through the mail thursday - randy wolf, bo mclaughlin, and jay howell successes!

i saw a couple of weeks ago that randy wolf had signed through the mail, which led me to discover that the former dodger double dipper was attempting a comeback with the seattle mariners.  i quickly gathered a couple of cards and sent a ttm request to the mariners' spring training facility.  i don't know if wolf signed his 2010 topps card before or after he parted ways with seattle, but i am glad that he did.  

i don't think he has caught on with another team yet, but here's hoping he is able to complete his comeback attempt somewhere.

the same day that the wolf card came back to me, i had a 1978 topps card in my mailbox as well.  thanks to bo mclaughlin

who is currently the bullpen coach for the colorado rockies.

a third ttm request showed up redeemed the next day.  it was a 1988 topps traded jay howell card

this was the third success that i have had with the former dodger reliever, and it fills a gap in my topps dodger autograph project.  as you might recall, i tried to secure at least one signed dodger card (ideally freely obtained through the mail) for each topps flagship set, starting with the 1951 red/blue backs, without repeating a player.  i don't consider update series official requirements of the project, but note them if i have them, and i didn't have anyone sign their '88 traded set yet even though tim belcher, alfredo griffin, and howell had signed cards for me in the past. thanks to jay howell, now i do.

here's the updated tally of the project (inspired by the lost collector), by the way.

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

1975 topps - ron cey

1975 topps mini - joe ferguson

1976 topps - bill russell

1976 topps traded - dusty baker

1977 topps - steve garvey

1978 topps - dave lopes

1979 topps - charlie hough

1980 topps - jerry reuss

1981 topps - doug rau

1981 topps traded - ken landreaux

1982 topps - dave goltz

1982 topps traded - jose morales

1983 topps - ron roenicke

1983 topps traded - rafael landestoy

1984 topps - fernando valenzuela

1984 topps traded - mike vail

1985 topps - burt hooton

1985 topps traded - mariano duncan

1986 topps - enos cabell

1986 topps traded - franklin stubbs

1987 topps - steve sax

1987 topps traded - matt young

1988 topps - len matuszek

1988 topps traded - jay howell

1989 topps - mickey hatcher

1990 topps - kal daniels

1990 topps traded - juan samuel

1991 topps - tim belcher

1992 topps - roger mcdowell

1993 topps - dave hansen

1993 topps traded - tim wallach

1994 topps - jody reed

1995 topps - chris gwynn

1996 topps - todd hollandsworth

1997 topps - brett butler

1998 topps - greg gagne

1999 topps - jose vizcaino

2000 topps - jeff shaw

2001 topps - chan ho park

2002 topps - andy ashby

2002 topps traded - joel hanrahan

2003 topps - jim tracy

2003 topps traded - ron coomer

2004 topps - edwin jackson

2004 topps traded - milton bradley

2005 topps - chad billingsley

2005 topps update & highlights - jason phillips

2006 topps - bill mueller

2007 topps - james loney

2007 topps update & highlights - andy laroche

2008 topps - delwyn young

2008 topps update & highlights - casey blake

2009 topps - matt kemp

2009 topps update & highlights - brad ausmus

2010 topps - juan pierre

2010 topps update & highlights - ronnie belliard

2011 topps - hong-chih kuo

2011 topps update & highlights - matt guerrier

2012 topps - nathan eovaldi

2012 topps update & highlights - matt treanor

2013 topps - randy choate

2014 topps - ricky nolasco

who knows what the mail will bring next?

brother, did i spend some dimes

for the first time in a long time, i spent some serious time at a card show with a dime box.  usually i have specific needs i am trying to fill, like vintage dodgers or finishing a set, but earlier today i was willing to do some browsing.  i wound up spending $5 on 50 cards, many of which i did not know existed prior to today.

here's a 2005 donruss elite card featuring kerry wood and shawn green going 'face 2 face'!

it's a serial numbered insert which, instead of telling me how each has done against the other in their career,  discusses wood's 20-strikeout game against houston in 1998 and green's 4-homer game against milwaukee in 2002.

next up is another combo card.  this one is from 2007 topps co-signers and features randy wolf and jason schmidt

at first i thought that topps screwed up and put jason schmidt on a randy wolf card, but then i saw his name at the bottom.  there are seemingly 200 cards of schmidt as a dodger for each of his 3 los angeles wins.

speaking of wins, here's the guy who got the walk-off walk last night, andre ethier

i wish these bowman platinum cards looked this way in person, but they just scan all pretty and blue.

i thought this card was cool, because i think it was taken at just about the same time as the 1998 upper deck vladimir guerrero card i featured in the post from this morning.  it's a 1998 pinnacle inside card

vladdy has the same gold chain; he's holding a baseball; he's in dodger stadium; and i think the guy at his right elbow is the same guy (kid?) to his right on the upper deck card.  here's that card again - you be the judge.

speaking of 1998 upper deck, i picked up a couple of cards from that set, too.  here's tony gwynn's card, which is being totally lurked by eddie murray

eddie, of course, finished up his career in 1997 as a member of the dodgers.  i'll share some more of my dime box finds over the next few days.  i also picked up some discounted vintage dodgers and some cheapie relics, too.

twice upon a time, randy wolf was a dodger

[this is the twentyfifth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, and bart shirley.]

randy wolf pitched well for the brew crew the other night in game 4 of the nlcs.  he picked up the win with 7 strong innings.  it was the kind of performance the dodgers could have used many times this past season, and the kind that wolf occasionally gave them during his two tenures with the club (although not in the postseason).  yes, in case you have forgotten, randy wolf was a dodger double dipper.

the dodgers oiginally drafted the socal native in 1994, but he didn't sign, choosing to attend pepperdine instead.  he wound up with the phillies in the 1997 draft and worked his way up through their system with some good success before he was injured in 2004.  the dodgers signed him as a free agent prior to the 2007 season as he was still working his way back from arm surgery.  here's his 2007 bowman card offered as proof of his first go-around with the blue.

wolf was 9-6 for the dodgers in 2007, making 18 starts before getting shelved for the season by injury (and more surgery) in early july.  he had an era of 4.73 but turned in a few nice starts, including a scoreless 4-hit, 7-inning performance against the reds in which he struck out 11.  after the season, wolf once again hit the free agent market and was signed by the padres.  midway through the 2008 season, however, they traded him to the astros as seen on this 2008 topps update & highlights card

wolf went 12-12 overall in 2008 with an era of 4.30, but he was able to make 33 starts.  so, the dodgers took a flyer on him once again, and brought him back for the 2009 season.  this time, he made 34 starts for the dodgers, and was their best starter down the stretch.  he had an era of 3.23 for the year, and won 6 of his last 7 decisions as the dodgers won the nl west for the second year in a row.

wolf wound up making two starts for the dodgers in the playoffs, including game 1 of the nlds against the cardinals.  he lasted just 3.2 innings having allowed 6 hits and 5 walks.  fortunately, matt holliday forgot how to catch fly balls and the dodgers won the game.  wolf's next start came in game 4 of the nlcs against his former team, the phillies.  wolf pitched much better, and left the game with a 4-3 lead after 5.1 innings of work.  unfortunately, jonathan broxton couldn't get the 27th out, and the phillies won in walk-off fashion on jimmy rollins' double.

here's wolf's 2010 upper deck card, the last of his dodger cards unless he returns for another tour of duty

wolf has spent the last two seasons in milwaukee, and i hope he makes some more starts this year.

here's to you, randy wolf. a dodger double dipper.

more team collector pandering as topps serves up more variations - a side by side comparison of the 2007 dodgers

after a couple of decent variations and especially a nomar! in the 2006 topps dodger blister team set, i quickly sought out and purchased a 2007 set.  it was not quite the same.  you'll see what i mean.  once again, the regular topps cards are on the left, and the topps dodgers team set cards are on the right.

first up, lad1 for 2007 - rafael furcal

no difference.  at least it's not photoshopped like his 2006 card.  i have to admit, i was hoping for nomar to be on top of the pack back in 2007.  turns out, of course, that he was nowhere to be found.

jonathan broxton

again, no difference.  broxton had been given one of those factory set 'bonus cards' in 2006 which was nice. chad billingsley had one of those in 2003, and then in 2007, topps issued a dodgers version of the complete factory set which had 5 additional dodger cards in it.  i previously showcased those cards here, so no need to discuss again.

derek lowe

it's the same.

brad penny

ditto.

takashi saito

double ditto.

andre ethier

six cards in and only the number on the back is different.  then we get to lad7.

juan pierre

look!  the filmstrip square things changed color on the bottom!  forget about how topps photoshopped a jersey onto pierre that hadn't been worn in games since the davey johnson era, they changed the color of some little tiny squares!  in fact, all of the dodger team set cards are blue squares on top, white squares on the bottom.

jeff kent is next.

and his card is unchanged.

randy wolf

gets all of his squares changed!  red and blue switched to blue and white! huzzah!

chad billingsley is the 10th card in the set

bo-ring!

jason schmidt

now we're talking!  not only do the bottom squares get the color sapped right out, schmidt's topps card was issued in series 2, so they had some time to get him to pose in a real dodger jersey and without his arm in a cast.  the photoshopped version in the team set is similar to the 2006 brett tomko as it features a giant at pac bell/at&t/the phone booth transformed into a dodger.  it's certainly the most drastic variation of the bunch.

russell martin

no rookie cup for russell!  the dreaded award variation!  ethier got to keep his in the team set, but tough nuts for martin.  otherwise, it's the same.

wilson betemit

this is back to boring.

finally, the last card in the set, lad14 is luis gonzalez

and the out of place guy gets a tighter cropping in the team set!  i actually like this card because there is no baseball field anywhere in sight.  gonzo could be walking through a city park or just strolling down the street.

so, in 2007, we had 3 color square variations, 1 photoshop variation, 1 cropping variation, and 1 disappearing rookie cup variation.  will 2008 be any more diverse?  stay tuned...

the flying dutchman delivers, unlike the georgia peach

last year i bought a topps cereal box in pursuit of the jackie robinson shiny insert.  i passed on a box with jackie's picture on it, figuring that would be too obvious, and picked a ty cobb box.  that box had the ty cobb shiny insert.  go figure.  this year, i skipped lou gehrig and went for honus wagner.

let's see how he does.

there were 3 or 4 twins in the first few cards, but not much else to be excited about.  then there was the a's franchise history rickey henderson card, which is not too bad

my first dodger of the box, sort of.  russell martin lurking on matt holliday's card.

hey it's a million card giveaway thingy.

let's see what i get....

could have been worse.

now the good stuff starts - golden jim thome

pretty sure that's dodger owner (or part owner, depending upon who you believe) frank mccourt just next to thome's right shin.

another russell martin as lurker sighting, this time on randy wolf's card

a couple of years ago, this would have been a 'classic combo' card

manny.

i don't know about anyone else, but i am pretty tired of this pose for manny's cards.  it seems to be the only type of photo that gets used.  i'm too lazy to provide proof, but believe me, we've seen it before.

here's the last card of the box (immediately preceded by an aki iwamura photoshop job).  it's vladdy!

mercifully left in his angels garb as opposed to an airbrushed rangers uni.  that's what series 2 is for, right?

finally, the individually wrapped card.  whaddaya know?!? mission accomplished!

no one is going to read this post

just like no one is going to read this blog. actually, i did read the blog, but only after jeremy contacted me with an offer to send me some needs from my 2009 topps want list. i offered to reciprocate with some 2009 topps turkey red inserts, and the deal was done. here's some of what i received:

first off, there was this awesome modified dodgers logo. awesome. next up, a few of the 2009 topps:

lance berkman

one of the next generation of killer b's, although he might be the only one there now. berkman was my favorite non-dodger for a couple years. he looks like a righteous dude.

former dodger draft pick and non-signee, luke hochevar

have you seen that family guy episode where the movie trailer guy tries to pronounce jim caviezel's name? that's what some of the radio guys here sounded like last week when hochevar was pitching against the twinkies. ho-chee-ver? ho-sha-ver? ho-ka-var?

former dodger mark hendrickson.

the former nba-er is taller than the light standards behind him!

curtis granderson.

i like this card. you can feel the speed and action as he rounds third.

and some dodgers:

1992 fleer dennis cook.

oh, to be a lefty pitcher. cook played for 15 seasons, including one-and-a-half for the dodgers. in 1991, he gave up just one run in 17.2 innings for the blue. that was his season.

2008 topps randy wolf.

wolf signed with the padres after his one season in la. i guess it was too late for topps to change his 2008 card. they did include him in the update set, but as an astro since the pads traded him to houston in mid-season. now he's back with the dodgers as his 2009 topps card shows.

2006 topps update & highlights derek lowe and rafael furcal team leaders.

hopefully furky has a better second half.

thanks jeremy! now go read his blog - he found some cool random slides at a flea market. check it out.

slette the good times roll

another fantastic box of cards arrived the other day from eric slette of the pettitte pursuit. away we go!

1981 fleer derrel thomas
this card reminds me of two things. first, it makes me want to say 'looking good, billy ray!' second, it reminds me of thomas's only home run in 1980, which came on april 18 against ken forsch and the houston astros. thomas was the catcher that day (yeager and ferguson were both banged up iirc), and i was in the stands. typical game for me - sutton and ryan pitched the day before, and welch and jr richard pitched the next day. i got goltz and forsch. but i saw dt go deep.

1993 donruss billy ashley.

being a rated rookie, you'd think billy would know that swinging the bat vertically like that is not a good idea.

1975 topps bill buckner

the two dodgers i think of when i think of the number 22 are bill buckner and brett butler. did bob bailor wear 22 also?

1982 donruss rick monday.

mo is back in wrigley. the very first draft pick ever. and scott boras wasn't his agent.

2007 upper deck joe beimel.

apparently there was some level of 'beimel-mania' out west the last couple of years. i do like the fact that joe had a dodgers' bathrobe custom made for himself.

2009 topps randy wolf.

i'm hoping against hope that wolf's start last week was an aberration, rather than a beginning of the return to mediocrity.

1984 fleer steve sax

saxy's right arm is just a blur. who knows where the ball is headed, though.

2008 upper deck juan pierre season highlight.

this particular season highlight is pierre's leading the league in singles. again.

2009 topps pee wee reese legends of the game

it looks like they couldn't get the 'b' right on the helmets back then.

2009 topps roy campanella legends of the game.

campy just looks like a stud.

2009 topps ring of honor johnny podres

here, podres is correctly shown in la gear, as this card celebrates the dodgers' second championship in california which occurred in 1963. i more closely associate podres with the 1955 championship, though. speaking of which...

2009 topps ring of honor don zimmer.

zim is representing the 1955 dodgers here, so the brooklyn era photo is correct. nice work, topps.

1994 topps stadium club chan ho park.

interesting camera angle. park made his debut in 1994, appearing in relief in 2 games early in the season. i was at jack murphy the following year for his first major league start on the final day of the season. the dodgers had clinched the west the night before, so they let park loose on the padres. he pitched well, too.

2009 upper deck goudey brad penny.

a red sock. from a yankee fan. it makes sense.

eric also sent a bunch of twins, which may come in handy this weekend at the twins autograph party. i'll let you know how that turns out!

thanks eric!