the raul mondesi trade legacy

of the 5 straight rookies of the year that the dodgers boasted from 1992-1996, raul mondesi was my favorite.  dude was an athlete.  the 1994 nl rookie of the year was the first dodger to go 30/30 - he did so in both 1997 and 1999 - and the only dodger in that club until matt kemp joined him in 2011.  this is mondesi's 1998 topps tek card, by the way

mondesi was signed by the dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1988, and he worked his way up the minor league system until he hit the big time in 1993.  alas, mondesi wore thin with the dodgers and was traded to the blue jays following his productive 1999 campaign.

the dodgers received shawn green in exchange for mondesi.  green got a dodger topps tek card of his own in 2000

he and mondesi both hit 24 home runs in their first year with their new teams, however mondesi played in less than 100 games while green suited up for all 162.  after that, the trade was clearly lopsided in the dodgers' favor.  green went on to hit over 40 home runs in back-to-back seasons, including a franchise best 49 in 2001.  green played for the dodgers through the 2004 season, with his final act as a dodger coming in the 2004 nlds where he hit 3 more home runs in a losing effort.

following the 2004 season, paul depodesta realized that he needed a catcher, having traded away jim tracy's heart and soul, paul loduca, during the previous season.  he dealt green to the diamondbacks for a few players, including dioner navarro, who had been acquired by the diamondbacks from the yankees that same day in the randy johnson trade

that's navarro's 2006 upper deck card, which also happens to be the year that the dodgers traded him away to the devil rays.  with the emergence of russell martin, navarro was expendable, and ned sent him and jae seo to tampa for another catcher (toby hall) and big bird - mark hendrickson - seen here on a 2006 topps turkey red card

hendrickson had left his nba career behind to pitch in the majors, and he did so for 10 seasons.  his dodger tenure lasted through the 2007 season, after which he left the club as a free agent.  thus ended the raul mondesi trade legacy.

all eyes on karros

eric karros, the los angeles dodgers' all-time home run leader, turns 46 today.  i have a few karros cards in the scanned folder, and today seems like a good day to post them.  i love this 2000 pacific omega card.

his eyes are so wide, i am guessing that he cannot believe that glenn hoffman is waving him home.

i like that card so much that i chose to lead with it instead of this fantastic 1993 upper deck iooss collection insert.

that's a nice night shot of dodger stadium.

here's a former nefarious 9 card that i picked up - 1993 o-pee-chee premier star performers insert

also featuring dodger stadium.

now we get to the weird stuff.  here's a 1998 topps tek card

with one of the hundred or so acetate designs.  and here's a 2001 donruss card that is really a 2000 donruss card.

donruss didn't make cards in 1999 or 2000, so in 2001 they released some 'should have been' cards.  this looks like a food issue to me.  still, i liked the 'what if' cards that donruss produced as part of 2002 donruss originals.  like this 1980 donruss what if card of duke snider

that is better than the 1981 actual issue, but we have to recognize that donruss had a few years to come up with some better designs.

back to karros, here are a couple of cards that he signed for me through the mail last year.  first, his 1993 topps card, with the rookie cup

followed by one of my favorite cards - his 1994 upper deck collector's choice card

here we have dodger stadium, the jackie robinson award, and the tim crews memorial patch.  this card fits in to my dodger, dodger stadium, and memorial collections.  it's a good thing i don't also collect cards featuring awards like nick and daniel.

here's to you, eric karros!  happy birthday and thanks for signing my cards.