target knew i was coming

i bought all three 100-card repacks that were on display at the local target one day last week.  it was like they knew i was coming, with the cards that were featured in the repack windows.  here are the contents of repack number one:

2002 fleer billy wagner - no, that wasn't the card that drew me in
1991 topps 1990 rookies robin ventura - this looks suspiciously like a recent repack i bought
1991 topps 1990 rookies frank thomas
1991 topps 1990 rookies jose offerman - at least now i have a double to send to night owl
1991 topps 1990 rookies todd zeile
1991 topps 1990 rookies john olerud
1989 upper deck yankee checklist (don mattingly)
1991 donruss jose offerman - rated rookie!
1998 pacific paramount david justice
1989 fleer doug jones
1992 upper deck rick wilkins
1991 classic draft picks jorge fabregas
1991 classic best archie corbin
1990 donruss jim dwyer
1998 upper deck nomar garciaparra

it has a dp turn on the back, but here's the front
1990 topps billy spiers
1991 topps mike stanton
1991 classic best tommy taylor
1992 fleer bernie williams
1992 fleer terry pendleton league leaders
1994 upper deck collector's choice greg w. harris

1992 fleer scott radinsky
1988 donruss bob brenly
1990 topps greg gagne
1991 score lance johnson
1988 topps tom henke
1989 fleer richard dotson
2004 donruss classics angel berroa
1988 donruss vance law
1992 topps benny santiago
1989 fleer scott garrelts
1989 score dave righetti
1990 upper deck tim leary
1988 donruss ray knight
1999 upper deck ryan jackson
1990 fleer jack armstrong
1997 donruss studio brian hunter
1988 topps dave winfield all-star
1988 score tom brookens
1999 upper deck neifi perez - another dp turn
1988 score mike scioscia

1991 topps gary sheffield
1990 topps edgar martinez
1988 score chris bando
2009 upper deck first edition andy pettitte
2009 upper deck first edition aaron harang
2009 upper deck first edition chase headley
2009 upper deck first edition jarrod saltalamacchia
2009 upper deck first edition tim hudson
2010 topps todd helton

that was the end of the first half.  nothing there, really.  here's why i bought this thing - the first card in the other window was this 2013 topps chrome asdrubal cabrera orange refractor

a double play turn that is new to my collection!
2013 topps chrome ian kinsler orange refractor

another one that i believe to be a dp, although not the tradition turn at second base.  and, sure enough, in the top of the 6th inning on june 12, 2012, josh bell hit a ground ball to kinsler who tagged aaron hill who had singled and threw to first to complete the 4-3 double play.  thanks baseball reference!
2000 pacific crown royale geoff jenkins

1990 donruss alan trammell
1988 donruss tim wallach - we all know where this card is going
1988 fleer mark mclemore
1999 topps arturo mcdowell/tony torcato draft picks
1990 fleer charlie o'brien
1992 topps eric king
1989 donruss marvin freeman

pretty sure he's standing in dodger stadium, but i scanned the card because it is the most beat up card i've ever found in a repack. nasty.
1989 fleer mark carreon
2008 topps alex gordon year in review
1988 donruss jim eisenreich
1990 topps bert blyleven
1992 score jeff fassero
1992 upper deck terry steinbach
1995 leaf bob hamelin
1990 donruss sergio valdez
2005 donruss leather & lumber rocco baldelli
1986 topps joe carter
1990 bowman gregg olson sweepstakes card
2006 upper deck adam dunn
2005 fleer classic clippings paul konerko
1996 score sid fernandez
2005 fleer mariano rivera

1988 donruss sam horn
1988 donruss lonnie smith
1992 fleer dave winfield
1998 upper deck sp minors jeff liefer
1991 topps kirt manwaring
1992 score mark leiter
2012 topps rex brothers
2012 topps brad peacock
2012 topps jed lowrie
2012 topps gavin floyd
2012 topps alejandro de aza
2012 topps sean marshall
2012 topps ricky nolasco
2012 topps randy wells
2012 topps rex brothers - again!
2012 topps freddie freeman
2011 topps nyjer morgan
2011 topps logan morrison
2011 topps juan miranda
2011 topps kenley jansen
2011 topps drew storen
2011 topps toronto blue jays
2011 topps brad hawpe
2011 topps ronny cedeno
2011 topps bronson arroyo
2004 fleer greats reggie jackson

last but not least.

some of these cards already have homes - my collection or in trade packages - but if there's something you'd like to have (like a thrashed 1989 donruss marvin freeman card), just let me know!

a memorial patch for harvey kuenn

to me, harvey kuenn is the guy who struck out as the last out of sandy koufax's perfect game (as vin scully said, '2 and 2 to harvey kuenn, one strike away.  sandy into his windup; here's the pitch - swung on and missed! a perfect game!).  however, kuenn was also the manager of the milwaukee brewers in 1982 and 1983.  he took over the team about a third of the way into the 1982 season and wound up leading the brew crew to the world series.  after he died in february of 1988, the team added a 'h/k' memorial patch to their left sleeves, with the slash being a baseball bat.

the patch is visible on a number of cards, such as:

1989 donruss paul molitor

1989 topps chuck crim

1990 bill wegman

1988 score rookie and traded darryl hamilton

1989 donruss joey meyer

and jim gantner's 1989 upper deck card - both on the front

and the back

which also seems to include a double play turn.

as much as i would like to include a molitor or robin yount card (or some other member of "harvey's wallbangers" as the representative for this patch in my collection, that honor goes to this 1989 big apple sportscards gary sheffield card

kuenn also had a successful career as a player, amassing over 2000 hits and a .303 lifetime average in 15 seasons.  he was only 57 when he died.

the junior junkie takes over

i have waited long enough to show some of the cards that have come my way out of louisiana over the past few months.  a pwe here, an envelope there, all from the junior junkie.  today is officially junior junkie day here at the blog.

first up is a bona fide 1989 donruss rookie card of the kid himself.

that and this 1980 tcma don drysdale card

came my way after i submitted a haiku explaining my appreciation for the kid.  pretty nice to get a junior rookie and big d card for three lines.

an earlier mailing contained some very nice cards of its own, including a 1995 upper deck sp championship steve garvey die cut card

that lauds garvey's postseason heroics

there is so much to say that there is not even room to mention his two nlcs mvp awards.

orel hershiser had a card in the set, too, but this one is not the die cut parallel

the back is all about 1988

although the last line includes his 1985 nlcs appearance.  the card notes that he had appeared in the postseason 3 times, which would mean that they are counting his 1995 run with the indians.  however, he was 4-1 in the '95 postseason, losing for the first time against the braves in the world series.

here's a 1997 upper deck card of eddie murray that i had not seen before.

the back focuses on eddie's mlb best batting average in 1990 that did not earn him a batting title

to be honest, i am not altogether sure how mlb handles this sort of thing in the interleague play era.

also from 1997 upper deck, a capture the flag subset card of ramon martinez

unfortunately, the dodgers failed to capture the flag during ramon's career (aside from that year that he had a cup of coffee with the big club, 1988)

isn't it nice that the bakersfield dodgers could use the old brooklyn 'b' on their hats?  this is a 1994 upper deck minors card of karim garcia

who may have had more cards than any other dodger prospect ever.

certainly more than wilton guerrero, whose 1997 bowman card was sent with the black borders still nicely black

i guess if there were a dodger prospect to rival garcia in the number of cards, it might be todd hollandsworth.  these aren't prospect cards of his, but here are his 1997 pinnacle

and 1997 upper deck collector's choice 'the big show' insert of the 1996 nl roy anyway

thanks thomas!  more cards from the junior junkie coming throughout the day!

yeah, i took his cards. big whoop. wanna fight about it?

here are some cards that i took off of topher's hands, courtesy of the crackin' wax 'take my cards' process.  i made a donation to big brothers, chose some cards, and sent in a sase.  it was just that simple.

i was late to the allen & ginter party, so anything prior to 2008 i am not quite sure what i have in the way of dodgers.  i picked up a rafael furcal

and brad penny

card from the 2007 set.  it kind of looks like furcal is posing in front of a map of yellow eurasia.

here's a 2007 topps chrome juan pierre card

i cringe every time i see a version of this card.  the blue jerseys that were worn in games only during davey johnson's reign.  not good.

speaking of not good, that is how i remember luis gonzalez's time as a dodger.  still, i needed his 2007 topps heritage card for the ol' collection

here's another furky, this one comes from 2010 upper deck

i like recalling how this was 'series 1' as if there was going to be another series after upper deck didn't try so hard to obscure logos.

here's a 1987 donruss opening day steve sax card.

and a 1989 donruss orel hershiser '59 and counting' card

i don't recall requesting orel, but a card featuring a dodger juggler is always welcome.  but please don't start sending me your 1989 donruss cards.  those are cards i won't take.

thanks topher!

avert your eyes - twice!

what is that?  and why is it encased?

well, i am pretty sure that it is an autographed 1989 donruss mike scioscia card that has been mutilated so that a 2008 tristar signa cut card could be made.  i still don't know why this particular card from that issue is encased.  the plaque says 'limited edition' so maybe that's why.

still, it's not as rare as this other scioscia card i have from the set, which is numbered out of 5.  this one is his 1981 topps rookie card all chopped up

it looks better on its side

i will admit that i thought about removing the signed part of this card and slapping it on my copy of the full card that is missing only scioscia's auto.  i think i will hold out for a different opportunity to finish that card off, however.

a card full of dodgers

take a look at this 1994 topps card.  how many dodgers do you see?

there really is no wrong answer with any number of 1 through 4.  if you see just one, i am guessing that it is eddie davis.  davis was the dodgers' 23rd round pick in 1993, but never climbed higher than aa during his five seasons in the organization.

if you see two, perhaps you are referring to the two that actually played in the major leagues as a dodger - shawn green and mark sweeney.  green was with the dodgers from 2000 through 2004, and sweeney finished his career with one-plus seasons as a dodger in 2007 and 2008.

if you see three, i will guess that you are counting green, sweeney, and davis, but if that is the case, you might actually see four, since, like davis, curtis pride once played in the dodgers' minor league system. and like davis, he did not appear in a big league game as a dodger.  he finished the 2000 season in albuquerque after being released by boston and was hit .293 for the dodgers' aaa club.  unfortunately, pride was granted free agency after the season ended, and he wound up going back to the expos.

here are some dodgers that are easier to spot.  how about a 1995 topps finest roberto kelly card?

i don't have many 1995 topps finest cards, and there aren't many cards of kelly as a dodger, so this was a double whammy for my collection.

here's a 1965 topps 2003 upper deck vintage kevin brown card

i still have a few needs to complete my set.  just down to sp's now.

here's another topps design knockoff by upper deck, courtesy of a 2008 upper deck brad penny o-pee-chee insert

penny's best season came as a dodger in 2007 when he was 16-4 with a 3.03 era.  he returned to the major leagues after a short stint in japan last year, and wound up winning a ring with the giants, although he did not pitch in the postseason.

all of these cards are once again part of the trade that spiegel sent my way.  i didn't have room for them in the previous post, but they all deserve their time to shine, too.  i'll end this quick trade post addendum with a 1989 donruss marvin freeman card

because while he was never a dodger or a dodger minor leaguer, he's standing in dodger stadium which was usually a good thing for the local nine.  freeman's career era at dodger stadium was 8.27 - the highest for any ballpark in which he threw more than 2 innings.

thanks again for the trade, spiegel!

just one more fernando ttm success. plus some others.

i realized when i posted my 1984 topps fernando ttm success this morning that there was still one more success i have had with el toro that i hadn't shown.  it's one of my favorite cards of his - his 1990 upper deck card

you've got dodger stadium peeking through, the home whites, a little bit of the red number, plus fernando putting the bat on the ball.  a very nice card.

somewhere along the line, i picked up this card, purportedly signed by fernando.  it's from the 1987 fleer baseball's best box set.

it was part of a dodger autograph lot i got for cheap.  the card that caught my eye in the lot was this one, a 1986 donruss orel hershiser diamond king card

i guess hershiser was going through a first name is enough phase.  certified hershiser autos are tough to come by and are fairly spendy most of the time.  but at least there would be his full name.  still, i am happy to have this card in my collection.

also included in the lot was a 1986 topps card signed by ken howell

and a 1985 leaf card signed by alejandro pena

i prefer 1985 leaf to 1985 donruss because i like the touch of green.  why they didn't get rid of the donruss logo altogether is beyond me.

speaking of donruss, here's a 1989 donruss jesse orosco card signed by the guy who closed out the 1986 world series for the mets

i also have this card as a certified orosco autograph from the 2004 donruss recollection collection release.

that's enough 1989 donruss for one post.

here's jim gott's 1993 dodgers police card

and finally dave stewart's 1983 topps card

stew made an appearance at a signing last year and signed a copy of his 1978 topps bk dodger/update card that should have been card for me.  i'll show that some other time.

thanks again fernando, for signing my cards! and thanks to you other guys for signing for someone else who sold their cards to me!