it's like having my own gary sheffield dealer

i recently completed a trade with daniel over at it's like having my own card shop in which he sent me a bunch of late 90's/early 00's dodger cards.  that means a healthy dose of gary sheffield.  take a look:

1998 donruss signature edition

1998 topps gold label

i miss the outfield murals

1998 leaf rookies & stars

2000 pacific vanguard

i've been halfway thinking about doing some sort of post that tries to capture the craziness of pacific in 2000.  this card looks like sheff is flying through space as part of the pinkish lantern corps.

2000 upper deck spx

2000 upper deck mvp

that's a goodly amount of sheffield cards, and i don't think i showed them all.  i've said it before, i was just getting comfortable with sheffield as a dodger when he started to pull his shenanigans.  still, the guy put together one of the best offensive stretches in dodger history.  and, if he ever finds his way into the hall of fame, he might go in as a dodger.  he spent four years in la (eclipsed only by his six years in florida) and got more hits and hit more home runs as a dodger than anywhere else he played.  if that happens, what do the dodgers do?  do they retire his number?  and if so, which number - 5 or 10?  i can't see that happening, but it would be a first if he were to be enshrined in a dodger hat and they didn't retire the number.

they don't have to worry about all that with this next guy - shawn green on his 2000 upper deck mvp card

he didn't make the cut this year for reappearing on the hall of fame ballot, so he's one and done.  here is his 2000 fleer gamers card

and his 2003 fleer ultra gold medallion card

on which he makes like roberto clemente by losing his helmet.  speaking of which, anybody else out there see 'chasing 3000'?  i watched it a couple of weeks ago, and it was cool to see some old footage of clemente.  not so cool to see some recent footage of ray liotta.  shoeless joe is not aging too well.

here's a 1998 ud spx chan ho park card

and a 1999 upper deck black diamond adrian beltre card

just to prove that there were dodger cards from this timeframe that weren't either sheffield or green.  sometimes it seemed like the only players i was seeing in packs were those two and kevin brown, but there were others.  i can't imagine having been an astros fan and only getting cards of the killer b's over and over and over.

thanks daniel!

i must be in the front row!

i received a trade package from saints of the cheap seats recently that contained fantastic dodger goodness, none of which were 'cheap seat' worthy.  these were some really nice cards.  here's a sampling:

the first card in the package was this 1996 leaf steel hideo nomo card

as the name would suggest, the card is metal, all right.  i could put this thing in my breast pocket and it would stop a bullet.  no doubt.  this card is probably worth a lot thanks to the price of steel.

here's a 1998 topps gold label eric karros card

sadly, not printed on gold.  i am not too much of a fan of multiple photos on the fronts of cards, but at least this card shows us that eric bats and eric fields.  i wonder what they did for cards of designated hitters.

next up are a couple of cards from fleer's version of topps gold label - 1999 fleer flair showcase raul mondesi - the power...

... and the passion

"oh - the temper of the time."  was peter garrett singing about rauuuuuuuuuuuuuul? either way, we now know that mondesi bats, broods, catches balls, and runs.  and is number 43.  good info.  but was he "wasting away in paradise"?

2008 topps delwyn young auto

delwyn hit a bunch of doubles in the minors in 2007 and topps celebrated his performance with sticker autos.  meanwhile, the people in the background look like they are straight out of 'when it was a game'.

here's a teammate of young's - james mcdonald - on a 2009 upper deck sweet spot auto

young and mcdonald (not to be confused with old mcdonald) are teammates on the pirates.  actually, i am reminded that they are not teammates as delwyn fled across the state to join the phillies after last season.

1998 leaf fractal foundation dennis reyes

i was under the impression that reyes became a lefty after being visited by dodger scout mike brito who made the suggestion.  it turns out that reyes sustained a fairly serious injury to his right shoulder and so became a lefty out of necessity.  he's currently still pitching in the bigs having joined the red sox this year.  i recall that when he won his big league debut for the dodgers, he ended the dodgers' 5-year streak of not having a left-handed starter earn a victory.  and to think that they made the playoffs in two of those years.

here's a jeff kent relic from 2008 ud spx

that's all i have to say about that.

we'll finish with this here-to-fore unseen (by me) card, a 1996 upper deck collector's choice you crash the game card of eric karros

it's pretty cool, with the transparent part in the middle.  reminds me of the melted lifesavers my grandma would put in the middle of some of her christmas sugar cookies.  i remember the yctg promotion, and i am pretty sure i mailed in some winners, but i don't recall getting cards like this back from dick mcwilliams.  anyone have some info on this card?  are there other dodgers as well?

thanks dan!