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.

double play stragglers

well, the day is finally here.  i have, after this post, showcased all of the double play cards that i own.  i think.  i haven't gone through all of my sets to make sure, but i am thinking i've scanned and shown them all.  so, it makes perfect sense to start this post off with a non-double play card.

that's a 1997 pacific prism rey ordonez card from the 'gems of the diamond' insert set, and it features tony gwynn on a forceout at second base.  who knows, it might be a double play if gwynn is sliding in to second from the third base side after ordonez snagged a line drive.  sadly, i believe that this is a forceout, and that it occurred during the mets/padres series played in monterrey, mexico during the 1996 season.  in fact, i believe that this is from the ken caminiti 'snickers' game - 8/18/96.  in the bottom of the seventh, after a tony gwynn single, steve finley grounded to second baseman edgardo alfonzo who threw to ordonez to get the out.

believe it or not, i was a fan of ordonez from 1996 through 2000 or so.  i didn't see him play often, but i admired his defensive abilities.  so much so that i had a pc going of his for most of his mets career.  once he made the move to the devil rays, however, i was no longer as enamored.  there were a couple of times playing in my adult baseball league when i successfully imitated his 'slide to the right, plant the foot, and throw to first' approach to a ground ball that might otherwise be backhanded.  and, when i turned double plays, i sometimes looked like ordonez as well - especially as he is depicted on his 1998 score rookies/traded card

here he is on his 1999 topps chrome card looking a little more controlled while turning two

and this 2000 mlb showdown card is pretty standard when it comes to dp turns.

hello, ryan klesko.  as the card notes, ordonez won three gold gloves prior to 2000.  he wound up missing most of the 2000 season after dodger fp santangelo slid head first into ordonez's forearm after being picked off of first base in a late-may game at dodger stadium.  ordonez had a broken arm that required a couple of surgeries and screws and metal plates and all that jazz.  he missed out on the mets' world series appearance, but did return to play pretty much full-time in 2001 and 2002.

this 2001 pacific card is my favorite of the ordonez double play turns.

the confidence and the flexibility to not bother to jump as preston wilson is bearing down on you is pretty awesome.

and now for some jeff kent double plays, including this one which is also from the 2001 pacific set

this was one of the cards that i mentioned i was on the lookout for when i did my 'turns of kent' post a couple of weeks ago.  it's a wonder what sportlots can do for you.

here's the other kent card i mentioned needing in that post.  it's a 2001 pacific private stock 'extreme action' card

with mike piazza sliding in.  the back makes mention of kent and his double play partner rich aurilia and their offensive prowess

here's another kent card that i didn't know i needed.  it's a 2001 donruss retro '99 insert

kent looks sort of reno 911-ish on that card.

here's a 1994 topps stadium club walt weiss card

probably one of his weakest double play cards

and here's a ho-hum 1995 topps stadium club mark grudzielanek card

with another appearance by ryan klesko

alex rodriguez looks to see if his turn was successful on his 1997 pinnacle card

as does marty barrett on his 1991 topps card

a quick look at baseball reference tells me that barrett was successful, as charlie o'brien there was out on the front end of a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of gary sheffield on april 14, 1990.  i'm not sure about a-rod, though.

finally, here is a 1993 upper deck sp mark mclemore card

the front is so nice, that they put a different double play on the back

even though the play on the front is from a spring training game, i really like the background.  i will guess that this mclemore will show up in the 'greatest double play card of all time' tournament.  which might just be a series of posts ranking the top 50 or so.  i haven't decided.

thanks to all for suffering through my seemingly endless flurry of double play card posts.  i am glad that these fantastic cards showcasing my favorite play got their due on the blog, though.

another happy trade

it's been a while since i have picked up an autograph of burt 'happy' hooton's.  hooton was, of course, a member of the 1978 topps dodgers and the team of my youth, but he was also the 1981 nlcs mvp and a very solid pitcher who was often overshadowed by don sutton, bob welch, fernando and others.  i was happy myself to see this card, a 2005 upper deck mlb artifacts burt hooton autograph, in a trade package from robert at $30 a week habit

upper deck has issued a few autographed cards for hooton, and while i think i own most of them, i did not have this one in my collection.  very nice to have some variety in players featured - now if only there were some rick rhoden or bob welch cards coming out these days...

there were a number of other cool cards in the package from robert, like this 2000 fleer ultra card of mark grudzielanek

sliding home at dodger stadium.  this 2011 topps chrome orange refractor of matt kemp features an image taken from a similar angle

and you can see how much closer the seats are these days to home plate.  i really do miss the field level scoreboards and the union 76 signs.  i'll be getting back to the ravine in late august, and will take a moment to point out to my son how much less foul territory there is now compared to how it was just a few years ago.

i also got some numbered cards, like a matt kemp card from 2008 topps triple threads

a 2006 upper deck purple parallel looking card of hee seop choi

and a 2004 upper deck sweet spot classics roy campanella card

back in the early 2000's, we dodger fans were assured of two things when it came to card sets, no matter how large or how small.  those two things were cards of kevin brown (like this 2001 donruss)

and shawn green (like this 2001 fleer futures)

these days, it's kind of the same except it's kershaw and kemp who pop up in every set.  not that that's a problem, mind you.

i'll finish off this post with another dodger who is well represented in today's sets, duke snider.  this is a 2003 topps heritage flashbacks insert

and it features a pose that i don't think i have seen a dozen times.  nice work topps.  and nice work to you, richard.  thanks for the trade!

christmas in february

not really. i am just far behind in posting about the 12 days giveaway i received from david.

so, without further ado or fanfare, here is a sampling of the dodgers and twins that found their way.

1993 donruss eric davis.

man, i had such high hopes for the outfield of davis, butler and strawberry.

2001 donruss adrian beltre. for a few years, we had a steady third baseman. those were the days.

2000 sp authentic kevin brown. meh.

1995 upper deck minors todd hollandsworth.

the 1996 nl roy is shown here with an albuquerque duke acquaintance. now they're the isotopes and once again the dodgers affiliate.

1996 pinnacle paul molitor.

i am a big molitor fan. glad he came home to finish his career.

1996 bowman's best kirby puckett.

looks like kirby was a believer in breathe-right strips. so was wayne gretzky and randy moss. i don't really think they did much, but whatever.

2008 topps allen & ginter national jackie robinson.

this is a card from the special set produced by topps for the national sports card convention, depicting famous events at yankee stadium. this is, of course, jackie's famous steal of home against the yankees in the 1955 world series. you know, the one that yogi still claims was an out?

great stuff, david. thank you! and merry christmas!