2002 has a good run in the steve garvey binders

sheets 36-40 of the steve garvey binders, like sheet 35 and most of sheet 34 before them, consist of nothing but cards from 2002.  there are lots of inserts and parallels and just good ol' garvey goodness.  have a look.

here's sheet 36:

those cards are:

1. 2002 fleer greats of the game
2. 2002 fleer greats of the game unredeemed autograph redemption card
3. 2002 fleer greats of the game certified auto
4. 2002 leaf clubhouse signatures (bronze)
5. 2002 leaf clubhouse signatures (silver)
6. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic
7. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (debut year) with patch
8. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (debut year)
9. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (position)

true story: when i redeemed one of my 2002 fleer greats of the game autograph redemption cards (back then you had to mail them in), fleer sent back two copies of the certified auto card.  i picked up another redemption card later on and kept it to restore balance to the universe.

i am missing the gold version (numbered to 25) of the leaf clubhouse signatures card, but i have two versions of the leaf certified debut year relic, because one has a patch piece and the other doesn't.  i am weird like that when it comes to garvey relics as we have seen before and will see again later.

here are the backs:

i didn't mention that the debut year relics are numbered to 69 (garvey debuted in 1969), but i don't know why the position relic is numbered to 45.  seems random.

the fabric of the game parade continues on sheet 37:

those cards are:

1. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (jersey number)
2. 2002 topps archives
3. 2002 topps archives certified auto
4. 2002 topps archives relic
5. 2002 topps archives reserve
6. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (gold)
7. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (platinum)
8. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (titanium)
9. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (gold)

the jersey number relic is a fairly new addition to my steve garvey collection (it's numbered to 6), and the archives certified auto was pulled from a pack by yours truly.  that was some good karma coming to fruition that day.

i appreciate the gold label cards, as the first three use the photo from garvey's 1978 topps card with his 1974 topps card there in the background. the next three (two of which are on the next sheet) use his 1971 topps card photo with the 1978 card in the background.

here are the backs:

not much variation to the backs of the cards on this sheet.

as i mentioned, the mlb awards ceremony bat relics continue on sheet 38:

those cards are:

1. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (platinum)
2. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (titanium)
3. 2002 topps traded who would have thought
4. 2002 topps traded who would have thought (gold)
5. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought
6. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought (refractor)
7. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought (black refractor)
8. 2002 topps tribute
9. 2002 topps tribute lasting impressions parallel

i was pretty excited to see that garvey was included in the 'who would have thought' subset in the 2002 topps traded set, but i was even happier that he was on the checklist for 2002 topps tribute after being left out of the inaugural 2001 release (even though his number was one of just two retired by the padres at the time).

here are the backs:

the lasting impressions parallel is numbered to 87, which was garvey's last season in the big leagues.

topps tribute spills over onto sheet 39:

those cards are:

1. 2002 topps tribute first impressions parallel
2. 2002 topps tribute matching marks dual relic with gil hodges
3. 2002 upper deck piece of history
4. 2002 upper deck piece of history mvp club insert
5. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes insert
6. 2002 upper deck piece of history mvp club relic
7. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes relic
8. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes relic (with pinstripe)
9. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts

nice to see garvey and gil hodges on a card together. they are on that particular card because both drove in over 1250 runs in their respective careers. garvey got just past 1300, while hodges topped out at 1274.  here we see my need for relic variations again, but the next sheet is even worse.

here are the backs:

it's worth noting that, on this sheet and the next, there are 16 cards produced by upper deck from 4 different sets that use only six different photos (counting the backs).

sheet 40 is chock full of relics:

those cards are:

1. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts relic (bat)
2. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts relic (jersey)
3. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics
4. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (bat)
5. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (cream jersey)
6. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (cream/dirty jersey)
7. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (white jersey)
8. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (brown jersey)
9. 2002 upper deck world series heroes

in 2002, i actually called upper deck to find out how many different jerseys they used for garvey's sweet spot classics relics because it sure looked to me like there were three. they confirmed the use of a cream or off-white jersey which must have been from the minors unless the pads home whites were actually an off-white.  whatever. i was most happy that they used a photo of garvey from the 1978 world series with the jim gilliam memorial patch.

here are the backs:

and we aren't done with 2002 just yet.  stay tuned.

2002 was a pretty good year for some final tributes

when the 2001 season ended, it took with it the careers of many players.  not all of those players, such as jose canseco, knew at the time that they had played their final big league game, but some did.  there were at least three players that i recall had announced their impending retirement during the season.  harold baines may have done so as well, but i don't think he made it into any 2002 card releases.  the three i am referring to, of course, are tony gwynn, mark mcgwire, and cal ripken jr.

all three of them were included in a number of card sets in 2002, which made me pretty happy.  lots of final tributes to collect.  unfortunately, some of the cards were short prints or some other sort of shenanigans, so i don't have them all.  here are the ones that i do have

2002 donruss - gwynn

thanks to donruss for putting the complete stats on the back

i'm not sure if donruss took a page out of topps' book or vice versa, but numbering the card to match gwynn's jersey number was a nice touch

ripken jr

also numbered to match the jersey number

cal had more hits than tony, but played in a lot more games too.

no big mac in 2002 donruss, which is weird because he was in this next set

2002 donruss fan club - gwynn

again with the complete career stats, and again card number 19

here's big mac

and his full career stats.

donruss didn't give him the card number/jersey number tribute, though.

ripken jr

card number 8 again

one of my favorite cal ripken jr. final tribute is from 2002 fleer maximum

that's a great photo for a final tribute

but they didn't bother with the full year-by-year career stats.

both gwynn and ripken had cards in the 2002 fleer tradition set, but i believe they were both short prints.  i don't own them anyway, but i do have mcgwire's card from the set

here's the back

all three are also in 2002 fleer ultra.  here's gwynn (i only have the gold medallion edition parallel)

mcgwire

ripken

there's no mention of mcgwire's retirement on the back of his card like there is on gwynn's and ripken's.  still, i am pretty sure everybody knew mcgwire wasn't coming back in 2002.

no mcgwire in 2002 leaf certified, but there were cards for gwynn

and ripken

the 2002 topps flagship set had a great final tribute for gwynn

and featured his total career stats on the back, of course

there's a lot of red on the back, too.

here's mcgwire's card from the set

he gets the hero number from topps

and a lot of red on his card back, too.

for some reason, topps did not make a card for ripken in 2002 which boggles the mind.

they didn't include him in their fantastic 206 release, either.  gywnn's card from that set is one of the best, however.

just like the ripken fleer maximum card, it's the salute photo that belongs on a final tribute card.  plus, the back notes his retirement

even though it's light on the stats.

there are three mcgwire cards in the set - two feature him as a cardinal

with a variation of the second card showing him as an athletic

all three cards mention his retirement.

as a side note, i decided to collect the 206 set when it first came out.  i don't know what happened to my want list, but i will be posting it soon, just in case anyone has any of these to spare.

2002 topps heritage again left ripken off the checklist.  gwynn's card is a short print, so i only have big mac's card

mcgwire is the only one of the three to be included in the 2002 topps opening day set

and the same goes for the 2002 topps stadium club set

upper deck gave cards to all three, however, in their 2002 flagship set, although they are mostly checklists; pulling a strategy from topps (1975 al kaline and 1978 brooks robinson for example).  here's gwynn's

mcgwire's

and ripken's

at least they are all in the set.  the only one to get a regular card in the set is big mac

and it has all the stats on the back, too

no mcgwire in 2002 upper deck piece of history, but gywnn is there

as is ripken.  ripken's base card is a short print, but i do have an insert from the set of cal

don't worry about mcgwire, though.  upper deck put out a mcgwire-centric subset as part of their 2002 ud prospect premieres set.  here's one of the four cards in the subset

mcgwire was also included in the 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts set, but i don't have that card.  i do have tony gwynn's card from the set

but there was not a ripken card made for this set.

finally, we have 2002 upper deck vintage.  the final tribute lineup is identical to the upper deck flagship - gwynn only got a checklist

but he's on a motorcycle!

mcgwire got a regular card

with a back that matches the late series 1971 o-pee-chee cards

plus a checklist that is more about albert pujols than mcgwire

and ripken gets a card with a nice camden yards view

that's a lot of cards from a lot of sets for three big careers.  only two hall of famers, though.