i see london, i see france, i see willie hernandez's undershirt. and i also see dodger stadium

before we get to willie/guillermo hernandez's undergarment, let's pause to appreciate john candelaria's 1983 fleer card.

that's just a thing of beauty with the dodger third base coach lurking in the background as the candy man is in the middle of his windup.  you know what's next - let's figure out when this picture was taken.  a check of baseball reference tells me that candelaria didn't pitch at chavez ravine in 1982 or 1981.  so, fleer used a photo from 1980, which means that danny ozark is the guy hanging out in the coaching box.  

in 1980, candelaria started two games at dodger stadium - losing 3-0 to jerry reuss on july 30, and getting a no-decision on may 16 (jerry reuss won that game, too).  thanks to the field level scoreboard, we know that the pirates were outhitting the dodgers 6 to 3 when the photo was taken.   in the july 30 game, the pirates mustered only 4 hits off of reuss the entire game.  on may 16 on the other hand, the pirates had 4 runs on 5 hits through two turns at bat, while the dodgers had a dusty baker single and a bill russell home run in the bottom of the second.  lee lacy singled in the top of the third inning to bring the pirates' hit total to 6.  they were held hitless by reuss after that until the 6th inning.  the dodgers on the other hand got a leadoff hit from reggie smith in the bottom of the 4th inning for their third hit of the game.  two outs later, ron cey got another hit off of candelaria, but was thrown out trying for a double.  so, the photo was taken on friday may 16, 1980, while reggie smith was on first base, and either dusty baker, steve garvey, or ron cey were at bat.  that's pretty cool.

here's another card with a view of the scoreboard on it from 1983 fleer - it's bill buckner!

and his teammate willie hernandez

standing in front of the old dugout seats while shilling for nike.  i wonder if nike provided clothing for cubs players the way companies do these days, or if willie purchased the shirt himself.  i first remember seeing nike shoes around 1981, but i don't recall when i first noticed that they were also making t-shirts.

another dodger stadium card from 1983 fleer - larry biittner

who doesn't look too excited to be having his picture taken.

moving ahead a year, here's dale murphy from 1984 fleer

i have previously determined that some 1984 fleer braves cards feature photos from the rj reynolds game.  if this is one of them, this could be a photo of murphy admiring his 3-run home run off of rick honeycutt in the 3rd inning to put the braves up 3-2.

here's doug sisk on his 1985 donruss card

and bill russell on his 1986 fleer card

both feature the right field pavilion and the scoreboard, just like biittner's card.  here's another card from the 1986 fleer set - the pete rose superstar special

rose is holding a collectible gartlan plate with the dugout seats behind him. then, in the 1987 fleer baseball all-stars set,

he opts for a bat on his shoulder.  that's the left field pavilion and diamondvision screen behind him there.  i was on diamondvision once, at a game against the reds.  it was fairly new, and the dodgers used still shots not video.  i was wearing my steve garvey shirt and stadium giveaway helmet.  unfortunately, my dad wasn't fast enough with his camera to get a picture.  my brother made it onto diamondvision later in the same game.  as far as that plate goes, you can buy a signed version of it on ebay these days.

this next card is from the 1993 mother's cookies nolan ryan farewell set.

astros unis look good in dodger stadium.  that's the stadium club restaurant behind the windows over his shoulders.  i've never been in there, although i have had tickets a few times that would have allowed me access.  i'd rather have a dodger dog and a cool-a-coo.

rod beck makes a dodger stadium appearance that was captured on his 1999 fleer ultra card

there are lots of cards with cool dodger stadium images in their backgrounds in the 1999 fleer ultra set.  i am a big fan of those murals that used to adorn the outfield wall.  so much better than the advertisements we see these days.

finally, here's larry walker sliding into third base on his 2011 topps update sp variation

not sure which dodger is lurking there, but i'm thinking it's of the lenny harris/mike sharperson era.

i enjoy seeing dodger stadium on cards.  prior to this summer, it had been six years since i had been to a game there.  that was the longest stretch away from chavez ravine of my life (i attended my first game when i was 3), and seeing the stadium on pieces of cardboard helped me weather my absence.