double play cardboard from mets cardboard

it was pretty clear to me that justin at mets cardboard did his homework while putting together his return trade package. there were dodgers and a set need and double play cards.  every dp card he sent was one that i did not already have.  coincidence? perhaps, but unlikely. it was good to see so many new turns at second base.  here are the rest of them (i showed some last sunday)

1992 action packed bobby richardson

old-time yankee twin killing of a twin

1993 donruss geronimo pena (back)

justin gave up the lurking met (dick schofield) on the back

1993 topps stadium club white sox joey cora

kind of a ho-hum double play turn. it looks like the runner/slider is just lying there.

1994 sportflics luis lopez

lenticular double play action!

1994 upper deck collector's choice chris gomez silver signature parallel

and 1994 upper deck collector's choice tony phillips silver signature parallel

those would both fit in my tatooine collection, too.

1997 pinnacle walt weiss

and here i thought i had all of the weiss double play cards

in addition to that pena card above, justin did a good job in checking card backs.  here's a 1997 upper deck collector's choice mark grudzielanek all-star insert (back)

1977 upper deck collector's choice edgar renteria (back)

1998 upper deck mike lansing (back)

and 1998 upper deck neifi perez (back)

which also has the same double play turn (just a bit earlier in the pivot) on the front

but back to the backs - here's a 1998 upper deck collector's choice jose valentin (back)

and a 1998 upper deck collector's choice mark grudzielanek (back)

with a nice dodger stadium backdrop and an unknown dodger rolling around at the g-man's feet.

thanks again justin! great trade!

does raul mondesi regret his tattoo, and other random musings

while it is true that raul mondesi had a cannon for an arm, i wonder if the cannon tattoo visible on his 1998 upper deck card

was fully thought out.  from one angle it looks like a cannon, although the fuse is still lit even though the cannon has discharged, and from another angle one might mistake it for some sort of rocket. or something else, i suppose.

the back of that card is pretty interesting, too, as we have pylons and a car in the background.

i'm also curious about mondesi's 1996 fleer emotion xl card, although it's no fault of his that the emotion fleer slapped on there is 'pounding'

i don't feel pounding.  or tardy, for that matter.  what was fleer thinking?

along the same lines of lack of thought, here are a few other cards that i've scanned without a real purpose. although i suppose you could say that i scanned them for inclusion in a random cards from my scanned folder post, so there was a purpose. whatever.

1987 topps orel hershiser

1990 donruss mickey hatcher

1992 score rookie and traded carlos hernandez

1997 topps stadium club pedro astacio

2007 topps heritage derek lowe

2009 upper deck o-pee-chee scott elbert black parallel

and 2012 bowman chrome prospects jt wise

as in wise enough to not consider 'pounding' to be an emotion?

where in the world is my wallet card? - it wasn't at mardi gras...

the junior junkie has had his wallet card on display recently, enjoying the revelry that is to be had in new orleans, while my wallet card was in my wallet.  so, i let my 1974 topps steve garvey card hang out amongst the bounty that tj sent my way recently as part of his monster mailday.

a bit of vicarious living, if you will.

there were some beads, two blocks of cards and a couple of msa discs in the package. here are some of the non-dodger highlights.

double plays!

1992 classic best robert eenhoorn

this card is fantastic. a minor league dp, from a guy named eenhoorn, and with a expo minor leaguer who is wearing a generic expos jersey with the team's name instead of his own on the back.

also from 1992 classic best, here is jose olmeda

and a guy named carey sliding in.

1992 donruss mickey morandini

yes, tj sent me a card from the 1992 donruss set and i am glad for it!

1994 topps stadium club rey sanchez

1998 upper deck alex gonzalez

this card features a double play turn on the front…

and the back!

1999 pacific damion easley

not as nice as his 1996 pacific card

2004 upper deck bj upton

you know you play in a crappy stadium when the area upper deck chooses to highlight is the sign for the party area.

2008 upper deck first edition wilson betemit

hard to believe that betemit was at one time a dodger.  speaking of dodgers, there were a few of those int he package, too.  i'll show some of them later to prove it.

fernando final tributes

no real reason, other than the fact that i've been putting it off for a long time, but here are fernando valenzuela's final tribute cards.  only upper deck bothered to make cards of el toro in 1998 following his  short five game stint in saint louis that ended in july of 1997.  i've shown his 1998 upper deck base card before

because of the 'final tribute' shield, but i haven't shown the back with his complete career stats

upper deck also included the former dodger sensation in their 1998 collector's choice set, with a final tribute shield as well

and his complete career stats, too.

i wish topps had made a card - they would have separated out his final season between the padres and the cardinals, so we would have seen that he was 0-4 in 5 starts for saint louis in 1997 following a june trade with the padres.  it is appropriate that upper deck included fernando in the 'national pride' insert set in 1998

as he continued to pitch in the mexican leagues over the course of the next several seasons.  the back mentions that he came from mexico

but it doesn't explicitly mention that he began his professional career as a 17-year old in the mexican leagues.  after finally retiring as a player, fernando coached the mexican team in the 2006, 2009, and 2013 world baseball classics, and he joined the dodgers' spanish speaking broadcast team.

fernando is one of those former dodgers of whom i kind of/sort of keep a non-dodger card player collection.  even if i dissolve that collection, i'll keep these final tributes.  viva el toro!

target knew i was coming

i bought all three 100-card repacks that were on display at the local target one day last week.  it was like they knew i was coming, with the cards that were featured in the repack windows.  here are the contents of repack number one:

2002 fleer billy wagner - no, that wasn't the card that drew me in
1991 topps 1990 rookies robin ventura - this looks suspiciously like a recent repack i bought
1991 topps 1990 rookies frank thomas
1991 topps 1990 rookies jose offerman - at least now i have a double to send to night owl
1991 topps 1990 rookies todd zeile
1991 topps 1990 rookies john olerud
1989 upper deck yankee checklist (don mattingly)
1991 donruss jose offerman - rated rookie!
1998 pacific paramount david justice
1989 fleer doug jones
1992 upper deck rick wilkins
1991 classic draft picks jorge fabregas
1991 classic best archie corbin
1990 donruss jim dwyer
1998 upper deck nomar garciaparra

it has a dp turn on the back, but here's the front
1990 topps billy spiers
1991 topps mike stanton
1991 classic best tommy taylor
1992 fleer bernie williams
1992 fleer terry pendleton league leaders
1994 upper deck collector's choice greg w. harris

1992 fleer scott radinsky
1988 donruss bob brenly
1990 topps greg gagne
1991 score lance johnson
1988 topps tom henke
1989 fleer richard dotson
2004 donruss classics angel berroa
1988 donruss vance law
1992 topps benny santiago
1989 fleer scott garrelts
1989 score dave righetti
1990 upper deck tim leary
1988 donruss ray knight
1999 upper deck ryan jackson
1990 fleer jack armstrong
1997 donruss studio brian hunter
1988 topps dave winfield all-star
1988 score tom brookens
1999 upper deck neifi perez - another dp turn
1988 score mike scioscia

1991 topps gary sheffield
1990 topps edgar martinez
1988 score chris bando
2009 upper deck first edition andy pettitte
2009 upper deck first edition aaron harang
2009 upper deck first edition chase headley
2009 upper deck first edition jarrod saltalamacchia
2009 upper deck first edition tim hudson
2010 topps todd helton

that was the end of the first half.  nothing there, really.  here's why i bought this thing - the first card in the other window was this 2013 topps chrome asdrubal cabrera orange refractor

a double play turn that is new to my collection!
2013 topps chrome ian kinsler orange refractor

another one that i believe to be a dp, although not the tradition turn at second base.  and, sure enough, in the top of the 6th inning on june 12, 2012, josh bell hit a ground ball to kinsler who tagged aaron hill who had singled and threw to first to complete the 4-3 double play.  thanks baseball reference!
2000 pacific crown royale geoff jenkins

1990 donruss alan trammell
1988 donruss tim wallach - we all know where this card is going
1988 fleer mark mclemore
1999 topps arturo mcdowell/tony torcato draft picks
1990 fleer charlie o'brien
1992 topps eric king
1989 donruss marvin freeman

pretty sure he's standing in dodger stadium, but i scanned the card because it is the most beat up card i've ever found in a repack. nasty.
1989 fleer mark carreon
2008 topps alex gordon year in review
1988 donruss jim eisenreich
1990 topps bert blyleven
1992 score jeff fassero
1992 upper deck terry steinbach
1995 leaf bob hamelin
1990 donruss sergio valdez
2005 donruss leather & lumber rocco baldelli
1986 topps joe carter
1990 bowman gregg olson sweepstakes card
2006 upper deck adam dunn
2005 fleer classic clippings paul konerko
1996 score sid fernandez
2005 fleer mariano rivera

1988 donruss sam horn
1988 donruss lonnie smith
1992 fleer dave winfield
1998 upper deck sp minors jeff liefer
1991 topps kirt manwaring
1992 score mark leiter
2012 topps rex brothers
2012 topps brad peacock
2012 topps jed lowrie
2012 topps gavin floyd
2012 topps alejandro de aza
2012 topps sean marshall
2012 topps ricky nolasco
2012 topps randy wells
2012 topps rex brothers - again!
2012 topps freddie freeman
2011 topps nyjer morgan
2011 topps logan morrison
2011 topps juan miranda
2011 topps kenley jansen
2011 topps drew storen
2011 topps toronto blue jays
2011 topps brad hawpe
2011 topps ronny cedeno
2011 topps bronson arroyo
2004 fleer greats reggie jackson

last but not least.

some of these cards already have homes - my collection or in trade packages - but if there's something you'd like to have (like a thrashed 1989 donruss marvin freeman card), just let me know!

bear with me as i wind through a post about a couple of 1998 final tributes that ends with a 1996 card and in total confusion

brett butler finished his playing career in 1997 with the dodgers - his second go-around with the club.  he's currently a coach with the marlins, but that is neither here nor there (although this post does end with a very confusing marlins card).  a few card companies were kind to butler (and to collectors like me who look for 'final tribute' cards) in 1998, like score

who gave us a nice photo of butler on the bases in san diego.

fleer ultra went the more traditional route with a photo of butler discarding his bat following what i assume was a bunt attempt

he's usually bunting on his cards.  i didn't scan the back of the score card, but here's the back of the ultra card, with complete career stats

butler was featured in the 1998 upper deck set, too, complete with a bunting photo

but without the 'final tribute' shield.  which is curious, because upper deck put it there on his 1998 ud collector's choice card

which actually showed him swinging the bat!  no worries, though, as upper deck put a bunting photo on the back along with his career stats.

butler had overcome cancer to return to the dodgers in 1996, and i will never forget his first game back. in a 1-1 game against the pirates, butler (already 1 for 3 in the game) led off the bottom of the 8th with a walk.  he stole second and took third on the catcher's throwing error, and then scored what proved to be the winning run on a sacrifice fly.  it was a fun and actually moving game to watch knowing what he had been through.

butler wasn't the only dodger to retire following the 1997 season, however.  this 1998 fleer sports illustrated card shows us that eddie murray also hung up his spikes at that time.

although it still shows murray in his angels' gear.  remember, murray re-joined the dodgers late in the 1997 season after beginning the campaign with the halos.  here's the back of the card

murray is still an angel, while butler took off his helmet to show off that gray shock of hair, reminiscent of john henson, the guy who replaced greg kinnear on talk soup, although his gray patch was on the side of his head.

anyway, steady eddie also got a final tribute (with the shield!) from upper deck as an angel.  i do not know why since he was a dodger at the end of the season, but i am sure there are some angel collectors who were pleased.  here's the card i am referring to

with his complete career stats on the back

murray also received a card in the second series of 1998 upper deck as a dodger so i'm not too bitter.  in fact, one of murray's angel cards - this 1997 fleer card

is a favorite of mine.  he looks strange in the disney uniform, but he's got the classic swing follow through and the jackie robinson patch on display.

murray also looks strange in an indians' uniform, but that's what he was wearing on his 1996 upper deck collector's choice card

i did a double take when i saw this card becuase of the 'tribute' label.  murray obviously did not retire following the 1995 season, so i was confused.  the back gives some information that led me to believe that this was not intended as a final tribute, but rather just a nod to him reaching a couple of big milestones, including his 3000th hit

so.  what then are we to make of andre dawson's 1996 ud collector's choice card?  it, too, has the 'tribute' banner for the first hall of famer to suit up for the florida marlins.

but, like murray, dawson was still playing beyond the 1995 season. so what milestone did the hawk achieve in 1995?  let's look at the back

according to upper deck, dawson cracked the top ten in home runs, all-time, with his last home run of the season - the 436th of his career - and he tied dodger great duke snider in doing so.  say what?  at the end of the 1995 season, the all-time career home run leader board looked like this:

1. hank aaron - 755
2. babe ruth - 714
3. willie mays - 660
4. frank robinson - 586
5. harmon killebrew - 573
6. reggie jackson - 563
7. mike schmidt - 548
8. mickey mantle - 536
9. jimmie foxx - 534
10. ted williams/willie mccovey - 521
12. ernie banks/eddie mathews - 512
14. mel ott - 511
15. lou gehrig - 493
16. eddie murray - 479
17. stan musial/willie stargell - 475
19. dave winfield - 465
20. carl yastrzemski - 452
21. dave kingman - 442
22. andre dawson - 436
23. billy williams - 426
24. duke snider - 407

dawson was 22nd on the list, and snider 24th.  dawson had actually passed snider on the list a couple of seasons earlier.  i am just totally perplexed by what the text on the back of the dawson card, and the tribute banner on the front, was all about.  but, i'll still probably keep the card in my tributes binder.