only bo is so precise with sending me cards for my tatooine mini collection

well, others have sent me tatooine cards (cards with only dirt in the photo background), but bo recently sent me a lot of them.  here are some of them.

1995 pinnacle reggie jefferson

1995 upper deck collector's choice wayne kirby

1995 upper deck collector's choice ray lankford

1995 upper deck collector's choice dick schofield

1995 upper deck collector's choice se derrick may

1995 upper deck collector's choice se lou whitaker

1996 topps stadium club al martin

2006 topps jake westbrook

1998 fleer tradition kevin young

1998 fleer tradition desi relaford

because you can try to keep desi close, but desi is going to run.

thanks bo!

oh, did you think i was done with double play cards from bo?

well, i wasn't.  here are some more that are new to my collection:

1993 donruss tony fernandez (back)

i'll show the front of this card in yet another post of cards from bo, but on the back, tony the padre is turning two.

here's a 1995 pinnacle john valentin card

featuring a double play on tatooine

1996 pinnacle robby thompson

with just a bit of the lead runner's helmet to confirm the turn

1996 score alex arias

and 1996 score jeff reboulet

are more obvious examples of the pivot

as are 1998 fleer tradition jose offerman

and 1998 topps stadium club gary disarcina

bo even included some minor league dp's.  here's a 1999 just minors brent butler card

plus three 1999 team best baseball america top prospects - ron belliard

chad durham

and brett taft

that is some dedication to a trade package.  thanks again, bo!

the evolution of the dodger second baseman, part 3

here are the first and second installments, in case you want to catch up on the sometimes annual turnover the dodgers have experienced at second base.

the dodgers were coming off their worst record ever as they headed into the 1993 season.  they lost one of their young second basemen, eric young, in the expansion draft, but they replaced him that same day with another player drafted by the rockies.

jody reed (1993)

the rockies selected reed two rounds after they picked up young.  i would imagine that they had a deal in place with the dodgers to draft and trade reed, which they did in exchange for rudy seanez.  reed (shown on a 1993 fleer final edition card) played in 132 games for the 1993 dodgers, including 129 starts at second.  he hit .276 for the dodgers, helping them climb back to .500.  following the season, he famously declined a contract extension and left as a free agent, ultimately taking less money to sign with the brewers.

the dodgers responded to reed's rejection by trading pedro martinez to the expos for a 24-year old second baseman who was coming off two straight .290+ seasons.  i admit, i was optimistic.

delino deshields (1994-1996)

that's deshields' 1995 pinnacle card, by the way.  as i mentioned, i was hopeful that deshields would be the dodgers' second baseman for a long time based on his play in montreal.  unfortunately, he hit just .250 in the strike shortened 1994 season, and then only .256 the next year.  in 1996, he bottomed out at .224 with a career low .288 on base percentage.  he left as a free agent after that season, and immediately hit .295 for the cardinals in 1997.  meanwhile that same season, pedro won the national league cy young award for the expos, and the dodgers were fielding yet another different second baseman.

wilton guerrero (1997)

guerrero (shown on a 1997 donruss dodgers team set card) started 83 games at second base for the 1997 dodgers.  he hit .291 overall, but had an on base percentage of only .305 - one reason why the dodgers reacquired eric young from the rockies late in the season.

eric young (1998-1999)

young (shown on a 2000 topps card) finally got his shot to be the dodgers' every day second baseman in 1998.  he played in 117 games (112 starts at second) and hit .285 with an obp of .355.  in 1998, he upped that to .371 in 119 games (115 starts at second).  unfortunately, young was traded to the cubs after the 1998 season for terry adams and a couple of minor leaguers.  young was expendable, because the dodgers had plans to move recently acquired mark grudzielanek from short to second in 2000.

mark grudzielanek (2000-2002)

that's grudzielanek's 2001 topps finest card, one of very few cards i have from that release.  the g-man moved from short to second in 2000 and hit .279 while scoring a career high 101 runs. he hit .271 in both 2001 and 2002 as the dodgers' second baseman, but was traded to the cubs prior to the 2003 season.

alex cora (2003-2004)

cora had replaced grudzielanek as the dodgers' shortstop when he moved to second, and now he replaced him at second following the trade with the cubs.  cora (shown on his 2003 upper deck 40 man card) played in a career high 148 games in 2003 (141 appearances and 122 starts at second) and followed that up with 138 games (and appearances at second, with 122 starts there) in 2004.  he hit a career high 10 homers in 2004, including one that was the culmination of an 18-pitch at bat against matt clement and the cubs.  cora left the dodgers as a free agent prior to the 2005 season.

jeff kent (2005-2008)

the dodgers signed socal native kent (that's his 2006 topps heritage card) shortly after the end of the 2004 season.  he started 140 games at second his first season with the club, scoring 100 runs and driving in 105 more.  he represented the blue at the all-star game that season as the national league's starting second baseman, and also won a silver slugger award.  it was the best offensive season the dodgers had seen from a second baseman in quite a while, perhaps since jackie robinson's mvp season of 1949.  in 2006, he helped the team reach the postseason and then went 8 for 13 with a home run in the dodgers' nlds loss to the mets.  kent retired following the 2008 season in which he helped the dodgers reach the nlcs for the first time since 1988, but he was unfortunately held hitless in the series.

one more group to go before we are caught up with this position...

still more double play cards from the junior junkie, plus one

here is the final post featuring cards that i have received from the junior junkie.  mostly double play cards at that.  including this 1995 pinnacle gary disarcina museum collection parallel

i absolutely love this card.  the yellow triangle, green helmet, red numbers and bill, plus the black armband for jimmie reese - there is a lot going on color-wise.  mucho gusto.

also from 1995 pinnacle, here's a craig biggio card

not quite as nice as disar.

also from 1995, here are a couple of alex gonzalez cards - upper deck collector's choice special edition silver signature

and regular old collector's choice

showing the continuation of the same play.

another pinnacle biggio - this one from 1996 pinnacle

and a jeff blauser sighting from 1996 score

2006 fleer felipe lopez

featuring an expos sighting.  the expos last appeared in 2004, so this could be the latest appearance for les 'spos in a non-retro themed set.

former dodger mariano duncan turns two on his 1995 donruss card

while fellow phillie kim batiste does the same on his 1995 score card

nice of dave hansen to try to break up the turn, especially in a spring training affair!

last card of the day - a 1995 donruss don slaught card

it's not a double play turn, but it does feature dodger eric karros lurking in the foreground.  and that's precisely why the junior junkie sent it along.

thanks again thomas for all of the cards.  i've got a few heading back to you soon...

in this episode of turning two...

it's another turning two for tuesday post.  once again, thanks for the help in locating double play cards goes to those of you who post such things on your blogs or email me with new finds.

here's a 1992 fleer ultra william suero

and the back of a 1993 donruss harold reynolds card

bless those of you who turn the cards over.

this next one i am not completely sure about.  it's a 1994 topps craig shipley card

because of shipley's feet being at the front of the bag and not having slid over or past the base, i think this is probably not a double play.  plus, howard johnson looks like he is applying a tag and the umpire seems to be waddling over to get a closer look.  and, by the way, what is hojo doing at second?  still it's a nice play at second base.  just not a double play.  i don't think.

now is the time in the post that we look at 1995 leaf cards.  first, shawon dunston

followed by damion easley

with walt weiss, too.

plus a cameo from delino deshields!

here's a 1995 pinnacle gary disarcina

i like this card very much.  the yellow pinnacle triangle and green a's helmet bring some pops of color, and disarcina is also wearing the jimmie reese memorial armband.  i'll discuss that in a different post.

here's a 2005 topps placido polanco

i have received that polanco card from a couple of fellow bloggers because it is a dp turn, but also because it shows the memorial patches that the phillies wore for tug mcgraw and paul owens in 2004.  but, like the jimmie reese armband, i'll cover those memorials in a different post.

here's a 2006 topps update jerry hairston jr card

hairston won't get cards like that as a dodger, because he is too busy playing first base and the outfield

now for a dose of 2008 upper deck - chone figgins

aaron hill

mark loretta

kazuo matsui

and ryan theriot

i'll finish off with another jimmy rollins card, this one from 2010 topps

until next time, keep turning two!