the start of the post-playing career card sheets from the steve garvey binders

sheet 26 in the steve garvey binder is where we find the start of his cards issued following his retirement (post-final tribute stuff, anyway).  in the beginning, these were mostly oddball releases, but once card companies began making retro-themed sets, look out! there was a garvey card explosion.

here's sheet 26

the cards:

1. 1989 smokey dodger greats
2. 1989 padres magazine
3. 1990 baseball wit
4. 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary
5. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (gibson & garvey)
6. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (football)
7. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (batting)
8. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (posed)
9. 1990 pacific legends

here we have the first photo re-use, thanks to two dodger stadium giveaway sets, plus four cards from the michigan state spartans set.  i think the photo of garvey in his football uniform (he was a defensive back) has been used in a panini release (not entirely sure, however), but i know that the posed photo was used in last year's upper deck goodwin champions set.

i'm also missing a couple from these years - the 1989 michigan state pepsi card (never seen one), and 1990 pacific legends glossy (never bothered to find one).

here are the backs:

moving on to sheet 27, we once again see some photo re-use and a few oddballs:

those cards are:

1. 1990 swell baseball greats
2. 1991 line drive
3. 1991 swell baseball greats
4. 1992 action packed
5. 1992 mci ambassadors
6. 1993 ted williams
7. 1993 yoohoo
8. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes
9. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes (heroes of baseball)

i really appreciate that first upper deck card with the photo from the 1974 world series, and the fact that it gives some relief from all of the photos of garvey with a bat.  another item worth noting is the mci card and its photo of garvey with the dual-ear flap helmet.

and now the backs:

those mci ambassador cards were apparently distributed at military bases where select retired players appeared and played in games for the troops.  upper deck arranged some 'old-timer' games of their own, which is where the photo on the second card from the 1994 ud all-time heroes set was obtained. this was a tie-in to all of those sheets upper deck issued around that time.

speaking of sheets, we are two pages into the post-active garvey cards, and we are already in 1994.  don't fret, as there are plenty more cards to see.  stay tuned.

time waits for no man

i just read an article by ken gurnick stating that steve garvey was diagnosed with prostate cancer last fall.  apparently he's doing well  now, and has decided to auction off many of his awards, including his 1974 mvp award and 1981 world series ring.

here's one of the latest additions to my garvey collection, a 1991 line drive card

it's nothing special, although it represents another check on the garvey checklist, and fills another spot in the binder.

garvey's health and his decision to part with his memorabilia may or may not be directly connected, but even if they aren't we all know there comes a time when those sorts of decisions need to be made.  my dad is at that point, and i will get there someday, too.  i just hope i am around long enough to be the one to decide how to rid myself of my stuff.

it will be interesting to see how the auction goes.  if i were a rich man, i just might take a shot at one of the items, but alas, i am not.  i'll just keep looking for some oddball cards instead.  until it's time to stop.

they came from indianaland

i am really far behind on trade posts, and trades in general.  if i owe you cards, or, if by chance you owe me cards, please leave a comment.  if you would like to trade, please leave a comment.  or send an email.  i have some stacks set aside for a few of you that i will get mailed out before too long.

on to a trade from may.  this one came from darren at indianaland.

we'll start with a 1990 topps tim crews card

the dodgers acquired crews from the brewers in the 1986 greg brock deal.  he pitched effectively out of the bullpen for 5 seasons as a dodger before the wheels kind of fell off in 1992.  crews pitched well in 1988, but was somewhat famously left off of the postseason roster.  1990 was arguably his best year, as he set career highs in games and innings pitched and his era was a tidy 2.77.  he even made 2 starts.  however, what we remember tim crews for mostly is how he died - in a boating accident during spring training in 1993 that also claimed the life of steve olin and injured bobby ojeda.  the dodgers wore a patch with crews' number on it for the 1993 season.
on a lighter note, here's a 1991 bowman domingo mota card

i'm not sure what the 'mvp' foil is all about, but mota had peaked by the time this card was issued.  he had a fantastic 1990 season in rookie ball, hitting .343.  a year later, after a decent 1991 season in a ball, the dodgers traded mota to the royals with chris gwynn for todd benzinger.  he never did make it to the big leagues.

2000 upper deck fp santangelo

santangelo and the umpire in the background are going their separate ways.  the dodgers signed santangelo as a free agent for the 2000 season.  he played in 81 games and hit a buck-ninetyseven.  he did hit a home run for the dodgers, a pinch-hit job against the marlins in a 7-3 loss.

1994 topps todd worrell

worrell was arguably the dodgers' first full-time closer since mike marshall and certainly their first 'modern' closer.  he was the first dodger to record 30 saves in a season, as well as the first to reach 40 in a single year.  his 44 saves from that year stood as the franchise record until eric gagne saved 52 games in 2002.  worrell also passed the dodgers's franchise saves leader (jim brewer) in 1997 (his final big league season), but he has since been surpassed by jeff shaw and gagne.  not sure that jonathan broxton will ever get close, however.  surprisingly, worrell's 127 saves as a dodger are only 2 fewer than he had for saint louis, although i would suspect most people (myself included) would think of worrell primarily as a cardinal.

here's a 1991 line drive kevin kennedy minor league card

kennedy had finished his playing career with the dukes in 1983, and became their manager in 1989.  he had managed in the lower minors for the dodgers starting in 1984 and had worked his way up to become relevant in the 'who will replace tommy' discussions.  1991 was kennedy's last season as the dukes manager as he left to take over the texas rangers and then the boston red sox.  he led boston to the postseason in 1995 where they were swept by the indians in the alds.  after the 1996 season, kennedy became a talking head, although his name might still pop up from time to time during managerial searches.

lastly, a 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee black bordered travis hafner

i am still half-heartedly trying to complete this set, and darren sent me a couple of needed cards including pronk.  even though it's not the right kind of opc, any help is appreciated.

thanks for the cards darren - hopefully we can trade again sometime.

trading with rhubarb runner

i recently completed a trade with rhubarb runner, another twins fan who has left minnesota for the relatively humid free state of missouri. i sent a bunch of twins, he sent a smattering of needs. i think i got the better of the deal.

he sent me some dodger stuff i didn't know existed:

1991 line drive collect-a-book don drysdalei guess the 1990 set was so popular, they did a second set. really?

2000 pacific 7-11 gary sheffieldhow many slurpees did it take to get a sheffield?

he sent me some cool dodger stuff i knew about but didn't have:

1991 topps cracker jack eddie murraythese are so much better than the fake tatoos or whatever toy surprises they used to have in cracker jack.

1992 donruss cracker jack ramon martinezlooks like donruss wanted some of the action. too bad these aren't variations of the regular set, though.

he sent me a post-2000 twin:

2005 upper deck espn joe mauer.the next .400 hitter?

he sent me some stuff i needed from my set-building want lists:

1989 upper deck dale murphy/braves checklistit looks like dale got his teeth capped. no cavity creeps, that's for sure.

1970 topps jose pagan.

i am so close to finishing this set. so close.

ditto for the 1978 upgrade set. here's a 1978 topps ed ott.

a shorter name you will not find in mlb annals. ron cey comes close, though.

1978 topps jim colborn.the future dodger pitching coach with the cindy brady pose.

finally, he sent a card i knew about but didn't think i would be getting anytime soon, let alone in a trade for a bunch of twinkies:

1961 topps don drysdale

freakin' a. very nice.

that's some minnesota nice for you, even if it came from missouri!