even more cards from doc holoday

finishing up the trade posts for today with a few more from my trade with doc holoday.  he really did send a nice group of cards as part of a 'spring cleaning' on his part.  i am quite appreciative.

2007 topps jeff kent hit parade insert

kent was 7th on the active leader list for career rbi when this card came out.  he is currently 49th on the all-time leader list, but should be passed by albert pujols this season

1994 upper deck minors todd hollandsworth

one of holly's two cards in that set

2007 topps update & highlights brady clark

by the time this card was released, i believe clark was already an ex-dodger playing in san diego

2007 upper deck sp authentic rafael furcal authentic speed insert

i don't know if doc saw this post or not, but the furky was needed and is appreciated!

2008 upper deck x andruw jones xponential insert

he's an x-dodger, thankfully

2009 upper deck o-pee-chee mark loretta

still working on that set!

2011 bowman chrome justin sellers

and 2011 bowman chrome dee gordon

and 2012 bowman chrome clayton kershaw

both the gordon and the kershaw cards show the duke snider memorial patch, which i will address in a future post.

thanks again for the trade!

ely come, ely go

it was way back in may of 2010 that i was struck with 'ely-mania' thanks to a string of quality starts from john ely, one of the two pitchers the dodgers received from the white sox in exchange for juan pierre.  the wheels fell off of the bandwagon shortly thereafter, as ely went 1-8 after beginning his career with a 3-2 record in his first 6 starts.  here is a 2010 topps update 'peek' (not 'peak') performance autograph of ely

which calls attention to his june 1 start against the diamondbacks.  he allowed only two hits in his seven scoreless innings of work that day, but had a no-decision in the dodgers' 1-0 victory - a victory courtesy of a 10th-inning matt kemp walk-off home run.

here is another card featuring ely that i have had sitting around for a while - a 2010 bowman 'topps 100' card

i don't know what 'topps 100' means, but i am showing this card today because ely was traded, with little fanfare i might add, to the houston astros back in december.  ely was 4-13 over three seasons with the dodgers and now heads to the american league.  the other pitcher the dodgers acquired in the pierre deal, jon link, left the organization after the 2011 season and spent last year in the orioles' and marlins' minor leagues.

ely is not the only former dodger for whom i have had scanned cards sitting around, waiting for a post such as this.  so, let's take a look at some other now-former dodgers.  like andrew lambo, for instance, and his 2010 bowman 'bowman expectations' card

lambo was one of the players (james mcdonald being the other) that ned sent to the pirates at the 2010 trade deadline for octavio dotel.  pittsburgh has become a sort of dumping grounds for ned and former dodger prospects, with andy laroche and delwyn young also sent to the pirates, and ivan dejesus jr and jerry sands (more on him later) winding up there after being included in a deal with the red sox.  anyway,  lambo and mcdonald for what? six weeks of dotel? dotel was then traded to the rockies for minor leaguer anthony jackson, who is four or five years older than lambo.  lambo was suspended for violating mlb's drug policy while with the dodgers, but i don't recall it being for peds.  he still has some time to pan out.

eric stults, seen here on a 2008 topps update & highlights gold card

hasn't been with the dodgers since 2009.  he spent 2010 in japan before returning to the majors in 2011 with the rockies.  he started last season with the white sox, but was picked up by the padres on waivers in may.

more recently dismissed by the dodgers is russ mitchell, whose lone baseball card appearance in dodger blue (as far as i know) came courtesy of 2011 topps heritage

four of mitchell's 14 hits for the dodgers over the 2010 and 2011 seasons were home runs, but he was released by the team last spring.  he quickly signed on with the miami marlins, but was released by them after a month or so.  he then signed with the giants, but was again released prior to making it back to the big leagues.  in december of 2012, mitchell signed a free agent deal with the rockies, so we'll see what happens this spring.

mike macdougal, on the other hand, has yet to sign with a team for the 2013 season.  here he is on his 2011 topps update card

as well as his diamond collection parallel thingy

macdougal pitched well for the dodgers in 2011, going 3-1 with a 2.05 era in 69 appearances.  he was released after only 7 appearances in 2012, however, as his era was over 7.  he signed on with the cubs and then the nationals, but didn't get back to the majors with either team.

rubby de la rosa, seen here pitching in dodger stadium on his 2011 topps update card

and cognac parallel

along with jerry sands on his 2011 topps update card

and 2012 topps heritage card

were part of the big dodgers-red sox blockbuster trade from last year.  specifically, they were the players to be named later in the deal, but were known at the time of the trade.  de la rosa apparently fits into the red sox' plans, but sands was traded to the pirates in the joel hanrahan (another former dodger farmhand) deal.   i'm not sure how this will turn out for sands, as the pirates seem to have a lot of outfield depth already.

i'll end this post of departed dodgers with a 2008 upper deck x autographed card of ramon troncoso

troncoso pitched for the dodgers in every season from 2008 through 2011, but spent all of 2012 at aaa after clearing waivers.  his best season by far was 2009 when he appeared in 73 games and posted a 2.72 era.  he also had 3 scoreless appearances in the nlcs that year.  if he returns to the postseason in 2013 it won't be as a dodger, because after the 2012 season, troncoso signed a free agent deal with the white sox.

that's all for this edition of recent dodgers turned former dodgers.  i'm sure there will be more to come, right ned?

something is askew

in addition to the dime boxes at the card show last weekend, i stopped by the 4 for 10 relic box.  i found some worthy of $2.50 apiece.  first was this strange 2008 upper deck x adrian beltre card

it's appropriate that my scanner tilted the card as it features beltre, whom had by the time the card was issued played for three seasons in seattle, in a dodger uniform.  i recall seeing some of these cards when this set first came out, but it's still disconcerting to me.

thank goodness there was a better dodger relic card in the box.  but before we get to that, here's an auto from 2005 topps featuring scott elbert

elbert has spent parts of each of the last 4 seasons with the dodgers in the bullpen, and he's currently up with the big club this year.  hopefully he pitches as well as he did last year.  or better.  this one actually only cost me $2 since it came from an even further reduced price box, as did the next card

it's a 2007 topps heritage juan pierre relic that i decided to buy for some reason

it's airbrushed, too.  not a great card

back to that 4 for 10 box, i plucked from it a manupatch from 2010 topps

it's duke snider and a 1955 all-star game patch-not-patch.  i'm guessing that is supposed to be milwaukee county stadium.  duke is an odd choice for this patch since he was 0 for 2 in the game with a strikeout.  but then again, it's a manupatch so it's not supposed to make sense, right?  i'll take nonsense for $2.50, alex.

hey baby, it's the 4th of july!

in honor of x and their classic song, here are a couple of 2008 upper deck x cards for your enjoyment.

andre ethier jersey relic

we'll find out today if dre kept his spot in the starting outfield for the national league in the all star game.  i sure hope so.

russell martin jersey relic

russell is going to get a few days rest next week.  he doesn't have to worry about the all star game.  it would be nice if he would play better, though.  especially when we see what carlos santana is doing in cleveland and know that he was expendable because of martin.

have a safe and happy 4th!

dodgers, a cub, and an on card brewer from on card autos

i recently completed a trade with chris at on card autos - cubs for dodgers primarily.  he sent me some pretty cool cards.  here are a few of them:

2004 fleer ultra hee seop choi.

i was really hoping hee seop would break out with the dodgers.  he had too big of a swing, i think, and jim tracy didn't seem to care for him.  anyway, this is a nice card (hello dodger stadium!) of the big south korean whose presence forced mark grace out of chicago.

2006 upper deck eric gagne jersey

2006 was gagne's final year in la.  he pitched in just two games for the dodgers, having been injured for and out of action for about a year.  in those two games, he gave up no runs or hits and struck out 3 in 2 innings of work.  he also earned a save in his final dodger appearance.  unfortunately, that was june of 2006, and he went back on the dl and out of the dodgers' plans for 2007.

2004 fleer inscribed hideo nomo 

man, fleer had a lot of different sets in the early 2000's.  focus, authentic, tradition, ultra, box score, greats, platinum, genuine, and the list goes on.  i don't know that i had ever seen fleer inscribed before.

there were a bunch of 2007 upper deck cards, too.  i know night owl doesn't care for them, but i think they're pretty cool.  here's marlon anderson (one of the 4+1 home run guys) in a rare dodger card appearance.

another dodger backup - mike lieberthal

and a dodger i had never heard of - wilson valdez

he actually appeared in 41 games for the dodgers in 2007 and is currently with the phillies.

chris also got confused and included a cub - 2008 upper deck x geovany soto

and a brewer (at least according to the card) - 2007 upper deck elmer dessens

i am thankful for the dessens card seeing as how it is 99% a dodger card that would never have been on my radar.

thanks chris!

cards from voice of the collector

i sent a whole 2 cards to help rob out with his pursuit of upper deck's 20th anniversary set. he was kind enough to send me these heretofore unseen by me beauties:

2008 upper deck x russell martin exponential x^2

our fair canadian catcher. i just drafted him last night in my primary fantasy league. it had nothing to do with the fact that he is a dodger. really.

clayton kershaw's 2007 tristar business card.
if that whole pitching thing doesn't work out, looks like he's got a future as a realtor.

not a bad return for a couple of cards commemmerating some weird non-baseball occurrences.

be sure to help rob out in his quest - i know i will.

thanks rob!

x as in ex

shades of luis gonzalez. i know it's old news, but andruw is out. perhaps the worst one and done since jose valentin.

thanks ned.

blogosphere participation – trade with thoughts of sox

adam at thoughts and sox contacted me and we set up a trade of dodgers/twins/08 a&g for some red sox. here is a small sampling of what i received, much to my delight!

2005 topps opening day steve finley. i had assumed that there was no 2005 topps finley in a dodger uniform, other than the gold glove subset. in the flagship set, his base card shows him with the angels. this is similar to the nomar phenomenon from 2006. at any rate, i will always remember finley’s grand slam to win the west in 2004.

2004 topps traded blake dewitt gold parallel. dewitt was a nice surprise earlier this season, filling in when nomar was hurt. not sure why torre stuck with him throughout the nlcs, though. i think he’ll get a shot to replace kent next season.
2004 bowman heritage ishii. this card is really thick, for no apparent reason. when i was a kid, there was a guy who lived on the other side of the block who collected cards when he was younger.. i remember trading him some 1979 giants for a couple of the 1955 bowman cards. they were dodgers, too. i tried to find them for this post but, just like keyser soze, they’re gone. and then some twinkies! 2008 upper deck x joe mauer.
and 2008 topps pat neshek. if you have never read pat neshek’s blog, please do so. it’s great during the season when he is with the team, so hopefully he is healthy next season.
i also got some help with my 2008 allen & ginter set, including this guy – bob motley. apparently he was an umpire in the negro leagues. looks like he could show enrico palazzo a thing or two. finally, david must have started something, because there was a feeling of ‘trick or treat’ in the box, as i found a few of these:
padres. one of them was a 2006 topps dave roberts. i can live with that.

thanks adam – your sox are on their way, maybe with a trick or two. enjoy.

recent additions

i picked up some 2008 singles at the local shop the other day, hard to beat 12/$1.

here's hoping lowe can continue his postseason success tomorrow against the phillies...

matt kemp is my baseball salvation.

glad to have you back, raffy.

glad to have you on the dl, andruw. i almost didn't buy this card because i hate to support colletti's worst signing (so far), but i cheer for the name on the front of the jersey, so...

glad to have you on the bench, jeff. just be sure to channel your inner gibson when the time comes.

sorry you can't be a part of this, brad.

thanks for the memories, mark.