did jeff kent sub for steve garvey?

check out the back of this 2006 upper deck spx insert card.  it's got some good all-star info on none other than steven patrick garvey, the mvp-winning, gold glove obtaining, consecutive game playing, errorless streak fielding, 200-hit hitting, and don sutton scuffling dodger first baseman that i built a quarter of this blog around.

here's the front.  with a photo of...jeff kent?

now, i get that this is a 'spxtra info' insert, and it has some generic dodger information, such as their all-time record and a factoid about the number of championships they have won.  still, the lack of a first name in the text on the back leads me to believe that garvey was the intended player to be featured on the front.  why the switch to the barry bonds brawling, motorcycle crashing, not truck washing, milton bradley offending dodger second baseman i do not know.  i am disappointed at the prospect of having one less steve garvey card in my collection, however.

still, i am happy to have this card to call my own, thanks to a trade with the dutch card guy.  he also sent these other cards along, including another dodger second baseman.

both the auto and this gold parallel card

are from the 2009 topps update set.  it was the hudson auto that i saw on the trade bait page that prompted the trade.  as you may recall, hudson does not sign dodger related items.  that is his prerogative, but the joke is on him when topps slaps his stickers all over cards showing him in a dodger uniform.

also included in the package was this 2009 bowman chrome prospects (i think? bowman confuses me with their set names) josh lindblom auto.

this is my first auto, and may be the first card in my collection of the dodger reliever, period.  it's real nice.

and, what is this? a 1989 fleer card that i did not previously own?

yeah, this 1989 fleer superstars card of kirk gibson did not look at all familiar to me.  i really hope that there aren't anymore like this floating around because the thought of actively pursuing 1989 fleer issued cards does not excite me in the least.

i was excited about this 2011 topps finest jerry sands card

because i did not purchase any finest cards last year.  or the year before.  i pretty much rely on the kindness of traders to obtain them.  kind of like bowman.  i don't buy bowman, but i appreciate it when i get them in trades.  it's fun to find out who the kids down on the farm are, like andre ethier's little brother devon.

he's struggling in the rookie league this year, but the purple-ness of this card makes me not care too much about that.

it's a pretty even bet that any trade i complete will include a shawn green card.  he was the last dodger to be featured in pretty much every set and insert set until kemp and kershaw came along.  this is a 2002 topps stadium club 'beam team' insert

i am not sure what the 'beam team' was or if they had a secret clubhouse with advanced weaponry.  it sounds like a saturday morning cartoon, and not the kind today where kids have to learn while they are watching tv.

last but not least, a 2005 donruss elite adrian beltre 'passing the torch' card

i don't know what donruss intended here, as beltre left the dodgers to join the mariners for the 2005 season.  perhaps he was meant to have been shown alongside norihiro nakamura, the guy the dodgers mistakenly thought could play third base and hit major league pitching.

here's a bonus question - name the player who spent the most time at third base for the dodgers in 2005.    bet you can't do it without cheating.

thanks for the trade jeroen!