the next two sheets from the steve garvey binders mark the end of the century

sheet 28 in my first of two primary steve garvey binders picks up where we left off with sheet 27.  have a look:

those cards are:

1. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes 125th anniversary parallel
2. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes (heroes of baseball) 125th anniversary parallel
3. 1995 sonic baseball greats
4. 1994 upper deck the american epic
5. 1995 upper deck sp championship (october legends)
6. 1995 upper deck sp championship (classic performances)
7. 1995 upper deck sp championship series (october legends) die-cut parallel
8. 1995 upper deck sp championship series (classic performances) die-cut parallel
9. 1996 danbury mint

and so begins the glut of parallels.  it was great to have a couple of parallels to find back in the late 1990's, but it is quite tedious today.  i see that i have a card out of sequence on this sheet, but i'll fix that later.  lots of good stuff on this sheet, but the highlight may well be the pete rose card from the 1994 upper deck the american epic set (a companion set to ken burns' baseball documentary) that features garvey lurking in the background as rose celebrates hit number 4192.

here are the backs:

the next sheet includes the first certified garvey autograph cards, one of which is the first card i ever purchased on ebay. here's sheet 29:

those cards are:

1. 1998 fleer sports illustrated world series fever
2. 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game
3. 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph
4. 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game cover collection (dodgers)
5. 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game cover collection (padres)
6. 1999 upper deck retro
7. 1999 upper deck retro gold parallel
8. 1999 upper deck retro inkredible auto
9. 2000 nabisco all-stars

garvey has been on the cover of sports illustrated four times, and three of those covers are represented on this sheet.  the first card features a cover from 1974 during the world series between the a's and dodgers.  that's garvey in the lower left corner of the montage.  the other two cards featuring covers showcase the 1976 and 1983 covers, respectively, with the '83 cover also being used for the autograph insert.  the only garvey si cover not used for a card is the april, 1982 baseball preview issue cover.

in other news,  the inkredible auto from 1999 ud retro was the first card i ever purchased on ebay.  i had gone onto the site to find a 1995 upper deck sp championship kirk gibson card that i had seen somewhere, and i discovered that the garv had an autographed card on the market.  the first of many, as it turns out.

here are the backs:

i appreciate fleer's bold coa on the back of the greats auto.

the 2000 nabisco all-star card was the last card of garvey in the 20th century, and it is the 36th post-playing career card in the binders.  that's an average of about 3 new garvey cards per year.  the 21st century would blow that ratio out of the water.  stay tuned.

what have they done to my fair stadium?

beach volleyball.  kiss.  nhl hockey.  these things will be taking place in dodger stadium on january 25th, and construction of the rink and other associated items is well underway.  i don't have any problems with that.  i've been to a couple of concerts at dodger stadium, and i contemplated going to the exhibition outdoor game that the nhl staged in las vegas several years back.  i know the folks here in the twin cities are hoping for the nhl classic to come to target field or the gophers' football stadium (where the golden gophers will play ohio state in some big 10 hockey action tonight in below zero wind chill).  still, here are some cards featuring walter o'malley's gem, the third oldest baseball stadium in the major leagues, as it was meant to be seen - as a baseball venue.

this card is from the baseball stadium facts inserts in 1969 fleer cloth sticker packs

yes, the playing field is symmetrical.  big deal. wanna fight about it?

here's ed whitson dealing from the dodger stadium mound on a 1989 fleer card

and here's nolan ryan hanging out in the bullpen.

that's a 1989 topps box bottom card, by the way.

here's a card back featuring the visitor's dugout area - orlando merced's 1991 upper deck card

and here's kenny lofton's 1992 upper deck card

i started to look at the lofton card a bit closer and wasn't completely sure that it was dodger stadium because the railing looks a bit dark.  however, wes chamberlain's 1993 upper deck card

gives a similar angle, and the railing looks the same.  lofton played in 2 games at dodger stadium among his 20 as an astro in 1991, so i say yes - that's dodger stadium in the background.

here's the back of chamberlain's card for good measure

there's no doubt that andujar cedeno's 1993 upper deck card features a shot from dodger stadium

that looks like juan samuel sliding in.

same goes for gary sheffield's 1994 upper deck card.  dodger stadium, not juan samuel.

those are the old low railings near the right field bullpen that have been replaced with a solid panel short wall.  the back of sheffield's card shows the full height outfield wall

complete with a championship banner.  this must have been opening day - the dodgers only bring out the banners then.

1997 fleer ultra todd hundley

i've never been to the stadium club restaurant at dodger stadium.  that's the area directly behind hundley with the window panels between the orange (loge - as in lower general admission) and blue (reserve) levels.

this is a nice card. it's from the 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game set - the first gotg release from fleer

i'm not sure if jerry royster is a true great of the game, but he is a former dodger and that is a nice photo of him playing short at chavez ravine.

last, but certainly not least, is a card of another former dodger.  wilton guerrero's 1998 fleer tradition update card

complete with his brother vladdy and the left field pavilion and diamondvision in the background is one of the best dodger stadium cards around.

enjoy the hockey at dodger stadium, but no tractor pulls please.

i snoozed, losed, but wound up winning. sort of.

i was recently tipped off via a saved search to a listing on ebay of a 2006 fleer greats of the game steve garvey bat barrel autogreats card, numbered out of 4 copies

i didn't win it.  i added to to my watch list with the intent of submitting a best offer to the seller.  someone beat me to the punch, although their best offer of $225 was higher than mine would have been.  

small consolation, but the seller had some other dodger goodies listed, and i was able to get a few of them for my best offer amounts.

like this 2009 topps triple threads russell martin, manny ramirez, and matt kemp relic card

i like the card, but i do have a tinge of buyer's regret thanks to the well documented questions surrounding 'game used' jerseys, as well as the non-committal statements on the back.  for all we know, that could be a piece of maury wills' wool jersey under kemp's photo.

here's a card i didn't know existed before now - a 2011 topps black diamond wrapper redemption card of clayton kershaw

kershaw wasn't around in 2001 when topps heritage used the 1952 design, but i suppose this is what it might have looked like.

jim wynn wasn't around in los angeles for too long, so i love finding cards that show him during his brief stay.  here's the autographed companion to the 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game card i showed a short while ago

it's nice.  as is this 2004 upper deck etchings dusty baker autographed card

and this steve sax auto from the same set.

i think the dusty baker photo was also used by upper deck in their 2004 legends timeless teams set.  speaking of which, the timeless teams blog gets an update in a couple of hours.  be sure to check it out, but make that best offer you've been putting off first.  just in case someone else is out there ready to beat you to the punch.

cover me

one of the best things to have come from fleer's partnership with sports illustrated in the late 1990's are the use of the magazine covers as baseball cards.  in fact, these cards are so cool and such a natural fit, that it's really too bad that there was no topps/inside sports collaboration or donruss/sport teamup.  thankfully we did get one of way too few jimmy wynn as a dodger cards as part of the 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game set.

it comes from the appropriately named 'cover collection' insert set.  and it has friends.

johnny podres, the 1955 sportsman of the year

 maury wills from 1965

 and steve garvey from 1975

garvey's cover turn as a padre was also included in the set, but i'd rather show a different garvey cover.

this next one is from 1998 fleer sports illustrated world series fever, and was part of the base set

it features the first ever all-california world series (there have been a few others since - 1988, 1989, and 2002) which saw the dodgers face the a's.  the a's won in five games, but at least we get this card that features dodger stadium, steve yeager triumphant over sal bando thanks to joe ferguson's arm, rollie fingers' mustache, garvey breaking out of the box, and billy buckner with what might be bert campaneris toppled over on top of him.

the only disappointment i had with these cards is that fleer didn't include si cover cards for the 1977 or 1978 world series.  how cool would these covers have been to have as cards?

a 1977 double play turn by billy russell in dodger stadium

and a lee lacy sliding in night card, also from chavez ravine.

those are some cards that totally should have been!

for 30 year cardboard: my list of the top 10 major league baseball games i have attended

30 year cardboard issued a challenge recently - he wanted to know what the greatest sport moment was that we have watched.  i figured i would take it a step further and count down my top ten.  and then take it even further and use ten major league baseball games that i have attended in person.  hold on - it's gonna be quite a ride...

i have been to many games in 16 different cities and 17 different stadiums.  how many i'm not sure, but there are lots of games as a youngster that i vaguely remember, and others that i have a clear memory of.  i recall standing and chanting 'dus-ty dus-ty' in the bottom of the 9th, cheering on the infield, seeing 9 rookies of the year in their rookie seasons, seeing pete rose, willie stargell, hank aaron, rickey henderson and many other hall of famers in their primes.  before i get to the top 10, i'll share a few quick memories of some other notable games:

on 08/19/91, i saw tommy lasorda come out of the dugout to incite the crowd and a late inning replacement key the dodgers to a come from behind walk-off victory

i bore witness to a 'balk-off' win on 05/28/89  

about a month after seeing a 'walk off' with a walk on 04/23/89  

i saw the dodgers' pedro outpitch the expos' pedro on 04/24/94 (along with a piazza bomb) 

 and i saw curt schilling dominate the blue on opening day - no foolin' - 04/01/97 

away from dodger stadium, my first trip to fenway began with a memorable game - an error by manny allowed the dodgers to tie it in the top of the 9th, but big papi won it in the bottom of the 9th.  the joint was rockin' on 06/11/04, that's for sure. 

about a month later in kansas city, i witnessed johan santana and joe nathan combine on a 1-hitter on 07/17/04 

but that wasn't the first time i had seen one of those.  back on 04/27/93 at the big a, i saw jimmy key absolutely destroy the angels, allowing one walk and a 6th inning single to gary disarcina  

i also saw jim abbott's first career shutout at the big a, as he beat roger clemens on 05/17/89 

i've also seen some good games at the metrodome, including an 11-inning, walk-off win on opening day 2004 courtesy of a 3-run shannon stewart home run

 and game 2 of the 2002 alcs on 10/09/02 against the eventual world champion angels 

 

 it was their first postseason since winning it all in 1991, and let me tell you, the dome was loud.

that's enough of the also-rans.  but, before we get to the top 10 games i have seen in person, i'll start with an well deserved honorable mention for a game i did not attend.

8/13/88 - the tim leary pinch hit game

this was the night that i first really believed.  the dodgers had a 2.5 game lead and were hosting the giants.  it was a saturday night and i was at a house party.  from about the 8th inning on, all of the guys at the party were standing around the tv set watching the game.  tommy used all of the stunt men and had to send tim leary up to pinch hit in the bottom of the 11th inning with two outs and the bases loaded.  when he singled to win the game, many a beer were thrown towards the ceiling.  just an awesome communal experience.

10.  9/30/95 - dodgers clinch in san diego

there are few things better than watching your team clinch a postseason berth in person, even if it's on another team's turf.  one of the things i remember most about this game is how lonely mike busch, a replacement player, and jose offerman, a man on the outs with the team and organization, looked as they took their time getting to the celebratory mob on the field.

9.  06/27/06 - joe mauer comes of age

man, was i happy to see that the dodgers were coming to minny in 2006.  i went to all three games, and joe mauer just killed them.  he went 4 for 5 with 5 rbi in the first game, and then 5 for 5 in this one.  he was 2 for 3 in the third game, and had become my favorite non-dodger.  just an awesome display of pure hitting ability that i hadn't seen in person or otherwise since tony gwynn.

8.  6/10/02 - maddux vs. twins who walked off in 15 innings

as stoked as i was to see maddux (in the throwback 1970's unis), this game was made more memorable by the fact that it went 15 innings and i stayed for the whole thing.  notice what i paid for the seat.  man, it was awesome when the twins sucked.  a $4 ticket down to $1 with the aaa discount.  sure it was general admission, but by the time the game was in extra innings, we were down behind home plate.  cristian guzman won it in the 15th with an rbi double off of local guy kerry ligtenberg.

7.  4/18/98 - kerry wood's 1st major league victory

my first visit to wrigley and the matchup was nomo vs. some kid named kerry wood.  we sat on the first base side and watched nomo warm up before the game.  he had nothing.  then wood came out for the top of the first and was just dealing.  straight bb's.  he struck out piazza to end the inning and then the cubs battered nomo for 8 runs in less than one inning of work.  surprisingly, darren dreifort pitched well in relief but the dodgers never threatened.  three starts later, wood struck out 20 astros.

6.  8/24/99 - pedro vs. twins with 15 k

i must have forgotten my aaa card for this game as i paid the full $4.  pedro was in town, and i wasn't going to miss it.  he didn't disappoint, striking out 15 twins in 8 innings.

5.  4/8/96 - nomo/glavine in dodgers home opener

this was a heckuva well pitched game.  nomomania was back for year 2, and the world champion braves were in town.  hideo nomo threw a 3-hitter as the dodgers beat tom glavine 1-0 on a third inning rbi single by rauuuuul mondesi.  plus, orel hershiser made an appearance on the ticket!

4.  8/24/88 - hershiser vs. the mets in the thick of the pennant race
speaking of hershiser...this game was a playoff game that happened to take place during the regular season.  it was intense.  me and a few friends conspired to get mets tickets and absolutely lucked out on getting this wednesday night game.  so what if it meant driving 6 hours?  hershiser pitched so well, making a fourth inning mike marshall rbi double stand until the top of the 8th when marshall misplayed a mookie wilson flyball into a triple.  the mets scored twice and won 2-1.  still, it gave me hope knowing that the dodgers could play with the beasts from the east as we neared the postseason.  i don't know what happened to my ticket stub, sadly.

3.  04/16/83 - steve garvey's 1118th consecutive game

i don't really remember too much about this game other than garvey broke billy williams' nl record for consecutive games played and that i got the garv to sign my autograph book before the game.  cool that fleer made a card of the si cover in one of their 1999 releases.  again, little elves have made off with my ticket stub darnit.

2.  5/23/02 - shawn green's 4 hr game

kaz ishii gave up 8 hits and 6 walks but only 2 runs in 5+ innings. oh yeah, shawn green hit 4 home runs and had a record 19 total bases.

in 2003, topps reminded us that he also had 9 homeruns that week.  perhaps the best $12 i have ever spent.

1.  10/15/88 - in a year that had been so improbable, the impossible happened.

i could go on and on about this game and make all sorts of poignant observations, but all i will say is that i was with my dad and we didn't leave early.  priceless.

thanks for the challenge brian!