the spirit of the trade

i'm trying to get into the habit of posting trades in more 'real time' which means within the same month.  maybe.  i still have a few trades from the past year whose scans have not yet cleared the scanned folder, but i am making progress.  these are some cards i received in mid-april, and are from the first of two recent trades i have completed with rhubarb runner.

i had initially sent him, admittedly, a fair amount of junky twins with a few cards with redeeming value tucked in.  i knew i could do better, especially since i live in the heart of twins territory. so, i wound up picking up some vintage and autos for him at a recent card show - thus the two trades.

anyhoo, first up is a 2004 donruss studio spirit of the game insert featuring hideo nomo

apparently, donruss decided that the spirit of the game is old, nostalgic looking equipment set on an american flag with a picture of a japanese player.  rr also included a 2002 donruss studio spirit of the game for comparative purposes.  this one features paul loduca

and a much more patriotic theme.  the names of various legends of the game at the bottom of the card is a nice touch, but it seems a bit contrived. i don't know how you convey friendly competition and fair play on a card, but to me that is the spirit of the game.  using a mitchell report subject doesn't seem quite right in hindsight.  in a related note, you knew it was a sad period for the blue when the dodger insert cards featured paul loduca.  thank goodness for matt kemp and clayton kershaw these days.

speaking of the mitchell report, here's eric gagne on a 2004 fleer tradition 'this day in history' insert

gagne recorded his 55th straight save on september 2, 2003 which broke the previous record set by tom gordon.  tom gordon was not named in the mitchell report.

there were a couple of adrian beltre cards in the package, including a 2004 upper deck jersey card

and a 1999 fleer ultra insert

it is crazy to think that since 1982, beltre is the longest tenured dodger third baseman.  which reminds me, i need to get back to my position evolution posts.

finally, it wouldn't be a package from rr if it didn't include some 2008 upper deck documentary cards.  sure enough, there was a healthy stack in there, including a nomar!

and three "different" matt kemp cards.

i have to admit, however, that three of these four cards actually mention the cover subject on the back.

thanks rr!