i must be in the front row!

i received a trade package from saints of the cheap seats recently that contained fantastic dodger goodness, none of which were 'cheap seat' worthy.  these were some really nice cards.  here's a sampling:

the first card in the package was this 1996 leaf steel hideo nomo card

as the name would suggest, the card is metal, all right.  i could put this thing in my breast pocket and it would stop a bullet.  no doubt.  this card is probably worth a lot thanks to the price of steel.

here's a 1998 topps gold label eric karros card

sadly, not printed on gold.  i am not too much of a fan of multiple photos on the fronts of cards, but at least this card shows us that eric bats and eric fields.  i wonder what they did for cards of designated hitters.

next up are a couple of cards from fleer's version of topps gold label - 1999 fleer flair showcase raul mondesi - the power...

... and the passion

"oh - the temper of the time."  was peter garrett singing about rauuuuuuuuuuuuuul? either way, we now know that mondesi bats, broods, catches balls, and runs.  and is number 43.  good info.  but was he "wasting away in paradise"?

2008 topps delwyn young auto

delwyn hit a bunch of doubles in the minors in 2007 and topps celebrated his performance with sticker autos.  meanwhile, the people in the background look like they are straight out of 'when it was a game'.

here's a teammate of young's - james mcdonald - on a 2009 upper deck sweet spot auto

young and mcdonald (not to be confused with old mcdonald) are teammates on the pirates.  actually, i am reminded that they are not teammates as delwyn fled across the state to join the phillies after last season.

1998 leaf fractal foundation dennis reyes

i was under the impression that reyes became a lefty after being visited by dodger scout mike brito who made the suggestion.  it turns out that reyes sustained a fairly serious injury to his right shoulder and so became a lefty out of necessity.  he's currently still pitching in the bigs having joined the red sox this year.  i recall that when he won his big league debut for the dodgers, he ended the dodgers' 5-year streak of not having a left-handed starter earn a victory.  and to think that they made the playoffs in two of those years.

here's a jeff kent relic from 2008 ud spx

that's all i have to say about that.

we'll finish with this here-to-fore unseen (by me) card, a 1996 upper deck collector's choice you crash the game card of eric karros

it's pretty cool, with the transparent part in the middle.  reminds me of the melted lifesavers my grandma would put in the middle of some of her christmas sugar cookies.  i remember the yctg promotion, and i am pretty sure i mailed in some winners, but i don't recall getting cards like this back from dick mcwilliams.  anyone have some info on this card?  are there other dodgers as well?

thanks dan!

for sparta! from thoughts and sox!

adam at thoughts and sox recently sent me a surprise envelope with a handful of cards.  i was going to save this one for st. patricks day, but oh well.  it's a 2008 donruss threads steve garvey college greats card.

garvey was indeed a college great for michigan state.  he played both baseball and football, earning all-american status in baseball prior to being drafted by the dodgers in 1968.  he was inducted into the spartans hall of fame last fall.  you can read all about it here.

also included was garvey's base card from that set, of which i have scanned the back

always nice to see his name in the company of gehrig.  any chance that his 1974 numbers even sniff the mvp award these days.  the answer is no.

there were some other cards from the threads set, including this duke snider

which is one of the more flagrant copyright infringers i have seen from the set.  duke's facial appearance here reminds me of tubby tompkins.  that's right - i referenced little lulu.  wanna fight about it?

carl erskine's card was also included in the package

 along with a couple of 2008 upper deck spx cards.  this one is of andruw jones

and it scans up right shiny.  let's take a moment to remember that jones ops'd .505 for the dodgers in 2008.  he's rebounded some the past two years for the white sox and rangers, but here's hoping he reverts to dodger form for the yankees in 2011, and that joe girardi is dumb enough to keep playing him like joe torre was.

adam, thanks for the cards.  i'll try and get some bosox off to you soon.

blue (wax) heaven

clayton kershaw. 'nuff said.

i sent mario at wax heaven all of my jose cruz jr (39 different) and ben grieve (75 different) cards, along with a bunch of canseco and marlins, a while back. mario told me that he would send a kershaw spx auto in return, although it was a redemption and might take some time. um, ok.


well, it arrived at my humble abode and it is awesome. even for a sticker auto. mario even included some kershaw cards from 2008 upper deck timeline, including the two sp style short prints.

mario, thank you. here's hoping that the future kershaw/andrew miller matchups are 1-0 pitcher's duels. and may one or two be in your favor.

three to go

good game by the dodgers to turn the "momentum" in the series.



it is great to have raffy back at short. no offense to angel berroa, but this has made a huge difference in the lineup.


a great performance by kuroda. and to think he could have been pitching for the royals if he had taken the money...



how ticked off was russell martin after the high & tight pitch in the 6th? i will answer that - he was quite upset.

let's hope they saved some runs for game 4 tonight!