steve finley dodger cards are in short supply

despite hitting one of the biggest home runs in dodger regular season history, steve finley did not appear  on too many cards as a dodger.  he was featured in the 2004 topps traded set after joining the dodgers in a deadline deal with the diamondbacks, but by the time the 2005 season rolled around, finley was playing for the angels in anaheim.  thankfully, there are a few dodger cards of finley (his 2005 fleer ultra card is one of the best, but i'll show it in a future post).  i recently picked up a couple - more specifically this 2005 donruss longball leaders insert

this 2004 donruss studio high numbered/update sort of thing

and his 2005 donruss diamond kings card

those are clearly dodger cards of the guy whose 2004 game 161 walk-off grand slam against the giants eliminated the no-cals and gave the dodgers the nl west crown.  these next few are not.

here's a 2005 fleer classic clippings card of finley

he's a dodger on the card, but it's actually a card that falls under the anaheim angels domain.  same goes for this 2005 upper deck espn card

and this 2005 upper deck mlb artifacts card

cards that show a dodger, but claim him as an angel. thank goodness for comc - i was able to search for 2005 steve finley cards and identify a bunch that featured dodger blue but were not on my radar due to the angel affiliation.  of course, i then went out and bought them from sportlots.

same goes for shawn green, who is a dodger on this diamondback card, also from 2005 upper deck mlb artifacts

as well as this 2005 upper deck pros & prospects

there are plenty of shawn green dodger cards, however, so my collection is not hurting in that regard.  any other team collectors look for these types of cards - the laundry is right, but the team affiliation is not?

random cards from the scanned folder are like a box of chocolates

look deep into scott erickson's eyes on his 2005 topps total card

he'll make you forget that this is a post of cards thrown together with little to no thought or common theme.  just a bunch of cards i have scanned over the years, but not posted for one reason or another.  as an aside, i forgot all about this card when i went to a signing that erickson attended three years ago when the twins celebrated the 1991 world series team.  that's ok - his wife was there, and i forgot all about baseball cards for a moment.

now it's time for some edwin jackson.  this is a 2005 topps turkey red card

and this is a 2005 upper deck all-star classics

jackson made his big league debut on his 20th birthday (9/9/03), squaring off against randy johnson and the diamondbacks.  the dodgers made him a winner that day, and again a couple of weeks later in san francisco (a game that i attended).  jackson was wild in that game, walking 8, but he struck out barry bonds and allowed no runs and only 2 hits in his 6 innings of work.  jackson was back with the dodgers for a handful of games in 2004 and 2005, but was traded to the devil rays prior to the 2006 season.  in his 12-year career (so far), jackson has pitched for 8 teams.

2005 upper deck espn cesar izturis web gems

izturis won a gold glove in 2004 which largely explains his appearance in an insert set

2011 panini playoff contenders chris reed

reed was the dodgers' first round pick in 2011.  he was born in london, but attended high school in socal and went to stanford after that.  he's currently a double-a chattanooga. 

2011 bowman andre ethier gold parallel

and 2011 bowman ted lilly gold parallel

ethier only gets one parallel in this post, but lilly gets three.

2011 topps ted lilly diamond anniversary platinum parallel

and 2011 topps update ted lilly cognac parallel

i still prefer lilly's 2013 topps card.

here's a few more from 2011 topps update.  remember javy guerra?

who comes in cognac form

and platinum parallel fashion as well

guerra was picked up on waivers by the white sox earlier this year, so he and ronald belisario are making it deja vu all over again in the chisox bullpen.

one more from 2011 topps update - it's matt guerrier

guerrier was dealt to the cubs last year for carlos marmol, but signed with the twins prior to this season. he was just recently dfa'd by the club, although aside from his last outing he hadn't pitched that poorly.  i was a fan - as much as one can be of a non-closer reliever.

in other news, chris capuano is now a yankee.  here's his 2012 topps update card

and his 2013 topps gypsy queen white framed parallel

he had started the season with the red sox after two years with the dodgers, but was released on july 1. after a short stint with the rockies' organization, capuano had his contract purchased by the yankees and made a start for them just the other day.  he turned in a quality start, but didn't get a decision.

gimme six

i am feeling a bit random right now, so no better time than this to showcase some random cards.  six of them, to be exact.  why six?  because that's how many fingers antonio alfonseca has showing on his 2001 topps card.

i count this card among my favorite non-dodger cards, simply for the oddity factor.  alfonseca's nickname was 'el pulpo' which translates to 'the octopus'. probably because there isn't really a well known six-fingered/toed animal out there.  if i were friends with alfonseca, i would have called him 'lezcano' in reference to former big leaguer sixto lezcano.  but that's just me.

another of my favorite non-dodger cards is this 1994 upper deck ken griffey jr card.

it comes from what is probably my favorite upper deck set ever, and is a classic junior type of image.  i was recently inspired to scan it after seeing it on one of the newer blogs 'the junior junkie'.  i had a junior pc going from 1989 until 2002 or so, and i'm looking forward to seeing many of those cards on his site in the future.  there were some nice ones, that's for sure.

anyway, while looking at the griffey card, i was reminded of another card with a similar, although less glamorous, action shot.  that would be steve finley's 2005 upper deck espn web gems insert.

the obvious reason why this card is in my collection, even though the card has an angels affiliation, is that finley made this catch (and won the 2004 gold glove) while wearing a dodger uniform.

it's somewhat similar to this card - a 2007 upper deck masterpieces eric gagne relic card

in that it is visually all dodgers, but gagne is listed as a member of the red sox. 

even more visually all dodgers is this 2000 upper deck victory card of eric young

it comes complete with the horrific alternate jersey/hat combo that will forever mark the davey johnson era for me.  it also features dodger stadium in the background, but i would not have minded if upper deck had photoshopped young into cubs apparel on that card.

just like topps airbrushed ralph houk into tigers gear on his 1974 topps card.

well, they tried the hat, anyway.  still sporting yankee pinstripes, houk was also left without any coaches, which is a pity as i would have liked to have seen dick tracewski on another card.

and there you have it - six random cards somehow tied together thanks to my random musings.

hairston styles

hey! happy new year, everybody!  i want to kick 2013 off right, so i'll show a nice looking dodger card - it features jerry hairston jr. on a 2012 topps update card

a dodger stadium play at the plate.  hairston played some middle infield for the dodgers last year, and turned about 20 double plays.  as much as i like the photo on the above card, a dp turn would have been nice.  hairston still has one more year on his contract with the dodgers so there's hope i suppose.  you can probably guess that i still haven't finished posting all of my double play cards, some of which feature none other than jerry hairston jr.  like his 2003 topps card

and his 2004 topps card

and his 2006 upper deck card

and then there is the double play-errific miguel tejada on this 2005 upper deck espn web gems insert

back to the 2003 topps set, we have pokey reese with an appearance by todd walker

and then we have todd walker returning the dp favor, this time to the giants

i am ok with that.

in the 2003 topps traded set, we got a card of dodger prospect eric riggs turning two

while wearing maury wills' number.  riggs never did make it to the big leagues, although he put together a couple of decent looking seasons at aaa las vegas.

finally, here's a 2009 topps chrome orlando hudson card, featuring a lurking juan castro

this is a refractor parallel, and i like how the empty seats add some nice color to the card.  it looks like a diamondback player is getting forced at second, in case you are curious.

stay tuned for even more double play cards.  there are more than i first thought.

clearing out the double play queue

here are a few more double play cards that i have been hoarding in preparation for an all-out tournament of double play cards to be conducted most likely in december.  these should get a decent seeding.  here's a 2003 carl's jr padres card of ozzie smith

trippy.  the weird thing about this set is that there was a different design for each card.  the garvey from the set is nowhere near as wack.

2005 upper deck espn nomar garciaparra web gems insert

yes, virginia, nomar played for the cubs.  i also like the fact that shawn green makes an appearance.  however, i like the next card better.  it's a 2011 topps marquee troy tulowitzki card

but it's got matt kemp sliding in.  lurker bonus!

i am going to guess that the guy sliding in on chris speier's 1972 topps in action card is milt may

just a guess.  and yes, night owl, this card will get a decent seeding.  even if i were using your copy instead of my own.

here's one that probably won't even get to the play-in game.  1995 topps john valentin

valentin is still standing, and all we see of the slider is ass and legs.  not good enough, but still a double play card.

trading with rhubarb runner

i recently completed a trade with rhubarb runner, another twins fan who has left minnesota for the relatively humid free state of missouri. i sent a bunch of twins, he sent a smattering of needs. i think i got the better of the deal.

he sent me some dodger stuff i didn't know existed:

1991 line drive collect-a-book don drysdalei guess the 1990 set was so popular, they did a second set. really?

2000 pacific 7-11 gary sheffieldhow many slurpees did it take to get a sheffield?

he sent me some cool dodger stuff i knew about but didn't have:

1991 topps cracker jack eddie murraythese are so much better than the fake tatoos or whatever toy surprises they used to have in cracker jack.

1992 donruss cracker jack ramon martinezlooks like donruss wanted some of the action. too bad these aren't variations of the regular set, though.

he sent me a post-2000 twin:

2005 upper deck espn joe mauer.the next .400 hitter?

he sent me some stuff i needed from my set-building want lists:

1989 upper deck dale murphy/braves checklistit looks like dale got his teeth capped. no cavity creeps, that's for sure.

1970 topps jose pagan.

i am so close to finishing this set. so close.

ditto for the 1978 upgrade set. here's a 1978 topps ed ott.

a shorter name you will not find in mlb annals. ron cey comes close, though.

1978 topps jim colborn.the future dodger pitching coach with the cindy brady pose.

finally, he sent a card i knew about but didn't think i would be getting anytime soon, let alone in a trade for a bunch of twinkies:

1961 topps don drysdale

freakin' a. very nice.

that's some minnesota nice for you, even if it came from missouri!