random rules the day

here's a smattering of randomness from the scanned folder.  no rhyme or reason, just some dodger cards…

1980 topps ken brett

when ken brett joined the dodgers, it was the first time that i became aware of the 'wrong brother' syndrome. not that i wanted george brett to join the dodgers and mess up the infield thing they had going on, but i still recognized that the younger george was the better player.  that wasn't what was expected, however, as ken brett was thought to be the best athlete in the family when he joined the red sox in the late 1960's.  with the dodgers, brett pitched in 30 games during the 1979 season and was released during spring training the following year.

1983 dodgers police tom lasorda

i used this photo for one of lasorda's cards that should have been.  i still have a few of those to make.

1984 ralston purina pedro guerrero

i found it odd that the same company that made dog food also made cereal.  anyway, i had a bunch of these mail in sets. or were those the cereal series cards that were mail ins?  i don't remember.  we ate a lot of chex cereal in 1984.

1987 baseball's all-time greats carl erskine

erskine threw 2 no-hitters (one against the giants) and struck out 13 yankees in a single world series game.  that's my kind of dodger.

1989 upper deck juan bell

more 'wrong brother' syndrome here.  bell was the younger brother of blue jays' slugger george bell.  the younger bell didn't actually play for the dodgers - he was part of the 'haul' that the orioles received in the eddie murray trade.

1990 topps mike morgan (in dodger stadium)

and 1991 topps stadium club mike morgan

i'm working on a 'on the road with mike morgan' post.  stay tuned.

1990 upper deck lenny harris

i could do a similar post for harris, i think.  although he only played for 8 franchises (morgan wore 12 different uniforms), he made multiple stops in cincinnati and new york.  no player has been used as a pinch hitter more than harris, and no player has more pinch hits than harris.

1990 upper deck mike marshall

between this mike marshall (who was a met when this card was issued) and the other mike marshall, there was a mike marshall in the major leagues from 1967 through most of the 1991 season.  i guess that's not that impressive, since nolan ryan was in the bigs from 1966 through 1993.

1992 donruss triple play roger mcdowell

to me, the oddest thing about this card is mcdowell's hair - forget about the sandpaper sticking out of the bottom of his pantlegs, what is that thing on his head?

christmas cards

thanks to emerald city diamond gems for sending me a christmas card with cards inside!

the mick!  no, not mantle.  hatcher. 

on a 1981 donruss card with a photo taken in wrigley field. how original.

1986 topps tom niedenfuer

i recently read and article about niedenfuer that included such key information as the fact that he has two daughters with his wife, former playboy covergirl judy landers.  tom, all is forgiven.
1986 topps steve sax

even though he was my favorite dodger post-garvey, sax doesn't get much play on my blog.  i'll see if i can't rectify that in 2011.

1987 baseball's all-time greats duke snider

i haven't heard anything about the duke for a while.  he has apparently stopped signing ttm so i hope everything is ok.

2010 upper deck biography clayton kershaw

it's pretty badass to walk off the field and look back in the direction of the visiting dugout.  i am hoping that he's staring down some random giant who just had his knees lock courtesy of kershaw's uncle charlie.

2010 upper deck dodgers checklist featuring kershaw and matt kemp

here's to better days ahead.

thanks larry!  merry christmas!

bo knows dodger stadium

a while back i advertised some yankees cards that i wanted to trade for dodgers. bo at baseball cards come to life answered the call and sent a truly fantastic package of dodgers, double plays and cards featuring dodger stadium. it was the cards featuring dodger stadium that caught my attention, because there are some real beauties in there. let's look at some.

we'll start with 1993 upper deck eric davis.

this is one of my favorite cards - period. davis in the home whites, chasing a flyball down the right field line towards the low fence and the mustard field level seats. this is the same area where milton bradley famously spiked a water bottle a few years back. i used to sit in these seats (although usually on the left field side) and peek into the bullpen while pitchers warmed up. eric davis may have struggled to live up to the expectations coming home to la, but on this card, he's perfect.

1991 fleer damon berryhill.this card is interesting, not only because it features a play at the plate at dodger stadium, but because berryhill did not appear in a game at dodger stadium in 1990. i believe that this photo is from the game on may 7, 1989 - orel hershiser vs. greg maddux - and that's mike davis about to be tagged out at the plate in the third inning. the dodgers would knock maddux out of the game in the 4th, but lose 4-2 anyway. i don't think i was at this game - i am pretty sure i was recovering from seeing the replacements for the first time the night before or heading up to poly royal.

1993 topps stadium club john kruk.i am really hoping brett butler beat the throw. kruk played in six games against the dodgers at dodger stadium in 1992. the first (and only one i checked at baseballreference) was april 29th. in that game, butler did beat out a bunt to second, so let's go with that.

1993 fleer ultra darren daulton.another phillie in dodger stadium. can't tell who's on deck though.

1993 donruss mark gardner.the field level scoreboard is always a dodger stadium giveaway. gardner was the guy who had a no-hitter after 9 innings in 1991 against the dodgers, but lost the no-no and the game in the 10th. two days later, dennis martinez threw a perfect game against the dodgers.

1993 donruss bret barberie.this card is painful to look at. too hard to tell who the dodger player being hammered in the groin is, but i secretly hope it was eric karros. upon further review, barberie got a putout at home plate in the bottom of the first on july 6, 1992 on a relay that went 2-5. the victim? mike scioscia.

1992 upper deck ted power.there's that scoreboard again. power is a former dodger who was traded for mike ramsey. no, the other one. the one who was voted the most obscure dodger at jon weisman's dodger thoughts.

1991 upper deck ted power.two in a row. here's a good shot looking up at the different levels of dodger stadium. the best part about this card, though, is the ball next to power's head. it looks like he's about to use his laser vision to blast it to pieces.

1991 upper deck stan belinda.another pirate in dodger stadium. here you have the stands transitioning to the left field pavilion with the diamond vision screen and the good ol' unocal logo up top. this card comes with a bonus - check out the back:more dodger stadium goodness!

1990 upper deck jose lind.and another pirate. looks like lind was out at second base. he wasn't caught stealing at dodger stadium in 1989, so maybe it was a force or the front end of a double play. i'll let this one be a mystery. nice dodger stirrup, though.

1991 topps doug drabek all star.might as well stick with the pirates. this is the classic dodger stadium rhp shot with the visitor's bullpen in the background. i love how the bullpens at dodger stadium are set up so the pitchers and coaches can sit in a chair and watch the game. no benches parallel to the field level stands here. no sir.

1990 fleer jeff robinson.one more pirate, and a different shot of the right field side field level scoreboard with its own unocal 76 logo.

1990 fleer dwight gooden.not a pirate! here's the left field side field level scoreboard and its unocal 76 logo.

1987 donruss ken dayley.just as 1981 donruss featured an inordinate number of wrigley field shots, 1987 and 1989 donruss seem to have a lot of dodger stadium shots. here dayley is outshone (?) by the beauty of the outfield pavilion in the background, and he knows it.

1987 donruss benito santiago.a rated rookie padre in dodger stadium.

1987 donruss buddy bell.here's a pretty standard 'right handed batter at bat in dodger stadium' card.

1990 upper deck bryn smith.ditto. i secretly wanted smith to pitch from the dodgers. he had ties to (and now lives in) the central coast where i grew up. one of the greatest beards, too. well groomed - it looked like the beard of the young kris kringle in those rankin & bass christmas specials.

1988 fleer dave meads.now we're down by home plate with the old dugout box seats where mike brito used to stand with his panama hat, cigar (unlit) and radar gun. good times.

1991 upper deck rob dibble.now we're getting into some great finds. bo must have really spent some time looking through the cards because the dodger stadium element is pretty tough to see at first glance. there's just a little bit of the pavilion, the main scoreboard and a light stanchion off to dibble's left. awesome.

1991 upper deck joe oliver.not much going on here, but turn it overand you'll see oliver heading to the mound with the field level scoreboard in the background. fantastic.

1992 upper deck armando reynoso.again, pretty nondescript until you flip itnow you see the right field pavilion with joe ferguson lurking in the background!

1991 upper deck hubie brooks.not a dodger stadium shot (holman stadium, i believe). just curious about the person behind hubie. it looks like they're wearing the skirt uniform that the dodger stadium female ushers wore, but in shorts style. i am confused.

there were also some double play cards, like this 1993 upper deck mike bordick.it features a nice double play turn with dave winfield sliding in. bonus double play action on the back!

and we'll end with a few dodger catchers.

first, all-time greats roy campanella.and finally, the dodger back-up triumvirate from 1978 on their 1979 topps cards:

joe ferguson jerry grote johnny oateswith steve yeager also in the set, the dodgers may be the only team to garner cards for 4 different catchers in one issue. who knows?

bo, thank you for taking the time to put together such a great and enjoyable package.