remember when manny launched one 461 feet in houston?

it's been just over six years, so, no, i don't recall that particular home run.  however, thanks to bru at remember the astrodome who sent me this 2010 upper deck insert card

i can at least bluff my way through it and say "oh, yeah - that was the one he hit off of roy oswalt". while that particular manny home run didn't come in the astrodome, obviously, he did hit a couple there during his time with the indians during interleague play.  as an aside, wallet card and i agree that the astrodome is worth remembering.

back to the cards - here's another home run related card from the trade package, a 2015 topps mike piazza first home run insert

kudos to topps for using a photo of piazza from 1992 (note the uniform number is 25, not 31, and the presence of the 30th anniversary of dodger stadium commemorative patch).  piazza hit 7 homers in the astrodome during his career, by the way, but his first career big fly came at dodger stadium against the giants.

let's take a look at a few more cards from the package sent by marc. this is a 1978 tcma the 1960's card of jim gilliam

gilliam did not hit a home run in the astrodome, nor did he homer at colt stadium, the home of the colt .45's before they became the astros and moved into the astrodome when it opened in 1965.  gilliam did, however, hit .400 with 2 triples in his 8 games inside the 8th wonder of the world.

here's a 2014 topps hanley ramirez 1989 design die-cut mini

ramirez didn't debut in the majors until 2005, and by then, the 'stros were in enron/minute maid park.  so far, hanley has hit 3 homers in houston in his career.

like hanley, justin turner (seen here on his 2015 topps heritage card)

didn't make it to the big leagues until well after the astrodome was decommissioned. still, he hit the first of his (so far) 17 career major league home runs in houston during the 2011 season.  too bad he wasn't included in the 1st home run insert set.

here's another card from this year's heritage release - it's dodger manager don mattingly

i feel for the teams who don't get manager cards in heritage releases, and i would like topps to bring the skippers back to the flagship.  donnie baseball never played in houston since the astros were a national league team during his playing days, but as a manager, he's 9-6 against them overall, and i assume some of those wins have come in texas.

speaking of texas, here's a 2015 topps heritage league leader card featuring dallas' own clayton kershaw and a couple of other guys

kershaw's only career home run thus far was his opening day blast at home against the giants in 2013, but on the flip side, he's only allowed one homer at minute maid - to carlos lee in 2009.

i'll finish up this trade post with a card of a guy who hasn't pitched anywhere in the majors yet - julio urias and his 2014 bowman draft picks & prospects mini 'future of the franchise' refractor card

he's only 18, and his k/9 ratio so far as a professional pitcher is over 11.  i'll take that for this franchise's future for sure, just like i'll take great trades like these anytime.  thanks bru!

the day's third post of turning two

just a few more double play cards to show off, including a couple of nefarious 9 cards.  of course, i am still looking for a second copy of this 2014 topps update justin turner camo parallel

for the double play binder, but i've taken the card off of the most wanted list.

here's a 1994 donruss barry larkin card

along with the special edition parallel

how about a 1994 topps stadium club kevin stocker card?

it comes with a nice leg whip courtesy of some nefarious padre player.

here's a 2002 fleer box score mike moriarty card

second base shows up just to the left of his right foot. since he was primarily a shortstop, i am choosing to believe that he swiped the bag with his foot and is setting up for the throw to first to complete the dp.  

this one is more obvious - 2011 topps chrome elvis andrus

here's the other former nefarious 9 card - 2014 topps alex guerrero target red parallel

i can't wait for some 2015 dodger double play cards!

since you've made it through these fairly mindless double play posts today, i'll let you know that i'm heading to the local card show tomorrow.  need anything?

some cards are no longer nefarious

i've had my nefarious 9 - the list of my most wanted cards - up there on the right side of this blog since july of 2009.  sometimes, the cards listed are fairly obscure, and sometimes they are just a wayward base card that has eluded me for some reason.  sometimes i wait, and sometimes i pull the trigger quickly to acquire one (or more) of the cards.  these days, i wonder how many people actually look at this blog via the web version, as the list doesn't show up on the mobile version as i currently have it configured.

anyway, the list today consists of the following:

1 - 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic steve garvey/reggie smith dual auto

2 - 2008 donruss threads steve garvey #/250 
3 - 2011 topps chrome clayton kershaw atomic refractor parallel #107 
4 - 2011 topps chrome chad billingsley atomic refractor parallel #167 
5 - 2014 topps update justin turner black parallel
6 - 2014 topps update justin turner camo parallel 
7 - 2014 topps update justin turner pink parallel
8 - 2014 topps alex guerrero target red border 
9 - 2014 topps chrome alex guerrero xfractor

this is a relatively new version of the list, except for number 1, which has been sitting there for quite some time.  that means that there have been some formerly nefarious acquisitions, some of which i will show here this morning.

it took me about two years, but i did finally pick up the fourth jackie robinson card (here are the other three) from 2004 upper deck sweet spot classics

this one celebrates his first minor league game.  he hit a home run that day (and was 4 for 5 overall), and was greeted at home plate by george shuba.

here's a 2014 topps archives duke snider card

that was on the most wanted list for a couple of weeks last year.  i appreciate the use of the 1980 design, as that's the year that duke was inducted into the hall of fame.

the next three cards were on the list for an even shorter time.  somehow, i missed a 2014 topps update paul maholm card

when putting together the team set on sportlots.  omission reversed.

i also wound up finding duplicates of a couple of parallels of justin turner's card from last year's update - the target red parallel

and the walmart blue version

i had put both on the nefarious 9 as i wanted doubles for the double play binder.  you'll note that there are still a couple of parallels of that card on the list.

another card on the list is steve garvey's 2008 donruss threads parallel numbered to 250.  i thought that i had one already and was missing the version numbered to 100 when i purchased this

turns out i already had the /100 version, so i still need the /250 one.

as always, any help is appreciated and rewarded.  please help a blogger out - i need to make room on that list for some 2015 cards!

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!