from the card show i came

here is pretty much the rest of what i picked up at a card show a few weeks back.  i had gone hoping to maybe find some 2014 topps heritage, but the cupboards were still bare as far as that went.  i did pick up a 2014 topps yasiel puig red foil parallel

and a 2014 topps don sutton relic

from the same dealer.  these were the two most expensive cards i bought all day.  i think they were $4 apiece.  i have a soft spot for don sutton relic cards.  especially ones that feature photos without the perm.

here's a 1977-87 renatta-gallaso roy campanella card

he doesn't look too excited to have won his third mvp award

here's a much easier card to find (although it had somehow eluded me) of another dodger mvp - 1989 fleer league leaders kirk gibson

and a card of former dodger coach babe ruth from the 1992 megacards babe ruth set

yes, the bambino wanted to be a manager, but he was just a batting practice sideshow as far as the dodgers were concerned.  still, i was happy to find another card of the babe in dodger duds.

paul konerko didn't spend much time with the dodgers before tommy lasorda traded him away, but he sure does have a lot of cards.  this is a 1998 pacific aurora card of the soon-to-be retired white sox slugger.

konerko was expendable because the dodgers had eric karros at first base.  here's a 2000 topps chrome card of karros that, like the previous four cards, was in a 12 for a dollar box.

i found another card of karros in that box - this 1997 topps stadium club dodgers card

that also happened to have his autograph on it.  i did a little research when i got home, and a bunch of these cards were apparently signed by karros and certified by treat entertainment. this copy bears no hologram or other sort of certification, but i'll still take it for eight cents.  actually, it was less than that - i asked the guy if 13 cards for a buck was ok, and he agreed.

not a bad lot of cards for not a lot of cash.

so a guy walks into a card shop...

i've got some more cards to show from my most recent lcs visits.  normally, the cards i pick up are dodgers, double plays, or cards that fit in other collections of mine.  sometimes i will pick something up even though it doesn't 'fit'.  like this 1992 megacards babe ruth card

the best thing about this photo, other than it being of (most of) the first hall of famers, is babe ruth's droopy socks.  i actually have an 8x10 of this photo framed, i think it is so cool.  no dodgers, unfortunately.  also unfortunately, megacards identified one of the game's greatest players incorrectly.

in 1936, five players - ruth, ty cobb, christy mathewson, honus wagner, and walter johnson - became baseball's first hall of famers.  in 1937, they were joined by nap lajoie, cy young, and tris speaker.  also voted in that year was connie mack (one of 13 19th century figures that were added to the hall between 1937 and 1939). the lone 1938 inductee was grover cleveland alexander, and in 1939 - the year that the hall officially opened - george sisler, eddie collins, and willie keeler (there's a dodger!) joined the ranks.  that means that there were 11 living hall of famers in 1939 (mathewson and keeler had passed away), but the photo, taken at the opening of the hall of fame in cooperstown, only has 10.  let's see what the back has to say about that

poor cy young.  according to the card, he wasn't in the photo.  in reality, he is seated to mack's left.  it's ty cobb, the one who received the most votes for induction, who is missing.  the way the story goes is that cobb either arrived too late for the photo due to poor planning, or he chose to be late out of spite for kenesaw mountain landis.  it should be noted that lou gehrig was also voted into the hall in 1939, but his election came in a special ballot held in december of that year, so he was not a hall of famer at the time of the photo.  anyway, that's a great card.

i picked up another from the same set, this one with the babe wearing his brooklyn hat and singing alongside kiki cuyler (if the back of the card can be trusted)

the card back features a story told by ruth's old teammate bill dickey that involves some locker room hijinks.

i grabbed a few 2006 upper deck cards of dodgers, including one of a guy in a phillies uniform

and another of a dodger in a red sox uni

plus one of a devil ray in a dodger uniform

and then there was a 1987 woolworth's don sutton card that i had not seen before

that highlighted sutton's 300th career win.

i am not sure why, but i also grabbed a 'rookie of the week' card that topps put out in 2006 of george brett

i was disappointed that there were no dodgers in the set, nor were there any 1978 topps styled cards included.  i thought that maybe mike piazza would have been featured, or that eddie murray or paul molitor would have had their '78 cards restyled.  no such luck.

speaking of rookies, here are some rauuuuuuuul mondesi cards i rescued from the bargain boxes.  1994 donruss triple play

1995 topps stadium club

and 1998 upper deck collector's choice starquest insert

i picked up a bunch of other dodger cards, too.  that means there is one more lcs post on its way...

a babe ruth final tribute

in a dodgers' uniform?i know the 1962 topps 'babe ruth special' subset card of the bambino in the boston braves jersey would be a more appropriate final tribute, but it doesn't include his complete career stats on the back. this one does, and it's the only one of the cards i own, so it will do.

it's strange that ruth wore the dodgers' jersey. he desperately wanted to manage, but found no takers, so he took a job coaching first for the dodgers in 1938. it was the last uniform he would wear during a major league game.

he did put the yankee pinstripes on again for a few appearances at yankee stadium, most famously on june 13, 1948 at the 25th anniversary of yankee stadium celebration (which would turn out to be his final public appearance) as documented so perfectlly in nathaniel fein's pulitzer prize winning photo, 'the babe bows out'.

that, friends, is a final tribute image.

the dodger's journey

as many of you know, jason at the writer's journey recently traded a bunch of cards for cards of his team, the reds. i, of course, asked for dodgers, and jason provided quite a selection. around 600 cards of the boys in blue came my way, including:

1988 score mike ramsey.

jon weisman of dodger thoughts selected mike ramsey as the most obscure but memorable dodger. he's also one of the few 'same name, different guy' players the dodgers have had - mike marshall and ramon martinez are the other ones i know of.

1981 drake's steve garvey.

1992 megacards babe ruth.reminiscent of the 1962 topps cards documenting the babe's career. this one is fairly informative regarding ruth's hopes of becoming a manager while the dodgers viewed his hiring as a coach to be more of a gimmick to draw fans.

1991 donruss eddie murray.

this is the year after eddie led the majors in batting average but failed to win a batting title. thanks, willie mcgee.

2001 topps archives preacher roe.this isn't a certified auto, so it's either an in-person/ttm or someone practicing their preacher roe signature.

one of the best things about this whole adventure is that jason created a digital card to mark the occasion - a 2008 topps steve garvey.

i figured i should return the favor, so i took a shot at a 2007 topps todd hollandsworth.this would be the 'no signature' variation. hollandsworth wrapped up his career in 2006 by playing a partial season with the reds. alas, there was no final tribute. until now.

jason - thank you for the cards! i hope you enjoy the 800 or so reds i sent back your way!