double plays are a dime apiece

it's always fun to get a trade package from nick at dime boxes in part because he also collects double play cards, and so he sends me some that turn out to be new additions to my collection.

for example, i already had this 1968 topps game card of claude osteen in my dodger collection

but now i have one for my double play binders, too.  sure, it doesn't show the play at second base, but it still references a twin-killing enough to warrant a spot in the binder.

here are some more traditional double play turns that nick sent:

1991 leaf wally backman

1992 topps bill doran gold 'winner' parallel

1997 fleer alex gonzalez

2012 topps mike aviles gold parallel

2001 fleer tradition jay canizaro

2003 upper deck 40man junior spivey

and a 2004 mlb showdown 'hard slide' card

obviously, that's wes helms sliding in, but i'm not completely certain of the cub turning two.  2003 was helms' first season with the brew crew, so it is most likely either alex gonzalez or mark grudzielanek (and just by visual inspection i know that it's not grudzielanek).  it turns out that on may 7, 2003, keith osik of the brewers hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play with helms as the lead runner.  although the second baseman for the cubs that day was ramon martinez, the shortstop was indeed alex gonzalez.

thanks for the dp turns nick!

it doesn't take long to get to dusty baker's current career torchbearer, thanks to three former dodgers

dusty baker, sadly for me, finished out his playing career with the oakland a's.  dusty was the left fielder on the team of my youth, and he was therefore one of my favorite players.  i was disappointed when he followed the trail reggie smith had left and went to the giants after yet another postseason appearance in 1983, but the dodgers were moving on.  anyway, baker found himself in the green and yellow (just as he is shown on his 1987 fleer card)

in the penultimate game of the 1986 season as the dh for the a's.  in the 7th inning, he drew his second walk of the game off of royals' starter mark gubicza, and was lifted for a pinch-runner (tony phillips).  baker did not appear in the final game of the season, and he was not signed by anyone after the season ended.

gubicza continued to pitch for the royals through 1996, but was traded to the angels (a team i witnessed him shut out in 1989 at the big a) prior to the 1997 campaign.  gubicza made only two starts for the halos, but he did get a card in the 1997 fleer set in his new duds

in his second and final appearance for the angels, gubicza allowed a lead off single to marquis grissom, but retired the other three indians he faced.  in the second inning, however, gubicza couldn't get anyone out as he allowed three singles, a home run, and two doubles before being lifted.  that last double was hit by grissom who eventually came around to score on a jim thome single off of shigetoshi hasekawa.  i mentioned up top that dusty's torchbearers were all former dodgers (at least up until now), and while gubicza's last big league appearance was that bad start against the indians as a member of the california angels, he did sign with the dodgers for the 1998 season in an attempt to get back to the big leagues.  he was unsuccessful.

so, that means that grissom was carrying baker's torch.  he had been traded from cleveland to milwaukee after the 1997 season, and then the brewers traded him to the dodgers prior to the 2001 season.  as a result, i have in my collection this fantastic 2001 upper deck gold glove marquis grissom game-used glove card

that features not only a piece of one of his gloves, but also a bit of walter alston on the outfield fence at dodger stadium.  grissom's career didn't come to a close with the blue, however, as he did what reggie smith and dusty baker had done before him, and head to no-cal after his time with the dodgers ended. grissom signed with the giants as a free agent after the 2002 season, and he played for them until they released him in august of 2005.  his last game came on july 31, 2005 when the giants faced the brewers.  in grissom's last at bat of the game, he struck out against brewers' starter chris capuano.

capuano won 18 games for the brew crew that season, and was on the all-star team the next.  unfortunately, he ran into some arm problems and missed a significant amount of playing time into the 2010 season.  after a season with the mets in 2011, capuano signed with the dodgers and at one point was 7-1 with a low era for the club.  he finished the season at 12-12 with a league leading 33 starts. he made only 20 starts (along with a few relief appearances) for the dodgers in 2013, with his last performance in dodger blue coming in the nlds against the braves in which he held atlanta scoreless for three innings and earning the win in the dodgers' game 3 victory.  from there, capuano signed for the 2014 season with the red sox who used him exclusively as a reliever and released him in july.  he was picked up by the rockies who sent him to the minors where he pitched well and had his contract purchased by the yankees.  here's his 2014 topps update card showing him in pinstripes.

the yankees moved him back to a starting role, and he was 2-3 in 12 starts for the club.  i guess they liked what they saw, because they just re-signed him to a contract for 2015.  that means that capuano will continue to carry dusty baker's torch a while longer.

bear with me as i wind through a post about a couple of 1998 final tributes that ends with a 1996 card and in total confusion

brett butler finished his playing career in 1997 with the dodgers - his second go-around with the club.  he's currently a coach with the marlins, but that is neither here nor there (although this post does end with a very confusing marlins card).  a few card companies were kind to butler (and to collectors like me who look for 'final tribute' cards) in 1998, like score

who gave us a nice photo of butler on the bases in san diego.

fleer ultra went the more traditional route with a photo of butler discarding his bat following what i assume was a bunt attempt

he's usually bunting on his cards.  i didn't scan the back of the score card, but here's the back of the ultra card, with complete career stats

butler was featured in the 1998 upper deck set, too, complete with a bunting photo

but without the 'final tribute' shield.  which is curious, because upper deck put it there on his 1998 ud collector's choice card

which actually showed him swinging the bat!  no worries, though, as upper deck put a bunting photo on the back along with his career stats.

butler had overcome cancer to return to the dodgers in 1996, and i will never forget his first game back. in a 1-1 game against the pirates, butler (already 1 for 3 in the game) led off the bottom of the 8th with a walk.  he stole second and took third on the catcher's throwing error, and then scored what proved to be the winning run on a sacrifice fly.  it was a fun and actually moving game to watch knowing what he had been through.

butler wasn't the only dodger to retire following the 1997 season, however.  this 1998 fleer sports illustrated card shows us that eddie murray also hung up his spikes at that time.

although it still shows murray in his angels' gear.  remember, murray re-joined the dodgers late in the 1997 season after beginning the campaign with the halos.  here's the back of the card

murray is still an angel, while butler took off his helmet to show off that gray shock of hair, reminiscent of john henson, the guy who replaced greg kinnear on talk soup, although his gray patch was on the side of his head.

anyway, steady eddie also got a final tribute (with the shield!) from upper deck as an angel.  i do not know why since he was a dodger at the end of the season, but i am sure there are some angel collectors who were pleased.  here's the card i am referring to

with his complete career stats on the back

murray also received a card in the second series of 1998 upper deck as a dodger so i'm not too bitter.  in fact, one of murray's angel cards - this 1997 fleer card

is a favorite of mine.  he looks strange in the disney uniform, but he's got the classic swing follow through and the jackie robinson patch on display.

murray also looks strange in an indians' uniform, but that's what he was wearing on his 1996 upper deck collector's choice card

i did a double take when i saw this card becuase of the 'tribute' label.  murray obviously did not retire following the 1995 season, so i was confused.  the back gives some information that led me to believe that this was not intended as a final tribute, but rather just a nod to him reaching a couple of big milestones, including his 3000th hit

so.  what then are we to make of andre dawson's 1996 ud collector's choice card?  it, too, has the 'tribute' banner for the first hall of famer to suit up for the florida marlins.

but, like murray, dawson was still playing beyond the 1995 season. so what milestone did the hawk achieve in 1995?  let's look at the back

according to upper deck, dawson cracked the top ten in home runs, all-time, with his last home run of the season - the 436th of his career - and he tied dodger great duke snider in doing so.  say what?  at the end of the 1995 season, the all-time career home run leader board looked like this:

1. hank aaron - 755
2. babe ruth - 714
3. willie mays - 660
4. frank robinson - 586
5. harmon killebrew - 573
6. reggie jackson - 563
7. mike schmidt - 548
8. mickey mantle - 536
9. jimmie foxx - 534
10. ted williams/willie mccovey - 521
12. ernie banks/eddie mathews - 512
14. mel ott - 511
15. lou gehrig - 493
16. eddie murray - 479
17. stan musial/willie stargell - 475
19. dave winfield - 465
20. carl yastrzemski - 452
21. dave kingman - 442
22. andre dawson - 436
23. billy williams - 426
24. duke snider - 407

dawson was 22nd on the list, and snider 24th.  dawson had actually passed snider on the list a couple of seasons earlier.  i am just totally perplexed by what the text on the back of the dawson card, and the tribute banner on the front, was all about.  but, i'll still probably keep the card in my tributes binder.

for the love of sax, avert your eyes!

i can't help myself. 

i picked up another dodger featured in the slasher set known as 2008 tristar signa cuts.  this time, it's steve sax and a butchered version of his 1985 donruss card that joins the collection.

 it looks better (relatively) rotated.

saxy! i used to keep my batting gloves in my uniform pants just like that - fingers out - because that's how sax did it.

unfortunately, i don't have a full card of sax to cleanse your palette, so instead, here is a randomly selected 1997 fleer mike blowers card

blowers preferred to clutch his batting gloves apparently; perhaps he was concerned about pickpockets.

i've got my eye on another signa cut card, but i'm not sure i will pull the trigger or not.  if i do, i'll be sure to warn you ahead of time so that you can properly prepare for the cardboard desecration.

a rockies' memorial patch for michael mcmorris

jerry mcmorris was one of the original owners of the colorado rockies.  in march of 1996, his 32-year old son, michael dean mcmorris, died from cystic fibrosis, a disease that had been diagnosed when he was a child.  the team wore memorial patches on their right sleeves with his initials - mdm.

here's mark thompson's 1997 topps card which displays the patch  

as does kevin ritz's 1997 fleer ultra card

which also features a lurking dodger, todd hollandsworth (much like walt weiss' 1997 upper deck collector's choice card that i showed yesterday).

the card that represents the memorial in the binder is this 1997 fleer dante bichette card

the elder mcmorris sold his interest in the team to his partners in the mid 2000's, and did not receive a similar memorial following his passing in 2012.

1997 double plays on the wall

double play cards keep seeping out of my collection and into my scanned folder.  today, i have a bunch from 1997 that haven't been previously seen here on the blog.

first up, 1997 upper deck derek jeter rock solid foundation subset card

it is weird to think that after this season, no yankee will ever wear a single-digit jersey again.  numbers 1-9 will all be retired (although they may wait to retire jeter's until next season).  number 8 is even retired twice - for bill dickey and yogi berra.

1997 best miguel tejada

a minor league dp!

1997 bowman felix martinez

martinez played in the majors for the royals and later the rays.  he spent about a month in the dodger organization during the 2002 season.

1997 bowman ryne sandberg

and 1997 bowman chrome ryne sandberg

both with craig biggio sliding in

1997 donruss shawon dunston

1997 fleer mark grudzielanek

here's biggio on a card of his own - 1997 fleer ultra (gold medallion edition)

and another shawon dunston card from the same set

fernando vina turns two on his 1997 pinnacle card

with a scott stahoviak sighting

here's another grudzielanek card - a 1997 upper deck sp card

i don't have too many cards from this set in my collection, but i'm happy to have this one.  more double play cards from 1997 coming soon...

these also came from outer space

here are some more cards from my 'team' in the 'tribe cards from outer space' pack opening extravaganza hosted by david from tribe cards.  i mentioned earlier that one of my strategies throughout the season was to pick up middle infielders in the hopes of getting some double play turns.  i was successful a few times, and wound up with this 1993 leaf mariano duncan card

and a 1997 fleer rex hudler card

that were new to me.

my other draft strategies included dodgers (of course) and members of the teams of my youth.  players like elias sosa, who showed up in a 1981 fleer pack (or was it a repack?).

overall, i received quite a few expos.  mitch webster (former dodger) was an expo on his 1988 o-pee-chee card

and tim wallach (another former dodger) showed up twice in a 1992 leaf pack - regular and black gold

those cards, plus a couple others of the current dodger bench coach have been shipped out to new mexico already.

another expo that fit into my former dodger and middle infielder strategy was delino deshields, seen here on his 1993 leaf card

but the most welcome expo of my 'team' was vladimir guerrero.  i wound up with a few vladdys, including this 2000 pacific crown collection card

i might like the red hats more than the red, white, and blue ones.

here's a 1995 topps cyber stats parallel of felix fermin

i drafted him in hopes of some double play cards.  this bunting card is on its way to 2x3 heroes.

howie kendrick was another middle infielder added to my team.  he delivered a 2013 topps a&g regular and mini combo

i beat david to the punch in adding former dodger (and indian) casey blake, and so i wound up with this 2004 fleer ultra card

which also features the mel harder and larry doby memorial patches.

there aren't too many cards of aaron harang as a dodger, but i was hoping for one or two when i added him to my player list.  instead, i received this 2011 topps gold parallel featuring him with the reds

i'm not complaining, though.

thanks david!