fun at the ballpark, indeed

it is odd to think that, after nearly seven years of posting, i have not yet featured this 1993 donruss triple play card of former dodger reliever roger mcdowell

so, when it arrived recently in a trade package from bo at baseball cards come to life, i figured that now was the time.  here's the back

 

mcdowell's teammates may have been amused by him wearing outrageous things, but i as a fan will just accept good baseball in a beautiful setting.  a setting like dodger stadium.  that's where this next card bo sent comes in.

that's a 1996 score select bret boone card, featuring a photo taken in dodger stadium.  the unnamed dodger in the scene is roberto kelly, who twice stole second against boone and the reds on july 30, 1995.  the wrist guard and red glove/sweat bands were a big clue as to the runner's identity, but really it was either him or chad fonville, and with kelly wearing number 21 it was fairly obvious.

this next one is easier.

that would be mitch webster sliding in while jose oquendo turns two in dodger stadium on his 1996 donruss card.

moving away from dodger stadium (to tatooine, in fact), we see rafael furcal sliding in front of freddy sanchez on sanchez's 2008 bowman card

as sanchez makes the double play pivot.

staying on tatooine, here's a 1993 score select joe girardi card

that would obviously fit into that particular mini collection of mine if it weren't already destined for the lurker collection thanks to dodger dave hansen making an appearance on the back

there are many more cards that bo sent that i'll be showing over the next few days - thanks for the cards bo!

meanwhile, back on tatooine...

…andre ethier is circling the bases on his 2008 bowman card,

his 2008 bowman gold parallel card,

his 2008 bowman chrome card,

and his 2008 bowman chrome refractor card.

elsewhere on the desert planet, fred lynn is doing something on his 1991 upper deck card,

while darren daulton makes a play

and brady anderson takes a lead

on their 1994 upper deck cards.

one of tatooine's multiple suns is low in the horizon on julio franco's 1996 upper deck card

and perhaps the other sun is creating shadows on john olerud's 1997 topps card

players like to hit on tatooine thanks to the dry air, like ken griffey jr on this 2006 upper deck national baseball card day card,

larry walker on this 2011 topps lineage card,

and jose reyes on this 2014 topps stadium club card

i think that photo was taken from jabbba's luxury sutite.

a braves' memorial patch for lew burdette and johnny sain

lew burdette and johnny sain both wore number 33 for the braves - sain from 1942 into 1951 when he was traded to the yankees for burdette, and burdette from that point through 1963, during which time the team had moved from boston to milwaukee.  both men passed away during the offseason between the 2006 and 2007 seasons, and the atlanta braves decided to add a patch to their jerseys honoring them during the ensuing campaign. the patch, a black baseball with the number '33' between the initials 'lb' and 'js' was worn on the left sleeve, and is seen on john smoltz's 2008 bowman card

as well as buddy carlyle's 2008 upper deck first edition card

but i'm using tim hudson's card from 2008 bowman

to represent the memorial in the binder.

sain was part of the famous refrain regarding the state of the braves' pitching in the late 1940's: '(warren) spahn and sain and pray for rain!'  he won 20 or more games each season from 1946-1948 and then again in 1950.  he helped the braves win the pennant in 1948, and was 1-1 in the world series against the indians with 17 innings pitched in his two starts - one of which was a shutout - but the braves fell to the indians.  during the 1951 season, sain was sent to the yankees in exchange for burdette and cash.  sain went on to win three world series titles with the yankees as a pitcher, and a couple more rings later as a pitching coach for the yankees in 1961 and 1962, and the detroit tigers in 1963.  sain later served as the pitching coach for the braves in two different stints during the 1970's and 1980's.  he was 89 years old when he died.

burdette won 179 regular season games for the braves during his tenure, plus three games (two by shutout) against the yankees in the 1957 world series.  he was the mvp of the fall classic, as the braves won their only championship in milwaukee that year.  the next year, 1958, the braves again faced the yankees in the world series, but burdette was 1-2 in his 3 starts, including losses in games 5 and 7.  burdette led the league in era in 1956 and wins in 1959 (tied with teammate spahn and the giants' sam jones).  he was 80 at the time of his death.

a couple of trivia notes - sain was the first pitcher jackie robinson faced in the major leagues, and burdette was the winning pitcher in the game in which harvey haddix threw 12 perfect innings before losing in the 13th - burdette scattered 12 hits over 13 innings to shut out the pirates and beat haddix that day.

a black armband for cory lidle

in just a few days (five to be exact), it will be the 8th anniversary of yankee pitcher cory lidle's death.  lidle died on october 11, 2006 after the small plane he was co-piloting hit a building in new york city.  back then, topps' update set came out later in november (i believe that this year's release should show up in stores in about a week), and they were able to add an in memoriam card for lidle to the 2006 update & highlights checklist.

that is significant because i don't believe that topps had done this since a. bartlett giamatti died in 1989 and they included a card in the 1990 set, and not for a player since ken hubbs in 1964.  i realize that there was no update set in 1978 or 1979 when lyman bostock and thurman munson died, respectively, but topps didn't do one of these cards for them the following season, either.

anyway, the yankees honored lidle by wearing a black armband during the 2007 season.  this classic combo card from 2007 topps update & highlights shows jorge posada wearing the armband during the all-star game

and here's a card of chase wright from the same set, also displaying the armband

2007 bowman's best was released even later than update - coming out in january of 2008.  this alex rodriguez card from that set

shows the armband, but it kind of gets lost with all of his armor nearby.

obviously, most of the cards with this particular armband come from 2008.  like these 2008 bowman

and 2008 upper deck piece of history cards

of hideki matsui, and this 2008 topps kei igawa card

plus this 2008 topps opening day ross ohlendorf card

and these two cards from 2008 upper deck first edition - bobby abreu

and a really nice andy pettitte

and then there is this 2008 upper deck robinson cano card

featuring double play action!

since the cano is in my double play binder, and the armband on the pettitte card is just a bit too unpronounced, here's the card that represents the cory lidle armband in my collection - it's a 2008 upper deck alex rodriguez season highlight card

the card celebrates arod's 500th career home run, although the photo does not come from that game (that game was not on espn, and if you watch video of the home run, the armband is not this visible).  still, i know that the photo comes from 2007 since this was the first time the yankees had worn the armband since 2001 (when arod was on the rangers), and the 2008 version of the armband (worn for bobby murcer) would have been worn below the final season of yankee stadium patch.

lidle's last appearance came on october 7, 2006 in the final game of the alds series against the tigers.  the yankees were eliminated in that game, and lidle pitched 1.1 perfect innings in relief before failing to get an out in the 5th inning and ultimately allowing three runs to score.  lidle was 34 years old when he died.

meanwhile, on tatooine...

...a new mini collection is begun.  i have set aside cards in the past that feature backgrounds of nothing but dirt.  the best example of this, of course, is the 1971 topps brooks robinson card which i have shown before.  i've also featured a few others over the years, but this is the first time i have dedicated a single post to these types of cards.

here are a few.

2006 upper deck juan dominguez

the pitching mound tatooine card might be the rarest of them all.

2010 topps ronny cedeno

a double play on tatooine!

most of these cards will feature players running the bases.  for example, 2011 topps freddy sanchez (gold parallel)

1996 donruss roberto kelly

1996 donruss jose offerman

and 2008 bowman andre ethier (gold parallel)

sometimes players will be sliding into bases, like shane mack on his 1991 upper deck card

or brady clark on his 2004 topps card

 or michael brantley on his 2011 topps card

and, sometimes players will be at the bat, like jody gerut on his 2004 topps card

or fellow indian victor martinez on his 2006 topps card.

i am not sure if i have seen a warning track tatooine card yet.  anyway, feel free to send me these types of cards in trade, along with dodgers, double plays, memorials, vladdys, etc.  the list seems to keep growing.  but stay out of mos eisley spaceport - you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.  kind of like the giants' roster.  bam!

breaking up two is hard to do

i wonder if jason kendall was able to prevent mark grudzielanek from completing the double play, as his 2000 topps gallery card might indicate

that's a nice looking card, with a slightly higher vantage point than we usually see on cards.  and, it's a clean photo, too.  case in point, this 2000 upper deck delino deshields card features a field level photo.

and, with the text bar, we almost don't get to see paul loduca sliding in.

same with this 2008 bowman freddy sanchez gold parallel

you'll have to take my word for it that rafael furcal is under there trying to break up the twin killing.

james loney gives it a shot on former teammate julio lugo's 2009 topps update card

by the way, what are the chances that the cardinals retire jd drew's number to try to break up that 6-9 action on the outfield wall?

here's a 2004 fleer classic clippings card of mark teixeira

who appears to have successfully upended brandon phillips.  hopefully phillps was able to complete the double play despite teixeira's best efforts.

here's a card from 2001 mlb showdown

i don't know if nomar is trying to break up a double play or what.  it seems like there are too many rangers lurking around the bag for it to be a double play attempt.  but, the card mentions a double play, so i put it in my binder.

this next card is only in my lurkers binder.  it's al martin's 1999 topps stadium club card, and it features a play at second base

except this play if of martin reaching second with a double while jose vizcaino waits for the throw from right field.  i looked it up.

speaking of which, as far as i can tell from baseball reference, kendall was not able to break up the double play.  on memorial day, 5/31/99, warren morris hit into a 3-6-1 double play, with kendall out at second and grudzielanek making the force out and the relay.

nice try, though.