what's that about mike bordick's butt?

this post was supposed to run last sunday, as a companion to the roberto alomar double play dump.  sadly, i failed to hit 'publish'.

i mentioned earlier that i had some more roberto alomar double play cards to show.  it turns out, there was only one left in the scanned folder - this 1993 colla all-star game issue, which features alomar turning two against the a's in oakland.

that looks like ruben sierra to me, but what is most interesting here is the huge sign hanging above the outfield wall.  it's obviously a reference to a's infielder mike bordick, but what does it say?  bordick's butterscotch?  bordick's button collection?  i don't know.  

what i do know is that, being a middle infielder, there are plenty of bordick double play cards, like this one from 1997 score, although it features him as an oriole.

bordick even shows up on the wrong end of the double play turn sometimes, like the back of chuck knoblauch's 1993 score select card

another thing that i know is that, living here in twins territory, i have access to a cornucopia of knoblauch cards in every dime box at every show or lcs i visit.  such is the case here where i am about to display a bunch of knobby double play cards mostly culled from cheap boxes at various local locales.

1992 score

1993 upper deck fun pack (back in oakland)

1994 pinnacle

1994 score

the score card may or may not be a continuation of the play on the pinnacle card - i would like to believe that it is - as it sure looks like a '5' on the back of the jersey of the sliding player.

1994 upper deck sp

and 1994 upper deck sp die cut

more oakland action on 1995 score

and 1995 score gold rush parallel

here's a 1997 donruss

a 1997 fleer sports illustrated

and a 1997 topps stadium club

i'll end this double play dump post with a 1998 pacific invincible gems of the diamond knoblauch card

it's too bad that there aren't any metrodome cards of knoblauch here.  had there been, perhaps we would have seen a sign for 'knoblauch's knothole gang' partially blocked in a confusing manner.

see how well that segue from alomar to bordick to knoblauch worked?

bobby grich airs it out

as much as i would like it to be, i am not convinced that this 1984 fleer bobby grich card shows a double play turn

the head first slide tells me that it's probably a stolen base attempt.  however, grich's crouch and the way his right foot is set seems to be consistent with someone who is about to push off the base and throw to first.  either way, the best thing about the card is the big tear in grich's pants.  looks like it's getting breezy.

here's a similar looking play, captured on kurt stillwell's 1992 donruss card

again we have a head first slide, but with both players looking back towards first base, i am inclined to categorize this as a double play card. one of many featuring mr. stillwell, i might add.

now for some more conventional double play turns.  here's the back of jose lind's 1993 upper deck card

and, although the front of his card doesn't show a dp turn, it's still worth showing

back to the backs - here's the back of mark mclemore's 1993 upper deck card

the back of keith miller's 1993 upper deck card

and the back of jose uribe's 1993 upper deck card as well.

billy ripken had two cards in the 1993 upper deck set, and here is the back of his second series card

which shows him with the rangers. the front of the card also shows a double play turn, and it was posted a while back so i won't show it again.  i will show the front of his series one card

since it also features the double play pivot.

willie randolph turns two on his 1993 upper deck card

as does brent gates.  front

and back

i've said it before and i'll say it again - the a's have a lot of double play cards.  i'll put together an 'a's only' post to show some of them.

it looks like kenny lofton was successful in breaking up a double play on jeff huson's 1993 upper deck card

while on the back, rickey is willing to sacrifice his face to do the same.

mike lansing is picture perfect on his 1993 upper deck card

i was a big fan of the expos' uniforms around this time.  i like the away grays and the darker blue jerseys like the one lansing is wearing.

here's a throwback uniform on the back of royce clayton's 1993 upper deck card

but i don't care for it as much, for obvious reasons.

kim batiste is getting kicked on the back of his 1993 upper deck card

which is only fair for the face wash treatment he gives to ozzie smith on the front of his card

moving on to 1993 upper deck fun packs, here is the dodgers' jose offerman

and, although the back doesn't show a double play turn, the cartoon sums up what many dodger fans thought of offerman's (sorry - e-fferman's) defense

hey, here's willie randolph again, this time unsuccessful regarding the turn on a 1992 donruss card

and, i am guessing that wil cordero doesn't complete the play on his 1994 upper deck collector's choice card, either

but he does get a silver signature parallel

finally (for this post, anyway), here is bill (billy to topps) spiers on his 1994 upper deck collector's choice card

his throwback uniform is more tolerable than clayton's.

not the drape-like decorations that get hung on opening day

it's time for round two of steve garvey's baseball tips, courtesy of post raisin bran back in 1979.  this means there are only about 11 weeks until spring training kicks off!  tip number two is all about bunting (not that the dodgers have any bunters anymore).

the garv used to bunt a fair amount back in the day - usually as a way to break out of a slump.  when he  bunted, he looked less like the guy on the tip panel, and more like willie randolph on his 1989 topps traded card

that's bunting for a base hit, y'all!

believe it or not, this is not the only bunting 101 card in my collection.  i also have this 1993 upper deck fun pack brett butler card

with the 'all-star advice' continuing on the back

butler also teaches us a lesson on this 1992 pinnacle card

which also has some bunting technique text on the back, but i didn't scan the back.  i did scan another copy of the card that butler was kind enough to sign for me a while ago.

butler is a good ttm signer, and i have hit him up a few times over the last few years.  he has a number of great cards, so it was tough to choose just one or two to send him.  let's have him walk us through the bunt with some of his cards, all signed ttm.

1998 upper deck

1994 pinnacle

1995 upper deck collector's choice se

1994 upper deck

1992 topps

1993 topps stadium club

1993 donruss

1996 topps

and, he's on base.

that would be his 1995 topps card, one of my favorite dodger cards.  i think the image from the 1993 donruss and 1993 topps stadium club cards might be the same play, but it's tough to tell as butler bunted a lot.  obviously.

next week, garvey gets into baserunning.  brett butler will make another appearance.  stay tuned.