is that who i think it is?

i was digging through some 1984 fleer the other day, pulling cards for a potential trade, when i spied this al holland card.

now, anytime i see the padres represented on a card from this era, i hope against hope that steve garvey is the friar present.  sadly, garvey got no lurker love from the major card manufacturers.  he was too often hitting in to double plays rather than trying to break them up at second, which is where a lot of players make their uncredited cameos on other people's cards.  anyway, i thought that the next best thing would be that al holland's card featured a young tony gwynn.  off to baseball reference to find out!

on august 18, 1983, al holland entered a game at jack murphy stadium with one out in the bottom of the 8th and a runner on second.  that runner was none other than tony gwynn!  hold the phone, however, as holland returned to the mound in the 9th inning and allowed gene richards, garry templeton, and alan wiggins all to reach second base at some point.  there's also a chance that it could be ruppert jones from a game earlier in the season.  i am not sure of the wristband wearing habits of those other guys, but i know gwynn wore them.  still, it is inconclusive as to the lurker's identity.  not so on gwynn's own 1998 upper deck card, however.

that's steady eddie murray!  as an anaheim angel! in their crazy disney uniforms! the angels hosted the padres in june of 1997, and even though murray didn't play in the game, he was able to give some sort of super secret 3000 hit club handshake and curved glass sculpture to gwynn. and he smiled!  murray, of course, finished the 1997 season (his last in the bigs) with the dodgers, although he is shown as an angel on his 1998 upper deck card.  very disappointing.

and, since this is supposed to be a dodger-centric blog, here's a more definitive lurker sighting.  that's dodger first base coach hanging out in the background of miguel batista's 2004 topps card

i wish it were manny mota.  for all the years mota coached first, i don't know that i've seen him lurking on a card.