of the jewels of the 2003 mlb showdown set, paul shuey.

though his face is obscured by shadow, shuey gets some cardboard love.  he pitched in 90 games for the dodgers over the course of the 2002 and 2003 seasons, but i think this is his only dodger card aside from one in the 2003 upper deck 40 man set.  he strikes out to end the inning (i rolled a 4) but that's ok. i can't find fault with a card that features paul shuey in a dodger uniform.