so, i sought out a repack

this 1992 bowman vaughn eshelman card means business.

i found it in a repack that i sought out after finding (both surprisingly and somewhat disappointingly) only current cards at one of the local walgreens.  i had my mind set on a repack, so a couple of days later i picked up a hanger of recycled cards at target.

here's the oldest card from the pack - a 1985 topps bryn smith

that's nice - i'm kind of a bryn smith fan.  i met his dad when i was in high school is how that came about.

this 2012 topps update ra dickey card is the newest card from the repack

nice shot of the knuckle grip, but why isn't he wearing number 49 like a good knuckler?

as always, there were some 1987 topps cards included, such as this tony gwynn all-star subset card

and there was also some 1988 fleer, including this tim wallach card

the card design works well with the expos' unis, although the blues don't quite match.  that card will be heading to new mexico at some point.

there was actually a 1989 fleer card that i am going to keep in the repack - this checklist card that features the dodgers and red sox

there are your defending world champions, from dave anderson to tracy woodson.  i don't know about you other set collectors, but i always included the fleer checklists with my team sets, probably because in 1983 and 1984 (and possibly other years) they featured a photo of the manager on them.

here's a 1990 topps willie stargell glossy all-star card

pops was the honorary captain of the national league squad in 1988 as he was voted into the hall of fame that year.

there was a complete 14-card factory set of the 2008 topps yankees in the repack

joba looks like he's relieving himself on the lawn outside a kegger somewhere.

i beat the odds and picked a repack that included an autographed card.  it's a 2006 topps '52 matt albers card

i would have preferred another auto card of a different matt from that same set, but repack purchasers can't be choosers.  not in that way, anyway.

hats off to reader mark

reader mark has certainly made his mark around the blogs with some nice trade packages, and he has been kind enough to include yours truly in on the fun.  i've received two packages from him to date with quite an assortment of cards.  here is a small sample.

this is the back of tim leary's 1989 topps big card.  look at all the different hats tim leary wears.

a sombrero (not unlike bip roberts or bill russell), some sort of viking helmet, and a mortarboard.  any one of these hats will work for a tip in mark's direction.

here's another 1989 topps big card.  it's the back of mike marshall's card 

marshall made his big league debut on september 7, 1981 by pinch running for steve garvey in the first inning after the garv hit an rbi single.  marshall came up a couple of innings later and did indeed double in his first big league at bat.  that would mean that ed whitson is shown here calling marshall a young punk.

here's a 1986 topps pedro guerrero box bottom card

not a bad hand cut specimen

1994 fleer flair tim wallach

i recall buying a single pack of 1993 flair.  i didn't bother with the 1994 release, so i am still playing catch up.

mark also included some cards of the players from the team of my youth, like davey lopes on a 1987 fleer card

and charlie hough on a 1989 fleer card

plus he sent along some double plays.  this is a 1995 topps mickey morandini card

with what i believe to be brett butler sliding in.  mark also sent the cyberstat parallel

a quick look at baseball reference leads me to believe that this play is from july 17, 1994, and that raul mondesi is about to be thrown out at first.

i'll post some other double plays that mark sent a little later.  stay tuned...

an initials memorial for the orioles' owner

edward bennett williams, the owner of the baltimore orioles since 1980, died from cancer in august of 1988.  for the remainder of the season, the orioles wore his initials on their left sleeve as a memorial.  the 'ebw' memorial can be seen in part on oswald peraza's 1989 topps big card

and on full display on this 1989 fleer bob milacki prospects card

the card in the binder, however, is this 1989 upper deck pete stanicek card

as the team's owner, williams was responsible for signing a long term lease with baltimore shortly before he died which secured the funding for a new stadium.  that stadium, of course, became oriole park at camden yards.  not a bad legacy to leave behind, although williams' is probably better remembered as an attorney and washington dc insider i would imagine.

what have they done to my fair stadium?

beach volleyball.  kiss.  nhl hockey.  these things will be taking place in dodger stadium on january 25th, and construction of the rink and other associated items is well underway.  i don't have any problems with that.  i've been to a couple of concerts at dodger stadium, and i contemplated going to the exhibition outdoor game that the nhl staged in las vegas several years back.  i know the folks here in the twin cities are hoping for the nhl classic to come to target field or the gophers' football stadium (where the golden gophers will play ohio state in some big 10 hockey action tonight in below zero wind chill).  still, here are some cards featuring walter o'malley's gem, the third oldest baseball stadium in the major leagues, as it was meant to be seen - as a baseball venue.

this card is from the baseball stadium facts inserts in 1969 fleer cloth sticker packs

yes, the playing field is symmetrical.  big deal. wanna fight about it?

here's ed whitson dealing from the dodger stadium mound on a 1989 fleer card

and here's nolan ryan hanging out in the bullpen.

that's a 1989 topps box bottom card, by the way.

here's a card back featuring the visitor's dugout area - orlando merced's 1991 upper deck card

and here's kenny lofton's 1992 upper deck card

i started to look at the lofton card a bit closer and wasn't completely sure that it was dodger stadium because the railing looks a bit dark.  however, wes chamberlain's 1993 upper deck card

gives a similar angle, and the railing looks the same.  lofton played in 2 games at dodger stadium among his 20 as an astro in 1991, so i say yes - that's dodger stadium in the background.

here's the back of chamberlain's card for good measure

there's no doubt that andujar cedeno's 1993 upper deck card features a shot from dodger stadium

that looks like juan samuel sliding in.

same goes for gary sheffield's 1994 upper deck card.  dodger stadium, not juan samuel.

those are the old low railings near the right field bullpen that have been replaced with a solid panel short wall.  the back of sheffield's card shows the full height outfield wall

complete with a championship banner.  this must have been opening day - the dodgers only bring out the banners then.

1997 fleer ultra todd hundley

i've never been to the stadium club restaurant at dodger stadium.  that's the area directly behind hundley with the window panels between the orange (loge - as in lower general admission) and blue (reserve) levels.

this is a nice card. it's from the 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game set - the first gotg release from fleer

i'm not sure if jerry royster is a true great of the game, but he is a former dodger and that is a nice photo of him playing short at chavez ravine.

last, but certainly not least, is a card of another former dodger.  wilton guerrero's 1998 fleer tradition update card

complete with his brother vladdy and the left field pavilion and diamondvision in the background is one of the best dodger stadium cards around.

enjoy the hockey at dodger stadium, but no tractor pulls please.

bo goes lurking for murray, molitor, and lopes - oh my!

as promised, here are some more cards that i received from bo at baseball cards come to life.  this time, we are looking for eddie murray lurking on other people's cards.  like the back of chris gwynn's 1990 upper deck card

and the back of dave martinez's 1990 upper deck card

with the dodger stadium pavilions in the background.

steady eddie also showed up on rudy may's 1978 topps card

and eric plunk's 1995 fleer ultra card

meanwhile, hall of famer paul molitor is lurking in the shadows on ted higuera's 1989 fleer card

and he is also hanging out behind joe carter on carter's 1995 upper deck collector's choice se card

probably the favorite of the lurker cards bo sent is this 2004 topps pedro astacio card

there are not one, but two former dodgers on that card - astacio shares the space with the second baseman from the infield of my youth, davey lopes!  lopes was the padres' first base coach for a while, and topps was kind enough to get him onto a card for me.

thanks bo!

oddball-palooza with a teaser

the goal today is to post the rest of the oddball haul i picked up a while ago and announce my first group break.  should be easy enough.  here are a bunch of dodger cards from off the beaten path.  this 1975 topps knock-off is from 1991 baseball cards presents, and features native son darryl strawberry

strawberry was happy to be in los angeles according to the card back

i am guessing that the third kid in the cartoon would be chris brown.  while the dodgers also brought eric davis back to la, brown was out of the majors by the time the 90's rolled around.

here's a 1993 topps eric karros card

but without the rookie cup.  what gives?

it's a pre-production sample.  most likely issued with 1992 topps factory sets i imagine.  i know i bought a 1993 topps factory set, and it had the 1994 pre-production samples in it.  unfortunately, i don't have the 1996 topps pre-production rafael bournigal sample card.  how random is it that topps picked bournigal for the 10-card set that year?

here's a 1990 baseball wit card of manny mota

the first question on the back is appropriate, even though it is no longer answered correctly.

i did not know that about the pirates.  always nice to see a manny mota card, and an extra bonus to learn something along the way.

here are a couple of pedro guerrero cards - 1985 drake's

and 1988 drake's

that '88 card was a nefarious 9 resident for a while.  i didn't realize that drake's sets were still made that late into the decade.

this kirk gibson card is from the bottom of a 1989 fleer box

i kinda sorta wish that topps still did this, even though i don't buy boxes anymore.  i think the last time i saw box bottom cards was with 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee.

next up are a couple of 1990 donruss learning series cards.  the complete dodger team set consists of rick dempsey

and fernando valenzuela

these cards were apparently part of a bigger educational packet made available to elementary and middle schools.  i was well beyond those institutions in 1990.

in 1993, fleer apparently partnered with fruit of the loom to include cards in packages of t-shirts and/or underwear.  i imagine that somebody picked up this brett butler card

whether they wanted to or not while shopping for tighty-whities.  i am thankful for it 20 years later.

also from 1993, i now own a tim wallach humpty dumpty card

let's learn more about this card from the authority on all things tim wallach.

you'll notice that there were no stickers in today's post.  i did show a couple of them yesterday, but the big sticker news today is that i will be hosting my first group break featuring a box of 1983 fleer stickers.  look for the post later today with all the details.  it should be fun.