a christmas eve edition of random cards from the scanned folder

i'm putting this post on autopilot since it's december 24th and i'm traveling for the holidays.  enjoy some cards that i scanned without a clear purpose over the course of the last few years.

1994 pinnacle brett butler museum collection

i need to add cards from this parallel dodger team set to my nefarious 9.

1962 topps johnny podres

looks like johnny was out late in chicago last night.

1987 fleer league leaders bob welch

the wrigley field ivy in the background and the odd cropping of the photo reminds me of 1981 fleer

1991 upper deck dennis cook

batting practice in dodger stadium!  cook's wearing tommy john's number and doesn't seem to know what to do with the bat.  plus, a jim poole sighting as a background lurker.

1975 topps mini rick rhoden rookie card

in a related note, congrats to night owl on finishing his 1975 topps mini set.  he would not allow his scanner to skew a card from that set as wildly as mine has.

1998 upper deck black diamond alex cora

and here's the back of brett butler's 1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition card.

and so the post is bookended by butlers.  i'll try harder next time.

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night.

bo goes big

bo from baseball cards come to life went big in a (not so) recent trade.  he sent me, among other things, some dodgers from the 1989 topps big set.  here's tim belcher running the bases in dodger stadium while simultaneously looking longingly into the stands at a vendor selling dodger dogs.

mickey hatcher is doing normal baseball activities on his card, for once.

and jim poole is reveling in his time as an olympian on his card

poole is listed as a member of the dodgers on this card (check the back)

unlike his 1988 topps traded card.  unfortunately, poole didn't appear in the olympics.

here's franklin stubbs' card to finish off the dodgers that i received

bo also included a couple of 1988 topps big cards, due to their double play awesomeness.  oddibe mcdowell tried to break up two on his card

but it looks like willie randolph (i assume) was able to make the relay.

the other card bo sent was of none other than randolph himself, again turning two

thanks bo - i've got some more of the cards you sent lined up to post today.  stay tuned.

al west trades

so, i was curious how many times the dodgers have traded with their american league counterparts in the al west.  it was no surprise that the team the dodgers have dealt with the most is the a's - the team that has been around the longest.

the dodgers and angels have made 7 deals, most recently reggie williams (the second one) to the halos for mike james in october of 1993.  there was the big frank robinson trade in 1972, the jim brewer deal in 1975, and a couple of other deals in the 60's, but the last one prior to the 1993 trade was in 1976 when ellie rodriguez came to the dodgers in exchange for orlando alvarez.  you remember ellie, right?  he got a dodger card in the 1977 topps set, and was nice enough to sign a copy for me

but i almost prefer his "fantastically 1973 topps" 1973 topps card

three brewers and an umpire's ass.  nice work, topps.
as i mentioned, the dodgers and a's have made a bunch of trades, 13 to be exact.  the most recent one was when andre ethier was obtained for milton bradley and antonio perez.  you probably remember the big 1987 deal that involved the mets, where bob welch went to oakland and jay howell, jesse orosco and alfredo griffin joined the dodgers.  well, a couple months before that, the dodgers sent rick honeycutt to oakland for tim belcher.  another one i remember quite clearly is bill north to the blue for glenn burke in may of 1978.

the mariners came into existence in 1977.  since then, they have made 7 trades with the dodgers. the most recent, of course, is the three team deal that sent trayvon robinson to the mariners at this year's trade deadline.  although the dodgers lost 3 players (jose baez, kevin pasley, and john hale) to the mariners by way of waivers or purchased contracts in 1977, the first trade between the two teams came in 1985 when steve yeager was dealt to the m's for ed vande berg. 

and then there are the rangers.  they began as the senators in 1961, and in total there have been 7 trades between the franchises. dave stewart for rick honeycutt in 1983 is pretty memorable, but the biggest trade between the two franchises was the 1964 deal that brought claude osteen and john kennedy to la at the expense of frank howard, ken mcmullen, pete richert, phil ortega and dick nen.  however, it's been 21 years since the dodgers last dealt with texas.  in 1990, they sent jim poole to the rangers for a couple of minor leaguers. 

poole appeared in just 16 games for the dodgers, all in 1990.  as such, he had a ridiculous number of cards made in 1991.  lucky for me, he signed a bunch of 'em.  here's a 1991 classic

with dodger stadium as a background

same goes for 1991 donruss

1991 fleer

and 1991 score

not sure where he was for the photo on his 1991 topps debut '90 card

poole was already through texas on his way to baltimore by the time some of these cards were released, i am pretty sure. 

a bfd from the real dfg

a while back, i received a healthy 'box full of dodgers' (bfd) from the real dfg.  the dude knocked out one of my 'nefarious 9' - the 1986 donruss rookies reggie williams card - and added a boatload of other dodger goodies in return for a mess of pittsburgh pirates and maybe a few steelers and penguins.

one of the favorite items i received was the 1966 topps ruboff i featured in this post, but there were plenty of other cards to enjoy.

like this 1979 topps bobby welch card

the best rookie card ever.

here's another rookie card that i was happy to own in 1984, it's sid fernandez on his 1984 donruss rated rookie

we all thought el sid was the second coming of fernando, even though he was from hawaii, not mexico.  i would say that this card was on par with the ron darling rookie in the set in terms of my coveting and hoarding. it would have been equal to the the mattingly and strawberry rookies except for the fact that fernandez was a met by the time i acquired any 1984 donruss.  yes, i was disappointed when campanis traded him to the mets for bob bailor and fellow hawaiian carlos diaz.  still, he was a dodger and the card features the left field bullpen at chavez ravine, so it's still a nice piece of cardboard.

there was something strange afoot at the circle k in 1985, as they entered the trading card fray, and the dfg included a couple of specimens for me - gil hodges

and his brooklyn dodger counterpart, duke snider.

not exactly bill and ted, although they did have an excellent adventure together as long time dodger teammates.

here's a card that doesn't scan too well.  it's a 1995 topps embosesed tim wallach.

not as bad is this 1996 fleer metal universe mike blowers

blowers is still shown in his seattle mariners' uniform, but the team affiliation on the card is the dodgers.  perhaps he could have used some uniform stickers from the 1988 panini set that were also included in the box.

it's strange and cool at the same time that the sanitary socks were included.

here's a 1981 fleer terry forster

which i chose to show because i am left to wonder if that thing he's picking his teeth with is the same thing sticking out of his mouth on his 1983 fleer card.

forster wore number 51 for the dodgers, as did terry wells as we can see on his 1991 score card.

wells, acquired from the astros for franklin stubbs, started 5 games for the dodgers in july of 1990, and they were the only games he ever pitched in during his major league career.  meaning, when this card came out, wells was not a 'rookie prospect' but a 'former major leaguer'.  on a completely unrelated note, terry looks like the principal from east dillon high.

here's another lefty 'rookie prospect' from 1991 score, jim poole.

poole appeared in 16 games for the dodgers in 1990 and was traded to the rangers in december of that same year.  so, like sid fernandez 7 years before him, poole was no longer a dodger when his rookie card came out.  still, he was at one point, and that's good enough for me.

thanks dfg!  too bad your penguins got bounced, but at least it seems that there might be some hope with the pirates.

speaking of debuts...

with all of the attention that steven strasburg, mike stanton, carlos santana and others received this week regarding their debuts, i thought i would take a look at some dodger debuts courtesy of the 1991 topps debut '90 set.

we'll start with dave hansen, pinch hitter extraordinaire:

september 16, 1990 against the reds.  pinch hit for rick dempsey and went 0 for 1 with a strikeout against rob dibble.

yawn.  how about darren holmes?

september 1, 1990 against the expos.  relieved don aase and pitched 2 innings, giving up 1 hit, two walks with two strikeouts.  received no decision.  first batter faced was oil can boyd (he grounded out).  first strikeout victim was dave martinez.  not too bad.

luis lopez?

september 14, 1990 against the reds.  pinch hit for mike sharperson and went 0 for 1 against tim birtsas.  his fly ball was caught by glenn braggs who then threw home to get fernando valenzuela for a 9-2 double play.  alomst an rbi!

how about jim neidlinger?

august 1, 1990 against the giants.  started the game and went 6 innings, giving up 7 hits and one run (earned) with a walk and three strikeouts and was not involved in the decision.  first batter faced was brett butler (he grounded out) and first strikeout victim was jose uribe.  that's pretty good for a debut.

how did jose offerman fare?

august 19, 1990 against the expos.  started the game batting leadoff and playing shortstop and went 3 for 5 (3 for 4 against dennis martinez, 0 for 1 against steve frey).  hit a homerun in his first at bat, leading off the bottom of the first.  singled in the third and fifth innings, before grounding out in his final two at bats.  he also stole a base, turned a double play and didn't make an error.  well done, jose!

jim poole, olympian:

june 15, 1990 against the padres.  relieved jay howell in the 11th inning and struck out the first and only batter he faced - tony gwynn.  now that is making a debut!

brian traxler?

april 24, 1990 against the cardinals.  pinch hit for eddie murray and went 0 for 1 with a strikeout against bob tewksbury.  pretty memorable for traxler, i am sure, as he hit for a hall of famer.

dave walsh?

august 13, 1990 against the braves.  relieved fernando valenzuela and pitched 2 innings, giving up 2 runs (both earned).  gave up 3 hits, 2 walks and struck out 2 with no decision.  first batter faced was jeff blauser (he flew out) and first strikeout victim was john smoltz.  meh.

terry wells?

july 3, 1990 against the cubs.  started the game, going 6 innings and gave up 6 runs (4 earned) and 8 hits.  walked 1 and struck out 6 and got no decision.  first batter faced was doug dascenzo (he popped out) and first strikeout victim was the second batter he faced, ryne sandberg.  not a bad start to the game, but not a great overall debut.

carlos hernandez was also in this set, although i can't find his card to scan.  we'll assess his debut anyway: 

april 20, 1990 against the astros.  started the game at catcher and went 1 for 3 against jim deshaies.  flew out in his first at bat, doubled and scored his second time up, and grounded out his last time up.

i give the nod to offerman, although i contend that homering in his first at bat was the worst thing that could have happened as he seemed to fancy himself a power hitter after that and flew out all the time, rather than hit ground balls and use his speed.  regardless, no strasburg-esque debuts in this lot!

jim poole and another team collector dilemma

i was never a fan of the team usa subsets - either in 1985 topps or in the topps traded sets of 1988 or 1991 or 1992 and beyond - even though there were some good players included such as mark mcgwire, jason giambi and nomar!  to make matters worse, jim poole was included in the 1988 topps traded set.

i'm sure jim's a nice guy, but he wreaked havoc on my team collector psyche.  why?  look at the back:

he is a dodger farmhand.  actually, the dodgers drafted him in 1987, too, but he didn't sign.  jim would debut for the dodgers in 1990 before heading to the american league where he found some success with the mid 90's powerhouse indians team.  but, he was a dodger first.  so, does the 1988 topps traded jim poole card make the dodger binder?  what's a team collector to do?