random notes about random cards

it's time for that sort of post again - a random assortment of cards that have been languishing in my scanned folder for various amounts of time.  excited, aren't you?

random card: 2001 fleer greats of the game carl erskine

random fact: the dodger logo on the card is from the team's los angeles days.  although oisk did pitch for the dodgers following their move to la, both the card's photo and team affiliation refer to him as a brooklyn dodger.  it's better when all of the features of the card match, but i still really like that 2001 greats of the game set.

random card: 2006 upper deck jeff kent

random fact: the player behind kent is jason repko. repko had a card in the 2006 as well, but it was the same number (283) as another player's and seems to be a bit harder to find.

random card: 2011 bowman chris withrow topps 100 insert

random fact: withrow needs to work on his 'suttoning' pose.

random card: 2013 bowman chrome jeremy rathjen mini parallel

random fact: rathjen seems to be looking at the same thing withrow is staring at.

random card: 2014 topps adrian gonzalez spring fever

random fact: gonzalez has mastered his jeremy rathjen pose.

random card: 2014 topps yasiel puig spring fever

random fact: dodger stadium is the only big league stadium with an in-house arborist.  if you've never been, it's worth giving yourself time to enjoy the landscaping, including the abundance of palm trees. that last sentence was a random opinion.

random card: 1982 topps joe ferguson

random fact: this card uses the same photo that topps featured on ferguson's 1981 topps card.

random card: 1985 7-up cubs coaching staff, featuring a member of the 1978 topps dodgers (johnny oates)

random fact: the only start of bill connors' pitching career came against the chicago cubs in 1967.  bet you thought i was going to give you a random oates or zimmer fact, didn't you?

random card: 1990 fleer baseball all-stars canadian steve sax

random fact: the only thing that makes this a canadian card is that it was printed in canada, and i am not sure that there is an american printed version, so it's not even a variation.

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.

it's beginning to look a lot like all-star weekend

when the twins were awarded the all-star game a couple of years ago, i thought for sure that i would be attending a bunch of the events, including possibly the game itself.  now that it's almost here, i've actually turned down tickets to the futures game and celebrity softball game, as well as fanfest.  i thought about buying tickets to the home run derby, but decided not to go through with it.

i was in boston during the 1999 fanfest but didn't go, and i regretted it at the time (i think steve garvey might have been at that one).  there's a slight chance that i might pop into the local card show for a bit tomorrow, but i won't be at the fanfest.

anyway, i was thinking about this because there is a lot of coverage on the local news and downtown minneapolis is all decked out with all-star game graphics, and also because this 1987 topps fernando valenzuela glossy all-star card

has been staring at me from my scanned folder for quite some time.  it was included in a pwe sent my way by a certain jay barker fan.  and it wasn't alone.  a couple of weeks later, there was another pwe in my mailbox with more cards.  here are some of the cards from the two envelopes.

1981 topps jay johnstone

this card scanned kind of crookedly, which suits johnstone.  i am currently wondering who the player behind johnstone is.  it sort of looks like the second number on the back is a 6, which would mean it's rick monday, burt hooton, or pepe frias based on the 1980 roster.

1982 fleer tom niedenfuer

aka mr. judy landers

1984 donruss steve sax

we as bloggers don't show enough 1984 donruss i don't think.  this was such a high target set when it came out.  i completed multiple sets and sold one for about $80 in the late 80's as i recall.   i think i still have two sets today.

1990 fleer mike hartley

and another dodger who wore 43, raul mondesi and the back of his 1992 leaf gold leaf rookie insert

i am really intrigued by the lefty batting photos that leaf used here and on his 1993 leaf card.

2003 upper deck darren dreifort

and 2003 upper deck paul loduca

from 2002 through 2005, i largely ignored upper deck's flagship set, only buying product from carlsbad when it was stuff like 2003 chirography and 2004 legends, so these two cards were especially appreciated.

last but not least, here's a 2011 bowman hiroki kuroda card

i wonder if kuroda gives current teammate mark teixeira grief about spoiling his perfect game back in july of 2008 with an 8th inning double.  there are actually three braves who played in that game that now play with kuroda in new york - teixeira, brian mccann, and kelly johnson.  hopefully kuroda reminds them all that he dominated them that day as a dodger.

thanks for the cards wes!

to the card show i went

i took a couple of hours a few weekends back to attend a card show.  this wasn't the regular monthly twin cities show - it was a semi-annual or quarterly event at a different location.  it is more sparsely attended from what i have seen, but it was where i found my 1955 topps sandy koufax card so it's been worth my time in the past. i wound up spending only a few dollars, and i will show all but one or two cards that i bought in this and one other post.

you can't go wrong with double plays from the discount box.  these 2011 topps update roberto alomar sp diamond

and cognac parallels

were in the 5 for a dollar bin.  as was this cognac carlton fisk sp from the same set.

i spent less than a dime for this 1995 score ricky gutierrez gold rush parallel double play turn

and the same for a 2007 bowman gold parallel of carlos guillen

here's another double play parallel - a 2011 bowman chrome dan uggla blue parallel

from the 5 for a dollar box, as were the rest of the cards below.  i'll run through them quickly.

2011 bowman vladimir guerrero international parallel

2009 topps attax manny ramirez

2014 donruss hanley ramirez press proof numbered parallel

this was the first 2014 donruss card i had seen in person, and the only dodger i pulled from the box.  i actually don't recall seeing any other dodgers, now that i think about it.  i was still in need of a few cards to get to an even 10 for $2, so i pulled a 2014 donruss derek jeter card

plus a 2014 donruss pablo sandoval elite dominator numbered insert

and a 2013 topps chrome matt harvey

for some reason.

i did pick up more dodgers than just the two ramirii above - i'll show those later today.

feels like 1985 (or 2004) times

well, that sucked.  down 2 games to none with their best pitchers having pitched as well as one could have hoped doesn't give me a whole lot of hope.  the dodgers have lost two of the last three postseason series that they have played against the cardinals, and, unless they go 4-0 (or 4-1) in their next few games, they will lose another one.

so, it feels like an appropriate time to show some cards that i received from madding at cards on cards a while back.  he didn't send any cards from 2004 - the last time the dodgers dropped a series to saint louis - but he did send this donruss all-stars card of pedro guerrero from 1985 

that was the year of jack clark and ozzie smith and tom niedenfuer.  enough about that.

there were a healthy number of mike piazza cards in the package, too.  like this fantastic 1994 topps stadium club card

a nice post-play at the plate card featuring piazza wearing the tim crews memorial patch in dodger stadium.  madding sent a few other memorial patch cards that i will show in their respective posts sometime in the future.

here's another piazza play at the plate card, this one coming from 1994 upper deck.

the strongest man in socal was featured on another 1994 upper deck subset card, this one a home field advantage card

which also showcased dodger stadium's symmetrical dimensions.

here's piazza again on a 1995 upper deck card

with a photo that could've fit right in with upper deck's 2010 set

same with this 1998 donruss card from the fan club subset

piazza gets out of the gear and up to the plate on his 1998 upper deck card

which features some spring training agility drills

one last piazza card, this one from 1998 upper deck collector's choice

one of his last dodger cards, too, by the way.

fast forward to 2005 topps opening day, here's kazuhisa ishii signing some autographs

as he is in the 2005 topps chrome set, too

fast forward again to 2011, here's a 2011 bowman dee gordon card

it's another dodger stadium card, and another memorials card as dee's sporting the duke snider memorial patch.

thanks for the trade kerry.  here's hoping the dodgers can even up the series and make more like 2009 than 2004 or 1985.