29 December 2013

roberto alomar and the art of the double play

yes, it's double play dump time, but this post is different.  these are all roberto alomar double play turns that i welcomed into my collection over the past few months.

this 1994 fleer card
might look familiar, as it features the same play shown on his 1994 topps card.  if you ask me, sandy could have slid harder.

here's a 1993 score select card
with george brett sliding in.

i contend that this 1992 fleer ultra alomar award winners (gold glove) insert is, in fact, a double play turn
i base this on the fact that the umpire seems to be looking intently to make sure that roberto has touched second base.  that means that i believe alomar to be airborne on the card, even though it's tough to tell.

this one is much easier - 1992 topps stadium club
as is this 1992 score impact player insert
here we have a couple of cards from 1994 sportflics - first alomar's base card
and second, a starflics subset card
i have no idea whose glove that would be in the foreground.  it's not a second baseman since alomar played second base exclusively as a blue jay.  it's not a first baseman's glove, and if it were the pitcher covering first, i doubt that they would be wearing a batting glove.  very strange.

here's alomar's 1995 sportflix card (i don't know why the went to the 'flix' instead of the 'flics'in '95)
it's nice when these things scan well enough to see what it is that i want to see.  in this case, the double play turn.

this next card is from 1994 upper deck sp.  it's a holo view insert or something like that.
i am guessing that alomar made the pivot before landing on scott cooper on this 1995 bowman card
that's the thing about a lot of dp turns - what goes up must come down.

getting tired of seeing alomar yet?  let's mix things up with a card of alomar turning two as a member of the baltimore orioles.  this is a 1997 score hobby reserve card
it's almost a tatooine card too, if it weren't for that grass in the lower right corner.

this 1997 topps stadium club may not be a dp turn since kenny lofton is sliding headfirst
in fact, based on the game logs i found from '96 when the indians hosted the orioles, i am pretty well convinced that this is not a dp turn.

this one is, though.  from 1999 fleer ultra
as is this 2000 fleer ultra
and this 2001 fleer ultra
good on fleer to produce dp cards three years in a row for collectors like me.  you probably noticed that alomar moved to the indians during that timeframe, essentially replacing carlos baerga (although he was traded from cleveland to the mets in 1996) as omar vizquel's dp partner.  alomar and vizquel made some pretty incredible plays together.

alomar followed in baerga's footsteps once again when the indians dealt him to the mets after the 2001 season.  here's a 2003 fleer focus jersey edition card of alomar turning two in mets gear.
i probably have a few more alomar dp cards yet to share, but that's all the alomar i can handle in one sitting.

1 comment:

Nick said...

I love the Alomar/Alomar combo on Roberto's 1994 Topps issue, but I had no idea Fleer used a similar shot that year as well. I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.