location, location, location

it's nice to get out of the office.  usually, however, my excursions include going from one office building to another.  not like when i lived in socal and would stop at dodger stadium to mull around between meetings at disney in glendale and my office in newport beach.  no, these days the closest i get to that is walking past target field in the skyway on my way to a meeting in an office building downtown.

well, i recently had a work related meeting at an office building that was literally right across the street from one of the local card shops.  i didn't know that ahead of time, and as i got close to the building my card shop spidey-sense was sounding off.  as luck would have it, i happened to arrive about a half hour early for the meeting and so forgoing lunch to kill some time perusing the bargain boxes in the lcs was a no-brainer.

i didn't find a whole lot of exciting things, but it was a nice way to spend a lunch break.

there were a few double play cards to acquire, like this willie bloomquist card

and a john mcdonald card

both from 2011 topps update.  i am assuming that mcdonald has turned two, otherwise he is completely missing the tag.

here's another blue jay taking care of business - yunel escobar on his 2010 topps card

neil walker's 2011 topps card shows him waiting for the feed from the left side of the diamond

and jason bartlett's 2011 topps card shows him making the pivot.  pivot! pivot! piv-ot!

former dodger delwyn young jumps to avoid a sliding mark derosa on his 2010 topps card

while jimmy rollins stands his ground on his 2010 bowman chrome card

it's nice to see topps finest in a common bargain box, especially when it's a dodger or another type of card that i collect.  like this 1998 jeff kent specimen on which kent is turning two.

among the non-double play cards that i picked up was this 2009 topps willy aybar card

there was a time that i thought aybar might be the dodger third baseman for a long time.  he debuted in 2005 after the departure of adrian beltre, and hit pretty well.  ned sent him to atlanta in 2006, however, along with danys baez and some cash for wilson betemit, who did serve as the dodgers' primary third baseman for 2006.  more accurately, he started more games there than any other dodger that year, but that was still less than a quarter of the team's games.  i'll get into that a little deeper when i finish the 'evolution of the third baseman' series.  someday.

anyway, i bought the aybar card because of the lurking derek jeter.  note that he's wearing a black armband (for bobby murcer), but this card goes in the lurker binder, not the memorial binder.  i'll find some other bronx bomber to represent murcer in the collection.

here's the lone dodger i rescued from the lcs that day, a 1995 bowman's best mike piazza card

i'll have to see if i can schedule a couple more meetings soon.