more cards from across town

earlier today, i posted some of the cards that fellow twin-citian brian (he of the highly subjective and completely arbitrary blog) sent my way.  there are more to be shown and enjoyed.  like this 1998 upper deck collector's choice of raul mondesi signing autographs at dodger stadium on photo day.

photo day, which used to be called camera day back when i was a kid, is when fans can arrive early and go on to the field (stay behind the barriers, folks) as the players walk slowly by and stop to pose for a picture of sign an autograph or two.  the first time i ever went on the field at dodger stadium was on photo/camera day circa 1979.  i've been on the field once or twice since then, but only for concerts.

here's a 1995 topps stadium club card of delino deshields also signing autographs

but he's on the road somewhere, not at chavez ravine.

also from 1995 topps stadium club, here's a close up of a concerned looking eric karros

that is actually a virtual reality parallel.  perhaps karros is pondering the age old question, "what is real?"

or maybe he is trying to figure out who is on the front of this 1998 topps mystery interleague match-up card

it could be karros, it could be mike piazza, but it could also be an angel.  i haven't peeled off the front to find out.  i'll keep karros guessing.

brian included a few inserts from 2015 topps series 2, which is nice because i haven't bought much of that product.  here's melissa mccarthy getting ready to throw the first pitch at dodger stadium

i understand that the pitch came out of her hand "like lava".

2015 topps adrian gonzalez stepping up insert

2015 topps clayton kershaw hot streak insert

41 innings is impressive.  zack greinke is currently at 35.2 scoreless innings.  he still has 23.1 to go to catch orel hershiser.  incredible.

2015 topps yasiel puig hot streak insert

it would be nice for puig to get on a hot streak again sometime.

brian also hit a couple of peculiarities in my collection.  this is a non-dodger dodger card from 2005 donruss throwback threads of kazuhisa ishii

it's really a mets card, but it's got a dodger on it, so it belongs in my collection.

brian also sent along this 1995 topps stadium club carlos garcia card

featuring nothing but dirt - a tatooine card to end the trade post.

thanks brian! i'll get a return package out to you soon!

a new type collection?

i am not completely sure that i am going to add another mini collection, but i do know that i enjoy most cards that show players' names and numbers on their back.  it's fairly subjective - not as cut and dried as say, my dodger stadium in the background collection - as i don't like every card that features a players name/number on the back.  anyway, here are some cards that would definitely make the cut in my 'nob' collection. if i were to officially add it, that is.  

1999 topps gallery vladimir guerrero

1994 topps stadium club rickey henderson rainbow foil parallel

1998 topps paul molitor

1995 topps stadium club sandy alomar jr best seat in the house insert

2009 upper deck derek jeter

2011 topps marquee stan musial

so, the bulk of the cards would be like those above - action shots, and usually at the plate.  sometimes there are non-action shots that fit the bill as well.

1999 upper deck karim garcia

2012 topps kyle blanks

there are also those cards that meet the letter of the law regarding the collection, but just don't resonate with me for some reason.  here are two examples

2010 topps alex rios

2011 topps update jered weaver

luckily, that rios card fits in my tatooine mini collection, and i may make a spot for the weaver in my lurker collection, thanks to former dodger alfredo griffin hanging out in the background.

i think what i like about these cards is that they use images that are similar to what i see as a fan when i go to a game.  watching on tv, we get different camera angles that focus on the action from the front.  or, perhaps they are just cards featuring good action (for the most part) photography.

the bournigal supremacy

rafael bournigal was the victim of the changing expectations from the shortstop position.  his 1995 topps stadium club card

is fantastic, but good cardboard doesn't keep you in the big leagues.  bournigal was a good field/no hit shortstop which would have been ok prior to the 1990's when guys like cal ripken jr and barry larkin were winning mvp awards based on big offensive numbers. the dodgers had jose offerman at shortstop in the early 1990's when bournigal was ready to play in the bigs, and they apparently enjoyed e-fferman's slightly better offense over bournigal's better defense.

here's a 1993 fleer ultra bournigal card

and a 1993 score bournigal card

both of which carry a 'rookie' designation.  bournigal's topps card from 1993 had no such distinction, but there was a gold parallel version

which is nice.

bournigal was a september call-up in both 1992 and 1993, but saw more playing time during the summer of 1994. he appeared in 40 games that year and made only 3 errors compared to offerman who made 11 errors in 72 games.  dodger fans were rewarded with the nice stadium club shown up top in 1995.  here is that card again, with bournigal catching what i imagine to be a line drive with the dodger stadium bleachers in the background.

topps also liked the image, as they used it on one of the 1996 topps pre-production cards, although they cropped it slightly more tightly

here's the back of the pre-production card

which was somewhat elusive. the cards weren't in the 1995 factory set that i bought, which is where the pre-production cards had been in 1994, so i had to go the online marketplace route.  i think i finally found one on ebay, although it could have been comc.  in case you are wondering, there was no 1996 topps rafael bournigal card as he spent the entire 1995 season in the minor leagues, splitting time between the dodger and expo organizations (he was traded to montreal in june).

anyway, i recently sent some cards to bournigal through the mail, and he was kind enough to sign and return them to me.

1995 topps

1995 upper deck

1995 upper deck collector's choice

weird to see him without the goggles

and 1993 topps

looks like he got some sharpie on the table...

with bournigal's dodger career complete, he went on to resurface with the a's from 1996-1998, and then spent the 1999 season with the mariners.  pacific gave us one more card of bournigal in their 2000 pacific crown collection set, and it features a nice double play turn

the dodgers didn't really embrace the new shortstop prototype until they brought hanley ramirez on board, and that will continue with corey seager in a year or two. even when seager is hitting 20+ homers every year, i'll still have a soft spot for guys like bournigal and cesar izturis who can field like nobody's business.

where in the world is my wallet card - local monthly card show edition!

wallet card and i ventured out in the cold to a recent local card show.

that's my beat up 1974 topps steve garvey card in the foreground of the familar twin cities sports card collector's club card show signage.

inside, i found some things to purchase, including another vintage dodger from one of the main vintage bargain bin dealers i've written about so many times.  one of the cards he sold me was this 1955 topps duke snider card

i took duke home and promptly freed him from his cage

i am pretty sure that whomever had the card graded spent more on that than i spent on the card.  anyway, it's the last card in the 1955 set, and one of the ones i thought would take me the longest to find one that met my budgetary needs.  i was wrong - there are still a few other dodgers i need from that '55 set.

there were some modern dodgers from a two-dime box at another dealer that suffered the wrath of my dodger digging.  here's a 2011 topps pro-debut ethan martin blue parallel

i have a hard time passing up blue dodger parallels, even when they are former prospects that no longer pitch in the organization.

case in point, here's a 2014 bowman chrome dan haren blue parallel

it's a card only a dodger team collector could love.

more blue - this time a 2012 topps chad billingsley golden moments relic card

that features a swatch from the 1940 throwback unis that the dodgers wore for a few games in 2011.

here's a piece of (supposedly) adrian gonzalez's bat from 2014 topps allen & ginter

the relics were only a buck apiece.

there were a bunch of grant holmes cards in the two-dime box, and i grabbed this 2014 bowman draft picks and prospects draft night insert of the first round pick 

he had a k/9 ratio of over 10 in his rookie league debut last year. i'm interested to see what he does this year.

i have a hard time passing up tim wallach cards when i see them in discount boxes, so i grabbed this 1995 topps stadium club card.

to be honest, i've seen this card so many times, i should make sure that i actually own it before i ship it off to new mexico.

also from 1995 topps stadium club, i grabbed this brett butler virtual reality insert

based on the haul i took from the card show (i'll be showing more of it in another post), the fist bump is warranted.

a mish-mash of double play turns

i've allowed a number of new to the blog/collection double play turns to accumulate in my scanned folder, so today will be all about the pivot.

1984 topps traded tony bernazard

now granted this image is pre-pivot, but i consider second basemen waiting for the throw while standing at the base to be a double play turn. i remember waiting for these throws and wondering if i had enough time to turn and throw and not get bowled over.

1995 topps bret boone

ditto.

1992 topps stadium club manny lee

sorry - he goes by manuel here.  this is where i am thankful for others who collect double play cards, particularly jeff at 2x3 heroes and nick at dime boxes.  they will show off dp cards that they receive in the mail, and then i go and dig in my collection to see if i have those cards.  such was the case with this manuel lee card.  one of them showed it, and i didn't have it, so i went and bought it on sportlots for 18 cents.  this particular card shows a play from the first inning of a game played on june 30, 1991. harold reynolds has grounded to the first baseman (john olerud), who threw to second to force the lead runner (edgar martinez).  manuel lee is preparing for the relay throw, but reynolds is safe at first. thanks baseball-reference!

1982 o-pee-chee tim foli

not only was foli traded from the pirates to the angels (creating a team and text variation), but he's about to throw to first to complete a spring training double play.  i doubt that he's on the second base side of the bag for any other reason, so this is a double play turn.  now i just need another copy of his 1982 topps card for the dp binder.

1992 leaf mariano duncan

and 1992 leaf mariano duncan black gold

plus the back of another 1992 leaf card, that of terry shumpert

the photo on the shumpert back is very similar to the back of his 1992 fleer card.

my double play collection sometimes runs on duncan - here's his 1995 topps stadium club card

plus jody reed's card from the same set

nice junior griffey cameo, too.  i had previously shown a 1st day issue parallel of the reed card, but not the plain ol' base.

here's another couple of cards that have sort of been shown before - 1997 topps stadium club carlos garcia

i previously showed the members only parallel, which is really only different on the back due to some watermark text, and 1995 score rafael belliard

of which i have previously shown the gold rush parallel version.

last card of this post is brent gates' 1996 score card

thanks again to nick for showing this one on his blog. i couldn't believe that there was a brent gates double play card that i was missing.