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…

random greatness from the scanned folder

i doubt that there will be a reason to post this 2006 upper deck future stars autographed card of tim hamulack

in anything other than a 'random cards from the scanned folder' post, so guess what?  this is a post featuring a bunch of cards that have been wallowing in my scanned folder for some time.  hamulack (besides being a sentence that yoda might utter if he were to be displeased with the meat selection at your easter brunch) pitched for the dodgers in 2006 and went 0-3 in 33 appearances.  i can't say that i recall too much about him, and i assumed that he was a lefty specialist that the dodgers brought on board to face barry bonds and todd helton and other nl west lefty sluggers.  well, he faced bonds only twice in 2006 - hamulack walked him and then hit him with a pitch a couple days later.  not bad.

1982 fleer dodger logo sticker

i wish to goodness that fleer had put dates on their stickers.  luckily, i know that this comes from 1982 because it's got a photo from the 1981 all-star game at cleveland's municipal stadium on the back

it looks like a gloomy august night in cleveland, but that may just be the 1982 fleer effect.

1992 fleer ramon martinez and ozzie guillen superstar special

this card baffled me when i first saw it.  'teenage sensations'?  guillen was 28 and entering his 8th season in the majors in 1992, and ramon was 24.  neither debuted in the majors as a teenager, so fleer must have really been reaching to make a connection here.  it turns out that both made their professional debuts at the age of 17.

1994 topps stadium club henry rodriguez rainbow foil

you can't go wrong, really, with a bat rack/helmet cubby shot.  nice cameo by darryl strawberry's (upside-down) helmet.  i don't know whose helmet is next to daaaaar-ryl's - no dodger wore 51 during oh henry's dodger tenure, at least according to baseball reference.

1996 topps ismael valdes

dodger fans remember valdes for having delicate skin.  look closely and you might see a blister on his pitching hand.

2002 upper deck superstars adrian beltre

he sure would look good at third for the dodgers these days

2009 upper deck chin-lung hu

back in 2007, poor vin scully had to wait almost 3 weeks after hu had been called up for the first time to  note that 'hu's on first'.  in his previous five games, hu had homered, pinch-ran for olmedo saenz (who had doubled), and made outs until he singled in his fourth at bat of his sixth big league game.  i am sure it was a relief to all to get that joke out of the way.

2010 bowman andre ethier expectations

i believe that ned's expectations for ethier is to enjoy being the fourth outfielder.

2013 topps pro debut matt magill

magill was 0-2 in six starts for the dodgers last season.  this year, he's appeared in a few card releases with an auto here and there, like hamulack up above.  he's yet to be called up to the bigs this year, but there's always september.

more cards rescued from the lcs

these cards all came from a dime box at one of the two local card shops in the twin cities.  i spent a few minutes digging through the boxes in the front of the store and found some cards for some of my collections.

this 1998 donruss preferred rickey henderson

doesn't really fit any of my current collections (although i used to have a pc of rickey), but i couldn't pass up a rickey card showing him in an angels uni.  besides, it has that o-pee-chee-esque text on the back

i did pick up a few vladdys for my neglected pc - 1999 upper deck

2005 fleer ultra - base

and insert

2007 upper deck

2009 upper deck team leaders

and a 2010 upper deck biography card

you would think that the card is all about matt garza.  it's not too often that you see the pitcher in focus while the batter trots around the bases on a baseball card.  i like it.

i grabbed another angel card from the box, thinking it might be a double play.  upon further inspection, this 2010 topps brandon wood card is not a dp turn

on this particular play, there were two outs with michael young on first.  wood fielded the grounder hit by marlon byrd and threw to first to end the inning (thanks baseball reference - also confirmed by getty images).  the card does show the nick adenhart memorial patch, but i've got vladdy representing that in the binder.

most of my other sub-collections were added to - here's a 1992 fleer kenny lofton card featuring an image from dodger stadium

and here's a lurking mike scioscia on a 2004 upper deck sweet spot classic card of gary carter

it's a very similar image to that which was used on carter's fantastic final tribute from 1993 score select. speaking of 1993 score select, here's brian harper's card from that set, featuring a lurking mark mcgwire

but the best play at the plate card i found was this 1992 upper deck johnny bench baseball heroes card

those are all good cards, but i don't think they are enough to lure me back to this particular lcs.  you see, when i asked to look through some non-dime boxes that were held behind the counter, i was instead pointed to a desktop computer that they had set up.  i was welcome to check their inventory online, and if they had the card i was looking for, they would be happy to pull it for me.  well, i was just wanting to browse through some mid-2000's ultra looking for dodger stadium shots or double plays.  their online database couldn't help me there.  besides, there was already a frustrated patron trying to use the computer at the time.  i did ask for a 1974 topps card that i needed at the time to complete my set - they looked it up, but didn't have it.

i understand that online sales are a big part of the card business - i do most of my shopping and all of my selling online - but it was a turnoff for me to experience that in a brick and mortar lcs.  i may purchase cards from this shop in the future, but if i do, it will be through sportlots.

land of double plays

yes, i know it's late.  but i am sure you are still up after watching the season premiere of 'breaking bad' (or if you are on the west coast you are just about to watch it), right?

now, as you know, i am always looking for cards that feature photos taken in dodger stadium.  as a result, i pay fairly close attention to the backgrounds on cards and so have come to recognize many different stadiums.  one i see quite a bit (and more than one might expect) is the oakland coliseum.  for some reason, quite a few baseball cards feature photos taken there while other 'smaller' markets, such as kansas city or toronto or minnesota, get less card front time.  and, thanks to the likes of miguel tejada, walt weiss and others, there are a number of double play cards that hail from the east bay.

here's a 1998 fleer tradition scott spiezio as if to prove the point.

and a 1998 pacific crown collection spiezio

and a 1998 topps stadium club spiezio

none of which feature the same play.

brent gates is another a's middle infielder that gets a lot of dp time at home.  this is his 1996 donruss card

and his 1996 fleer card

and a 1996 pinnacle mike bordick, too.

visiting teams also make the turn.  here's the back of pat kelly's 1993 score select card

maybe someday i will count the number of dp cards on which jose canseco and mark mcgwire are the lead runner.  here's another new york yankee in billy beane's court - robinson cano on his 2006 upper deck card

on the majority of those cards, you see the retired number jerseys on the outfield wall.  that's reggie jackson's number 9 behind cano, while jim hunter's 27 is behind spiezio, gates, and kelly.  the a's also had a huge american flag on the wall, i believe it was added after 9/11.  you can see the stripes on orlando hudson's 2005 fleer ultra card

let's move out of oakland to one of the locales i mentioned earlier - toronto.  here's the back of terry shumpert's 1992 fleer card

i can't tell if it's shumpert or the shortstop who has made the dp turn.  if it's shumpert, then the runner is pretty slow.  then again, it looks like the runner might be pat borders.  on july 28, 1991, pat borders was on first base when manny lee grounded into the 6-4-3 double play in toronto.  david howard was the shortstop, shumpert the second baseman and warren cromartie (!) was the first baseman on the play.  i think we have a winner.

here's a 1994 upper deck mickey morandini card with a dp turn from san diego

with tony gwynn sliding in.  aside from gwynn's presence, the orange home run line is a dead giveaway for the murph.  aka qualcomm.

here's another hall of famer on the wrong end of a turn at second.  roberto alomar makes a guest appearance on the back of norberto martin's 1995 upper deck collector's choice card

the front of which also shows a dp turn.

last but not least, here is a 1997 pinnacle new (or new pinnacle, depending on how you catalogue this set) card of the brewers' jose valentin

i am not 100% sure, but i choose to believe that this is a broken up double play. it looks like the ball is still in valentin's glove, but the disturbed dirt in the lower left corner of the card gives me hope that there was a hard slide that caused him to go airborne.  maybe, maybe not.  the card stays in the binder, however, until it can be proven to not belong because there just aren't too many of these with photos from milwaukee county stadium.

recap the repack

out of boredom (is there any other reason?) i picked up a fairfield 100 card repack recently.  it's pretty cool to pull a pete rose out of a pack in 2013.

even if he's rocking the double chin.

here are the cards that i was dealt, so to speak.

1978 topps jose baez
1977 topps steve luebber
1978 topps tom paciorek

there are my three vintage cards right out of the gate.  a former dodger farmhand (and cousin of manny mota), a random twin, and a former dodger.  speaking of which...

1988 score mike morgan (he's shown with seattle at this point in his career)
1992 donruss hensley meulens
1994 classic julio santana
1989 upper deck andre dawson
1989 upper deck gene nelson
1989 upper deck john cerutti
1988 topps padres leaders (tony gwynn and benito santiago - in dodger stadium!)

1987 donruss ken howell

1980 topps miguel dilone
1980 topps dick davis
1988 donruss eric show
1988 donruss todd worrell
1988 donruss shawn hillegas - with the don mcmahon memorial patch

1988 donruss curt ford
1987 donruss scott mcgregor
1987 donruss scott mcgregor
1988 donruss greg swindell
1988 donruss greg swindell
1988 donruss billy hatcher (in dodger stadium)

1988 donruss chris bando
1994 upper deck trot nixon
1990 score jose alvarez
1990 score carlos martinez
1990 score tim laudner
1990 score george brett
1990 score domingo ramos
1990 score bill ripken
1990 score bert blyleven
1990 score todd burns
1990 score shawon dunston
1990 score jim presley
1997 upper deck sp edgar renteria
1994 topps steve dreyer
1997 fleer sports illustrated todd hundley
1997 upper deck sp mark mcgwire
1994 topps mark mclemore
1997 topps stadium club donne wall
1997 upper deck sp geronimo berroa
1993 topps gregg olson
1989 donruss mvp will clark
1995 upper deck collector's choice todd hollandsworth
1993 upper deck eddie taubensee
1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition jose valentin
1992 fleer eddie murray

1990 upper deck eddie murray - this is the back

1991 donruss highlights eddie murray

1992 upper deck eddie murray (400 home run club)
1988 topps mark mcgwire record breaker
1988 topps eddie murray
1985 topps don aase
1981 fleer larry christenson

on to the second part of the rack pack

1989 topps bazooka jose canseco
1989 topps cap'n crunch andre dawson
1987 topps rookies ruben sierra
1987 topps rookies rafael palmeiro
1996 fleer ultra gold medallion edition julian tavarez
1987 topps rookies pete incaviglia
1987 topps rookies dave magadan
1987 topps jim dwyer
1987 topps mike lavaliere
1997 topps randy myers
1997 upper deck collector's choice paul wilson - hey mets fans.  before you get too excited about matt harvey and zach wheeler, remember the wilson, bill pulsipher, and jason isringhausen hype.

1987 topps ed lynch - giving pete rose a run for his double chin money

1992 topps tracy jones
1992 topps john olerud
1991 upper deck mike devereaux
1988 fleer mike sharperson

1992 topps ben mcdonald
1988 fleer lee tunnel
1996 upper deck collector's choice tyler green
1987 topps ronn reynolds
1989 donruss roberto kelly
1988 donruss harry spilman
1993 topps stadium club bob wickman
1993 topps bj surhoff
1993 topps tim raines
1992 leaf milt thompson
1989 topps mike gallego
1990 topps kmart howard Johnson
1986 topps shawon dunston
1988 topps mike bielecki
1988 topps willie hernandez
1990 upper deck gerald perry
1990 upper deck todd burns
1988 fleer bill ripken - one year away from f*ck face.  can someone explain to me why beckett referred to the 1989 fleer bill ripken card as 'rick face'?  when i saw that in the price guide back then, i assumed that they switched out a 'd' for the 'r'.  wouldn't it have made more sense to say 'puck face'? or 'duck face'?  whatever.  here's the 1988 card with a harmless number 3 on his bat knob.

1990 upper deck jeff reed
1986 topps wayne krenchicki
1984 milton bradley championship baseball pete rose - as seen up top
1987 topps wayne krenchicki
1993 fleer ultra frank seminara
1990 upper deck glenn braggs
1987 topps eric davis
1990 fleer dickie thon
1990 upper deck steve searcy
1989 fleer tim jones
1992 fleer ultra mike gallego
1986 topps dwight gooden (record breaker)
1988 fleer jeff ballard
1990 upper deck scott sanderson
1991 donruss matt williams
1992 fleer ultra dale murphy

2008 topps michael barrett

that's it.  until next time i have some cash to waste.