a dodger black armband for a teammate's wife and some cards that should have been

ken mcmullen, a dodger double dipper and third baseman, lost his 30-year old wife bobbie to breast cancer in april of 1974, just five months after she had given birth to their third child.  he laid his wife to rest on april 8 while most of his teammates (i believe don sutton attended the funeral) were in atlanta to take on the braves.  that night, the dodgers wore a black armband on their left sleeves in honor of mcmullen's wife.  that also happened to be the night that hank aaron hit career home run number 715 to break babe ruth's career home run record.  here's the 1994 topps card that celebrates the 20th anniversary of hammerin' hank's historic home run.

this card represents the mcmullen memorial in my collection because the black armband is visible on al downing's left arm in the background photo.  joe ferguson, the catcher, is wearing the armband, too, but it is obscured by the home plate umpire, satch davidson.

it's too bad that topps didn't find a way to incorporate photos from the game into the 1975 set.  while i appreciate the 1994 card, i decided to try my hand at making some cards that should have been.

here's the card that topps did include in the set - at number 1, in fact.

now here's my take on it

this card gives us the black armbands on both ferguson and dodger shortstop bill russell.  here's another version using a color photo

now we see the armband on downing again, along with one of the guys who chased aaron around the bases.

speaking of downing, even though he allowed the home run (which tied the game), there's no shame in being linked to that kind of history. so, why not use a photo from that night on his card in the set?

and look - there's steve garvey lurking in the background!

i like this card better than his actual card from the set

even though it does feature dodger stadium in the background.

downing walked the next two batters after allowing the home run to aaron, and was removed from the game by manager walt alston.  here's a card showing downing on his way back to the dugout with alston having just handed the ball over to mike marshall

here's the full mound scene, with marshall and garvey, and davidson, i believe.

mcmullen returned to the dodgers and resumed his pinch-hitter role later that week, which must have been difficult even though it seems to be what she would have wanted based on this article from the associated press.  as for the dodgers, they have not worn black armbands since this particular memorial.  fortunately, lots of evidence of the memorial worn for ken mcmullen's wife exists, just not much on cardboard.

[edit - topps included this fantastic card

in 2023 topps heritage, and with the armband being way more visible on davey lopes' sleeve than what the 1994 topps card affords, i've put the new card in my memorials binder]

a dodger memorial patch for campy and big d

when don drysdale made his big league debut in relief on opening day of the 1956 season, his battery mate was roy campanella.  the two were teammates again the following year, which turned out to be campy's last.  some 36 years later, campanella and drysdale passed away within a week of each other - campanella at the age of 71 and drysdale at 56, both dead from heart attacks. 

campanella, who was paralyzed in a car accident in january of 1958, was an 8-time all-star who won three national league mvp awards during his 10-year major league career.  prior to that, he had played in the negro leagues for 10 years, and he had been the first african-american player in the american association, playing for the saint paul saints in 1948 (there is a picture of campy in his saints uniform hanging in target field, the home of the twins).  he reached the majors for good later that season, and in 1969, he became the second african-american player to be voted into the hall of fame, following once again in the footsteps of jackie robinson.  campanella's number 39 was among the first three numbers retired by the dodgers in a 1972 ceremony that also retired the numbers of robinson and sandy koufax.  it was on june 26, 1993 that campanella died at his home.

drysdale had his number 53 retired by the dodgers following his induction into the hall of fame in 1984. he was also an 8-time all-star during his career, leading the league in strikeouts 3 times and winning the cy young award in 1962.  drysdale famously set the record for most consecutive scoreless innings in his final full season when he went 58 and two-thirds innings without allowing a run in 1968.  the streak included six consecutive shutouts from big d.  following his retirement in 1969, drysdale began a career as a broadcaster, and he joined the dodger's broadcasting team in 1988 following the retirement of jerry doggett.  five years later, drysdale was in montreal where the dodgers were playing the expos when he died on july 3, 1993.  it was vin scully who broke the news during that game's broadcast to us dodger fans, noting that don had previously undergone an angioplasty to relieve some heart problems.  what a surreal moment that was.

the dodgers added a memorial patch to their right sleeves for the remainder of the season honoring both hall of famers.  the patch, with the text '39 roy don 53' recognized the numbers that had been retired for each player.  you can see the patch on this 1994 fleer superstar special card of mike piazza and eric karros.

as well as this 1994 fleer superstar special card of brett butler

tom candiotti's 1994 donruss card

shows both the campy/big d patch and the tim crews memorial patch that was worn on the dodgers' left sleeves during the entire 1993 season.

ditto for brett butler's 1994 topps stadium card

which also features a mustachioed butler

butler is clean shaven on his 1994 donruss triple play card

as is tim wallach on his card from the same set

both cards show the patch nicely.

the back of wallach's 1994 topps stadium club card also gives a good view of the patch

as does pedro astacio's 1994 pinnacle card

cards from the 1994 topps set also display the patch - here's dave hansen's card

and ricky trlicek's, too

mike piazza's all-star card

would be a good representative of the patch since he and campanella are two of the greatest offensive catchers in the history of the game, but i think this 1994 upper deck collector's choice raul mondesi card

is the best example of the patch, so it sits in my memorials binder.

and now for the tale of disappointment that i expected from a repack

hot on the heels of the pleasant repack experience i had recently (and posted about earlier today), i found myself in target a few days later and bought another one.  i again chose one that showed tim lincecum in one of the windows.  i should not have done that.

here's what was inside, starting with that 2008 topps chrome target t205 lincecum

1989 upper deck ellis burks

1994 fleer ultra glenallen hill

1993 leaf kurt manwaring

1992 donruss triple play albert belle

1989 upper deck tim flannery

1981 donruss keith moreland

1990 donruss terry kennedy

2010 topps tyler flowers

1989 topps glossy all-stars mark mcgwire

1981 topps marty pattin

1996 fleer ultra curt schilling

1981 topps andy hassler

1998 fleer metal universe hideki irabu

1981 topps dick tidrow

1992 classic four sport phil nevin

1981 topps steve stone

1994 topps tony gwynn

1991 upper deck dave bergman

1988 fleer mike moore

1988 fleer mike moore

1992 fleer bj surhoff

1988 fleer earnie riles

1992 fleer eric king

1992 leaf kevin reimer

1985 topps whitey herzog

1987 topps bobby valentine

1989 donruss tom brunansky

1989 topps keith hernandez

1982 topps lee mazzilli

1991 leaf jack armstrong

1991 leaf dwight evans

1987 topps terry kennedy

1991 leaf gary gaetti

1991 leaf barry jones

2006 fleer ultra huston street

1991 leaf greg harris

1987 topps rob wilfong

1991 leaf randy milligan

1991 leaf howard johnson

1991 leaf darren daulton

2004 fleer hot prospects omar vizquel draft edition

2010 topps brett anderson

2010 topps cliff pennington

2010 topps angel pagan

2010 topps kansas city royals

2010 topps casey kotchman

2010 topps toronto blue jays

1989 topps glossy all-stars andre dawson

and the last card of the first pocket, 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts luis aparicio

the other window had this 2012 topps heritage doug fister black border parallel showing

behind it were these cards

1989 topps glossy all-stars ryne sandberg

1991 topps andy hawkins

1991 topps joe boever

1988 score dave engle

1989 upper deck tony armas

1991 donruss jim clancy

1990 fleer award winners ozzie smith

1984 topps darrell brown

1989 donruss bill long

1984 topps rafael ramirez

1991 upper deck brian downing

1987 donruss john shelby

1987 donruss frank viola

1990 upper deck lance mccullers

1991 donruss wayne edwards

2000 ud victory ken griffey jr 

1990 donruss pascual perez

1987 donruss howard johnson

1991 score mike henneman

1990 upper deck bill swift

1989 fleer bob kipper

1991 upper deck norm charlton

1989 score scott terry

1989 upper deck gary green

1993 upper deck jose uribe

1994 topps jimmy key

1991 upper deck alex cole

1992 topps scott aldred

1987 topps pirates leaders

1988 topps john wathan

when's the last time you saw a manager wearing a helmet?

1990 topps traded bobby cox

very poor airbrush job

1995 ud collector's choice ray mcdavid

1989 topps bruce hurst

1991 upper deck brian barnes

1989 topps greg gross

1988 donruss bill buckner

1988 donruss gene garber

1987 donruss brian downing

1988 score mel hall

1988 topps jeff stone

2012 topps addison reed

1989 topps larry parrish

1990 donruss lance johnson

2009 upper deck first edition alex gordon

2009 upper deck first edition jeff samardzija

2009 upper deck first edition alex rodriguez

2009 upper deck first edition josh hamilton

2009 upper deck first edition jj putz

1989 topps glossy all-stars will clark

and the last card of the repack, to put me out of my misery, 1996 fleer ultra frank thomas checklist

i don't think there was even a sniff of a dodger in there.  this repack will probably sour me on buying any more for a few weeks, i would guess.

lurkers are lurking - sometimes in plain sight

one doesn't need to look very far or hard to find the dodger making his way onto joe mccarthy's 1993 conlon collection tsn card

dodger manager burleigh grimes gets some foreground respect in the photo from 1938.  not sure when/where this would have been taken, as mccarthy's yankees faced (and beat) the cubs in the '38 fall classic.

grimes gets a mention on the back of that particular card, but that is usually not the case with lurkers.  take this 1999 fleer ultra jeff bagwell card, for example

tom prince is just as much of the card as is bagwell, but he gets no acknowledgement which is as it should be.

jose offerman finds his way onto kurt stillwell's 1993 donruss card

and eric karros (with a cloud of dust) enhances kevin higgins' 1994 topps card

i don't consider the stillwell card to be a double play turn because i can't verify it as such, even though it looks like it might be one.  offerman didn't get on base a whole lot against the padres in 1992, and when he did, he was often sacrificed to second with stillwell covering first.

now here's a blurry lurker.

that's dodger first base coach john shelby in the background on miguel batista's 2003 topps card.  i wish there were more cards like this featuring manny mota or, these days, davey lopes.

here are a couple of hall of fame lurkers - eddie murray shows up on scott stahoviak's 1996 score card

and we get half of cal ripken jr on rickey henderson's 1983 topps record breaker card

this card would have qualified as a 'classic combo' by topps' 2007 standards.

brett, ryan, and yount - 1994 final tributes that are tough to beat

when the 1993 season rolled around, nolan ryan let it be known that it would be his last season as a pitcher.  then, with about a month left in the season, george brett announced that he, too, would retire after the season.  robin yount waited until february of 1994 to announce his retirement from the game. imagine that - not having a full season for the fans and media to whip your retirement plans into a frenzy the way it's been done this year for a certain shortstop who, by the way, delivered in his final home at bat last night.  anyway, the end result for ryan, brett, and yount from a baseball card perspective is a number of final tributes for three hall of famers.  for the record, carlton fisk and dale murphy also called it quits in 1993, but i don't believe either of them received any cardboard love in '94.  on with the tributes!

1994 donruss george brett - front

and back

1994 donruss nolan ryan - front

and back

1994 donruss nolan ryan special edition - front

and back

1994 donruss robin yount - front

and back

here we see the difference in having announced one's retirement before the cards are printed vs. after.  brett and ryan got special, full career stat backs, while yount got the regular treatment.

1994 fleer brett - front

and back

1994 fleer brett golden moment insert - front

 and back

1994 fleer ryan - front

and back

1994 fleer ryan golden moment - front

and back

1994 fleer yount - front

and back

and so again, because yount didn't announce his retirement until later, he missed out on the golden moment retirement insert.  of course, that also meant that he got some love from some other card manufacturers that didn't bother with brett or ryan.  like score and sportflics.

1994 score yount - front

and back

1994 sportflics yount - front

and back

topps didn't ignore anyone in their 1994 set.

1994 topps brett - front

and back

that's a lot of red on the back of brett's card.  i like his topps final tribute, but i prefer the way it was cropped on the pre-production sample, which i believe came in factory 1993 topps sets.

1994 topps brett pre-production sample - front

and back

they warned me though - 'design and photo selection subject to change'.

1994 topps ryan - front

and back

a lot of red on the back of ryan's card, too.  topps added the '27 seasons' button to the front of ryan's card.  he broke the record of 26 seasons shared by tommy john and deacon mcguire.  like brett, he was included in the pre-production sample set with a better photo, i think.

1994 topps ryan pre-production sample - front

and back

1994 topps yount - front

and back

not as much red for yount on the back of his card, and he didn't get a pre-production card either.  all three players did made it into the 1994 topps stadium club set though.

1994 topps stadium club brett - front

and back

1994 topps stadium club ryan - front

and back

1994 topps stadium club ryan golden rainbow parallel - front

and back

1994 topps stadium club yount - front

and back

the photo used for ryan's card is pretty much a perfect final tribute shot.

while topps took care of these three future hall of famers, upper deck really missed the mark.  none of them, not one, appears in the 1994 upper deck set, although yount does show up on an insert.  brett and ryan did appear in the 1994 upper deck all-time heroes set

1994 upper deck all-time heroes brett - front

and back

1994 upper deck all-time heroes ryan - front

and back

ryan pulls double duty as an angel and a met on his card (numbered 34 in the set).

both brett and ryan showed up in upper deck's collector's choice set, but yount did not which is really odd.

1994 upper deck collector's choice brett - front

and back

1994 upper deck collector's choice ryan - front

and back

and again, only brett and ryan found their way into the 1994 upper deck the american epic set

1994 upper deck the american epic brett - front

and back

1994 upper deck the american epic ryan - front

and back

i think upper deck recognized their mistake in 1994, because they included in their 1995 set designated 'final tribute' cards for all three of these guys (plus mike schmidt, who had retired during the 1989 season)

1995 upper deck brett - front

and back

1995 upper deck ryan - front

and back

1995 upper deck yount - front

and back

the reason schmidt received a card in the 1995 set was that he was entering the hall of fame that year, and in 1999, topps did the same thing for nolan ryan (but not brett or yount)

1999 topps ryan - front

and back

with the mickey mantle cards and the retired player variation madness that ensued in the late 2000's and into the early 2010's, we've seen more of these types of cards, but the 1999 ryan is still one of my favorites.  i don't count it as a true final tribute, however, which is ok because he (and brett and yount) had quite a few in '94.