31 May 2009

more waxaholic goodness

i am slowly catching up with trades. here's a bunch of goodies that came from waxaholic.

1989 donruss mookie wilson. a nice dodger stadium shot. there's not much else that is redeeming about 1989 donruss.

1990 donruss bryn smith diamond king.
1990 donruss is worse. i must say that i requested these first two cards specifically. the mookie for the dodger stadium background and this one because smith is from my hometown. i like the cave painting on this card. on the right you have the ocean waves (although the water is orange), a red tee-pee, a purple river, and an orange sun.

1991 score greg gagne.this one i pulled from some junk wax he sent along. future dodger is getting dave henderson's elbow in his nuts as he turns two. it's a thankless job.

and then there were three 1991 upper deck dodgers i asked for - bob ojeda first.
ojeda went 12-9 for the dodgers in 1991. ojeda had nothing to do with it, but the giants eliminated the dodgers on the second to last day of the season that year. boo.

orel hershiser.
orel looks like he is 12 and thinks his glove is cuddly. hershiser was 7-2 in 1991 after missing most of 1990 with a shoulder injury. it was his last winning season as a dodger.

eric karros.
the 1992 nl roy went 1 for 14 in 1991. his only hit was a 12th inning rbi double off the immortal milt hill.

thanks captain canuck!

30 May 2009

rub a dub dub, three men in a tub...

and who do you think they be?

a butcher,a baker, and a candel(aria)-stick maker.
turn them out, dodgers all three.

sorry.

29 May 2009

don zimmer through the mail success!

don zimmer signed and returned this 1963 topps card in just 10 days. i love this card. zim came back to the dodgers prior to the 1963 season. he had last played for them in 1959. he was traded to the cubs prior to the 1960 season, and then selected by the mets in the expansion draft prior to the 1962 season. they traded him to the reds a month into the season. zim spent only a few months with the dodgers in 1963 as he was purchased by the senators in june that year. he closed out his playing career with the senators in 1965. after all that, this card shows him in a cubs uniform and an airbrushed hat. you can kind of see the cubs' 'c' if you look closely. the inset picture must be from his first tenure with the dodgers, so it's at least 3 years old.

zimmer shares a nickname (popeye) with steve garvey. for zim, it was because of his face rather than his forearms, though. i just started reading pete rose's book, and was surprised to find that his dad and zimmer's dad were pals. it sounds like the reds missing out on zimmer (an undersized player) contributed to their signing rose (another undersized player), or at least giving him a shot. zimmer has lived a life of baseball - player, coach, manager, advisor, he's done it all. he was even married at home plate! his many adventures (and mis-adventures) are too numerous to touch on here, so why not read one of his books?

btw, this is the third ttm auto i have received from a member of the 1955 world champions. that's pretty cool! thanks zim!

28 May 2009

no cardboard problems here

quite a while back, i took advantage of an offer marie made at a cardboard problem and received some dodger cards.

among the cards were these guys:

1981 topps rudy law.law took over center from rick monday and kept it warm for kenny landreaux. i imagine rudy was a little bit bummed seeing landreaux catch the final out of the 1981 world series.

2009 upper deck first edition nomar garciaparra.nomah! i am pretty sure (maybe) that the national sliding into second is paul 'heart & soul' loduca. maybe not.

2008 topps heritage high number angel berroa.this is a pretty blurry photo they used. i am guessing the hat is shopped.

2008 topps russell martin.this really doesn't look like martin to me. it looks more like pete incaviglia. thank goodness topps used a better photo on the chrome and stadium club cards.

2009 upper deck first edition manny ramirez.is this atlanta or saint louis? i wonder if there are any braves/cardinals fans that collect these cards the way i do with dodger stadium shots.

2009 upper deck spectrum matt kemp.no legs, but he keeps his bat with him for balance. these cards are ugly. shiny, but ugly.

2009 topps heritage dodgers team.i'm guessing that's joe torre front and center - that's where lasorda used to be, anyway. if so, why does he have number 62 on? very strange.

1992 leaf darryl strawberry.not too much to say about darryl, so let's move on.

1980 topps manny mota record breaker.i used up a lot of my manny mota material in the ttm post, but i will add that i was very disappointed that the dodgers did not reactivate him when pedro borbon jr was on the team. we could have really heard the dodger stadium announcer say: 'pinch hitting for pedro borbon, manny mota'. good times.

thanks again for the cards! i am sorry it has taken so long for me to post them, marie!

27 May 2009

manny mota through the mail success!

pinch hitter extraordinaire manny mota signed and returned this 1978 topps card in just 10 days! manny is in his 30th year as a dodger coach - he's nearing don zimmer and nick altrock territory as a baseball lifer. best known (to me, anyway) for his pinch hitting prowess, manny had some very solid seasons for the pirates and dodgers early in his career. he hit .332 in 116 games in 1966, and then .321 in 120 games in 1967. after the 1968 season, he was selected by the expansion montreal expos in the expansion draft. he was traded to the dodgers (along with maury wills) in the middle of the 1969 season.

an all star in 1973, manny went on to set the all time record for pinch hits in 1979 and retired from playing to become a coach. late in the 1980 season, however, the dodgers re-activated him, and he made 7 pinch hit appearances, adding 3 hits to his record for a career total of 148 pinch hits (since surpassed by lenny harris). mota was activated again towards the end of the 1982 season, and he made his only appearance, the final of his career, in the bottom of the 13th inning on september 1st against the cardinals. down 6-5 with steve garvey on second, mota pinch hit for mike scioscia against jim kaat. he grounded out, but at least he moved the runner over! unfortunately, dave sax would line out to end the game, and the dodgers would finish one game behind the braves. it wasn't manny's fault, though - this was the year they lost 8 straight towards the end of september, and had their season ended by joe morgan.

anyway, manny mota is one of the most beloved dodgers, and i am very happy to have this card in my collection. it's also the 5th piece in my modest 1978 topps dodgers autograph project.

here's the tally:

team card
dusty baker
glenn burke
ron cey - through the mail success!
vic davalillo
terry forster
mike garman
steve garvey
ed goodson
jerry grote
burt hooton
charlie hough
tommy john
lee lacy
tom lasorda
dave lopes
ted martinez
manny mota - through the mail success!
rick monday
johnny oates - ebay success!
doug rau - through the mail success!
lance rautzhan - through the mail success!
rick rhoden
bill russell
reggie smith
elias sosa
don sutton
steve yeager
nlcs (davey lopes)

5/29 = 17%

thanks manny!

26 May 2009

7 retail packs of 2009 topps series 2 - a case study

pack 1:

kevin frandsen. not sure what he is diving towards. very strange.
bobby crosby.
pablo sandoval. two giants already. blecch.
desert power- upton & young.
chris snyder. back to back d-backs.
vladdy! legends of the game. this seems glossier than series one. mark teixeira turkey red.
carlos beltran topps town.
adam everett.
paul bako.
free andy laroche. with russ martin, too! seems like old times.
rick ankiel.

pack 2:

adam laroche.
pronk.
mike fontenot.
trevor hoffmann.
k-rod turkey red.
derek jeter topps town.
orlando cabrera.
ryan perry.
dana eveland.
john lannan.
ryan theriot.
luke montz.

pack 3:

gavin floyd.
prince fielder.
cecil cooper.
chris carter.
felix pie.
kosuke fukudome topps town.
chief lefties - sowers and laffey. no mention of cliff lee.
alex cora.
alexi casilla.
joakim soria.
esteban german. a scoreboard background and washed out coloring.
eric chavez. three layers of depth on this card. feels kind of like a 1973 shot.
pack 4:

joe mauer. on his way to a third batting title. mike aviles. with the f'ed up rookie cup, but it's a double play turn.
bill hall.
ramon hernandez. one of those head shots with mask on. it's been done by topps before - 1995 for sure.
francisco rodriguez.
jim palmer sp. not a bad pull for a retail grab.
jon lester turkey red.
derek jeter topps town. the first double.
franklin gutierrez.
rick ankiel. another double.
tony pena.
kevin kouzmanoff.

pack 5:

this is a pack with very few eyes.
nelson cruz. helmet bill covering his eyes.
scott hairston. sunglasses covering his eyes.
delmon young. helmet bill covering his eyes.
michael young. one eye visible!
alexei ramirez. turning two, sunglasses covering his eyes, jd drew injured on the play.
willy taveras. clear glasses, but bill of cap covering at least one eye.
tim redding gold parallel #0126/2009. both eyes visible!
dustin pedroia topps town. helmet bill covering his eyes.
trevor crowe. helmet bill covering his eyes.
mike cameron. helmet bill covering his eyes.
brian schneider. helmet bill covering his eyes.
christian guzman. head turned away from photographer.

the eyes don't have it.

pack 6:

adam kennedy.
brandon backe.
lou pinella.
andrew bailey.
kerry wood.
career best legends rogers hornsby. cool.
ryan braun topps town.
josh willingham.
rocco baldelli.
paul maholm.
rickie weeks.
hank blalock.

pack 7:

dave trembley.
victor martinez.
jim leyland. hitting fungoes. one of the more interesting manager cards.
gregor blanco.
edgar renteria.
john smoltz. as a red sock.
pee wee! legends of the game insert.roy oswalt topps town.
nick evans.
scott kazmir.
andre ethier. finally a dodger, on the second to last card. barry zito. bookended by giants.

not too bad. only a couple dupes. i still need a few series one cards, so feel free to help out! i'll make it worth your while!

21 May 2009

hoyt wilhelm final tribute - the card that should have been

in 1972, hoyt wilhelm concluded his hall of fame career as a dodger with a then-record 1070 games pitched and 227 saves. but, because the dodgers released him in july of that year, wilhelm did not warrant a card in the 1973 topps set. well, i am here to right that wrong. here is wilhelm's final tribute card, a night card no less.

i think this card would fit in pretty nicely with the 1973 set.

wilhelm bounced around a little at the end of his career, but still managed to pitch well for the dodgers in 1971 after a terrible first half with the braves. he finished that year with 3 saves for the dodgers in 9 games and an era of 1.02. in 1972, though, he saved just one game and had an era of 4.62 in 16 games before being released 5 days before his 50th birthday. yes, his 50th birthday! his last strikeout victim was tony perez.

wilhelm was voted into the hall of fame in 1985 and died in 2002. here's to you, hoyt!

20 May 2009

skoonj. from the italian scungilli, meaning snail.

i started re-reading roger kahn's 'the boys of summer' last week. it has been a long time since i read it, and i know i certainly didn't appreciate a lot of kahn's writing the first time around. in fact, i may have just skipped and read only the parts that actually had to do with the players. anyway, carl furillo was one of those guys who i should have remembered more about. the only thing i really knew about him growing up was that he wore #6 - garvey's number - which you can not quite see on his 1958 topps card. the reading rifle meant a lot more to the dodgers than that - he was a huge part of their offense and defense from the late 40's through the 50's, and was a key component on their 1955 world series championship team. he led the national league in 1953 with a .344 batting average, and according to his bio on wikipedia, he once threw a runner out at first base after the batter had apparently hit a single. i thought that only happened in little league! his other nickname was 'skoonj'. they just don't make nicknames like that anymore. the dodgers of furillo's era had 'peewee', 'preacher', 'oisk', 'skoonj' and who knows what else. sure, they also had 'newk' and 'campy' which are more comparable to today's nicknames, but 'skoonj' is something special.

1958 was furillo's last full season, and he finished 23rd in the national league mvp voting that year. he was a part-time player in 1959, but still helped the dodgers win their second world series. he was unfortunately injured in 1960 and released by the dodgers, falling about a year short of being a 15-year player and qualifying for a higher pension. furillo sued the dodgers and, although he won $21,000, he felt that he was blackballed by baseball as a result of his legal action. i have to say, i don't ever recall furillo being a part of the old-timers games the dodgers used to host, or hear his name the way others from that era were mentioned by vin scully, ross porter and jerry doggett, but i can't consider that enough evidence of any formal blackballing. perhaps the fact that roger kahn's book finds furillo working as an elevator installer in the world trade center is more telling, although certainly not conclusive.

still, i wonder if the dodgers ever extended an offer to furillo later on, the way they welcomed don newcombe back to the organization in the 70's. it seems to me that skoonj deserved to be a bigger part of the dodger family.

19 May 2009

cleaning out the rest of my goose joak files

here are the rest of my active player 2009 goose joak originals so far. i hope to eventually have a card for each member of the 40 man roster, and i am getting close.

first, a classic combo type of manny and vlad.no doubt exchanging hair styling tips.

xavier paul. a recent call up - splitting time with juan pierre in left while manny is out.

another recent call up, brent leach.with russell martin congratulating him after his major league debut.

delwyn (not delmon) young.
i understand he was traded to the pirates a while back. oh well, i made this card a long time ago, and it's not going to be wasted.

jason repko.the oft-injured repko. the braves showed some interest in acquiring repko recently, according to ken rosenthal. i wonder why.

a couple more 40 man roster guys - lucas may.
stuck behind russell martin.

and jamie hoffmann.
a local kid from new ulm, mn. he has a few bowman cards already, and was recently promoted to aaa.

18 May 2009

johnny oates ebay auto success!

here's johnny oates, one of the two 1978 topps dodgers who are unfortunately deceased.
i was happy to see this on ebay with a $5.99 buy it now and free shipping.

oates was acquired by the dodgers from the phillies in exchange for former rookie of the year ted sizemore. he saw a fair amount of action in 1977 backing up steve yeager, along with jerry grote and kevin pasley. after three years in la, oates would play for the yankees until retiring in 1981.

he would go on to manage the orioles and rangers, leading the rangers to three division championships (including their first ever in 1996) and winning the 1996 american league manager of the year award along the way. he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2001 and died three years later. his number is retired by the texas rangers.

this is the fourth step in my modest 1978 topps dodgers autograph project.

here's the tally:

team card
dusty baker
glenn burke
ron cey - through the mail success!
vic davalillo
terry forster
mike garman
steve garvey
ed goodson
jerry grote
burt hooton
charlie hough
tommy john
lee lacy
tom lasorda
dave lopes
ted martinez
manny mota
rick monday
johnny oates - ebay success!
doug rau - through the mail success!
lance rautzhan - through the mail success!
rick rhoden
bill russell
reggie smith
elias sosa
don sutton
steve yeager
nlcs (davey lopes)

4/29 = 14%

17 May 2009

does anybody want a bunch of colorado rockies cards?

from walker to helton and ey to tulo, they're all here, waiting for a proper home. although, i will keep this dodger stadium shot of juan uribe preparing to putt for the masters win.leave a comment or send me an email.

help a blogger out!

16 May 2009

don hoak, i did not know you

i received this don hoak card in a trade about 30 years ago. there was a friend of mine who lived about a block over that collected cards, and i would trade with him often. one day he told me about a guy across the street from him who had some old cards. i very naively knocked on his door and asked his wife if he wanted to trade some cards. he was a giants fan, and claimed to be curious about what the current cards looked like, so he took some of my 1979 topps giants (darrell evans and johnnie lemaster, i am sure of, plus some more i would guess) for a 1955 bowman don hoak. by the way, that darrell evans card is the reverse of the 1979 topps steve garvey card, but that's for another post.

i did not know who don hoak was, just that he was a dodger at one point. probably around the time that television was really catching on. my dad didn't really know who don hoak was either, although he knew that he had also played for the pirates.

well, it turns out that hoak was a member of two world championship teams: the 1955 brooklyn dodgers and the 1960 pittsburgh pirates, both of whom beat the yankees in 7 games. hoak, in fact, was at 3rd base in 1955's game 7 when johnny podres shut out the yankees. he also made the last out in the bottom of the 8th in the 1960 game 7, setting the stage for bill mazeroski's leadoff walkoff home run in the bottom of the 9th. he even finished 2nd to teammate dick groat in the nl mvp voting that year, ahead of willie mays, ernie banks and another teammate named roberto clemente!

but maybe the coolest thing i have learned about don hoak is the story of his wife, jill corey. check it out.

15 May 2009

more traded sets contest winnings

if you hurry, you can still get your guess in for this week's contest at traded sets. andy has quite a jackpot if you are that fortunate, but even a win will get you some great cards. case in point, simply because i correctly predicted a mike lowell home run (and nobody else correctly predicted more than one player/event), andy sent me the following cards:

2008 topps update & highlights angel berroa game used bat.how appropriate that it came from a 'traded' set. berroa filled in decently for furcal last season, and was doing the same for the yankees this year as they waited for alex rodriguez to get healthy.

2008 topps update & highlights eric stults.a shutout in his last start. the lesser-hyped dodgers' lefty starters (stults and wolf) are pitching better than the phenom (kershaw).

2008 topps update & highlights classic combos dan haren and russell martin.i think a better pairing would have been aaron rowand and russell martin. as in rowan(d) and martin. rowan and martin. get it? a laugh-in reference. man, do i feel old.

2009 topps heritage vladimir guerrero.his hair looks really flat. in the inset photo, you can really tell that one of his legs is shorter than the other.

2009 upper deck starquest vladimir guerrero.i'm too lazy to research the all star game patch on his sleeve to see if this photo is from 2008 or not.

thanks andy! i'm rooting for teixiera to bring me home the jackpot this week!