empirically, these cards are fantastic

i recently had the opportunity to meet brian, he of everybody's favorite new blog highly subjective and completely arbitrary at the local monthly card show.  we had agreed to meet near one of the vintage bargain bin dealers that i have written about so frequently and swap some cards.  it turned out to be a fitting location, as one of the cards brian dropped on me was this one:

clemente, carty, and aaron.  card number 1 in the 1965 topps set - a set which i am making slow progress towards completing.  like i said in the title - fantastic.

there were a bunch of dodgers, too, like a 2015 topps clayton kershaw rainbow foil parallel

a 2014 topps stadium club clayton kershaw field access insert

(which uses a photo that very well could wind up on a panini release), and another kershaw - this time with sandy koufax, warren spahn, and steve carlton on a 2013 topps archives 1969 4-in-1 decal insert

that's heady company for the dodger ace, but he's deserving of it.  here's another dodger lefty who garnered some high praise early in his career, fernando valenzuela on a 2915 topps baseball history insert

among the things that brian and i discussed was the appeal of o-pee-chee.  brian already knew about my  opc blog, and is actually collecting the 1965 o-pee-chee set.  he included a 1979 opc burt hooton card in the trade

which was again, fantastic. 1979 may be my favorite o-pee-chee set because of the logo in the ball.  the logo appeared again in 1982, but i prefer '79 to that set.  the only drawback to the '79 set is that there is no french on the front.

here's a 1993 topps gold jay howell parallel

and a 2008 topps gold foil casey blake parallel

and a 2003 upper deck 40 man card of paul quantrill

that quantrill would fit nicely in brian's sunglasses mini collection, but i am happy to have one of the few cards of quantrill as a dodger.

this was the second blogger i've met in person (paul from carl crawford cards is the other), and it was fun to connect with another collector like that. especially when cards like these were exchanged.  thanks brian - looking forward to the show next month!

continuing with the steve garvey binders - 1979 into 1981 with some error action and a story of a simpler time!

sheets 6 and 7 get us into the 1980's in the first of two main issue steve garvey binders.  here's sheet number 6.

containing:

1. 1979 dodger blue
2. 1979 hostess
3. 1979 o-pee-chee
4. 1979 topps dodger team
5. 1979 topps
6. 1980 kellogg's
7. 1980 o-pee-chee
8. 1980 topps
9. 1980 topps dodger team

here's the flip side of the sheet

the most interesting card here is the first one.  i am not completely sure how the dodger blue set was distributed - i don't recall seeing it for sale at dodger stadium in 1979, and i went to a few games that year, but i may not have noticed as we didn't typically check souvenir stands.  for us, it was straight to the program vendor, then the dodger dog line, and then our seats.  on our way out of the stadium is when we might check out the souvenirs, but we usually attended a giveaway game so i already had my helmet or poncho or batting glove or whatever.  i do know that the set was wrapped in cellophane, because i have a sealed set that mrmopar sent my way a while back. anyway, garvey's card features him wearing a green dodger hat.  i believe that the dodgers might have been one of the first teams to wear green on st. patrick's day during spring training.  it's a nice quirk to the photo, and the photo itself is a nice break from most of the other cards in the set.

here's sheet 7:

it features:

1. 1981 donruss (error)
2. 1981 donruss (corrected)
3. 1981 donruss (action)
4. 1981 drake's
5. 1981 fleer
6. 1981 fleer (most hits nl)
7. 1981 fleer star stickers
8. 1981 fleer stickers (back)
9. 1981 kellogg's

and the backs:

there is so much cool stuff on this sheet.  1981 was a watershed year for me as a garvey collector.  first, there were more cards to collect than ever, and both donruss and fleer had two different garvey cards on their checklists.  then there were the stickers! garvey was card number 1 in the fleer star sticker set, and his likeness also adorned the sticker back that celebrated the 1974 all-star game in which he was the mvp.  however, the best thing about this sheet at the time was that there was a garvey error card!

my neighborhood friends and i opened a lot of 1981 fleer cards looking for all of the errors in that set, and kind of ignored donruss a bit. we wanted 'craig' nettles and reversed negative tim flannery!  i had  opened only a few packs of donruss, but didn't have too many dodgers until one day, when one of my neighbors said he was going to meet another collector in town.  get this - he had seen a flyer posted on a light pole near the local grocery store that said 'do you collect baseball cards? i do, and i have doubles to trade or sell' and gave the guy's phone number.  this is not crazy, this was just what it was like in 1981.  anyway, we rode our bikes to the guy's apartment (no thoughts of stranger danger), and i bought a brick of '81 dodger cards from him for $3.  it had a couple of team sets, plus a ton of doubles of most of the players.  i got home and put my cards in my closet and went about my business. a few days later, my neighbor tells me that the other guy wants his cards back because he learned that there was an error version of one of the garvey cards in the set.  i was most certainly not going to give any cards back because caveat venditor and any garvey error surely was going to pay for my college education.

unfortunately, the error was nothing dramatic like a reversed negative or wrong player photo - it was related to the text on the back.  here are the two versions side by side.

in the 1980 text of garvey's 'career highlights', one card (the one on the left) notes that garvey 'surpassed 21 hr for the 4th straight year.' the other card (the one on the right) says that garvey 'surpassed 25 hr for the 4th straight year.'  so, which is correct?  well, this is a trick question because they are both wrong.  in the previous four seasons, garvey hit 33, 21, 28, and 26 home runs, respectively.  so to say that he 'surpassed' 21 homers is incorrect.  garvey reached 21 hr for the 4th straight year.  but, semantics.  the one on the left is considered to be the corrected version, and the one on the right is the error.  you can get either version on sportlots for 18 cents.

much more to come from the steve garvey binders. stay tuned!

andy messersmith was a dodger double dipper

i mentioned earlier today that andy messersmith would get a dodger double dipper post of his very own.  i wasn't joking.

[this is the eighty-ninth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, guillermo mota, joe beckwith, jamie hoffmann, babe herman, joe medwick, juan castro, ron perranoski, clyde king, paul waner, hughie jennings, ron negray, broadway aleck smith, george smith, johnny cooney, jim fairey, frenchy bordagaray, doc casey, waite hoyt, luis olmo, clyde sukeforth, willie keeler,  harry howell, germany smith, johnny allen, marv rackley, bobo newsom, maury wills, dazzy vance, ray hayworth, zack taylor, john cronin, art herring, brian falkenborg, bill reidy, john anderson, vito tamulis, wally hood, jim bruske, bill dahlen, patsy donovan, jamey wright, and watty clark.]

messersmith first joined the dodgers in 1973 after he was traded by the angels in the frank robinson deal.  i am sure the dodgers coveted his 2.78 era over the five seasons he pitched for the angels, and they weren't disappointed, as he had a 2.67 era in his first four years with the club, which included his fantastic 1974 season in which he went 20-6 and had an era of 2.59.  messersmith started the nl all-star game in 1974, as well as game 2 of the nlcs against the pirates which he won.  he also started games 1 and 4 of the world series, but took the loss in each.  

after a season like that, messersmith was looking for a raise, but when he tried to negotiate a contract for the 1975 season, things didn't go well.  here's his hostess card from 1975, by the way,

complete with the rare sighting of batting gloves on a pitcher's throwing hand.  he decided to pitch without a contract while his grievance against the reserve clause was being resolved.  he wound up winning 19 games in 1975 while posting an era of 2.29 and earning his second straight gold glove.  the baseball arbitrator ruled in his favor (the owners fired the arbitrator the following day), and messersmith signed a free agent deal with the braves.

he moved on to the yankees after the 1977 season, as his 1978 o-pee-chee card attests

but was re-signed by the dodgers when he hit the market again after the 1978 season.  it even says so on his 1979 o-pee-chee card

i really wish there had been a traded set in the late 1970's and 1980 so that there could have been more cards of players like messersmith.  here's a 1979 topps card that should have been that i made

to help ease my pain.

the second time around was not as successful for messersmith as he was 2-4 in 11 starts with a 4.91 era when the dodgers released him in early june.  he retired soon after, with a 2.86 career era which puts him between jim palmer and tom seaver, but well within the top 10 for starting pitchers after 1920.

here's another card i made for messersmith - it's his 1980 topps card that should have been

which serves as a final tribute with his entire career stats on the back.

i don't have any other double dippers lined up, so this may be the end of the line for these posts, at least until the dodgers reacquire matt kemp a few years from now for a torii hunter-esque swan song.  still, don't be surprised if i uncover some other heretofore unknown to me franchise double dipper in the 1990 target dodgers set...

once again, avert your eyes

although it might not be as scary (or maybe creepy is more like it) as the card i posted last year on halloween, this one is more disturbing.  it's the second tristar signa cut card that i own, and it's a butchered copy of burt hooton's 1978 topps card.

the horror!  luckily for me, i have a couple of these unmolested in my collection.  happy also signed a 1979 o-pee-chee card

a 1981 topps card

and a 1985 topps card

for me.

i like how the tristar card mentions that hooton was the 1981 nlcs mvp. he was 11-6 in the regular season with a 2.28 era (third best in the league), but he really shone in the three rounds of playoffs that postseason.  in the nlds against the astros, hooton started game 3 and got the win, giving up three hits and one earned run in 7 innings of work.  his next appearance came in game 1 of the nlds against the expos.  hooton again got the win, working 7.1 innings without allowing a run at all.  he started game 4 of the series, too, and again went 7.1 innings for the win while giving up just one unearned run.  14.2 innings with a 0.00 era and two wins?  good enough for the mvp award.

he was 1-1 in the world series against the yankees, but gave up only 2 earned runs in 11.1 innings pitched.

'happy' halloween everybody!

what's your damage?

sure, mint condition cards are nice, but sometimes it's ok to have a card that has obviously seen some action in your collection.  i personally have quite a few - mostly vintage, of course - and the type of wear varies.

my 1955 topps johnny podres card

hits many of the condition negatives.  rounded corners - check.  frayed edges - check.  surface wear - check.  but his teeth are still white, and 1955 topps dodgers are kind of tough to find at a reasonable price.

my 1957 topps sandy amoros

displays obvious paper loss along with some corner dings.  it still has nice color so why complain?

how about my 1963 topps nl pitching leaders, featuring sandy koufax?

along with a couple of other guys in the hall with him.  this card has the round corner, surface wear, and it's actually missing a corner!  that's card damage!  still, 3 hof's in the vintage bargain bin will not be ignored.

this used to be my 1962 topps gil hodges

but i sent it to mark at stats on the back since gil is listed as a metropolitan.  a pen mark and a purposefully punched hole (suitable for inserting yarn or something) give the card some hard earned character, don't you think?

not all damage is self inflicted.  i guess it's not really damage then either.  there are printing miscues, like my 1975 topps rod carew

not as dynamic as my miscuts i sent to ben henry, but still pretty awesome.  i think that's von joshua's card that is joined to rod's card, but i'm not 100% sure.  maybe night owl can chime in with some 1975 topps expertise.

this 1979 o-pee-chee len barker card

suffers the fate of many other o-pee-chee cards - the rough cut!  o-pee-chee used rusty shears to cut many of their sheets, apparently.

and then there is this - my 1981 o-pee-chee ron cey card.

it's crooked, and the printing plates didn't line up properly.  maybe if i use 3d glasses it will look better.  nope.  still endearing though.

i guess the moral of the story is, send me your dodger cards, no matter their condition.  i'll find a way to appreciate and even celebrate them!

note that i didn't feature a trimmed card.  that will get it's own post tomorrow featuring one of my favorite cards of all time.  stay tuned.

pete broberg through the mail success!

pete broberg, who was never really a dodger, signed and returned a couple of cards for me last year.  this is a fact i was reminded of as i prepared a post regarding his 1979 o-pee-chee card for my other blog.  in fact, that was one of the cards he signed for me:

this card was a favorite of mine growing up.  i remember opening a pack of o-pee-chee that summer in southern saskatchewan and seeing the dodger team variation and feeling lucky.  it turns out, i was. 

you see, broberg was a member of the dodger organization for just about a month - a lucky month that coincided with o-pee-chee's production schedule.  he was signed as a free agent in march of 1979 and released on april 4th of that year, just before the season started.  he never appeared in a major or minor league game for the dodgers, nor anyone else after that, making this card a final tribute as well.

broberg also signed his 1978 topps card for me.

funny thing is, i remember his facsimile signature being on my highly treasured dodgers' 1978 nl champions pennant that hung on the wall of my bedroom for many years.  i finally figured out a couple of years later that the pennant was really just a 1979 dodgers team pennant with a reference to the previous year's team and their accomplishment, as it also included andy messersmith's auto and coach jim lefebvre's as well, both of whom weren't with the organization in 1978.

so, pete broberg was twice near and dear to my heart, even though he never quite was a dodger.

thanks pete!

now this was o-pee-chee...

back in my day, being an o-pee-chee card meant something dang-gummit! we were shown in our old team's uniforms and we liked it! well, i did anyway. after being disappointed with upper deck's resurrection of the o-pee-chee brand, let's renew our love of the variation, shall we?

1979 tommy john.

this card was unfathomable to me. a dodger on the yankees? no way. of course, it worked both ways, as andy messersmith and gary thomasson were yankees on the dodgers in this set. john had the same bad luck don sutton did in regards to the world series, although he at least appeared in the 1981 matchup. he was famously removed from game 6 early, and the dodgers went on to beat the yankees.

1980 joe morgan. the big red machine was almost completely dis-assembled after morgan returned to the astros. the astros released him a year later, which set the stage for him to go to the giants where he would eventually destroy my hopes for the 1982 season.

speaking of 1982, here's mark belanger.the defensive specialist was displaced in baltimore by cal ripken jr, and brought his gold gloves to the dodgers for a year. he made an uncharacteristic 4 errors in 86 chances at short, and retired after the 1982 season.

1985 rickey henderson. who would have thought that rickey would leave oakland? i was a big fan of 'billy-ball' and so had quite an interest in henderson, dwayne murphy, mike norris and the others. so i was surprised when rickey was traded to the yankees for jose rijo and a few other players, including eric plunk. in 1989, the yankees would trade him back to oakland for some players, including eric plunk.

1986 steve yeager.

aside from bill russell, yeager was the last of the dodgers from the 1978 team that i was so connected to. interestingly enough, he was a 'sign and trade' free agent, as the dodgers signed him and traded him a couple weeks later to the mariners for ed vandeberg. yeageer got to seattle just in time to play in roger clemens' first 20-k game. he only struck out once, though, out of two at-bats.

1987 greg brock. man, did i not care for greg brock. simply because he was garvey's replacement. it wasn't his fault, although he didn't do much of anything in the postseason the way garvey did. brock had his best season in 1987 for the brewers, where he had the pressure of replacing cecil cooper! if only greg had followed joe shlabotnik instead of two franchise favorites, he might not have had all the pressure.

i've enjoyed this trip down o-pee-chee memory lane, and i have a bunch more variations that i'll post in the future.

o canada! o-pee-chee!

having spent a good portion of some summers of my youth in canada, i really like o-pee-chee cards. the cardstock is different, the o-pee-chee logo is used instead of topps, and you get the french translation of some baseball terms. who knew, besides the french, that first base = premier but?

now, some o-pee-chee cards are pretty much identical to their topps brethren. like the 1979 steve garvey.

or the 1985 bob welch.but, here on mike (general soreness) marshall's 1983 card, we see the french translation for 1st base.sometimes, though, the cards are completely different. here, rick monday is shown as a member of the dodgers on his 1977 card, complete with airbrushed cap. his 1977 topps card shows him with the cubs, and uses an entirely different pose.usually when a player has changed teams, though, the card format for the new team is used with the unaltered topps photo and some explanatory text, lest we be unsure of the situation a la the 1979 topps bump wills or 1974 topps jerry morales cards. al downing and his 1971 card demonstrate. so, downing was "recently traded to dodgers". sounds good enough. however, o-pee-chee would use different text to get that simple message across, here, we see that derrel thomas was "signed as free agent 11-14-78".that's good information. on his 1979 card, we see that gary thomasson was "traded 2-15-79", presumably from the yankees to the dodgers.more ambiguity on the 1979 cards of andy messersmith and pete broberg. they are simply identified as "free agent"

so, in 1980, we return to a simplistic catch all statement. "now with dodgers" are jay johnstone and dave goltz.

i don't know if it's just the variation or what, but i really like these cards.