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!

have you seen the turning of two?

somehow a number of double play cards have been accumulating in my scanned folder, and it's time to thin the herd.

2000 topps gallery todd walker

the heir to chuck knoblauch could hit pretty well, but manager tom kelly didn't care much for his defense, and so walker was traded to the rockies during the 2000 season.

1993 classic best tim stutheit

stutheit only played in 24 games in 1993, including just 19 for the a-level chiefs.  at least we have this double play card to remember him by.

1993 topps stadium club john valentin

valentin led the league in defensive war in 1993 (and again in 1995) but eventually had to move to third to make room for nomar garciaparra at short.

1996 upper deck collector's choice roberto alomar

and a silver signature parallel

i originally passed on these cards when looking through my collection for double play cards because it's a posed shot, but then i figured so is the 1953 bowman color pee wee reese.  welcome to the double play binder, 1996 udcc roberto alomar!

2004 topps total adam kennedy

what has five legs, three arms, and turns a double play? this card.

2001 upper deck victory felix martinez

felix the shortstop wpent about a month in the dodger organization in 2002, but didn't appear in any big league games for the blue.

2001 upper deck victory tony womack

and 1997 upper deck collector's choice tony womack

which womack wins? i prefer the '97 card thanks to the full photo crop and the mix of colors, although i do not like applebee's. double play cards, however, i do like.

another bobby lost

sadly, former dodger pitcher bobby castillo passed away on monday - the second pitcher named bobby from the team of my youth to die this year.  i was reminded that arpsmith had recently sent me a 1982 topps castillo card that was signed by the pitcher himself

i was able to have castillo sign a couple of cards previously, but this one is much more boldly signed.  rest in peace, bobby.

arpsmith included another signed card from 1982 - a 1982 fleer burt hooton card to be exact

i appreciate having a socal connection with what seems to be a decent lcs nearby.  in addition to the in person autos he found there, arpsmith also sent a 2007 upper deck spx autographed card of delwyn young

and a 2007 ud artifacts jersey card of jeff kent

here's a 1994 upper deck fun pack mike piazza checklist card

unlike collector's choice, i think the silver signature was standard on this card.  also, piazza's wearing the tim crews memorial patch on this card.  there will be, of course, a separate post regarding that memorial someday.

speaking of collector's choice, here's a 1997 udcc hideo nomo all-star connection insert

nomo didn't make the all-star team in 1997, in fact, the only time he appeared in the midsummer classic was in his rookie year of 1995 when he was the game's starter.

pee wee reese, on the other hand, appeared in 10 all-star games, including 9 straight from 1945-1954.  here's a 2012 panini cooperstown crystal parallel of the dodger shortstop that arpsmith included

the kaleidoscope pattern and cropping of the familiar photo distract me from the fact there is no logo.

there's no logo on this next card either, but lest there be any doubts, tommy lasorda is still in charge.  he is 'calling the shots' according to this 2013 panini hometown heroes insert

clearly he did not call jack clark's shot in the 1985 nlcs.

thanks for the cards adam!

more 1997 double plays

card companies produced a lot of cards in 1997.  some featured double play turns.  here are a few more.

1997 upper deck collector's choice nomar garciaparra big shots insert

there were many other dp cards in collector's choice that year - i'll get to some of them later.

here's a 1997 topps stadium club ray durham card

with derek jeter making a cameo

less exciting is this carlos garcia card from stadium club

even though it's a 'members only parallel'.

mark grudzielanek goes horizontal in a cloud of dust on his stadium club card

i think that's jason kendall playing the part of pig pen.

barry larkin takes a flying leap over tyler houston on his stadium club card

now, back to 1997 ud collector's choice

craig biggio turns two over barry bonds

and i believe alex gonzalez is trying to avoid a slide aimed at breaking up two on his card

i also believe that andujar cedeno has run through the force out at second and mickey morandini tries to complete the double play on morandini's card from the set

he was unsuccessful.  i believe this thanks to baseball reference and cedeno's short amount of time spent with the pads in 1996.

no baseball reference for spring training games, but this is definitely a turn by pokey reese

last but certainly not least is a card that could fit into four of my mini collections.  first, it's walt weiss turning two on his 1997 ud collector's choice card

second, he's doing it in dodger stadium.   third, raul mondesi makes a lurking appearance.  and, fourth, weiss is wearing a memorial patch.  i only need three copies of this card, however, as there's a different rockies card in the memorial binder for that particular patch.  that post will be up tomorrow.

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!