double plays in miniature

after i struck out on a justin turner card in the 2014 topps mini box break hosted by cards on cards, i decided to pick one up on sportlots, along with a few other double play turns, to go along with another alex guerrero card

since i did receive one in the break.

i picked up two of mark ellis' card

one for the dodger collection, and one for the dp binder.

here's the elusive turner card

i like all of the colors.

rickie weeks joined the shopping cart

as did jonathan schoop

jose altuve (with mike trout)

donovan solano

and jonathan villar

i also had this 2013 topps mini ian desmond card hanging around,

waiting for the proper post to come along.  today was its lucky day, i guess.

i need a new favorite dodger

it turns out that yesterday was quite a day for the dodgers in terms of player personnel.  gone are dee gordon and dan haren (i already had a post queued up for later today before this other deal was made official) and in are jimmy rollins, howie kendrick, and some relatively unknown marlins.  well, add matt kemp to the list of former dodgers as he was dealt to the padres for yasmani grandal and a couple of other players.

here's kemp's 2006 upper deck rookie card

kemp was my favorite dodger, supplanting nomar.  he was more than that, however, as i referred to him as my baseball salvation - the guy i thought would be anchoring the team for 10 or 15 years.  i traveled to colorado to see kemp play not too long after he was called up. he was hitting around .350 at the time, and he didn't disappoint me, hitting his first career double and driving in a couple of runs.  he hit two home runs in the series finale, and i was hooked.

there probably won't be any 2015 cards of kemp wearing dodger blue, unless he's in the topps flagship series 1 release i guess.  here are some cards from the past, then, to keep my spirits up.

2008 topps chrome refractor

2010 topps triple threads emerald parallel

2010 upper deck jersey relic

2012 bowman's best

2012 topps museum collection

which reminds me that i need to do an official duke snider memorial patch post

2012 topps triple threads

2013 topps mini

and a 2014 topps chrome refractor

there's no doubt in my mind that kemp is now my favorite non-dodger, and that clayton kershaw is my favorite dodger.  there's also no doubt in my mind that i'll be heading to san diego in 2015 to see the bison play.

the last dodger pitcher to win the mvp award is clayton kershaw

the national league hadn't had a pitcher win the most valuable player award since bob gibson took home the hardware in 1968.  now, for the first time in my lifetime, a pitcher has won the nl mvp award and it's a guy who throws for my favorite team.

you can say that it's because giancarlo stanton got hurt towards the end of the season, but it doesn't matter.  clayton kershaw is the 2014 nl mvp.

from such humble beginnings - this is his rookie card from 2008 topps update & highlights

don't worry - i've got more cards to show.

2009 upper deck o-pee-chee

2011 topps diamond duos, with madison bumgarner

bumgarner had a historically fantastic postseason, no doubt.  kershaw did not.  hopefully that just means that his eventual championship run will be that much sweeter.

2011 topps marquee

the brooklyn baby blues.  i wonder if the dodgers will ever play in the robins' 1916 checked uniforms.  maybe in a couple of years to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the franchise's first world series appearance?

2012 bowman chrome

2012 bowman's best

both of those cards show the duke snider memorial patch.  duke never won an mvp award, although he and teammate roy campanella came very close to sharing the award in 1955.

2013 topps toys 'r' us purple parallel

2013 topps mini

2014 topps allen & ginter pastime's pastime

with a nod to his philanthropic efforts on the back

2014 topps gypsy queen n174 insert

2014 topps heritage

2014 topps heritage league leaders

2014 topps heritage then and now with sandy koufax

kershaw has more in common with the 1963 version of sandy koufax - that was the year that koufax won the mvp award.

kershaw has joined a select list of players with this award, and he also joins maury wills, koufax, steve garvey, and kirk gibson as los angeles dodgers to win the mvp.  i am hopeful that in 2015 kershaw will join koufax, garvey, and gibson as a player to win a postseason mvp award as well.

a 2x3 heroes guessing game

jeff at 2x3 heroes sent me one of his plain white envelopes a while back, stuffed with a third of a nine-pocket sheet.  each of the three pockets had some cool cards in it, and jeff added a note saying 'guess which pocket was not from a nickel box.  let's see if i can figure it out.

pocket #1 - 1987 fleer fernando valenzuela all-star team insert

this was a tough pull for me back in 1987.  there's a steve sax card in the insert set, too.  this could have been more than a nickel

1985 fleer limited edition steve garvey

this card is from a boxed set, so it could go for more than 5 cents.

2004 topps all-time fan favorites steve garvey

all-time fan favorite cards shouldn't be selling for a nickel.  especially ones with steve garvey on them.

pocket #2 - 1990 pacific baseball legends steve garvey

garvey in a dodger uniform is worth more than a nickel

2001 upper deck decade 1970's steve garvey

i wonder if upper deck ever had plans to do a 1980's set like this.  they could have used a modified 1983 topps design and made cards of guys like dale murphy and orel hershiser.   i would have collected that set, just like i did with this one when it came out.

2013 topps hanley ramirez chasing history insert

it's not the foil version, so it could be in a nickel box, i suppose

pocket #3 - 2013 topps mini adrian gonzalez

miniature dodger stadium background action available only online.

2014 topps gypsy queen yasiel puig

a short print of the dodger right fielder

2014 topps gypsy queen yasiel puig glove stories insert

one of puig's two cards in this insert set

ok, i think it is pretty obvious which pocket did not feature cards from the nickel box.  puig is still in the cases at the card shows, and i'm hoping that he plays well enough to keep his cards under glass for a long time.

thanks for the cards jeff!

turn it davey!

i was happy and disappointed at the same time when i found out that davey lopes made the 2013 topps update postseason hero autograph checklist.  happy that there was a new lopes card coming out, disappointed that it was an auto only, and even more disappointed when i found out it was limited to just 10 copies.  then i found out that the photo topps used has lopes turning a double play!  i missed out on the first one to hit ebay, but won the auction for the second one.

i doubt i will find another one for the double play binder, however.  i give topps high marks for the photo selection - along with the fact that it's nice dp action, they used a photo from 1981 which goes nicely with the text on the back which focuses on the 1981 world series.

here are some other 2013 topps update double play cards that i've neglected to show - brandon phillips

luis valbuena (emerald)

and luis valbuena (gold)

now for some 2013 topps minis - gordon beckham

and danny espinosa

along with dee gordon

now just a couple of regular 2013 topps - robert andino (gold)

alexei ramirez

marco scutaro

and ruben tejada

and now we'll leave the 2013 topps family and see some 2013 bowman.  yeah, still topps family.

bowman chrome prospects luis sardinas

regular 2013 bowman prospects luis sardinas

and 2013 bowman prospects luis sardinas international parallel

he's from venezuela.

i'll finish this double play centered post with a card from the 1985 7-up cubs set.  it's ryne sandberg's card, but bill russell is the star

i wish the dodger middle infielders of my youth were on more cards.