i see you jerry reuss!

as you know, one of my mini collections is cards featuring dodger stadium in the background.  with those cards, sometimes you get the pavilion roof, sometimes you get the old field level scoreboard, and sometimes you get dodger lefty jerry reuss lurking in the background, as is the case with this 1986 donruss joe price card.

what i found interesting about this card is that reuss is on the visitor's side of the field during pre-game, which isn't that common - these days, anyway, from what i've seen at the ballpark.  i emailed him to ask what he was doing, and he was kind enough to let me know that he was headed back to the right field line to do his sprints to centerfield, which were part of his routine in between starts.

here's another from 1986 donruss (sadly without a reuss cameo) of dave lapoint

i remember lapoint as a cardinal, probably because of the 1982 world series, but he pitched for nine teams, including the no-cals.

one more from '86 donruss - here's junior ortiz in dodger stadium

and he's looking happy to be there.

this is a 1989 donruss all-stars rafael palmeiro card

with raffy taking a cut from the dodger stadium left-handed batter's box

and here is hall of famer barry larkin's 1990 upper deck card

with the old low railing behind him

a couple of weeks ago i wrote a post dedicated to the murals that adorned the dodger stadium outfield wall during the late 1990's and early 2000's.  here are a few more cards with some of those mural images in the background

2000 upper deck joe mcewing

that's part of the mike scioscia heroes mural behind little mac

2002 topps tim salmon

with salmon patrolling right field at dodger stadium in front of pee wee reese's retired number mural

2003 fleer ultra matt clement

with the 40th anniversary of dodger stadium mural in the background.  that's kevin brown's face (representing the 2000 season), and shawn green's arms (representing the 2002 campaign).  big kudos to fleer for making a similar card in the '03 ultra set:

that's kevin brown himself on the mound with his face looking on from the mural.  if only fleer had made a similar card of shawn green in right field in front of his image…

i'll finish off this chavez ravine centric post with this 1995 upper deck collector's choice lance parrish card

featuring no lurking dodgers, but instead a dodger usher with some nice shades.

it's been a couple of years since i've been able to get to dodger stadium for a game, so i appreciate having these cards in my collection to remind me of how great the stadium is.

more brown and yellow from the steve garvey binders

the 18th sheet of the steve garvey binders begins with a different former dodger wearing the san diego brown and yellow. i'll explain below.

so, those cards are:

1. 1985 topps dick williams
2. 1985 topps glossy all-star
3. 1985 topps pete rose #81
4. 1985 topps rubdown
5. 1985 topps stickers (foil top)
6. 1985 topps stickers (foil bottom)
7. 1985 topps stickers (nlcs - batting)
8. 1985 topps stickers (nlcs - posed)
9. 1985 topps stickers (foil)

the dick williams card is here because steve garvey is lurking in the background, signing autographs for his legion of fans.  two cards over is another card in which garvey is a background lurker.  it comes from a 1985 set produced by topps that features nothing but pete rose.  there are 120 cards in the set, which seems excessive, but i was happy to find card number 81 in the set that shows the scene at first base following hit number 4192.  i think that it's pretty cool that garvey was on the field for both babe ruth's career home run record being broken as well as the passing of ty cobb's career hit record (although some statistic scrubbing in the following years would show that rose actually passed cobb in an earlier game).

the rubdown 'card' is the same as the 1984 version with only the copyright date changing, but it gives bill russell another reason to be in the garvey collection.

here are the backs:

the back of the rose card shows how far they were reaching for content - hey mr. hit king! how important is batting practice?  jeez.  you can also see that i did not keep the rubdown instructions as i did with the 1984 version.

here's sheet 19, which transitions into 1986

the cards are:

1. 1985 topps stickers
2. 1985 topps tiffany (record breaker)
3. 1985 topps tiffany
4. 1986 burger king
5. 1986 cunningham
6. 1986 donruss
7. 1986 fleer
8. 1986 fleer (superstar special)
9. 1986 fleer league leaders

here are the backs

i think burger king confused baseball with football - there are no all-pros in baseball.  the fleer superstar special card features a photo from the 1985 all-star game (not all-pro game) in minneapolis.  garvey, dale murphy, and dave parker represented the national league in the home run derby that year, along with jack clark and ryne sandberg.  parker won.  and, if you're wondering, garvey led the league in games played in 1985 with 162 - i'm assuming that's why he was in the 1986 fleer league leaders set.

seriously, target must have stocked these repacks just for me

here are the cards from the second of three repacks that i bought at target last week while doing some other shopping.  i glanced at the card aisle and saw the 2013 topps chrome asdrubal cabrera orange refractor from the first rpack looking at me, asking me to add it to my double play collection, and i bit.  when i removed that repack from the hanger, this next one was on full display, also asking for a home.  here's what it had in it

2010 topps manny ramirez - a dodger up front!  so here's the back

look at those dreads, and all that league leading red!
1991 topps 1990 rookies robin ventura

for the third time...might as well show it since i have three of them
1991 topps 1990 rookies frank thomas
1991 topps 1990 rookies jose offerman
1991 topps 1990 rookies todd zeile
1991 topps 1990 rookies john olerud
1989 fleer bob kipper
1991 classic best checklist
1988 topps jeff hamilton
1995 leaf alex cole
1987 topps john felske
1992 upper deck kenny lofton
1990 fleer dennis martinez
1992 fleer harold baines/wade boggs superstar specials
1994 upper deck todd benzinger
1993 donruss eric wedge
1986 topps mike jorgensen
1989 donruss mike lavalliere
1991 donruss craig biggio
1990 topps ricky horton
1991 donruss melido perez
1991 classic draft picks doug glanville
1992 topps stadium club mike schooler
1989 donruss david palmer
1989 score keith miller
1992 pinnacle orlando merced
1989 fleer brian holman
1990 fleer dennis eckersley
1992 fleer orel hershiser

1989 donruss tony gwynn diamond king
1987 topps joe orsulak
1989 score mark langston
1986 donruss ben oglivie

1988 donruss john farrell
1992 donruss kevin tapani
1988 fleer jeff calhoun
1991 score tom bolton
1988 topps luis polonia
1992 topps greg litton gold winner
1993 upper deck butch henry
1987 leaf kent hrbek
1991 topps steve farr
1990 topps bobby thigpen
1991 topps stadium club chris gwynn

2009 upper deck first edition brandon phillips

turning two!
2009 upper deck first edition brian roberts
2009 upper deck first edition mark derosa
2009 upper deck first edition dan uggla
2009 upper deck first edition chin-lung hu
2000 fleer gamers magglio ordonez

here's the second half:

2013 topps chrome eric hosmer orange refractor

1988 donruss jose deleon
1991 upper deck kirk dressendorfer
1988 donruss jeff stone
1996 topps frank rodriguez
1990 score greg gohr
1988 topps dick schofield
1992 donruss john wetteland
1987 donruss ben oglivie

at first, i thought that donruss had used the same photo of oglivie that they put on his 1986 donruss card, but a closer look (scroll back up) shows that they did not.  just a very similar pose from a completely different photo shoot.
1992 upper deck george bell
1996 topps delino deshields - a dodger yet it goes unshown
1988 donruss danny cox
1987 topps tim wallach - another one for the law firm in new mexico
2004 fleer national pastime josh beckett
1987 topps dan gladden
1996 topps checklist
1986 topps andre thornton
1983 topps manny castillo - oldest card of the repack
1988 donruss mark langston
1992 score billy hatcher
1987 topps thad bosley
2009 topps ticket to stardom ryan freel
1992 score luis alicea
1986 topps jose deleon - it's a deleon super repack!
1988 donruss gary gaetti diamond king
1992 topps stadium club bob mclure
1998 pinnacle mint barry bonds (without the coin insert)

1990 donruss fred manrique
1992 fleer ultra felix jose
1992 score jeff carter
2011 topps raul ibanez
2011 topps baltimore orioles
2011 topps phil hughes
2011 topps kevin correia
2011 topps ryan perry
2011 topps travis hafner
2011 topps koji uehara
2011 topps aaron harang
2012 topps kosuke fukudome
2012 topps scott downs
2012 topps jaime garcia
2012 topps jose bautista/curtis granderson/mark teixeira league leaders
2012 topps carlos ruiz
2012 topps anibal sanchez
2012 topps justin smoak
2012 topps yadier molina
2012 topps jose reyes/ryan braun/matt kemp league leaders
2012 topps barry zito
2012 topps derek jeter checklist

2011 topps logan morrison
2004 fleer greats don zimmer

i'm sure you (and target shelf stockers) understand - i couldn't resist seeing manny and zimmer in the windows and not going for this repack.  let me know if you see anything you want or need out of it…

dodger record setting infield - assemble!

i posted a ton of steve garvey cards last december due in large part to his 65th birthday, and i kind of neglected the other members of the infield of my youth.  and, we are already almost half way through the third month of 2014 and the likes of ron cey, bill russell, and davey lopes haven't been seen much on the blog yet this year.  so, here are some cards of the rest of the infield.

2007 upper deck sweet spot classic ron cey

which is infinitely better than the 1984 7-up cubs release

there's only one member of the dodger infield who didn't move on and play for another team - bill russell.  here's his 1984 fleer card

and a 1986 donruss card

after his playing days, russell spent some time as the dodgers' bench coach and then went to albuquerque to manage the dukes.  here's his 1993 fleer pro cards card

and the back

i picked up another version of this card - from the 1993 fleer pro cards aaa all-stars set.  the front is the same

but the back has a new text box!

the box would make more sense on the players' cards i would imagine.

here's russell's 1999 dodger heroes uniform patch

i think i paid more for this one than i did for either the cey or garvey patch.  it's too bad that davey lopes didn't get a patch - he would be one of my heroes.  he did get a card in the 2007 upper deck sweet spot set, however

and, to be fair, here is a card from his cubs' tenure - 1986 sportflics

yes, lopes is in there along with tim raines and willie wilson.  here's a better look

after lopes retired from active status, he went on to become a coach with the rangers.  he followed that up with stints with the orioles, padres, brewers (as their manager), padres (again), nationals, and phillies before returning to the dodgers.  he doesn't have too many cards from that part of his career, but i did purchase one from his phillie days.  this is a postcard sized team issue from the phillies, nicely autographed by lopes himself

i won't show any more garvey cards here, but i do have a couple of items featuring all four of the infielders.  a couple of years ago, i purchased the collector's pin given away at dodger stadium in 2003 marking the 30th anniversary of the infield first playing together

and from the depths of one of my garvey binders comes this 1992 upper deck heroes of baseball sheet that commemorates the foursome and their feat of longevity as a unit

here's to the infielders of my youth.  unfortunately, there is going to be a whole lot more garvey here on the blog soon...

burt hooton's final tributes

i will be posting about the 1986 topps cards that featured members of the 1978 topps dodger team tomorrow.  i know you can't wait.  i'm going to kickstart this latest edition of the aptly named 'evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers' series of posts by showcasing the lone member of that fraternity to get a final tribute card in 1986.  burt carlton hooton.

hooton spent one year (1985) with the rangers before calling it a career.  actually, the rangers released him in march of 1986 after manager bobby valentine was impressed with the young arms of bobby witt and ed correa, and at the time, hooton was undecided on whether to continue pitching or not.  whether it was his decision or not, hooton did not make any more big league appearances as an active player.

so, the 1986 set(s) offer us some bona fide final tributes, thanks to texas' late release of the right-hander.  first up is topps.

topps, as usual, gives us the complete major league stats for hooton

the 1981 nlcs mvp racked up 112 wins as a dodger over 10 seasons.  that puts him at 18th all-time for the franchise, and close to (if not in) to the top 10 among los angeles dodgers.

next up is the max headroom set, 1986 donruss

donruss gives us happy's full name, but only the last five years of his career, stat-wise.

the back also gives more detail about hooton's contract status.  he had signed a 2-year deal, with an option for 1987, so texas was on the hook for his 1986 salary plus a buyout.  it's too bad he didn't go by his middle name, by the way.  if he had, there might have been a nice 'steve carlton, carlton hooton' card in 1982 fleer.

speaking of fleer, here's hooton's 1986 fleer card

with his complete professional career stats, including that one abbreviated year in the minors

not sure why fleer notes that hooton lives in yorba linda while the other companies had him back in his home state of texas.  nine strikeouts shy of 1500 k's, at least hooton eclipsed 150 wins.  he also encouraged a generation of young fans (this one included) to try to figure out what the heck a knuckle-curve grip looked like, and to try to throw one in a little league game without having it bounce 10 feet in front of home plate.

hooton was a minor league pitching coach for the dodgers from 1988 through 1996 before joining the staff at his alma mater, the university of texas.  he later coached in the astros' system, including at the major league level in the early 2000's.  last season, hooton was a minor league coach in the padres' system.

i am 'happy' to have these final tributes in my collection!

rodney cline carew and the final tributes that came too soon

even though i was a dodger fan growing up, i still enjoyed watching the angels when the opportunity arose.  i went to the big a a few times, and the halos would be broadcast on ktla (the dodgers were on kttv) fairly often.  i was pulled in by don baylor's 1979 season, but i stayed because of rod carew.  i enjoyed watching him hit, and his was always one of the stances that i emulated during wiffle ball games in the neighborhood.  

i recall watching carew get his 3000th career hit in 1985, with his helmet coming loose as he placed the ball safely into left field.  his feat was commemorated on a 1986 fleer superstar special card

the last bit of text on the back echoes how i felt about carew.

'...no telling just how long he will continue'.  the guy could still hit, although his average had fallen over the last couple of years.  it turned out that he would not play after the 1985 season.  the angels did not re-sign him, opting to go with youngster wally joyner at first base instead, and they still had reggie jackson on the roster to serve as the dh.  carew was bitter about the way things ended, as i recall, but did eventually return to the team as a coach in the early 1990's.

carew was offered a contract by the giants at some point during the 1986 season, but he opted to retire.  so, his 1986 cards became final tributes.

here's his topps card

 with the complete stats on the back

his .328 average was good for 32nd all-time when he retired, and was the highest career average for a player since stan musial retired in 1963.  since 1986, only tony gwynn and wade boggs have retired with a higher average than carew, and boggs bested him by only 0.0001.

here's his regular fleer card

 and the back has his complete professional stats

carew led the league in batting 6 of the 7 seasons from 1972 through 1979.

here's his 1986 donruss card, which features the stance i would mimic

 i like donruss backs because they give us the full name.

rodney cline carew is what angels' broadcaster don drysdale would call him.  or was it dick enberg?  i don't recall.  anyway, that's what we kids in the neighborhood called him, too.

with wally world and the angels' success in 1986, it was hard to argue with gene autry's decision to not bring carew back, but i know i was disappointed that he wouldn't get a shot to move further up the career hits leaderboard.  while he was the 16th player to reach the milestone, he finished the season 13th on the list, as donruss notes.  he was about 230 hits behind willie mays, who was in 10th place at the time, but only 100 or so out of 12th place.  as it stands now, carew is 23rd with alex rodriguez 152 hits behind him.

here's to you rodney cline carew - that was a heck of a career that you had!