more cards rescued from the lcs

these cards all came from a dime box at one of the two local card shops in the twin cities.  i spent a few minutes digging through the boxes in the front of the store and found some cards for some of my collections.

this 1998 donruss preferred rickey henderson

doesn't really fit any of my current collections (although i used to have a pc of rickey), but i couldn't pass up a rickey card showing him in an angels uni.  besides, it has that o-pee-chee-esque text on the back

i did pick up a few vladdys for my neglected pc - 1999 upper deck

2005 fleer ultra - base

and insert

2007 upper deck

2009 upper deck team leaders

and a 2010 upper deck biography card

you would think that the card is all about matt garza.  it's not too often that you see the pitcher in focus while the batter trots around the bases on a baseball card.  i like it.

i grabbed another angel card from the box, thinking it might be a double play.  upon further inspection, this 2010 topps brandon wood card is not a dp turn

on this particular play, there were two outs with michael young on first.  wood fielded the grounder hit by marlon byrd and threw to first to end the inning (thanks baseball reference - also confirmed by getty images).  the card does show the nick adenhart memorial patch, but i've got vladdy representing that in the binder.

most of my other sub-collections were added to - here's a 1992 fleer kenny lofton card featuring an image from dodger stadium

and here's a lurking mike scioscia on a 2004 upper deck sweet spot classic card of gary carter

it's a very similar image to that which was used on carter's fantastic final tribute from 1993 score select. speaking of 1993 score select, here's brian harper's card from that set, featuring a lurking mark mcgwire

but the best play at the plate card i found was this 1992 upper deck johnny bench baseball heroes card

those are all good cards, but i don't think they are enough to lure me back to this particular lcs.  you see, when i asked to look through some non-dime boxes that were held behind the counter, i was instead pointed to a desktop computer that they had set up.  i was welcome to check their inventory online, and if they had the card i was looking for, they would be happy to pull it for me.  well, i was just wanting to browse through some mid-2000's ultra looking for dodger stadium shots or double plays.  their online database couldn't help me there.  besides, there was already a frustrated patron trying to use the computer at the time.  i did ask for a 1974 topps card that i needed at the time to complete my set - they looked it up, but didn't have it.

i understand that online sales are a big part of the card business - i do most of my shopping and all of my selling online - but it was a turnoff for me to experience that in a brick and mortar lcs.  i may purchase cards from this shop in the future, but if i do, it will be through sportlots.

seeing things at the lcs

if you've ever wondered what pete rose, ryne sandberg, and steve garvey would look like if their faces were somehow combined into one, then go pick up a copy of this 1986 sportflics card.

when scanned, it looks mostly like rose.  here's the garvey image, or at least as best as i could manage.

i didn't need a copy, but i couldn't leave that card in the nickel box at one of the local card shops, now could i?  i also picked up a better looking garvey - again, no real need, but for a nickel…it's a 2005 topps pristine card for goodness sake!

i mentioned in an earlier post that i had made a few visits to the two local card shops over the last few months, and had some cards to show from those trips.  some of the nickel and dime boxes at these shops included boxes sorted by player - mostly hall of famers, stars, and notable twins.  some of the lesser organized boxes seemed to include bunches of cards of players who were at one time highly collectible, but now are not really sought after - probably moved out of the star boxes to make room for the bryce harpers and mike trouts of the world.  one such player is roberto alomar.

i found a bunch of alomars, including this 1995 topps d3 double play card

as well as base

and die-cut versions

of his 1995 upper deck championship series card.

like alomar, eddie murray seemed to have been moved into the low rent district.  i picked up a 1991 bowman card of the hall of famer

 it mentions his .330 average on the back

which led the majors in 1990, although murray didn't win a batting title.

here's a 1993 fleer vinny castilla card

on which he is shown turning two as a brave, but listed as a rockie.  i had forgotten that castilla was not always a third baseman.  castilla did not start the season as colorado's shortstop (freddie benavides had the honor of being the first ss in team history) but he took over the role in may.  he didn't move to third base full time until 1995.

there were some oddball cards in one of the boxes, many of which i had not seen before.  i picked up a 1992 fleer citgo darryl strawberry card for the dodger collection

it was a joint 7-11/citgo release, apparently.

there were even some ted williams cards floating around - this one of joe black is from 1993.

the tough thing with the nickel and dime boxes is that they aren't getting any new inventory.  i noticed that at both shops, although the lack of new material seemed to be for different reasons.  at one shop, they didn't appear to be busting any new product.  at the other, they seemed to be discouraging people from digging through boxes.  i'll expand on that next time.

turning nickels into double plays and cards from tatooine at the lcs

it's cold outside, the time for layering like luis castillo on this 1998 donruss preferred card

that card is part of my double play collection since luis is straddling the second base bag and looking as though he is going to throw to first.  it's one of several dp cards i found in the nickel and dime boxes at my local card shops sometime in the last six months or so.

we've got two primary shops in the twin cities with a couple more stores where cards and supplies are also available.  of the two card shops, the one i've been to more frequently in the past year is in a suburb of minneapolis south of downton.  there are nickel boxes (if cards are sleeved, then they are typically a dime) that have proved to be a decent source of double plays and memorials.  the other shop, which i have only been to a few times over the past few years, is in a northern suburb.  it too has a few dime boxes set up in the front of the store that contains decent collection fodder.  unfortunately, i don't think i will be heading back to that shop again.  i'll tell that tale in another post.  meanwhile, here are more double plays that were new to my collection thanks to these stores.

1992 donruss ryne sandberg

not sure why i didn't have this card already, but i didn't.  i did have a parallel of this next card, a 1997 score ryne sandberg,

but not the base.  go figure.

2006 upper deck ray durham

at one time, i considered collecting cards with the chevron cards in the background, but then realized how many giants cards that would bring to my doorstep and i reconsidered.

2012 topps reid brignac

that's another card of which the base was more elusive than many of the parallels.

has juan uribe signed with anyone yet?  i forgot that he was once fairly agile, as seen on his 2004 fleer ultra card

flying over the twins' mike ryan

uribe also found himself sliding into home on tatooine courtesy of this 2009 topps card

i found this 1994 upper deck collector's choice tony phillips card during my most recent card shop visit

the first copy goes in the dp binder.  if i come across another, it will be added to the tatooine binder.

speaking of which, here are a few more that fit nicely into that binder - 2006 fleer ultra joe crede

2009 topps tom gorzelanny

and his pirate teammate, nate mclouth

as well as colorado rockie larry walker on his 1999 topps stadium club card

that walker would also fit into another one of my mini-collections, but i don't think i've revealed that one yet.

more cards from my lcs adventures to come - stay tuned.

a helping of leftovers - more ttm successes to be thankful for

well, i hope the turkey and football and pie and gelatinous cranberry from a can has served you well today.  i am taking another moment to be thankful for some through the mail successes.  these are way down the list of things i am truly thankful for, but they rate fairly high in terms of collecting related things to be thankful for.  hopefully that makes sense.

here's a 1961 topps jim golden card

not sure why i hadn't sent a request to golden before a couple of weeks ago.  he may be best remembered for being one of the guys that the dodgers got from philadelphia in exchange for sparky anderson.  he was also traded for nellie fox later in his career.

thanks jim!

another former dodger, chad kreuter, signed a couple of cards for me a couple of years ago.  here's his 2001 topps card

and his 2002 topps card

kreuter may be best remembered for being the first dodgers since (i believe) reggie smith to go into the stands after a fan.  in kreuter's case, a fan in chicago stole his hat, and chad wanted it back.  it was the incident that led to kevin malone being referred to as 'the sheriff', as i recall.

thanks chad!

now for a 2005 topps update & highlights blake dewitt card

dewitt signed that one for me shortly after he left la for chicago.

thanks blake!

from one blake to another, here are a couple of casey blake cards that the former dodger signed for me through the mail.

2009 topps allen & ginter

looks nice!

2010 topps

thanks casey!

the last few are of the non-dodger variety, and are mostly due to my desire for more signed 1978 topps cards. first, though, there is this 1973 topps don kessinger card

followed, of course, by his 1978 topps card

love the lapels, by the way.  kessinger was named player-manager of the white sox for the 1979 season, and so he got two cards in the 1979 set, which i thought was pretty cool.  topps had done the same for frank robinson in 1975, but for some reason only gave him the team card in 1976 and 1977.  silly topps.

thanks don!

here's kessinger's teammate and subordinate, eric soderholm

soderholm was the first overall pick of the 1968 draft (january secondary) when he was taken by the twins.  appropriately, he also signed a 1976 topps card from his tenure in minnesota.

off the top of my head, i think this brings the number of former number 1 overall picks in my ttm autograph collection to 7 - soderholm, rick monday, tim foli, floyd bannister, bill almon, tim belcher, and josh hamilton - although i think most don't consider the secondary draft to be a true number 1 overall pick.  i think of that particular draft to be the one wherein the dodgers picked davey lopes in the 2nd round.  but i digress.

thanks eric!

back on topic - here's a 1978 topps bill castro card

and a 1978 topps card of his teammate, lary sorensen

thanks bill and lary!

i am also thankful for cards that show the double play turn at second base

and i am especially thankful for cub season ticket holders that broke their sga sets and sold them as singles for low prices.  that's how i got this 2013 topps cubs season ticket holder giveaway glenn beckert card

thanks to wrigley wax for bringing this card to my attention.

also from 2013, but more widely available, is a 2013 topps allen & ginter dan uggla card

horizontal a&g isn't the best.

here's a 2012 topps jason kipnis.

i've shown a couple of other versions of this card, but never the regular ol' base. until today.

here's a 2012 topps pro debut jeremy patton card

i believe that the muckdogs are in the cardinal organization. i saw this one while digging through comc one day.  it was cheaper on sportlots, though.

how about a 2009 bowman draft picks & prospects brian dozier?

doze made the move to second this past season and did alright.  2014 is his 'year 27' season, and i've got him on my sleeper list for my fantasy draft next year.

now is the time when we see some chone figgins cards - 2008 upper deck first edition

and 2005 donruss

here's fellow angel darin erstad, although he's on miguel tejada's 2007 upper deck team checklist card

and i will end the post with some phillies.  first, cole hamels on a 2008 topps stadium club card (a 1st day issue parallel)

next, a couple of jimmy rollins cards - 2005 upper deck first pitch

and 2004 upper deck

it seems like double play cards are cropping up at every turn.  i am thankful to the bloggers who send me new ones in trade packages (and emails with links to images of dp cards) - someday i will catch up and get my 'have' list to match my actual haves!