my steve garvey collection - the oddball binder part 1

i hope you are ready for some steve garvey overload over the next few months.  my plan is to show all of the garvey goodness that i keep in a few different binders - from the oddballs to the rookies and everything in between.  i'm starting with the oddball binder, which does not contain all of the oddballs.  this binder hosts most of the oddly sized items, but has no hostess or kellogg's or ralston purina cards in it.  instead, it has things like this number 6, signed by garvey himself

that was an impulse purchase several years ago.  i told you, i am a sucker for the red number.

here's an 8.5 x 11 team issue print from the mid 1970's

it offers a nice view of dodger stadium in the background and steve's familiar batting stance pose.

here's a similar team issue from later in the decade

this one is an 8 x 10 and has the black ink facsimile autograph - that's why i think it came later than the first one i showed with the white ink facsimile auto.  there are other players from earlier dodger rosters who have similar sheet with white ink autos.

1982 union oil volpe portrait

these prints were issued in 1982, and were available at unocal stations throughout southern california.  volpe had created similar prints for the team in the 1960's, but these were the first that i ever saw.  my dad was sure to fill up at the local 76 station in 1982, at least whenever i was with him.  here's the back of garvey's print, with all kinds of good information.

i have some more union oil commissioned sheets that feature the garv from 1984, but i'll show those in a different post

this is the 1,104th consecutive game stadium giveaway

from 9/30/82 - one of garvey's last games as a dodger.  in fact, it was garvey's last home game in dodger blue.  here's the back

he was 3 for 3 in his dodger stadium swan song, and even drew a walk that night (although it was an intentional pass) as the dodgers beat the braves.

1992 trak auto dodger all-star stamps

i showed this stamp sheet during the all-star break.  the full sheet is in my garvey binder because i don't have a loose version of the 1977 stamp, the only one upon which garvey appears.

more 8.5 x 11 sheets coming up.

1992 upper deck heroes of baseball sheet commemorating the gcrl infield

the concept of the infield as a unit is sometimes abstract, but these guys played together for a long time. sure, bill russell missed a large chunk of the 1975 season, but for the most part they were together for those 1300-plus games.

i categorize this next one as another 1992 upper deck heroes of baseball sheet, even though it has the all-star fanfest logo on it instead

it's signed by hall of famers larry doby and rollie fingers as well as garvey.  i don't know if unsigned versions exist, to be honest.  unfortunately, upper deck didn't include garvey in the 54-card set they printed for the 1992 fanfest in san diego.

upper deck continued its heroes of baseball series into 1994.  here's the sheet they issued for what was essentially an old-timer's all-star game in 1994, featuring some pittsburgh pirate legends, as well as reggie jackson and garvey

ah yes, the familiar garvey stretch.  many a pair of pants were split by kids in socal trying to mimic that stretch.

2000 nabisco all-stars sheet

i believe that this was a promo sheet for the cards that were individually inserted into nabisco products in 2000.  i bought my garvey card on ebay - i couldn't take the chance of buying oreos only to find a card of dot richardson.

also courtesy of ebay, here is a 2001 dodger scorecard featuring some nice artwork of garvey

the interior is unscored, in case you are wondering.

now we get into some autographed stuff.  here's a 1978 team schedule signed twice by my favorite first baseman, although one of the autos is endorsed 'to sharon'.  the front features the entire roster, including the coaching staff, of the team of my youth

here's the back that features the home schedule, giveaways, and other pertinent information

i believe we got these in the mail every spring, assuming we had ordered tickets the previous year.  yes, we used to buy tickets through the mail.

now for some signed 8 x 10 photos.

garvey as a dodger, with the dual flap helmet

and as a padre wearing a single flap helmet

another as a padre, oddly posed and signed

this one is not a photo - it's a ron mahoney print that garvey signed

i have some unsigned 8 x 10's in the binder as well.  have a look.

and of course, one of the most famous photos in which garvey appears is also in the binder.  this is the picture of pete rose at first base after getting career hit 4192

it's crazy that garvey was on the field when two of baseball's greatest records were broken - babe ruth's home run record and ty cobb's hit record (although we later learned that cobb only had 4189 hits, not 4191).

famed artist leroy nieman used many athletes as subjects in his artwork, including steve garvey.  i have a poster sized print of his garvey, so the version in the binder is just a printed scan.

there was one of these hanging in a local sports bar that closed recently.  had i known they were closing, i might have tried to get the artwork on the cheap since my poster isn't framed or mounted.

here's another print of a scan.  this is a ron lewis piece

someone provided me with a high-res scan, so i don't actually own a print

i'll finish up this initial trip through the oddball binder with some magazines.  up first is a 1979 baseball update mag with garvey and rose on the cover

this was a preseason mag, with information similar to those old baseball handbooks which were just absolutely the best.

garvey has been on the cover of sports illustrated four times.  i don't actually have a copy of the 1974 world series issue which features a collage of photos (including one of the garv), but i do have his 1975

1982

and 1983

issues.

stay tuned for more (lots more) from my steve garvey collection!

how to succeed at collecting without really trying

well, i guess you have to try at least a little bit.  in this case, you would need to develop an ebay rivalry with another steve garvey super collector and then start a blog and trade with him instead.  you send him a little 17-card factory team set, and he will send you a big box filled with oddball dodger stuff that you didn't even know existed, plus some cool steve garvey stuff.

yes, i traded with curt from 1978, the year it all began. it wasn't the first time he and i had made a trade, but it was likely the most lopsided.  i had asked him for a scan of a steve garvey sga item, and he obliged.  he also offered to send me a hard copy of it, and i told him i would send him a 2009 topps dodger factory set in exchange.  he didn't mention that he was also going to send a map.

from 1970, that is a aaa map of dodger stadium.  that is pretty cool.  i should have unfolded it and taken a picture of it.  it looks so easy on paper - so many freeways.  still, heed my advice if you go - plan to get there early.  no map will save you from stadium way or the downtown gates.  unless you get off the freeway and use the sunset route, but that's only for people in the know.

here's the garvey sga that started the whole transaction

this is what's on the back

it's all about consecutive game goodness.  the photo is from garvey's 1000th consecutive game, but the sga occurred on the occasion of his moving into fourth place all-time with his 1104th consecutive game.  of course, garvey went on to pass billy williams in 1983, but he was a padre by then.  he played in game number 1118 at dodger stadium, though, and my dad was kind enough to take me to see the game in person.  it is still to this day the only time i have received a steve garvey autograph in person.

more garvey goodness in the box, including this 1977 pepsi glove disc

i was hot and cold with these oddballs until just a few months ago.  i did have a few in my garvey collection, but not more than a couple.  now i have several of the msa discs that came out in the 1970's into the 1980's, including a 1981 blank back (trust me)

and a 1976 towne club version

speaking of discs, there were others in the box - and not just of steve garvey.  here are pedro guerrero

and fernando valenzuela

from the 1984 7-11 slurpee coin set.

fernando and garvey are together forever on this 1987 m&m's panel

those padres hats look really bad without the logo.  they look only slightly better with, however, as we see on this 1984 fun foods pin proof

i am glad curt sent this to me.  it is much easier to store in the binder than the actual pin back.

here's steve garvey in the metrodome, courtesy of the 1986 donruss pop-ups set

it's hard to believe that garvey was part of the home run derby held prior to the 1985 all-star game in minneapolis.  his slugging days were behind him by then, unfortunately.

there really was so much cool stuff in the box.  media guides, team issued photos, union oil portraits (from 1962 and 1982), fernando valenzuela perfect attendance certificates, magazines, and more.  it was the package that keeps on giving.

i'll show two more cards - this one is from 1977 landsman playing cards and features jackie robinson down the third base line

i think jackie is the five of diamonds or something like that.  these are similar to the playing cards that pepsi put out in 1978

last but not least is this 1987 donruss all-stars card of steve sax

with garvey gone, saxy became my favorite dodger and subject of a pretty good pc, but i never did pick up one of these.  now i have one and i hardly even had to try for it.

thanks curt!  that really was an awesome box of goodness.