ely come, ely go

it was way back in may of 2010 that i was struck with 'ely-mania' thanks to a string of quality starts from john ely, one of the two pitchers the dodgers received from the white sox in exchange for juan pierre.  the wheels fell off of the bandwagon shortly thereafter, as ely went 1-8 after beginning his career with a 3-2 record in his first 6 starts.  here is a 2010 topps update 'peek' (not 'peak') performance autograph of ely

which calls attention to his june 1 start against the diamondbacks.  he allowed only two hits in his seven scoreless innings of work that day, but had a no-decision in the dodgers' 1-0 victory - a victory courtesy of a 10th-inning matt kemp walk-off home run.

here is another card featuring ely that i have had sitting around for a while - a 2010 bowman 'topps 100' card

i don't know what 'topps 100' means, but i am showing this card today because ely was traded, with little fanfare i might add, to the houston astros back in december.  ely was 4-13 over three seasons with the dodgers and now heads to the american league.  the other pitcher the dodgers acquired in the pierre deal, jon link, left the organization after the 2011 season and spent last year in the orioles' and marlins' minor leagues.

ely is not the only former dodger for whom i have had scanned cards sitting around, waiting for a post such as this.  so, let's take a look at some other now-former dodgers.  like andrew lambo, for instance, and his 2010 bowman 'bowman expectations' card

lambo was one of the players (james mcdonald being the other) that ned sent to the pirates at the 2010 trade deadline for octavio dotel.  pittsburgh has become a sort of dumping grounds for ned and former dodger prospects, with andy laroche and delwyn young also sent to the pirates, and ivan dejesus jr and jerry sands (more on him later) winding up there after being included in a deal with the red sox.  anyway,  lambo and mcdonald for what? six weeks of dotel? dotel was then traded to the rockies for minor leaguer anthony jackson, who is four or five years older than lambo.  lambo was suspended for violating mlb's drug policy while with the dodgers, but i don't recall it being for peds.  he still has some time to pan out.

eric stults, seen here on a 2008 topps update & highlights gold card

hasn't been with the dodgers since 2009.  he spent 2010 in japan before returning to the majors in 2011 with the rockies.  he started last season with the white sox, but was picked up by the padres on waivers in may.

more recently dismissed by the dodgers is russ mitchell, whose lone baseball card appearance in dodger blue (as far as i know) came courtesy of 2011 topps heritage

four of mitchell's 14 hits for the dodgers over the 2010 and 2011 seasons were home runs, but he was released by the team last spring.  he quickly signed on with the miami marlins, but was released by them after a month or so.  he then signed with the giants, but was again released prior to making it back to the big leagues.  in december of 2012, mitchell signed a free agent deal with the rockies, so we'll see what happens this spring.

mike macdougal, on the other hand, has yet to sign with a team for the 2013 season.  here he is on his 2011 topps update card

as well as his diamond collection parallel thingy

macdougal pitched well for the dodgers in 2011, going 3-1 with a 2.05 era in 69 appearances.  he was released after only 7 appearances in 2012, however, as his era was over 7.  he signed on with the cubs and then the nationals, but didn't get back to the majors with either team.

rubby de la rosa, seen here pitching in dodger stadium on his 2011 topps update card

and cognac parallel

along with jerry sands on his 2011 topps update card

and 2012 topps heritage card

were part of the big dodgers-red sox blockbuster trade from last year.  specifically, they were the players to be named later in the deal, but were known at the time of the trade.  de la rosa apparently fits into the red sox' plans, but sands was traded to the pirates in the joel hanrahan (another former dodger farmhand) deal.   i'm not sure how this will turn out for sands, as the pirates seem to have a lot of outfield depth already.

i'll end this post of departed dodgers with a 2008 upper deck x autographed card of ramon troncoso

troncoso pitched for the dodgers in every season from 2008 through 2011, but spent all of 2012 at aaa after clearing waivers.  his best season by far was 2009 when he appeared in 73 games and posted a 2.72 era.  he also had 3 scoreless appearances in the nlcs that year.  if he returns to the postseason in 2013 it won't be as a dodger, because after the 2012 season, troncoso signed a free agent deal with the white sox.

that's all for this edition of recent dodgers turned former dodgers.  i'm sure there will be more to come, right ned?

reader mail - long overdue trade post

a long time ago (i say apologetically), i received some cards in a trade from reader bill. i sent bill a mattingly ysl card he needed and he sent me some cool dodger cards in return - here is a sampling:

1996 score antonio osuna
i have an affinity for osuna. he threw hard, and used to wear a huge chain around his neck with a medallion that reminded me of a license plate.

2007 topps team cardusually the team cards are taken so you see the pavilion in the background. this one is flipped so their backs are towards home plate.

1996 upper deck collector's choice juan castro a card from juan's first stint with the dodgers

1997 pinnacle mint collection hideo nomo (ill-jacked) i hope he gets his medallion back...

2007 fleer eric stults

seems destined to fill the role of 'spot starter'

1989 topps dodgers leaders

apparently, their leaders were scioscia, hershiser and sax, with presumably ron perranoski and alfredo griffin obscured but lurking

2008 topps heritage rafael furcal

raffy has brought some stability to the shortstop position. now if only we could get a long term third baseman...

1990 donruss diamond king willie randolph

part of the post-sax revolving door at second, the dodgers and yankees essentially traded second basemen after the 1988 season

finally, 1991 donruss darryl strawberry

perhaps the start of the dreaded 'press conference photo' baseball card scourge. i think gretzky's 1988-89 topps card was the first ever, though.

thanks bill!

more traded sets contest winnings

if you hurry, you can still get your guess in for this week's contest at traded sets. andy has quite a jackpot if you are that fortunate, but even a win will get you some great cards. case in point, simply because i correctly predicted a mike lowell home run (and nobody else correctly predicted more than one player/event), andy sent me the following cards:

2008 topps update & highlights angel berroa game used bat.how appropriate that it came from a 'traded' set. berroa filled in decently for furcal last season, and was doing the same for the yankees this year as they waited for alex rodriguez to get healthy.

2008 topps update & highlights eric stults.a shutout in his last start. the lesser-hyped dodgers' lefty starters (stults and wolf) are pitching better than the phenom (kershaw).

2008 topps update & highlights classic combos dan haren and russell martin.i think a better pairing would have been aaron rowand and russell martin. as in rowan(d) and martin. rowan and martin. get it? a laugh-in reference. man, do i feel old.

2009 topps heritage vladimir guerrero.his hair looks really flat. in the inset photo, you can really tell that one of his legs is shorter than the other.

2009 upper deck starquest vladimir guerrero.i'm too lazy to research the all star game patch on his sleeve to see if this photo is from 2008 or not.

thanks andy! i'm rooting for teixiera to bring me home the jackpot this week!

goose joak bullpen

time for some more 2009 goose joak original dodgers.

this time, we'll focus on the bullpen. i already featured hong-chih kuo, but here are more of the relievers.

guillermo mota.hopefully we don't bring back loduca to try to placate plaschke.

jonathan broxton.close 'em out big guy!

eric stults.not stoltz. although pulp fiction was awesome. and not to be confused with

tanyon sturtze.a torre tag-along who has been pitching well this spring. keep it up.

james mcdonald.let's see what he can do.

claudio vargas.mop it up.

eric milton.i had tickets to his no-hitter but didn't go. that sucks.

cory wade.set up guy primed for a big season, i hope.

ramon troncoso.that's a closer's name if i ever heard one. but i think he wants to start.

scott elbert.sent down to triple a, but he'll be back.

shawn estes.released, but he came back to try to be the loogy. i thought that's why they picked up...

will ohman.the latest dodger. started things out with a hr to the first batter he faced. i actually like this card a lot because it reminds me of the late 60s/early 70s cards where the photo gives no indication of the team, making it easy for use when players switched teams.

more to come...