mota mota mota (mota mota)

hey! it's the last binary day of my lifetime.  i don't plan to be around for 1/1/00 as in 2100, so let's get down to the elevens.  manny mota has worn number 11 since he joined the dodgers in 1969.  i will go out on a limb and guess that the number will be retired by the dodgers when mota retires or passes away, whichever comes first.  i can't imagine that they wouldn't honor the longest tenured coach in team history in that way.

mota, as you know, was a member of the 1978 dodger team - my favorite dodger squad of all-time.  so, i asked mota to sign some cards.  a few different times.  here's a run through my mota ttm successes.

first, 1970 o-pee-chee

contrasted with 1970 topps

1971 topps

is that photo from the same time as the 1970 shot?  i would say yes.
1972 topps

and 1974 topps

this is where mota starts taping his wrist
it's there again in 1975 (this is a mini, by the way)

(hello chavez ravine!)

here's a badly miscut 1978 topps card

and a scuffed up 1980 topps card

manny even got a card from fleer in 1981

donruss made him a card that year, too, and identified him as a coach which was cool. 
here's a 2001 upper deck decade 1970's card

i was pretty excited when this card came out, even though i was disappointed that he likely replaced davey lopes in the set.  we had garvey, cey and russell represented and were just missing lopes.  still, it's nice to see someone like mota getting some appreciation from the latter day card companies.

not to be forgotten, i figure i should show a tony mota autograph.  this one's from 2000 topps traded

i won't be around for 7/7/77.

not pictured, guillermo mota.

here's to you manny mota! thanks for signing all those cards!