baseball cards that travelled from bo in single file to hide their numbers

there are many things that i like about this 1993 donruss tony fernandez card

first of all, it was sent to me by bo from baseball cards come to life in a trade package, which is great.  second, it features the o-pee-chee-esque 'traded' text with a mets logo on what would otherwise be a padre card.  third, there is a double play turn on the back.  and fourth, there is only dirt in the image, so it's a tatooine card.  bo sent a number of those cards for my mini collection.  here's another, also from 1993 donruss, featuring the tigers' phil clark

here are some more.

1993 score select royce clayton

1993 upper deck scott brosius

1993 upper deck craig grebeck

1993 upper deck jose vizcaino

1994 pinnacle kirt manwaring

1994 score bob zupcic

1994 upper deck dave hollins (back)

1994 upper deck collector's choice brian hunter

1994 upper deck collector's choice scott livingstone

1994 upper deck collector's choice dave magadan

1995 donruss junior felix

thanks bo.  these are the cards i was looking for.

i am running out of tatooine references from the star wars movies for these types of posts.

more double play knowledge from bo

the double play turns were many in the package i received recently from bo, he of baseball cards come to life.  here are some more that were new to my collection:

1991 topps stadium club tony phillips

bonus appearance by the cobra

1991 leaf scott leius gold bonus

also featuring a brewer, but not dave parker. more like mike felder.

1993 pinnacle craig grebeck

i am assuming here that there is only one reason why grebeck would be airborne, and that is to turn two.

1993 topps stadium club william suero

with paul sorrento doing his best to break things up, but to no avail - suero made the turn and threw sandy alomar out at first on april 26, 1992.

here's the back of suero's card

which is his first topps issued card, because the front shows up on the back.

1993 upper deck jeff frye

not sure how i did not already have this one in the binder.

1994 score gary disarcina

with a hrbek sighting

and 1994 score rey sanchez

featuring a high kick from tom pagnozzi

1994 upper deck doug strange

featuring the double play turn on the front of the card, and 1994 upper deck ozzie guillen

with the turn on the back

1996 donruss pat listach

featuring a brewer turning two rather than trying to break it up

and, finally, two cards featuring the double play turning mainstay, brent gates.  first up is his 1996 topps stadium club card

followed by a 1995 fleer flair card

two has been turned.  thanks again, bo!

cards that made the writer's journey

i received a surprise envelope from jt at the writer's journey recently.  it made sense that two of the cards in the envelope were of eric the red - a 1993 topps card

and a 1993 upper deck card.  that particular card is one of my favorites, thanks to the great shot from dodger stadium that adorns the front, but i'll show the back since it is reminiscent of the topps card above

both feature davis in the pullover warmup with the sleeves turned up for maximum tattoo display.  plus, personalized wristbands!

here's a card from a simpler time that also made the trip - a 1983 donruss mike scioscia

the most interesting item sent was this rafael furcal postcard

the back indicates that it was printed in support of the dodgers dream foundation (now simply known as the los angeles dodgers foundation).  jt said he received it in a fan pack a few years ago (all i received in my most recent dodger fan pack was a mini pennant), so i'm calling it a circa 2010 dodgers dream foundation postcard.

all of the cards were found folded inside this page from a 2015 hall of fame calendar

that's some pretty good stuff to find in an unexpected envelope.  thanks jt!

steve yeager's torch is being carried by alberto callaspo

it pains me to note that steve yeager, the catcher for the team of my youth, spent his final year in the big leagues with the mariners.  that pain is tempered a bit by the existence of this very nice 1986 o-pee-chee card

he played in only 50 games in '86, with his last appearance coming on august 29.  he pinch hit that day in the bottom of the 9th inning of a game against the yankees.  with the m's down 13-12, yeager was summoned to hit for harold reynolds with the tying run on first base, and against the yankees' closer dave righetti, yeager flew out to end the game.

dave righetti would pitch for a few more seasons, ending his career in 1995 with the chicago white sox.  i don't know that i have a card of rags from his chisox days, so here's a 1993 upper deck card instead.

righetti had began his career as a starter, even throwing a no-hitter for the yankees in 1983 before being moved to the bullpen the following season.  he made 10 appearances for the white sox in '96, with the first 9 coming as a starter despite having started only 4 games (for the 1992 giants) since the season of his no-hitter.  anyway, righetti's final big league appearance came as a reliever, in a game against the indians on september 18, 1995.  he pitched the 9th inning with the white sox down 11-1, and although he loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, he retired dave winfield on a pop-up and then got billy ripken out on strikes to end the threat and his career.

billy ripken, meanwhile, is protecting what's his on the back of his 1993 donruss card

he finished his playing career with the tigers in 1998, hitting .270 in 27 games.  he was released by detroit in july of that year, not too long after playing in his final game on july 13. in that game, ripken was a late-inning defensive replacement who was in the on deck circle waiting for his first plate appearance of the game when the last out was recorded.  so, i'll go back to june 20, which was the game featuring ripken's previous appearance (and final at bat).  he got only a single at bat in that game against the royals' tim belcher, who coaxed a fly ball out.

tim belcher went to anaheim to pitch for the angels the following season, and he was there again in 2000, his final season.  this is a 2001 upper deck victory card

showing the former dodger in those disney-fied angel unis. belcher made 9 appearances (all starts) for the halos in 2000, and finished with a record of 4-5.  one of those losses came in his final start, on september 30 against the mariners.  belcher lasted only 2.2 innings that day, and the blow that knocked him off of the mound for good was a walk to david bell.

david bell continued to play through the 2006 season.  he finished that year with the brewers, after starting the season with the phillies whose uniform he is wearing on his 2006 topps heritage card

bell was the brew crew's third baseman on the final day of the season in 2006 as they faced the cardinals.  he went 1 for 4 at the plate, but his last at bat resulted in a backwards k, courtesy of josh kinney.

josh kinney had made his debut earlier that season, and was on the team's postseason roster as well, winning a ring as the cardinals beat the tigers in 5 games.  he stayed with the cardinals' organization through the 2010 season, and was featured in the 2009 upper deck set

kinney spent 2011 with the white sox and 2012 with the mariners, and hasn't pitched in the big leagues since.  he spent last season in the pirates' organization, but is currently a free agent.  so, yeager's torch has been carried by someone else for the last couple of seasons.  in kinney's last big league appearance, he relieved felix hernandez in a game agains the angels, and allowed a single to former teammate albert pujols, but then struck out kendrys morales and got alberto callaspo to fly out.

and that's how we get to callaspo, the current torchbearer of steve yeager's career.  callaspo, shown here on his 2014 topps card

was recently signed as a free agent by the braves to a one-year contract, so he should carry the torch a bit longer.

black diamond, silver diamond, white sox

for the 1992 season, the white sox added a diamond to the left sleeves of their jerseys to honor the passing of at least two members of their organization and family that occurred during the previous offseason.  the diamonds came in two different colors for their three different uniform schemes - black on the home pinstripes as seen on this 1993 o-pee-chee steve sax card

black on the away grays (as we will see in a bit), and silver on the alternate black tops as seen on saxy's 1993 leaf card

here are a couple more looks at the silver patch, courtesy of black jack mcdowell's 1993 topps stadium club murphy card

and dan pasqua's 1993 upper deck card

i've got three cards in the memorials binder for this one - robin ventura's 1993 topps black gold card represents the black diamond/white pinstripe combo

while frank thomas' 1993 fleer ultra card represents the black diamond/gray jersey set up i mentioned earlier

and it's the big hurt again, with his 1993 upper deck future heroes subset card that showcases the silver diamond/black jersey combination

one tidbit from a uniform source notes that the diamond is not a patch added to the jerseys, instead it is colored fabric woven into the uniform tops.

while i was researching this post, i noted that the hall of fame's website indicated that there were four people for whom the patch was worn.  some research online provided three names, and i decided to contact the hall of fame to see if they had any additional information.  i received a quick response from tom shieber, the senior curator, who referred back to the chisox media guide from 1992 and found that the diamond was being worn for two people - sheri berto (jerry reinsdorf's personal assistant) and maureen schueler (wife of general manager and former player and coach, ron schueler). it is possible that other personnel, possibly long time employee millie johnson (one of the three names i found online) who passed away in march of 1992 after working for the white sox for over 25 years, were "added" to the memorial, but the hall of fame has revised their website to acknowledge berto and schueler only. 

sheri berto died unexpectedly following an outpatient surgical procedure in november of 1991.  she was bulls and white sox owner jerry reinsdorf's assistant, and in addition to the uniform memorial worn by the sox, reinsdorf named the bulls' practice facility after her.  the bulls practiced at the berto center for over 20 years, but will soon be moving into a new facility near the united center.

maureen schueler died of leukemia in october of 1991.  her husband ron had been a pitcher with the white sox late in his career, retiring as a player in 1979 to become the team's pitching coach.  he also worked in the a's and pirates organizations before returning to chicago as the team's general manager in november of 1990.

the white sox have since been consistent in the use of a diamond when wearing memorial patches, although they have since added names or initials to the memorials, such as the one they are wearing this season for jerry reinsdorf's son david.  i will post about that after 2014 topps update is released, i am sure.

bo knows tatooine

i recently completed a trade with bo from baseball cards come to life.  i sent him some set needs, and he sent me some tatooine cards.  i don't necessarily seek these types of cards in trades, but bo sent me some good ones.

one of the many fantastic staged cards that topps put out in the early 1990's is this 1991 topps benito santiago card

sorry, i guess he was benny in 1991.

the padres were frequent visitors to the desert planet, apparently.  here's a very 1973 topps-ish 1992 upper deck card of paul faries

 as well as a 1993 leaf tony gwynn

and let me take a moment to recognize the passing of mr. padre.  i've mentioned a few times that while i was living in orange county, i would often drive to san diego to see the dodgers play.  one of the series that i attended included the last three games of the 1995 season, including (obviously) the season finale.  the dodgers had clinched a playoff berth the night before (it was the first time i had been in attendance when they clinched - that was really cool), and so the teams were just playing out the string.  chan ho park made his first big league start, striking out 5 in 3 innings of work.  the game was tied 1-1 heading into the 7th when mike busch hit a 3-run homer to put the dodgers ahead 4-1.  in the bottom of the frame, gwynn led off with a double and was removed from the game for a pinch runner.  it was a nice move by bruce bochy, as it allowed gwynn to get an ovation as he left the field.  and what an ovation he did receive.  everybody stood and applauded, and i could feel the deep appreciation that the padre fans had for number 19.  he acknowledged the crowd, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual.  i am glad i got to see gwynn play a few times and get a few hits, but that ovation as gwynn walked off the field is my lasting memory of him.

back to the post at hand.

the cubs played some games on tatooine, too.  here's a 1993 upper deck shawon dunston card

and the back of sammy sosa's card from the same set

the cubbies must have been playing the mets outside of mos eisley, because here's eddie murray's 1993 upper deck card

with a couple of southsiders

other examples of tatooine cards from bo include a 1990 upper deck lance parrish card

a 1993 topps stadium club tim hulett card

plus some cincinnati folks - 1993 upper deck barry larkin

and a 1995 upper deck collector's choice john roper

when it came to the ropers, i was more of a mr. ferley fan.

here's the back of a 1994 upper deck randy tomlin card

tomlin can run, but he can't hide from the imperial stormtroopers on his tail

finally, here are a couple of cards from 1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition - carlos baerga

and will clark

clark looks like he just bulls-eyed a womp rat in beggar's canyon.

thanks for the cards bo!