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!

baseball cards that travelled from bo in single file to hide their numbers

there are many things that i like about this 1993 donruss tony fernandez card

first of all, it was sent to me by bo from baseball cards come to life in a trade package, which is great.  second, it features the o-pee-chee-esque 'traded' text with a mets logo on what would otherwise be a padre card.  third, there is a double play turn on the back.  and fourth, there is only dirt in the image, so it's a tatooine card.  bo sent a number of those cards for my mini collection.  here's another, also from 1993 donruss, featuring the tigers' phil clark

here are some more.

1993 score select royce clayton

1993 upper deck scott brosius

1993 upper deck craig grebeck

1993 upper deck jose vizcaino

1994 pinnacle kirt manwaring

1994 score bob zupcic

1994 upper deck dave hollins (back)

1994 upper deck collector's choice brian hunter

1994 upper deck collector's choice scott livingstone

1994 upper deck collector's choice dave magadan

1995 donruss junior felix

thanks bo.  these are the cards i was looking for.

i am running out of tatooine references from the star wars movies for these types of posts.

who's carrying jackie robinson's torch? besides everyone, that is...

this week marks the 68th anniversary of jackie robinson's debut in the major leagues.  however, this post focuses more on the end of his playing days, as i thought i'd take a look at how his career torch was passed.

in his final regular season at bat (on september 30, 1956), jackie robinson grounded out against the pirates' bob friend.  here's jackie's 1956 topps card - the last from his playing days.

jackie did play in the world series in '56, but i am keeping this to regular season games.  for the record, jackie made the final out of the '56 series, striking out against the yankees' johnny kucks.

bob friend, who appeared with sandy koufax on a 1964 topps league leaders card,

retired deron johnson of the reds on september 24, 1966 while he was pitching for the mets.  johnson was the last batter friend faced in the majors.

deron johnson, seen here on a 1974 topps card as an oakland a,

struck out in his final big league appearance to end the game on may 28, 1976 as a member of the red sox against the orioles' grant jackson

on september 8, 1982, grant jackson had a one-game return stint for the pirates after pitching for the royals for the majority of the season.  here's his 1982 topps traded card

he entered in relief with the mets having loaded the bases in the 9th inning with one out, and promptly served up a grand slam to catcher ron hodges.  jackson retired the next two batters to end the inning, the last of which was ron gardenhire.  that was the last time jackson appeared in the big leagues.

ron gardenhire, still with the mets,

struck out in the 9th against jeff reardon to end his major league playing career on october 6, 1985. i like gardy's 1985 donruss card because of dodger stadium in the background.

jeff reardon finished his career in 1994 as a yankee (see this 1994 upper deck collector's choice gold parallel as proof)

allowing a game-tying single to tim salmon with his final big league pitch on may 4 of that year.

tim salmon (shown on a 2003 upper deck mvp card)

popped out against oakland's huston street in his last career at bat on october 1, 2006.  salmon was in the on-deck circle when the game ended.

huston street is still going strong, pitching for the angels following a midseason trade with the padres last year.  here's his 2014 topps update card

there are other, more important ways, in which jackie robinson's legacy lives on, but this sort of playing legacy has always intrigued me.

a dodger memorial patch for campy and big d

when don drysdale made his big league debut in relief on opening day of the 1956 season, his battery mate was roy campanella.  the two were teammates again the following year, which turned out to be campy's last.  some 36 years later, campanella and drysdale passed away within a week of each other - campanella at the age of 71 and drysdale at 56, both dead from heart attacks. 

campanella, who was paralyzed in a car accident in january of 1958, was an 8-time all-star who won three national league mvp awards during his 10-year major league career.  prior to that, he had played in the negro leagues for 10 years, and he had been the first african-american player in the american association, playing for the saint paul saints in 1948 (there is a picture of campy in his saints uniform hanging in target field, the home of the twins).  he reached the majors for good later that season, and in 1969, he became the second african-american player to be voted into the hall of fame, following once again in the footsteps of jackie robinson.  campanella's number 39 was among the first three numbers retired by the dodgers in a 1972 ceremony that also retired the numbers of robinson and sandy koufax.  it was on june 26, 1993 that campanella died at his home.

drysdale had his number 53 retired by the dodgers following his induction into the hall of fame in 1984. he was also an 8-time all-star during his career, leading the league in strikeouts 3 times and winning the cy young award in 1962.  drysdale famously set the record for most consecutive scoreless innings in his final full season when he went 58 and two-thirds innings without allowing a run in 1968.  the streak included six consecutive shutouts from big d.  following his retirement in 1969, drysdale began a career as a broadcaster, and he joined the dodger's broadcasting team in 1988 following the retirement of jerry doggett.  five years later, drysdale was in montreal where the dodgers were playing the expos when he died on july 3, 1993.  it was vin scully who broke the news during that game's broadcast to us dodger fans, noting that don had previously undergone an angioplasty to relieve some heart problems.  what a surreal moment that was.

the dodgers added a memorial patch to their right sleeves for the remainder of the season honoring both hall of famers.  the patch, with the text '39 roy don 53' recognized the numbers that had been retired for each player.  you can see the patch on this 1994 fleer superstar special card of mike piazza and eric karros.

as well as this 1994 fleer superstar special card of brett butler

tom candiotti's 1994 donruss card

shows both the campy/big d patch and the tim crews memorial patch that was worn on the dodgers' left sleeves during the entire 1993 season.

ditto for brett butler's 1994 topps stadium card

which also features a mustachioed butler

butler is clean shaven on his 1994 donruss triple play card

as is tim wallach on his card from the same set

both cards show the patch nicely.

the back of wallach's 1994 topps stadium club card also gives a good view of the patch

as does pedro astacio's 1994 pinnacle card

cards from the 1994 topps set also display the patch - here's dave hansen's card

and ricky trlicek's, too

mike piazza's all-star card

would be a good representative of the patch since he and campanella are two of the greatest offensive catchers in the history of the game, but i think this 1994 upper deck collector's choice raul mondesi card

is the best example of the patch, so it sits in my memorials binder.

target knew i was coming

i bought all three 100-card repacks that were on display at the local target one day last week.  it was like they knew i was coming, with the cards that were featured in the repack windows.  here are the contents of repack number one:

2002 fleer billy wagner - no, that wasn't the card that drew me in
1991 topps 1990 rookies robin ventura - this looks suspiciously like a recent repack i bought
1991 topps 1990 rookies frank thomas
1991 topps 1990 rookies jose offerman - at least now i have a double to send to night owl
1991 topps 1990 rookies todd zeile
1991 topps 1990 rookies john olerud
1989 upper deck yankee checklist (don mattingly)
1991 donruss jose offerman - rated rookie!
1998 pacific paramount david justice
1989 fleer doug jones
1992 upper deck rick wilkins
1991 classic draft picks jorge fabregas
1991 classic best archie corbin
1990 donruss jim dwyer
1998 upper deck nomar garciaparra

it has a dp turn on the back, but here's the front
1990 topps billy spiers
1991 topps mike stanton
1991 classic best tommy taylor
1992 fleer bernie williams
1992 fleer terry pendleton league leaders
1994 upper deck collector's choice greg w. harris

1992 fleer scott radinsky
1988 donruss bob brenly
1990 topps greg gagne
1991 score lance johnson
1988 topps tom henke
1989 fleer richard dotson
2004 donruss classics angel berroa
1988 donruss vance law
1992 topps benny santiago
1989 fleer scott garrelts
1989 score dave righetti
1990 upper deck tim leary
1988 donruss ray knight
1999 upper deck ryan jackson
1990 fleer jack armstrong
1997 donruss studio brian hunter
1988 topps dave winfield all-star
1988 score tom brookens
1999 upper deck neifi perez - another dp turn
1988 score mike scioscia

1991 topps gary sheffield
1990 topps edgar martinez
1988 score chris bando
2009 upper deck first edition andy pettitte
2009 upper deck first edition aaron harang
2009 upper deck first edition chase headley
2009 upper deck first edition jarrod saltalamacchia
2009 upper deck first edition tim hudson
2010 topps todd helton

that was the end of the first half.  nothing there, really.  here's why i bought this thing - the first card in the other window was this 2013 topps chrome asdrubal cabrera orange refractor

a double play turn that is new to my collection!
2013 topps chrome ian kinsler orange refractor

another one that i believe to be a dp, although not the tradition turn at second base.  and, sure enough, in the top of the 6th inning on june 12, 2012, josh bell hit a ground ball to kinsler who tagged aaron hill who had singled and threw to first to complete the 4-3 double play.  thanks baseball reference!
2000 pacific crown royale geoff jenkins

1990 donruss alan trammell
1988 donruss tim wallach - we all know where this card is going
1988 fleer mark mclemore
1999 topps arturo mcdowell/tony torcato draft picks
1990 fleer charlie o'brien
1992 topps eric king
1989 donruss marvin freeman

pretty sure he's standing in dodger stadium, but i scanned the card because it is the most beat up card i've ever found in a repack. nasty.
1989 fleer mark carreon
2008 topps alex gordon year in review
1988 donruss jim eisenreich
1990 topps bert blyleven
1992 score jeff fassero
1992 upper deck terry steinbach
1995 leaf bob hamelin
1990 donruss sergio valdez
2005 donruss leather & lumber rocco baldelli
1986 topps joe carter
1990 bowman gregg olson sweepstakes card
2006 upper deck adam dunn
2005 fleer classic clippings paul konerko
1996 score sid fernandez
2005 fleer mariano rivera

1988 donruss sam horn
1988 donruss lonnie smith
1992 fleer dave winfield
1998 upper deck sp minors jeff liefer
1991 topps kirt manwaring
1992 score mark leiter
2012 topps rex brothers
2012 topps brad peacock
2012 topps jed lowrie
2012 topps gavin floyd
2012 topps alejandro de aza
2012 topps sean marshall
2012 topps ricky nolasco
2012 topps randy wells
2012 topps rex brothers - again!
2012 topps freddie freeman
2011 topps nyjer morgan
2011 topps logan morrison
2011 topps juan miranda
2011 topps kenley jansen
2011 topps drew storen
2011 topps toronto blue jays
2011 topps brad hawpe
2011 topps ronny cedeno
2011 topps bronson arroyo
2004 fleer greats reggie jackson

last but not least.

some of these cards already have homes - my collection or in trade packages - but if there's something you'd like to have (like a thrashed 1989 donruss marvin freeman card), just let me know!