i picked 'em poorly but came out ahead

i participated for the first time this past year in cards on cards' college bowl pick 'em league.  i wound up getting slightly less than half of the winners right, although i did get my highest confidence pick correct.  anyway, i was well out of the prize slot, but kerry sent me some cards anyway.  most of these come from his 2014 topps mini break, in which i took the dodgers and the mets.  i was hoping for a justin turner card as part of the mets team haul (he's turning two on the card), but it didn't pan out.  just like my picks.

here are some of the dodgers from the 2014 topps mini set that kerry rescued from sealed packs for me:

clayton kershaw cy young

the now retired josh beckett

the now unsigned free agent chad billingsley

the now unsigned free agent brian wilson

the now red sox left fielder hanley ramirez

the now full-time dodger left fielder carl crawford

the now still a fourth outfielder andre ethier

the dodger right fielder yasiel puig (unless joc can't handle center)

plus a 'the future is now' puig insert

i should probably show some of the ny metropolitans that came my way, so here are bobby parnell

and ey jr

kerry also sent a few cards towards my 2001 topps heritage set, including former and current twin torii hunter

plus a nice 2004 donruss classics rickey henderson card

which counts as a final tribute since rickey didn't appear in the majors after his 2003 stint with the dodgers

no active player has more stolen bases that ichiro, who sits at 487.  rickey had 1406 in his career.  although barry bonds eventually passed rickey in career walks, he is still the career leader in runs scored, with the closest active player (alex rodriguez) over 350 runs behind.

last, and maybe least, here is a 1986 fleer update card of alex trevino

who played catch under the watchful eye of a stalker after joining the dodgers.

thanks kerry! i'll be sending some cards on cards your way soon!

a mcmemorial mcpatch for ray a kroc

raymond albert kroc was, among other things in his lifetime, a milkshake mixer salesman when in 1954 he met the mcdonald's brothers and recognized the potential for expansion that their hamburger business offered.  kroc eventually bought the brothers out of the business and took the restaurant worldwide.  in 1974, he used some of the money he had made from his mcdonald's empire and bought the san diego padres.  after he died of heart disease in january of 1984, the team added his initials to their left sleeves in tribute.

here's a 1985 topps steve garvey card that shows the memorial worn in 1984, the first year the padres appeared in the postseason

and it shows up on garvey's 1985 topps record breaker, too.

it's there on eric show's 1985 topps card, too

and carmelo anthony's 1985 donruss card offers a really good look at it

but i've got this 1984 star steve garvey card in the memorial binder as the 1984 example of the memorial

thanks to the fact that it's garvey and he's wearing a mcdonald's wristband.

the padres wore the memorial again in 1985, perhaps inspired by the chicago bears who had begun wearing george halas' initial on their uniforms following his death in october of 1983 and continued to do so the following year.  in fact, the 'gsh' on the bears jerseys has never been removed since it was first added over 30 years ago.  anyway, here are some examples of the memorial from the 1985 season.

1986 leaf dave dravecky

and 1986 topps mario ramirez

the ramirez card is in the binder, too.

the pads wore the memorial in 1986 as well, and there are some 1987 cards that show it fairly well.

1987 fleer garvey

1987 topps tony gwynn

with dodger catcher alex trevino lurking

1987 topps carmelo martinez

1987 donruss garry templeton

1987 donruss randy asadoor

and 1987 donruss ed wojna

those last two cards feature a nice dodger stadium, so they are both in that binder, but i have the wojna card in the memorial binder, too.

although the padres did not wear the memorial beyond the 1986 season, it has shown up on a few cards since then, like this 1992 fleer ultra tony gwynn commemorative series card

and this 2013 topps archives gwynn card

and, when the padres wear their 1984 throwbacks, the memorial makes a return as well, as evidenced by yorvit toerralba's 2010 topps update card

kroc, who once apologized to fans over the stadium loudspeaker for the padres' poor play, was a benefactor to many charities, including those involved in the research and treatment of various diseases, including alcoholism.  he also oversaw the development of the ronald mcdonald house charities and was a member of the inaugural class in the san diego padres hall of fame.

sunday morning target dodgers

time for another sheet of cards from the set that keeps on giving - the 1990 target dodger stadium giveaway set.  as always, thanks to baseball reference for providing some information about some of these heretofore unknown to me players.

don demeter

demeter's first major league hit came in his second big league at bat, and it was a home run off of don liddle of the cardinals in september of 1956.  demeter only appeared in three games that season for the dodgers, but he returned to the majors in 1958 and stayed with the dodgers until he was traded to the phillies early in the 1961 season.  in 1959, he hit three home runs in a game agains the giants - one was an inside the park job, and the third one was a walk-off.

jack dunn

dunn was a pitcher who also played in the field from time to time.  he entered the big leagues with the brooklyn bridegrooms in 1897 and remained with the franchise until he went to the phillies during the 1900 season.  he hit .238 in his 3-plus seasons for brooklyn, but also won 56 games, including 23 in 1899.  dunn later replaced hughie jennings as the manager of the baltimore orioles in the eastern league, and actually became the team's owner a couple of years later.  they moved to the international league, and dunn led them to seven straight titles.

lee grissom

grissom pitched six seasons for the reds, culminating in a world series appearance against the yankees in 1939.  the reds lost, but grissom must have made an impression on new york as he was traded to the yankees in january of 1940.  he appeared in five games for the defending world champions, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings, before he was claimed on waivers by the dodgers.  with brooklyn the rest of the way, grissom went 2-5 despite a 2.81 era, and he threw a 2-hit shutout against the phillies on the final day of the season.  in 1941, he pitched in four games for the dodgers and had an era of 2.38, but was traded to the phillies.

danny heep

heep was the guy the mets received when they traded mike scott to the astros, straight up, in 1982.  a lopsided trade in hindsight, but heep did help the mets win the world series in 1986, so it wasn't all bad.  following his triumph in 1986, heep signed with the dodgers and played for them in 1987 and 1988.  he was used mostly as a pinch hitter but also made starts at first base and in the outfield.  he even got to pitch in a game during the 1988 season - he threw two innings against the astros in july, giving up a 2-run homer to ken caminiti in the process.  he had some pinch hit appearances in the 1988 postseason for the eventual world champion dodgers, and served as the dh in game 4 of the world series.

burt hooton

happy hooton was the mvp of the 1981 nlcs as he won both of his starts against the expos without allowing an earned run.  he joined the dodgers in 1975 and remained a fixture in the rotation through the 1983 season.  in 1984, he spent most of his time pitching out of the bullpen and left the dodgers for the rangers prior to the 1985 campaign.  as a dodger, however, hooton won 112 games with a 3.14 era, and he nearly wrecked this fan's shoulder thanks to my trying to throw a knuckle-curve like hooton.

johnny hopp

target gave hopp an extra 'n' in his name there.  hopp was involved in the 1949 trade with the pirates that sent marv rackley to pittsburgh, but was voided a few days later.  as a result, rackley became a double dipper, and hopp only appeared in 8 games for the dodgers.  in those games, he was held hitless in 14 at bats.  maybe burt shotton had the trade voided due to hopps' performance.

ken landreaux

landreaux is best remembered by me and many other dodger fans for catching the final out of the 1981 world series.  he was also the main guy that the twins received from the angels in the rod carew trade prior to the 1979 season.  two years later, the dodgers acquired landreaux for mickey hatcher and a couple of minor leaguers.  landreaux spent seven seasons with the dodgers, most of which were spent as the team's regular center fielder.

ken mcmullen

i've told mcmullen's story before so i won't rehash it here.  suffice it to say that the pride of oxnard has had a big impact on dodger team collectors, thanks to his rookie card companion.

judge mccreedie

mccreedie (baseball reference spells his name 'mccredie') was an outfielder for the 1903 brooklyn superbas.  he hit .324 in 56 games for brooklyn before he was traded to baltimore in july.  somewhat curiously, he never made it back to the major leagues.  in 1904, he found himself in portland playing in their pacific coast league team that wound eventually be known as the beavers.  in 1905, judge took the reins and became their player/manager, a role he held through the 1913 season after which he gave up playing and was just their manager (save for a couple of appearances in 1916 and 1917).  in all, he spent 20 years managing in the pacific coast league, most of which was spent in portland.  he is a member of the pcl hall of fame.

simmy murch

murch played in 6 games for the 1908 brooklyn superbas following a couple of seasons with the cardinals.  he hit .182 with a double while playing first base in his stint with brooklyn, his last in the major leagues.

boots poffenberger

poffenberger obviously played for the tigers - he did so in 1937 and 1938 - but the dodgers claimed him on waivers at the start of the 1939 season.  for brooklyn, boots (real name cletus) pitched in three games, including one as a starter.  he had no record and an era of 5.40 in those appearances.  and yes, this boots was made for walking - he walked two of the four batters he faced in his dodger debut.

craig shipley

shipley became the second australian (and first in over 100 years) to debut in the major leagues when he appeared in a game for the 1986 dodgers.  he hit .111 in 12 games for the blue, and returned in 1987 to hit .257 in 26 contests.  the dodgers traded him to the mets, and he later found success playing for the padres and working in the front office for the red sox.

dwain sloat

aka lefty sloat.  he pitched in four games for the 1948 dodgers, including one as the starter.  he was 0-1 with an era over 6.  he was claimed by the cubs in the rule v draft prior to the 1949 season and did not return to brooklyn.

alex trevino

in a rare trade with the giants, the dodgers acquired trevino in exchange for candy maldonado prior to the 1986 season.  trevino spent the '86 and '87 seasons with the dodgers, playing catcher behind mike scioscia.  he received some significant playing time for a backup, appearing in 161 games over his two seasons with the club.

dazzy vance

hall of famer dazzy vance had two stints with the brooklyn franchise, so you know what that means…

…a double dipper post coming up later!

who's that lurker?

in 1987, tony gwynn shared his o-pee-chee (and topps) card with a lurker from los angeles.

close inspection reveals that it is none other than alex trevino.  trevino was brought in prior to the 1986 season to back up mike scioscia as steve yeager was sent to seattle.  he wore number 29 and he started 50 games behind the plate for la, including 4 at jack murphy stadium. the june 15th game was played on sunday, so it may be the most likely to have been a day game. in that game, both gwynn and trevino had 1 hit, but while gwynn was 1 for 4, trevino was 1 for 1 with 3 walks (none intentional), two runs scored and he even threw out bip roberts trying to steal second.  not a bad day at the office for a lurker.

here's to you alex trevino, foreground lurker!

bob vila builds collections

mark at stats on the back recently held a contest, or a poll i suppose, regarding the age old question of veale vs. vila. my response was deemed worthy of a bob vila card, along with some other goodies:

1991 leaf studio mike scioscia it's hard to believe mark still has some scioscia cards after the great card giveaway of 2008...

1991 leaf studio tommy lasorda checklist

tommy's trying to decide between the red sauce and the white sauce.

1982 donruss steve yeager

i love this card. it gives a great shot of steve's neck, and i always wonder if that mark below his jawline is scarring from his perforated windpipe incident.

1991 upper deck final roger mcdowell

the second spitter. i don't think mcdowell has any cards where he is doing anything normally seen on a baseball card.

1933 delong (dover reprint) lefty o'doul

a scene straight out of gulliver's travels. i have a bunch of the dover reprints still in sheets because i am too lazy to take them apart. i once took the t206 wagner and roughed it up a bit in an attempt to convince my neighbor it was real. he didn't fall for it.

1986 fleer update alex trevino

alex is playing it cool, making the lady wait.

thanks mark. and if anyone wants a bob vila card, let me know.