have you seen the turning of two?

somehow a number of double play cards have been accumulating in my scanned folder, and it's time to thin the herd.

2000 topps gallery todd walker

the heir to chuck knoblauch could hit pretty well, but manager tom kelly didn't care much for his defense, and so walker was traded to the rockies during the 2000 season.

1993 classic best tim stutheit

stutheit only played in 24 games in 1993, including just 19 for the a-level chiefs.  at least we have this double play card to remember him by.

1993 topps stadium club john valentin

valentin led the league in defensive war in 1993 (and again in 1995) but eventually had to move to third to make room for nomar garciaparra at short.

1996 upper deck collector's choice roberto alomar

and a silver signature parallel

i originally passed on these cards when looking through my collection for double play cards because it's a posed shot, but then i figured so is the 1953 bowman color pee wee reese.  welcome to the double play binder, 1996 udcc roberto alomar!

2004 topps total adam kennedy

what has five legs, three arms, and turns a double play? this card.

2001 upper deck victory felix martinez

felix the shortstop wpent about a month in the dodger organization in 2002, but didn't appear in any big league games for the blue.

2001 upper deck victory tony womack

and 1997 upper deck collector's choice tony womack

which womack wins? i prefer the '97 card thanks to the full photo crop and the mix of colors, although i do not like applebee's. double play cards, however, i do like.

who does this guy think he is?

classic claims that this is shawn green on a 1993 classic best card, back when he was a minor leaguer in the blue jays' system.

yes, 4-home runs in a game hitting, leaving game 1 of the 1988 world series early-ing (i didn't leave early!), gary sheffield frustrating shawn green.  i contend that it is not.  the back of his card boasts the right stats, but this guy bats righty.

shawn green was a lefty, just as it says on the back of the card.  so, i did a little digging.  the player pictured is definitely from the 1993 knoxville smokies - the team for which green played in 1993 after his 1992 season in aa.  according to baseball reference, the team was known as the knoxville blue jays in 1992, so there wouldn't have been any reason for the big 's' on the uniforms if this were a photo from 1992.

i'm pretty sure it's alex gonzalez.  look at his 1992 bowman card (which i do not own, but am willing to break one of my blog rules to allow you to make the comparison without clicking any links)

looks like the same guy.  i have a pretty good sized pc of shawn green, given that i lived in orange county during his high school phenom years and heard a lot about him.  i met his dad once in an lcs shortly before 1992 topps was released - he said that shawn would have a card in the set, but wasn't sure if it was a solo card (it was) or a multi-player rookie card.  anyway, i didn't have that classic card until i received it in a trade from nick at dime boxes.  he sent a bunch of cool cards, some of which i will show over the next week or so.

in the meantime, i'll try to figure out what to do with my shawn green/alex gonzalez card.