bringing the steve garvey binders up to the present

steve garvey has maintained a presence in card sets since he last played in a big league game in 1987, and i am happy for it.  i don't have a lot of his recent cards - mostly due to the vast number of parallels - but i have some.

here is sheet 71 from my steve garvey binders:

those cards are:

1. 2013 topps museum collection jumbo lumber relic /30
2. 2013 topps tribute tribute to the stars autograph /24
3. 2014 panini classics significant signatures silver autograph /199
4. 2014  panini immaculate collection immaculate ink /49
5. 2014 topps 75th anniversary stamped 1975 topps mvp buyback
6. 2014 topps 75th anniversary stamped 1979 topps buyback
7. 2014 topps museum collection jumbo lumber relic /25
8. 2014 upper deck goodwin champions
9. 2014 upper deck goodwin champions mini

not much difference between the 2013 and 2014 museum collection relics, is there?  getting back to the parallels, there are three different versions of the 2013 topps tribute tribute to the stars, each numbered to 24, plus purple parallels of each numbered to 1.  lots more parallels of most of the other cards on the sheet, too.  i can't find any information on the 75th anniversary buybacks as far as which garvey cards were part of the buyback, but i am happy to have two of them.

here are the backs:

only three cards on this last sheet as of now, although cards will get pushed as i add some 2005 donruss studio parallels and other cards that i've picked up in the last couple of weeks, and find that 2013 panini hometown heroes card that went awol.

here's sheet 72:

those cards are:

1. 2014 upper deck goodwin champions autograph
2. 2015 donruss signature series blue autograph /49
3. 2015 topps original stamped 1979 topps buyback

looks like topps bought a few of the 1979 topps card - it was a double print, after all.

here are the backs:

so that brings an end to the 9-pocket pages, but don't worry, there are still a few more sheets to be shown.  stay tuned...

when the cards go blue

it's nice when the coloring of a card accentuates elements in the photo, and it is particularly nice when it is dodger blue that is being accentuated.  following up on my recent decision to complete the 2007 topps chrome blue refractor dodger team set (which is not really a recent decision - as a team collector, i had already decided to complete it - it's more like prioritizing), i have picked up a trio of cards.

2007 topps chrome jd drew blue refractor

2007 topps chrome brad penny blue refractor

and 2007 topps chrome juan pierre blue refractor

see what i mean?  jd's helmet, brad's stirrups, and juan's fake blue jersey all look better surrounded by those blue borders.

here are some other blue parallels.

2010 topps finest manny ramirez blue refractor

and 2010 topps opening day manny ramirez toppstown

go ahead. steal the code.

sometimes, the blues don't quite match, which was the case with the walmart parallels that started showing up in 2012.

2012 topps dee gordon walmart blue parallel

2013 topps kenley jansen walmart blue parallel

2014 topps hanley ramirez walmart blue parallel

2014 topps update chone figgins walmart blue parallel

and then there are some blue parallels that sparkle, like this 2013 topps dee gordon silver slate blue sparkle parallel

with dee turning two.

sometimes, the blue is subtle, as is the case with this 2014 panini hall of fame don drysdale blue refractor

numbered 54/75 - one off of his jersey number!  just kidding - that does not excite me, but blue cards featuring the big blue wrecking crew (yes, by that i mean dodgers - not new york football giants) do.

turning two in black and blue and other colors, too

here's a quick post to show some double play cards that i picked up last november during a black friday spree.  timely, i know.

2012 topps chrome dee gordon black refractor

and 2012 topps chrome dee gordon blue refractor

blue works better for the dodgers, and so i picked up a couple others as well

2009 topps chrome orlando hudson blue refractor

(hello, juan castro)

and 2011 topps chrome rafael furcal blue refractor

with the position error

i am on record as noting that the best card in 2014 topps update belonged to justin turner, but before he was turning two as a dodger, he made the pivot in the flagship set as a met.  i picked up some of the parallels for my dp collection

2014 topps justin turner gold

2014 topps justin turner red hot foil

2014 topps justin turner toys r us purple

2014 topps justin turner walmart blue

unfortunately, turner wasn't included in the chrome set last year - either as a dodger or a met - so no blue refractor for me.

speaking of blue refractors, i am still trying to piece together the 2007 topps chrome blue refractor dodger team set, and could use some help...

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.

the garvey train moves onward

i've posted all of the pages from my steve garvey oddball binder, as well as all of the pages of cards from his playing days.  as i begin to show off the sheets that contain his post-active career cards, i'll take a moment to display some of my most recent garvey acquisitions.

the garv is featured in the 2015 panini donruss signature series insert set, and i have obtained only the blue variation

it's numbered to 49.

i've also snagged a few msa discs that will find their way to the aforementioned oddball binder shortly.  here's the 1976 crane disc

which i like because they replaced the generic stars on the front with the 'crane' name.  here's the back

that looks like the vlasic pickle mascot.

this is a 1976 msa blank back disc

told ya.

and this is a 1977 dairy isle disc. the front looks like the blank back (except for the copyright date)

but the back looks like this

i do not know what sort of creature that is supposed to be under the 'dairy'.

i was surprised to find out that i didn't have this 1981 topps sticker

so i'm glad i dropped ten cents for it at the card show i attended recently.  i do have the o-pee-chee version, so you can understand my confusion.  perhaps.

here are a couple of cards from 2011 in the game heroes and prospects.  the first is a dual relic card of garvey and trayvon robinson

robinson was hitting well in triple-a in 2011 after batting. 300 the previous two seasons when the dodgers traded him to seattle.  after playing for the m's in 2011 and 2012, robinson was dealt to the orioles where he played in their system for a year.  he then spent last year at triple-a for the dodgers, but is now in the diamondbacks system after a quick spin with the padres this winter.  whew.

this is a solo card of the garv, featuring a large jersey swatch and an auto

it has a supposed print run of 9 (it's a silver parallel apparently), but there is no serial numbering on the card.  hey - card companies!  for print runs that low, please stamp the cards. thank you.

the last card in this post is stamped, although it's a 2014 topps 75th anniversary buyback of garvey's double printed 1979 topps card

the only other 2014 buyback i have is of garvey's 1975 topps 1974 nl mvp card which he shares with jeff burroughs, so i'm glad to have a solo card.  still, this is the same one topps stamped as part of the 2015 topps originals inserts

which i also have in my collection.  how about some variety?  in fact, topps, i've got some cards i'd be happy to sell you.  just let me know.

lots more garvey goodness to come - stay tuned!

remember when manny launched one 461 feet in houston?

it's been just over six years, so, no, i don't recall that particular home run.  however, thanks to bru at remember the astrodome who sent me this 2010 upper deck insert card

i can at least bluff my way through it and say "oh, yeah - that was the one he hit off of roy oswalt". while that particular manny home run didn't come in the astrodome, obviously, he did hit a couple there during his time with the indians during interleague play.  as an aside, wallet card and i agree that the astrodome is worth remembering.

back to the cards - here's another home run related card from the trade package, a 2015 topps mike piazza first home run insert

kudos to topps for using a photo of piazza from 1992 (note the uniform number is 25, not 31, and the presence of the 30th anniversary of dodger stadium commemorative patch).  piazza hit 7 homers in the astrodome during his career, by the way, but his first career big fly came at dodger stadium against the giants.

let's take a look at a few more cards from the package sent by marc. this is a 1978 tcma the 1960's card of jim gilliam

gilliam did not hit a home run in the astrodome, nor did he homer at colt stadium, the home of the colt .45's before they became the astros and moved into the astrodome when it opened in 1965.  gilliam did, however, hit .400 with 2 triples in his 8 games inside the 8th wonder of the world.

here's a 2014 topps hanley ramirez 1989 design die-cut mini

ramirez didn't debut in the majors until 2005, and by then, the 'stros were in enron/minute maid park.  so far, hanley has hit 3 homers in houston in his career.

like hanley, justin turner (seen here on his 2015 topps heritage card)

didn't make it to the big leagues until well after the astrodome was decommissioned. still, he hit the first of his (so far) 17 career major league home runs in houston during the 2011 season.  too bad he wasn't included in the 1st home run insert set.

here's another card from this year's heritage release - it's dodger manager don mattingly

i feel for the teams who don't get manager cards in heritage releases, and i would like topps to bring the skippers back to the flagship.  donnie baseball never played in houston since the astros were a national league team during his playing days, but as a manager, he's 9-6 against them overall, and i assume some of those wins have come in texas.

speaking of texas, here's a 2015 topps heritage league leader card featuring dallas' own clayton kershaw and a couple of other guys

kershaw's only career home run thus far was his opening day blast at home against the giants in 2013, but on the flip side, he's only allowed one homer at minute maid - to carlos lee in 2009.

i'll finish up this trade post with a card of a guy who hasn't pitched anywhere in the majors yet - julio urias and his 2014 bowman draft picks & prospects mini 'future of the franchise' refractor card

he's only 18, and his k/9 ratio so far as a professional pitcher is over 11.  i'll take that for this franchise's future for sure, just like i'll take great trades like these anytime.  thanks bru!