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.

the highs and low of 1997 pinnacle zenith

for the most part, 1997 pinnacle zenith is perfection on cardboard.  it's kind of like topps stadium club but cleaner.  the photography is great, and not limited to the usual field level baseline shots.  look at ken griffey jr's card:

the ball is launched.  the dirt is varying shades of brown and there's a touch of green grass.  perfect.

javy lopez has some company on his card,

as raul mondesi has slid in to home (safely, i presume) at dodger stadium.  there is a lot of action captured in this card.  absolute dodger stadium/lurker perfection.

anticipation is more like it on tony gwynn's card

will he or won't he?  i love the strata of the grass and infield dirt, the wall and the padres' orange home run line.  and to have no umpire or catcher in the frame is awesome.  the palm tree is completely brotus.  perfect.

kenny lofton has just begun his flight on his card

there should be more cards of lofton, rickey, carl crawford, maury wills etc with this kind of photo.  it's what they are/were known for.  perfecto!

the landscape panaromic shot works nicely on cal ripken jr's card

a nice line drive captured in its infancy.  no one has reacted yet.  perfect!

 

greg maddux

again, the subject is shown doing what he's known for.  in this case, pitching.  nice to see the rosin bag make an appearance, too.  perfection.

deion sanders

this is a great shot too.  it looks like sanders has shortened his swing to make contact, and his head is down watching the contact being made.  prime time, indeed!  it's perfect.

bernie williams

this is one of the few cards that i take issue with.  yes, the grass is really green, but we don't gain much by having such a wide shot of bernie.  not quite perfect.

and then, there's ivan rodriguez.

i have no words.  except not even close to perfection on cardboard.

 

here's to you, 1997 pinnacle zenith (at least, to most of you)! 

mr. (night) owl, how many packages do you have to send to gcrl before he writes a post?

let's find out.

one:

1980 kellogg's davey lopes
if only that mustache really were in 3-d.

1986 topps glossy send in fernando valenzuela this set reminds me of a tcma issue. but in color.

2009 upper deck spectrum matt kemp (the heretofore unbeknownst to me blue variation) the question is, why?

2006 bowman heritage wilson betemit

interesting that we had, at one time, both furcal and betemit at the same time. just like the braves did.

2006 upper deck sp authentic julio lugo thankfully, lugo was a short-timer. unfortunately, ned traded for him in the first place.

2006 fleer greats of the game dusty bakeras seen on night owl's blog recently!

2009 upper deck spx clayton kershaw here's hoping the 2009 postseason is really his month long coming out party.

2008 upper deck timeline james loney sp perhaps my favorite first baseman since popeye himself.

ta-whooooo:

1985 fleer frank dipinoa very nice card with the right field pavilion and it's color palette complementing the astros uniform.

2002 upper deck kaz ishiinow we have the left field pavilion with diamond vision, a carl's jr ad, and half of tommy lasorda's outfield fence mural. plus the overhyped ishii in street clothes. ishii, because of the hype, was the dodger that got all the short prints which sucks when trying to complete my 2003 upper deck vintage set, among others.

2009 upper deck a piece of history james mcdonaldmcdonald hasn't made or seen much history yet.

2009 upper deck clayton kershaw 20th anniversary

another kershaw. this one from a subset within an insert set. i don't understand upper deck sometimes.

2009 topps target throwback chan ho park

did topps do this for series 2? did anyone care?

2009 topps attax vladimir guerrero

shiny must mean parallel. again, why?

three:

2009 topps finest russell martin

a disappointing season hopefully means fantastic postseason. or at least a bargain in next year's fantasy draft.

2009 topps jackie robinson turkey red insert

now that's a nice card!

2009 bowman manny ramirez

sans umpire. very very bad.

2008 upper deck goudey pee wee reese

i wonder what ken griffey jr does say about pee wee? any guesses?

2008 topps chin-lung hu trading card history

a glossy version of the 1959 set. as opposed to the more traditional versions in the 2008 heritage set. speaking of which,

2008 topps heritage vladimir guerrero chrome looks like it's snowing in anaheim

1997 pinnacle zenith wilton guerrero

i wish wilton had been more like vlad.

1993 score select rick trlicek

a pitcher with a hockey name. he actually debuted with the blue jays in 1992. recorded his only career save and hit (off of tom glavine) in his one season as a dodger.

so, the answer is three. each package filled with dodger and set building goodness, which is even better than the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.

thanks greg. i'll get another package out to you soon.