double play cardboard from mets cardboard

it was pretty clear to me that justin at mets cardboard did his homework while putting together his return trade package. there were dodgers and a set need and double play cards.  every dp card he sent was one that i did not already have.  coincidence? perhaps, but unlikely. it was good to see so many new turns at second base.  here are the rest of them (i showed some last sunday)

1992 action packed bobby richardson

old-time yankee twin killing of a twin

1993 donruss geronimo pena (back)

justin gave up the lurking met (dick schofield) on the back

1993 topps stadium club white sox joey cora

kind of a ho-hum double play turn. it looks like the runner/slider is just lying there.

1994 sportflics luis lopez

lenticular double play action!

1994 upper deck collector's choice chris gomez silver signature parallel

and 1994 upper deck collector's choice tony phillips silver signature parallel

those would both fit in my tatooine collection, too.

1997 pinnacle walt weiss

and here i thought i had all of the weiss double play cards

in addition to that pena card above, justin did a good job in checking card backs.  here's a 1997 upper deck collector's choice mark grudzielanek all-star insert (back)

1977 upper deck collector's choice edgar renteria (back)

1998 upper deck mike lansing (back)

and 1998 upper deck neifi perez (back)

which also has the same double play turn (just a bit earlier in the pivot) on the front

but back to the backs - here's a 1998 upper deck collector's choice jose valentin (back)

and a 1998 upper deck collector's choice mark grudzielanek (back)

with a nice dodger stadium backdrop and an unknown dodger rolling around at the g-man's feet.

thanks again justin! great trade!

the start of the post-playing career card sheets from the steve garvey binders

sheet 26 in the steve garvey binder is where we find the start of his cards issued following his retirement (post-final tribute stuff, anyway).  in the beginning, these were mostly oddball releases, but once card companies began making retro-themed sets, look out! there was a garvey card explosion.

here's sheet 26

the cards:

1. 1989 smokey dodger greats
2. 1989 padres magazine
3. 1990 baseball wit
4. 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary
5. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (gibson & garvey)
6. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (football)
7. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (batting)
8. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (posed)
9. 1990 pacific legends

here we have the first photo re-use, thanks to two dodger stadium giveaway sets, plus four cards from the michigan state spartans set.  i think the photo of garvey in his football uniform (he was a defensive back) has been used in a panini release (not entirely sure, however), but i know that the posed photo was used in last year's upper deck goodwin champions set.

i'm also missing a couple from these years - the 1989 michigan state pepsi card (never seen one), and 1990 pacific legends glossy (never bothered to find one).

here are the backs:

moving on to sheet 27, we once again see some photo re-use and a few oddballs:

those cards are:

1. 1990 swell baseball greats
2. 1991 line drive
3. 1991 swell baseball greats
4. 1992 action packed
5. 1992 mci ambassadors
6. 1993 ted williams
7. 1993 yoohoo
8. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes
9. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes (heroes of baseball)

i really appreciate that first upper deck card with the photo from the 1974 world series, and the fact that it gives some relief from all of the photos of garvey with a bat.  another item worth noting is the mci card and its photo of garvey with the dual-ear flap helmet.

and now the backs:

those mci ambassador cards were apparently distributed at military bases where select retired players appeared and played in games for the troops.  upper deck arranged some 'old-timer' games of their own, which is where the photo on the second card from the 1994 ud all-time heroes set was obtained. this was a tie-in to all of those sheets upper deck issued around that time.

speaking of sheets, we are two pages into the post-active garvey cards, and we are already in 1994.  don't fret, as there are plenty more cards to see.  stay tuned.

where's manny?

i thought that manny ramirez would be up with the a's by now - his reduced 50-game suspension expired around memorial day.  i figured the whole reason the a's signed him was to showcase him for a trade deadline deal in which they could amass a prospect or two and move on.  i guess manny isn't doing too well in aaa, and has a mild hamstring issue.  

i have to admit - i have a soft spot for manny.  i'm glad he's no longer a dodger, but i hope he does well.  it's the same sort of fandom i used to have for jose canseco. i wanted him to succeed despite himself.

here's the most recent manny ramirez card to enter my collection - it's from 2009 upper deck ultimate collection and is fancily serial numbered.

it came my way from the wicked ortega/cardboard don/cardfather a while back in a trade.  there were some other serial numbered cards in the package, like this 2009 upper deck icons rafael furcal card

and this 2010 topps opening day orlando hudson card

neither of those middle infielders are with the dodgers anymore.  furcal is lighting it up in saint louis, while the o-dog was released by the padres and is currently on the south side of chicago.  maybe the dodgers were on to something when they chose not to re-sign hudson after his 2009 season, although i was not sold on their choice of ronnie belliard to replace hudson, who had  hit .283 and played in 149 games for the dodgers.

there was also this 2004 upper deck play ball serial numbered card - upper deck's take on those combo cards.

when did players start to cover their mouths on the mound?  it's a fairly recent development.  the only guy i know of who used to read lips and let people know what was being said was vin scully, and he didn't do it that often.  it's not like he would broadcast 'nomo just said that he was going to go with splitters away, and loduca said he was going for the girl in the front row'.  i guess someone got paranoid (probably greg maddux) and the rest is history.

here's one of those walmart black things - a 2011 topps ted lilly walmart black thing

i broke down and bought a blaster of 2012 topps series 2 at target.  i was pretty ticked that two of the packs were the red bordered crap, which are slightly worse than these black cards.  oddly, i would have been ok with the target throwback cards.

wicked collects maury wills, i believe, so he threw in some of the dodger speedsters cards for me - like this 1992 action packed card

and a couple of topps' all-time fan favorites cards - this one is from 2003

and this one is from 2004

the photos are from 1962 at the latest, based on the uniform, but it's nice to see wills as a dodger on a 1967 topps card instead of as a pirate.  i have in my mind to go through and create all of the maury wills cards that should have been but weren't due to his non-existent relationship with topps early in his career.  just another summer project while i'm waiting for manny to resurface.

thanks for the cards wicked!