60 years of topps in the garvey binders

the next sheet of cards from the steve garvey binders features some familiar images, along with some decent sized relic swatches.  here is sheet 68:

those cards are:

1. 2011 in the game heroes and prospects dual jerseys silver relics (with trayvon robinson) (print run of 49)
2. 2011 in the game heroes and prospects jersey autographs silver (print run of 9)
3. 2011 topps 60 relics
4. 2011 topps 60 years of topps 1982 in action reprint
5. 2011 topps 60 years of topps 1982 in action reprint original back
6. 2011 topps 60 years of topps 1985 reprint
7. 2011 topps 60 years of topps 1985 reprint original back
8. 2011 topps 60
9. 2011 topps marquee titanic threads relic /99

i've mentioned before that i think in the game should have serial numbered their cards, rather than just issue print run data, especially when there are only 9 of the auto/relic card.  the majority of the sheet belongs to topps, however, and i must say that i appreciated garvey being included in the 2011 topps flagship insert sets.  after using garvey's 1971 rookie card in the 2010 cards your mom threw out subset, topps came back with his 1982 in action card and his 1985 card.  the backs of those cards (the non-original backs, to be clear) have more to do with the topps set than the individual garvey card, although there is some garvey specific text.

speaking of which, here are the backs:

a few notes about those backs.  first, the topps 60 cards.  the relic card back notes that only ichiro, wade boggs, and derek jeter had more 200-hit seasons than garvey in the past 40 years.  garvey had more than tony gwynn! later, we see that garvey's highest hit total was 210, which places in a tie for 8th highest in dodger franchise history.  next, it is worth noting that the back of the 1982 in action reprint (non-original back) states that garvey had played in 8 straight all-star games heading into the 1982 season "a fact emphasized on the back".  however, thanks to the existence of the original back version of the insert right next to it, we see that there is no mention of his all-star streak.

here is sheet 69:

those cards are:

1. 2011 topps marquee titanic threads red relic /75
2. 2012 panini golden age
3. 2012 panini golden age mini broadleaf brown ink
4. 2012 panini national treasures treasure signature materials /25
5. 2012 topps golden moments
6. 2012 topps golden moments autograph
7. 2012 topps gypsy queen relic
8. 2012 topps gypsy queen framed mini relic
9. 2012 topps triple threads unity relic autograph /99

there are several other mini variations from the panini golden age set that i have avoided for some reason - the reason being i am no longer so enthusiastic about chasing all of the variations of garvey cards.  i am not entirely sure why there were two relics in the gypsy queen set and no regular base card, but again, i appreciate topps keeping garvey in mind when creating their checklists.

here are the backs:

you can see by the upside down panini treasures back that panini and i disagree on the proper orientation of the front of the card.  i learned from 1978 topps, thank you very much.

still more to come - stay tuned...

how about a blog bat around challenge? the subject: cards that i (you) used to own

i have been buying packs (and sometimes boxes) of baseball cards since 1978.  some years, i bought more than others, but it's been a constant thing in my life since i was handed my first pack in 1977.  throughout that time, i've traded some cards away, and sold others, to further my collection.  there is one card, however, that i regret having dismissed from my hands, and that is the subject of this post. the card that i used to own that i wish i still did.

the very first card i felt remorse over trading was a 1978 topps steve garvey.  i had a double, but i was planning to start my dodger team set collection.  however, i needed a mickey rivers card for the full set, and my neighbor offered to give me rivers for garvey.  i made the deal, and my regret didn't last too long as i was able to get another garvey card fairly easily not too long thereafter.  before i get too far along, i'll show some cards that i used to own that i am ok with having sold or traded.

first up is this 2003 upper deck legendary cuts bill dickey cut auto numbered 09/25

i bought a box of legendary cuts that year for $60 and found this card in one of the packs.  i have no regrets about putting this up on ebay and taking the $200-ish that it commanded. still, i kept a photo of it for posterity.

similarly, i pulled this 1/1 mickey mantle magenta printing plate from a box of 2006 topps chrome

and sold it on ebay.  no regrets.

i've owned some non-gimmick cards that were pretty cool, but for one reason or another didn't fit into my collection.  like this 1909-1911 t206 jack egan card

and this 1951 topps luke easter card

both are nice and were cool to have, but likely fit better in the collections of some random ohioans.

there have been some other, even less spectacular cards that i've traded away yet felt the need to scan first and show here now, like this 1960 topps mound magicians card

this 2011 topps josh hamilton commemorative patch card

this 2012 topps carl yastrzemski facsimile auto stitch card

2011 topps diamond dig contest kelly johnson diamond die-cut black #/60

why did that have to be a d-back instead of a dodger?  obviously, i had no problem ejecting that card from my collection.

but now we come to the card that i do regret letting go of.  almost.  first, another story.  back in 2000, a friend and i split a box of upper deck legends.  one of my packs contained a mickey mantle jersey card with a pinstripe.  i shortly thereafter put it on ebay with a pretty high reserve, and while it was sitting there, my friend questioned why i would want to sell that card - "isn't that why you collect?", he asked. "to have a card like that?"  he was right, of course, and i was secretly happy that the card did not reach the reserve (it came within $15, as i recall).  i still have that mantle card, plus a couple of ruth bat cards that i've pulled from tribute packs, and several other non-dodger, non-double play, non-any of my mini collections that are just cool cards to own.

now, seriously, on to the whole point of this post.  i used to own this card:

well, not exactly that card, but another of the only 30 versions of the 2001 topps tribute walter alston patch cards that exist.  i could not find a photo of the card (i know i took one), but it featured a portion of the 100th anniversary of the national league patch worn by teams in 1976 (and visible on the 1977 topps manny mota card), which means that the uniform it was taken from was worn by smokey in his final season as the dodgers' manager.

i found the card in a local card/comic store.  it was on the 'markdown' wall, and was listed on sale for $49.99.  that was about the cost of a pack of 2001 topps tribute, if i recall correctly, and i knew that it was worth more than that.  now, i was not fully entrenched in collecting at this time (i bought cards more so out of habit and tradition), and really hadn't thought about what my collection was beyond maintaining my yearly dodger team sets from the topps flagship and traded sets, as well as my run of complete sets of those releases (a habit i abandoned a few years ago).  so, i bought the card with the full intent to sell it for a profit.  let me repeat that.  i, a dodger fan and collector of dodger cards, bought a 2001 topps tribute walter alston patch card with the intent to sell it.  and i did.  i made about $160, which was great, but future gcrl would become very disappointed in that past gcrl.

so disappointed, in fact, that i have kept my eye out for another version (or the same one) ever since.  i did find one on ebay (hence the picture of the card above), but it was already gone by the time i saw it.  my card sold to someone in alabama or arkansas - i do not remember which - so folks down that way, please keep an eye out.

in the meantime, i have added a different dodger manager's 2001 topps tribute patch card to my collection

that's alston's successor, tom lasorda, and his card features the red number patch that i enjoy so much.  i also own another patch from this set, one i pulled from a pack from a box i purchased in 2004 or so.

it's been about 11 years, and it may not neatly fit in my collection, but i'm not sure that i'm ready to part with eddie mathews yet.

so, what do you say?  what cards have you owned that you regret are no longer in your collection?  i'd like to read about it - either in the comments or as a bat around - because i feel your pain.

a quick trip to tatooine

with the trade of juan uribe to the braves, i would expect alex guerrero to eventually settle in at third base. at least until hector olivera is ready.  however, most of guerrero's playing time of late has been in the outfield, since both yasiel puig and carl crawford are injured.

last year, topps included guerrero in many of its sets, and listed him as a second baseman.  that made sense then, but he has yet to play at second in the major leagues.  here are three of those cards, with guerrero turning two to boot.

2014 topps walmart blue

2014 topps chrome purple refractor

and 2014 topps mini pink parallel

notice that the cards show guerrero throwing to first without a lick of grass in sight.  that's what makes a tatooine card a tatooine card.

here are some others from my mini collection

1994 donruss bobby bonilla

1995 upper deck luis lopez electric diamond parallel

1996 upper deck brady anderson vj lovero showcase insert

2000 topps stadium club bobby abreu

2001 fleer tradition corey koskie

2011 topps carlos beltran

and 2012 topps emilio bonifacio

i am guessing that there is all kinds of mischief one can get into at mos eisley spaceport, so the vegas code probably stands - what happens on tatooine stays on tatooine.  unless you're luke skywalker bragging about taking out womprats to a group of rebel pilots.

hand me downs that fit my collection perfectly

i used to receive hand me down clothes from my cousins in the late 1970's.  that was a dangerous time for hand me downs due to the many strange fashions of the time. these days, my hand me downs come in the way of cards, and night owl's unwanted cards are among the ones i appreciate the most.

thanks to the large number of folks who send cards to night owl, he accumulates lots of cool dodger doubles, and so i wind up with some nice hand me downs. should i say hand me downs again, or just show some cards?  right.

2011 topps roy campanella cognac parallel

the mustache was not a good look for campy.  my favorite thing about these retired player short print cards in 2011 was the dirty/aged baseball topps used behind the logo.  it was a nice touch.

2011 topps jonathan broxton diamond anniversary parallel

i must have missed the trade last year that sent broxton from cincinnati to milwaukee.  it's good to see his k/9 ratio is back up with the brew crew, but so is his era, unfortunately.

2008 topps chrome andruw jones xfractor

even andruw jones dodger cards are welcome.  i'm not entirely sure night owl had a double of this one - he may just have wanted andruw out of his house.

2011 bowman platinum prospects allen webster xfractor

webster was part of the big 2012 trade between the dodgers and the red sox. he started 18 games for boston over the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and is now in the diamondbacks organization.

it's not all parallels and shiny stuff that comes from night owl - there are other cool cards like this 1989 jj nissen superstars orel hershiser oddball

jj nissen is a bread company, by the way.

i even accept junk (or is this just trash) cards like this 1995 fleer ramon martinez card

it's still a dodger card, and it might just be one that i need.

here's a 1998 fleer metal universe card of catcher henry blanco

actually, blanco never caught for the dodgers.  he made his big league debut with the dodgers in 1997 and hit a single in his first at bat and a home run in his third, and played third base and first - not catcher.  he spent 1998 in the minors and then began a ten-team journey through the major leagues that lasted through the 2013 season.

here's another backstop who actually did catch for the dodgers - todd hundley on a 1999 upper deck victory card

hundley had two stints with the dodgers, the second of which was pretty bad.

2003 donruss diamond kings odalis perez silver foil parallel

perez was actually worthy of being a diamond king following the 2002 season. he posted the best numbers of his career, winning 15 games with an era of 3.00 and a whip of 0.99.  he also gave us a ball during a game in anaheim in 2006.

2002 topps roy campanella 1952 reprints

and so the post comes full circle, although this is a clean shaven campy.

i've got more night owl hand me downs to show some other time, and i'm pulling together some of my own to send back his way.  thanks greg!

on the road with octavio dotel

i realize that this is a topic that has been done before, but i've already done these types of posts for tommy davis, bob miller, and mike morgan, so i would feel remiss to leave out the most well-traveled player of all-time, octavio dotel.  especially since he was, for a short time like the others mentioned, a dodger.

dotel's big league career began with the mets (that's one team) in 1999 (here's a 2000 upper deck card)

even winning a game in the nlcs against the braves that year.  however, dotel was traded to the astros (two) in december of 1999 in the mike hampton deal, so he got an astros card in the later series of that same set

the astros converted dotel to a reliever, and he pitched for them for four-plus seasons before he was sent to the a's (three) during the 2004 campaign in the three-team deal that netted the 'stros carlos beltran.  this is a 2005 fleer tradition card

showing dotel in the green and gold.  from there, dotel became a free agent after the 2005 season and signed a one year deal with the yankees (four).  he signed another free agent deal after the 2006 season, this time with the royals (five).  topps issued a card of him wearing the kansas city uniform as part of the 2007 topps set

but he was again traded midseason, this time to the braves (six).  so, topps put him in the update & highlights set that year (this is the gold parallel)

and the photographer had him pose such that dotel has a light standard growing out of the side of his face.

after finishing out the 2007 season with the braves, dotel spent 2008 and 2009 with the white sox (seven) before joining the pirates (eight) for the start of the 2010 season.  at the trading deadline that year, the dodgers (nine) sent james mcdonald and andrew lambo to pittsburgh for dotel.  topps was kind enough to fake him into a dodger uniform for the 2010 update set (here's the walmart black parallel)

even though the dodgers traded dotel to the rockies (ten) in mid-september.  for the record, dotel pitched in 19 games as a dodger, going 1-1 with a save and a 3.38 era.

dotel began the 2011 season with the toronto blue jays (eleven). here's his 2011 topps card

once again, however, dotel was traded during the season.  this time, he was headed to the cardinals (twelve), and was included as such in the 2011 topps update set (this is a cognac parallel)

dotel won a world series ring as a member of the 2011 cardinals.  he pitched in all three postseason series, winning a game in both the nlds and nlcs, but losing one in the fall classic.

he was back in the world series again in 2012, but this time it was as a member of the detroit tigers (his thirteenth team - a major league record).  here's his 2012 topps update card showing him as a motor city kitty

the tigers lost that series, but brought dotel back for the 2013 season.  unfortunately, he remained unsigned after the season ended, and his big league career was over.

13 teams in 15 seasons is pretty impressive, and i'm glad dotel came through los angeles on his tour of duties, even if ned gave away mcdonald and lambo for six weeks of a replacement level reliever.

yankee memorials for the voice of god, the boss, and the major

july of 2010 was not kind to the yankees.  on july 11, bob sheppard, the public address announcer at yankee stadium for 56 years, died at the age of 99.  then, their long time owner, 80-year old george steinbrenner, died on july 13 after suffering a heart attack.  just over a week later, ralph houk, who managed the team for much of the 1960's and into the 1970's, passed away on july 21 at the age of 90.

steinbrenner's passing came on the day of the 2010 all-star game, and the yankee representatives in the midsummer classic wore a black armband in his honor.  here's robinson cano's 2010 topps update card showing the black armband he wore during that game.

after the break, however, a different memorial for steinbrenner was fashioned, and a memorial patch for sheppard was added as well.

steinbrenner's patch (featuring his name, initials, and nickname of "the boss") was worn on the left chest as seen on kerry wood's 2010 topps update card

as well as lance berkman's 2011 topps card

the best example of it that i have is this 2011 topps marquee robinson cano card

so cano represents both steinbrenner memorials in my binder.

the patch for sheppard was worn on the left sleeve, and can be seen on the alex rodriguez 2011 topps highlight card below

that's the card that i have in my binder for the sheppard patch, although it is tough to make out the details of the patch.  here's a better look at it

there were a few games prior to houk's passing in which the yankees wore both patches, but after houk died, they added the black armband to the left sleeve as seen in the marquee cano and the the wood, berkman, and a-rod topps cards above.  here's a 2011 topps curtis granderson card that shows all three memorials pretty nicely.

i use the 2011 topps yankee team card as my representative for the houk memorial

even though all three are present.  only the black armband is visible on mariano rivera, however, so the houk tribute is somewhat isolated.

sheppard was the 'voice of yankee stadium' as his patch denotes from 1951 through early september, 2007.  also referred to as 'the voice of god', sheppard's recorded voice was used to announce the starting lineup for the final game in (old) yankee stadium on september 21, 2008, as well as every derek jeter home at bat up for the remainder of jeter's career.  this also included jeter's at bat in the 2014 all-star game in minneapolis, and his introduction at the 2010 all-star game in anaheim which came just a couple of days after sheppard's death.

steinbrenner purchased the yankees in 1973 with a group of other investors who quickly realized that "there is nothing in life quite so limited as being a limited partner of george steinbrenner".  steinbrenner ran the team as he saw fit, famously hiring, firing, and re-hiring managers and general managers along the way. he brought in free agent players to rebuild the club, and was rewarded with world championships in 1977 and 1978.  after losing the 1981 world series to the dodgers and failing to make the postseason for the remainder of the decade, steinbrenner was vocal in his criticism of his team and players, particularly dave winfield. steinbrenner actually hired someone to try to dig up disparaging information on winfield, an act that led to steinbrenner's banishment from day-to-day team management by commissioner fay vincent in 1990.  although he was reinstated in 1993, steinbrenner did not meddle as much in the operations of the club, and he was rewarded with a run of world series titles in the latter part of the decade.  the yankees won their seventh and final world series of steinbrenner's ownership in 2009.

houk, nicknamed 'the major', took over for casey stengel as the yankee manager in 1961, and led the team to world series victories that year and the following season as well.  his team won a third straight pennant in 1963, but the yankees were swept by the dodgers in the ensuing fall classic.  houk moved to the front office after that, and as the general manager, he hired yogi berra and later johnny keane to manage the club.  houk fired keane during the 1966 season and took over the reins once again, but couldn't bring the yankees to finish higher than second place in any of the following seven seasons. after the 1973 season, steinbrenner's first as the owner, houk resigned and took the tigers' managerial job instead. although there was speculation that houk didn't enjoy working for steinbrenner was the reason for his departure, houk maintained that he was instead frustrated by the constant booing of the yankee fans.