double play battle - tony fernandez vs. mark lemke

i've recently obtained a number of cards of former all-star and gold glove winner tony fernandez and former, well, ballplayer mark lemke featuring each of them turning double plays. let's have a look.

1994 pinnacle fernandez

vs. 1994 pinnacle lemke

despite an appearance by double play wizard omar vizquel, the landscape card wins.  lemke 1, fernandez 0.

1994 score fernandez

vs. 1994 score lemke

which also comes in a gold rush parallel form

fernandez looks more graceful on his card, so he gets the nod.  fernandez 1, lemke 1

1996 fleer fernandez

which also has a tiffany parallel

vs. 1997 fleer ultra lemke

i give this one to lemke because he is not a yankee.  fernandez 1, lemke 2.

1998 pacific crown collection fernandez

vs. 1997 upper deck collector's choice lemke

both landscape cards (well, the pacific card is, sort of), but the lemke is so much cleaner, and the outfield fence appears to be level.  not really fernandez's fault, but oh well.  final score is tony fernandez 1, mark lemke 3.

that means we get to see a bonus mark lemke double play card - it comes from 1997 pacific

and features beautiful dodger stadium (at least its old outfield railing) in the background.

way to go, lemke!

i believe this is what is being referred to as a pwe bomb

it exploded into my mailbox late last week.  let's see what jaybarkerfan's junk sent my way.  here's a 1996 upper deck 'diamond destiny' card of mike piazza

that's a strange looking card.  i'm not sure why there is a second version of the full body photo when it is hidden behind the text and the clear inset photo.  still, it was the mid-90's.  i guess that explains it.  same for this 1996 pinnacle 'starburst' card of piazza

things calmed down by 2006 when fleer put this insert into their ultra release

celebrating piazza's nice showing in the 1996 all-star game for which he received a trophy.  which got me thinking - do all-star game mvp's still get a car?  or just a trophy?  and when was it that the car started to go to a charity of their choice instead of to the player?

the pwe wasn't all cards of the (former) strongest man in so-cal - no sir.  it also included a strange adrian beltre insert from 2001 fleer game time

apparently, beltre has that 'sticktoitiveness' that so many ballplayers don't have these days.  actually, maybe it refers to beltre's ability to come back from a botched appendix operation that hindered his performance in 2001.

next up is a 1994 score gold rush card of photojournalist mitch webster

i wonder if webster is scanning the dodger stadium crowd looking for alyssa milano.  or maybe larry king.  who knows.

the last card in the pwe was this 1996 fleer karim garcia card

garcia double dipped with three teams during his career (the yankees, indians, and orioles) and played for seven different franchises.  his games played total as a dodger is the lowest among all the teams he played for, yet i believe that he has more cards featuring him as a dodger than he does for all the other teams combined.  that's mid-90's prospect power for you!

i believe that all of these cards were new to my collection.  it just goes to show you that one man's junk is another man's treasure.

my gift to you

i've finished going through all of the double play cards in my collection, and over the next week or so, i will be showing off the ones that have not been featured on the blog before.  it will be a week long double play dump.  there are a lot of them, so i have many many posts scheduled.

it all leads up to the 'greatest double play card of all time tournament' which now might just be a top 50 countdown. i haven't decided.  but there will be a contest of sorts - i have to figure out a way to thin the herd that is my collection.

so, here we go.  let the double play displays begin.

2001 upper deck alex rodriguez

i like this card.

1997 pinnacle zenith

this card is not my favorite

1992 topps ryne sandberg all-star

1994 score ryne sandberg gold rush

1997 score hobby reserve ryne sandberg

2011 topps marquee ryne sandberg

ryno's dp form is pretty consistent when he doesn't have to leave the ground.

2002 fleer premium jimmy rollins

i like the look of this set.  there are a few dp cards in it which is always nice.

1994 fleer ultra barry larkin

it's a card of two barrys.

2010 topps chrome derek jeter

leapin' jeter batman! topps forgot to put the glossy coat on this chrome card!

2011 topps tsuyoshi nishioka

this might be the play in which nishi had his leg broken.  no, that happened in new york after the toronto series.

2011 topps opening day rafael furcal

this is a nice card.  some teams, like the a's, seem to have a lot of double play cards.  the dodgers - not so much.

get ready for an avalanche of double play cards - they're coming and there is nothing you can do to stop them.

feasting on roadkill

i sent duane at democratic roadkill some 1989 donruss cards he needed recently, and he returned a very thoughtful package with some really cool cards. here's a taste of the roadkill menu:

first, he laid waste to my 2008 a&g want list with this guy:andrew miller. it's nice to have this set completed.

next, he sent some double plays, like this 1993 donruss greg litton.litton stands triumphantly over barry bonds.

and this, a 1992 topps jeff huson.jose canseco can't break up the turn. another roider. still, i am a canseco fan. bonds, not so much.

then there was a 1994 score gold rush mickey morandini.featuring brett butler sliding in, at dodger stadium, no less. trust me, the card doesn't scan well, but that's butler and it is dodger stadium.

speaking of butler, here's his 1997 topps chrome card.butler missed a bunch of 1996 due to his throat cancer diagnosis.

here's the guy who played in his place, todd hollandsworth and his 1997 topps chrome issue.the 1996 roy with his last name going from armpit to armpit.

finally, here's another 1994 score gold rush. this time it's steve finley. not a dodger or a double play or a dodger stadium shot, but rather finley in the astrodome running down a ball with the dodgers logo wall panel on display. a cool card that i would likely have never seen.

thanks duane!