a smattering of dodger cards

it is time again for a post of random dodger cards from my collection, and more importantly, from my scanned file.  we'll start with darryl strawberry on a 1974 topps design from 1992 sports collector's digest

prior to archives or heritage, this was the only way we saw the stars (or disappointments) of today on the designs of yesterday.

1993 topps stadium club dodgers pedro martinez

and mike sharperson

with the dodgers playing the rangers, and delino deshields jr being on the rangers, vin scully told a story about the pedro martinez/delino deshields trade last night during the telecast.  he noted that when traveling secretary billy delury (who passed away earlier this year) called deshields to tell him he was now a dodger, his congratulatory remarks were met with a baby crying in the background and deshields saying "even the baby thinks it was a bad trade".  vin finished the story by noting that the crying baby was delino deshields jr, and so i miss regularly hearing vin call games even more.

1999 upper deck chan ho park

1999 was an off year for park - his era was well over 5 - but he still managed 13 wins.  he was only 25, and i thought he would eventually be the team's ace.  i was wrong.

2000 pacific invincible eric gagne

my favorite pacific release ever.  crazy cards and inserts.

2001 topps tom goodwin

from his second stint with the dodgers

2002 upper deck ultimate collection gary sheffield

just when you get comfortable with sheff on your favorite team thanks to his .998 ops over four years, he demands a trade.

2003 bowman chrome eric riggs

not to be confused with late 90's prospect adam riggs.  this riggs didn't make it to the majors, unfortunately.

2003 upper deck honor roll kazuhisa ishii

ishii had an era under 4 in 2003 despite a whip over 1.50 and a walks allowed total of 101 in 147 innings.  he had similar whip and walk totals the previous year, when his era was 4.27.  those kinds of numbers usually don't earn you a spot on the honor roll.

2003 topps retired signature tom lasorda

manager cards with inset photos are tough, because there just isn't much variation in managerial photographs.  here, topps opted for similar poses, but the inset picture comes from an earlier point in tommy's time as the club's manager. on a side note, anytime topps wants to bring this set back, i'm in, although i don't think they can issue a set featuring solely non-active players anymore.  too bad for us.

trader crack's traded crack

first the disclaimer - crack is, as you know, whack. but cards are not. i sent ryan at trader crack's a bunch of expos and 1978 opc and other goodies, and he fired back with a mess of stuff. including, but not limited to, the following.

he sent 16 dodgers, of which i have chosen these.

the (in)famous 1996 upper deck vj lovero insert mike piazza.

with karros and a cardboard tommy lurking about. karros is a well known lurker, and tommy has appeared uncredited in a few cards, too. eating generic cereal and donuts at home. i knew the guy who bought the place in manhattan beach after karros and piazza lived there. he would get mail, mostly for karros, and it was all from women who enclosed naked pictures of themselves. true story.

2006 upper deck odalis perez.i have a soft spot for perez, actually. acquired in the trade for gary sheffield (thank you very much) he tossed a ball our way at anaheim stadium in 2006, despite the guy next to me riding him the whole game. thanks odalis!

speaking of sheffield, here he is on a 2000 fleer impact card.

boo.

next up is a 2007 topps opening day 'just disabled' drew.

healthy enough to opt out of his contract, which has been a good thing, i think.

2006 upper deck rafael furcal.

you know i love these cards - they are reminiscent of the o-pee-chee variations of my youth. there was a 2007 jason schmidt with the same deal going on, but i didn't want to post a giant uni.

next, he sent five bryn smith expos cards. smith is from my neck of the woods, so i was glad to see these guys.

1990 donruss.

at dodger stadium. very nice.

1987 topps tiffany, i believe.glossy, with the brighter back. that's tiffany, right?

1983 donruss.

beardless.

finally, he sent 54 (54!) different vladimir guerrero cards, most of them from his expos days.

1996 topps. the classic prospect card - four to a card.

with andruw jones and two other guys. unfortunately for me, it was andruw and not vladdy who wound up with the dodgers.

2000 upper deck five-tool talent insert.

six tools, if you count hitting non-strikes for home runs.

2000 topps stars walk of fame insert.a walk of fame card for a guy who hates to walk.

2001 fleer ultra tomorrow's legends insert.

another burlap set!

2000 pacific invincible reyes del diamante insert.i love love loved this set. 2000 pacific invincible had some kick ass inserts, and this was one of them. there was also a similar diamond aces subset for pitchers and a bunch of other inserts. i remember this product being heavily delayed and i was so disappointed each time. but when it finally came out, it was worth it. awesome.

2001 donruss studio leather and lumber game used bat card.un-numbered. i don't care for these cards that are clearly designed for the full boat of multiple swatches that are only numbered to 10 or so. the other, more plentiful single-swatch cards have too much wasted space. the bat piece down at his feet is almost missed at first glance. still, i appreciate having it in my collection!

and a 2004 upper deck diamond collection dean's list game used jersey.

officially it's an angels' card though the swatch is from an expos jersey. now, vlad on a dean's list doesn't make sense. he's not a college player, after all. commissioner's list, yes (although now that sounds like a bad type of list). manager's list probably would have been more appropriate. why doesn't upper deck think of this stuff?

ryan, thank you so much for all the great cards!