another team collector dilemma?

when i first began collecting in 1978, there were team cards

that doubled as team checklists

and then there were set checklists

that sometimes misspelled bucky dent's name (he's number 164).  these checklists were two different entities - i figured it was one for team collectors and another for set collectors.  i didn't realize until later that this was a fairly new phenomenon as topps first put the team checklist on the back of team cards in 1975.  anyway, all was good until 1981 when fleer came along.

in their inaugural set, fleer divided the set checklist cards up into team checklists - two teams per card, one on the front and one on the back.  here's the dodger team checklist from 1981 fleer. 

les expos are on the back, by the way.  this made sense to me as fleer numbered their sets by team, so all of the dodgers were numerically sequential, well, except for the steve garvey superstar special card near the end.

fleer did the same thing in 1982 (with the dodgers at the front of the set as world champions!), 

and then again in 1983.

by this time, i was including these checklists with my team sets since there weren't any other team cards, and these checklists were team specific.  in 1984, fleer made the decision easier by adding the manager to the teams that were lucky enough to be on the front of the checklists

hello, tom lasorda.  sorry, steve boros (the a's are on the back).

like i said, i considered these to be part of the team sets.  in 1982, topps did away with the team cards and started putting the team checklists on the back of team leader cards.  they continued doing that until 1985, when they moved the team checklist to the back of the manager's cards.  topps continued this practice of team checklists on the back of manager cards and set checklists on their own cards through 1989.  in 1990, however, they brought the team statistics to the back of the manager cards and modified the set checklists so that they were sorted by team.  this continued through 1992 before topps went back to the traditional numerical order set checklists in 1993, although they eliminated team checklists that year.

so, the dilemma is this - are the topps set checklists part of the team sets from 1990-1992?  it is not as cut and dried as with the fleer cards above, because topps was sloppy - not wanting to devote 13 cards to checklists (yes, there were only 26 teams in the early 1990's).  here's a checklist from 1992 topps to show what i mean

to me, this does not belong in my dodger topps team set binder.  what say you?

double plays are a dime apiece

it's always fun to get a trade package from nick at dime boxes in part because he also collects double play cards, and so he sends me some that turn out to be new additions to my collection.

for example, i already had this 1968 topps game card of claude osteen in my dodger collection

but now i have one for my double play binders, too.  sure, it doesn't show the play at second base, but it still references a twin-killing enough to warrant a spot in the binder.

here are some more traditional double play turns that nick sent:

1991 leaf wally backman

1992 topps bill doran gold 'winner' parallel

1997 fleer alex gonzalez

2012 topps mike aviles gold parallel

2001 fleer tradition jay canizaro

2003 upper deck 40man junior spivey

and a 2004 mlb showdown 'hard slide' card

obviously, that's wes helms sliding in, but i'm not completely certain of the cub turning two.  2003 was helms' first season with the brew crew, so it is most likely either alex gonzalez or mark grudzielanek (and just by visual inspection i know that it's not grudzielanek).  it turns out that on may 7, 2003, keith osik of the brewers hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play with helms as the lead runner.  although the second baseman for the cubs that day was ramon martinez, the shortstop was indeed alex gonzalez.

thanks for the dp turns nick!

the pirates' hoolie memorial patch

like the 2007 upper deck chris britton card i showed earlier today in the elrod hendricks memorial patch post, i showed this 1992 topps orlando merced card

in my memorials kick-off post a while back.  unlike the britton, the merced card remains in my collection as the example of the memorial it displays.  that would be the 'h' patch for the pirates' long time equipment manager john 'hoolie' hallahan.

hallahan had started with the pirates as a batboy and clubhouse assistant in 1941, and was promoted to equipment manager in 1957.  he held that position until his death in 1991 at the age of 64.  his reign over the clubhouse included the 1960 world series championship, the clemente years, another world championship in 1971, the stargell years, the 'we are family' championship of 1979, and the first few seasons of barry bonds' career.  not a bad time to have spent in a major league clubhouse.

the 1978 topps dodgers in 1992

no members of the 1978 topps dodgers returned to the topps set in 1992, but then again, nobody dropped out, either.  tom lasorda was still the dodgers' manager, and he came away with one of the best cards in the set

a nice jog with gary carter, kevin gross, john candelaria, orel hershiser, and bob ojeda is a good way to start the day, i think.  unfortunately for lasorda and his players, 1992 was a year we would all like to forget.  the team fell from 93 wins in 1991 to 99 losses in 1992 - the worst performance by a dodger team since moving to los angeles, and the worst record in terms of winning percentage for the franchise since 1912.  lasorda had signed an extension with the dodgers in 1992 that would keep him as the team's manager through the 1993 season, but there was speculation that he would leave the team anyway.  i recall reading about rumors of bobby valentine taking over, with lasorda going somewhere else where he could be a general manager, or that lasorda would move into the dodger front office with bill russell the heir apparent to the job (a more accurate scenario although not realized for a few years and under more dire circumstances).  but no, lasorda remained at the helm, hoping to right the ship that had almost lost 100 games for the first time since 1908.

charlie hough

hough was still chucking knuckleballs for the white sox in 1992.  he went 7-12 with an era under 4, and earned his 200th big league win with a victory against the twins in august.  it's too bad that ron karkovice was the designated catcher for hough in '92 - had carlton fisk been his catcher, the battery would have consisted of a couple of 44-year olds playing catch.

johnny oates

oates, only two years older than hough, was back for his first full season as the orioles' manager in 1992.  he helped turn the team around, going from a 95-loss season to an 89-win campaign.  although the orioles finished third in the al east, seven games behind the blue jays, it was a good showing for oates, and he finished third in the al manager of the year voting.

here is the yearly tally of appearances to date:

baker 17 (1971-1987)
burke 2 (1978-1979)
cey 16 (1972-1987)
davalillo 14 (1963-1974, 1978-1979)
forster 16 (1972-1987)
garman 8 (1971-1973, 1975-1979)
garvey 17 (1971-1987)
goodson 6 (1973-1978)
grote 15 (1964-1976, 1978-1979)
hooton 15 (1972-1986)
hough 21 (1972-1992)
john 26 (1964-1989)
lacy 16 (1973-1988)
lasorda 18 (1954, 1973-1974, 1977-1981, 1983-1992)
lopes 16 (1973-1988)
martinez 9 (1971-1976, 1978-1980)
monday 18 (1967-1984)
mota 18 (1963-1980)
oates 12 (1972-1981, 1991-1992)
rau 9 (1973-1981)
rautzhan 2 (1978-1979)
rhoden 16 (1975-1990)
russell 18 (1970-1987)
smith 17 (1967-1983)
sosa 10 (1974-1984)
sutton 23 (1966-1988)
yeager 15 (1973-1987)

teams represented so far: 23 (dodgers, indians, colt .45's, pirates, white sox, astros, mets, a's, red sox, angels, expos, cardinals, braves, cubs, orioles, giants, phillies, yankees, rangers, tigers, padres, brewers, mariners)

through the mail thursday - lance rautzhan and lenny harris successes, plus a couple of tangents!

former dodger reliever lance rautzhan signed a copy of the custom card i made as part of my 1978 topps update/burger king dodgers set

if only there had been the real thing…which reminds me.  i made a couple of newer keving pasley cards that should have been after seeing some photos from the topps vault

too bad i don't have an address to send them to for pasley to sign.  but i digress.

lenny harris signed his 1992 topps card for me as well

both of the signed cards above have been sitting in my scanned folder for quite a while.  as has this 1990 score robin ventura autographed card

i don't think ventura signs through the mail, unfortunately.  this card was obtained in person back in the early 1990's.

thanks for signing my cards!

inspired by fuji and amused by ashley

i received some cards from fuji a while back.  it was a great mix of dodgers, including a 2002 leaf certified joe thurston jersey card

and a 2000 fleer ultra eric karros gold medallion edition parallel

i also received a 1992 topps eric karros gold 'winner' card

which shows karros in a posed ready to bat stance.

using some of the other cards in the package, we can follow a dodger swing from the ready position on karros' card, to this 1997 donruss dodgers team set greg gagne card

to this 1998 donruss preferred raul mondesi die-cut card

to this 1995 score select billy ashley card

that ashley card is fantastic.  it's got the pinnacle museum treatment and an umpire noting that ashley 'can't miss'.  he missed.

back to that donruss dodger team card of gagne.  fuji included almost a complete team set.  here's roger cedeno's card

there were three cards missing, so i went to sportlots to complete the set.  of course, i needed the big 3 of the time - raul mondesi

hideo nomo

and mike piazza

thanks for the cards fuji, and for the inspiration to complete a team set!

even andruw jones looks better in dodger stadium

i hadn't noticed this until a few months ago, but in 2008, upper deck took andruw jones out of spring training and put him in chavez ravine.  they even moved the third base bag.  take a look at his 2008 upper deck first edition card side by side with his 2008 upper deck masterpieces card

pretty soon it will be revealed that all games are actually played in front of the giant green screen at universal studios hollywood.

the masterpieces background includes the low railing that wraps (or used to wrap) into fair territory until it hit the bullpens.  it is also visible on chris speier's 1988 topps card

denny martinez's 1991 topps card

and jeff treadway's 1992 topps card

i am 99% sure that this 1998 steve kline card from fleer ultra also features dodger stadium in the background

thanks to the roof and light stanchion, plus the blue in the dugout.

curt schilling's card from the same set is definitely sporting a dodger stadium shot

it could well be from opening day 1997 when schilling shut the dodgers down.  that was the last opening day i attended prior to my move to the midwest.

the phillies also had some players captured in dodger stadium in the 2011 bowman set, like roy oswalt

jimmy rollins

with a lurking rod barajas, and jayson werth

who was airbrushed into a nationals uniform.  pretty sure these photos came from the september 1, 2010 game (a 12:10 local start) in which oswalt started, rollins scored 3 times (including on a home run off of clayton kershaw), and werth hit a dribbler down the first base line.  barajas, who had recently joined the dodgers, caught the whole game.

no airbrushing was needed for the 1999 fleer ultra set.   that set had some gorgeous photography and features some great dodger stadium scenes.  here's charles johnson on his way from the dugout to the plate

and gary sheffield standing in almost the same spot, with the 'three ladies' palm trees behind the bullpen mostly visible

it's hard not to look good when you have that for a background.

do you sutton?

it's friday and that's a good thing.  meanwhile, don sutton assumes the position.  his position.  suttoning, i call it.

here's his 1983 brewers police issue

left knee down, right knee up, arms crossed over right knee with glove or ball or glove and ball, as the case may be.  let's see who else (other than terry adams) suttoned.

randy jones, 1981 fleer

cy youngs: randy jones 1, don sutton 0

and bill travers, also 1981 fleer

travers, unfortunately, would not get the pleasure of being sutton's teammate in milwaukee as he went to the angels after the 1980 season.  still, he honors sutton the best way he knows how.

here's von hayes on his 1982 topps traded card

hayes was 3 for 10 with a homer and a strikeout lifetime against sutton.

1984 fleer jim acker

and salome barojas

barojas is a little too upright - he needs to work on his casual lean.

wally joyner has it right on his 1986 fleer update card, with a bat as an accessory

joyner and sutton were teammates in cali for a couple of seasons, including that heartbreaking 1986 campaign.

neal heaton suttons on his 1987 fleer card

trevor wilson gets it done on his 1989 topps card

and robbie alomar adds a pensive twist to the pose on the back of his 1995 upper deck card

kenny lofton gives it a try on his 1992 topps traded card, but like barojas above, doesn't quite have the lean part mastered.

i'll have to see if in the following 16 years lofton was able to master the pose.

if you think of it today, maybe you'll have a chance to sutton!