allow me to show you one of my favorite sheets from my steve garvey binders

sheet 31 from the steve garvey binders keeps us in 2001, and it features what may be the jewel of my steve garvey collection.  take a look:

those cards are:

1. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (bronze)
2. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (silver/career)
3. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (gold/season)
4. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (century) - red patch
5. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (century) - blue patch
6. 2001 leaf certified materials fabric of the game relic (jersey number) - red patch
7. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's
8. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's (award winners)
9. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's bellbottomed bashers insert

2001 leaf certified materials is hands down my favorite relic set ever.  i have a few other dodgers, including a drysdale jersey number patch and an adrian beltre jersey number/logoman patch, but the garvey jersey number is my favorite card.  as you'll see on the back, it's numbered 6/6.  here are the backs, by the way:

the bronze version of the jersey relics are unnumbered, with the silver/career version being numbered to some significant career number.  in garvey's case, that would be 272 - the number of home runs he hit in the major leagues.  the gold version is numbered to a season related number, and for the garv, that number is 33 - the number of home runs he hit in 1977 (a career high).  it's strange that the front of the card talks about his 115 rbi that year, and not the 33 homers.  the century version is numbered to 21 (the 21st century), and i have two of these.  one features the red patch from his jersey number on the front of his uniform, and the other features a blue patch from elsewhere within the chest script.  i used to have a third century card with a blue patch, but sold it several years ago.  the sixth card on the sheet is the 6/6 card and it is gorious.  i am a big fan of the red dodger patch.

not to be ignored, the 2001 upper deck decade 1970's cards continue on sheet 32:

 those cards are:

1. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's decade dynasties insert
2. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat relic
3. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic all-star game mvp's
4. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic la dodgers
5. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic national league mvp's
6. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic 1974 world series
7. 2001 upper deck decade 1970's game-used bat quad relic 1977 world series
8. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial
9. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial relic

lots of great 1970's players featured on those bat cards - joe morgan, bill madlock, dave parker, johnny bench, george foster, reggie jackson, bert campaneris, willie stargell, and graig nettles, not to mention garvey, ron cey, bill russell, and rick monday.  every time i look at that particular card, i am reminded of how close upper deck came to creating a garvey cey russell lopes relic card.

here are the backs:

i suppose that it is worth noting that the upper deck minor league centennial card doesn't feature a photo of garvey from his minor league days, but rather a dodger photo with the team identifiers airbrushed out.  cards from that set continue on sheet 33:

 those cards are:

1. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial relic (gold)
2. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial auto
3. 2001 upper deck minor league centennial auto (gold)
4. 2001 upper deck prospect premieres heroes of baseball relic
5. 2001 upper deck prospect premieres heroes of baseball auto/relic
6. 2001 upper deck prospect premieres heroes of baseball dual relic with reggie smith
7. 2001 upper deck sp authentic cooperstown calling relic (gray swatch)
8. 2001 upper deck sp authentic cooperstown calling relic (white swatch)
9. 2001 upper deck sp game bat milestone edition quad relic

i found it interesting that the gold parallel jersey card was serial numbered to 25 by way of printing, while the gold auto parallel was hand numbered to 25, as was the auto/relic from prospect premieres and the 'base' version of the minor league centennial auto.  i believe that the dual jersey card with reggie smith was at one time reported to have an autographed version, but i've never seen one.  i may not be remembering that correctly, but the design of the card sure looks like it was set up for autographs.

you know that i had to have both white and gray swatch examples of the somewhat depressingly named cooperstown calling jersey cards from sp authentic, and it is again a bit sad that garvey is the only non-hall of famer on that last quad relic with puckett, winfield, and ozzie.

here are the backs to that sheet:

featuring lots of assurances from richard p. mcwilliams.

next up from the garvey binders, a whole lot of tony perez.  stay tuned.

trying to catch up with a trade

i received some great cards from jared at catching up with collecting not too long ago.  actually, it was a couple of days before christmas.  i still need to get my return package out the door, but i will do so soon.  in the meantime, here are some of the dandies that jared sent my way.

2001 upper deck decade 1970's steve garvey decade dynasties

2001 ud decade1970's manny mota

2013 panini cooperstown duke snider

2013 panini prizm yasiel puig

2013 panini prizm hyun-jin ryu

2013 panini prizm paco rodriguez walmart blue parallel

1998 bowman chrome paul konerko

2013 bowman chrome prospects corey seager

2013 topps luis cruz emerald parallel

2013 topps clayton kershaw walmart blue diamond insert

and a 2013 topps update clayton kershaw rookie card manupatch

a good lot of dodger cards there.  thanks jared!

a memorial patch for junior gilliam

it's been 36 years since jim gilliam passed away.  he died on october 8, 1978 following a stroke he suffered in mid-september.  he was, at the time of his death, the team's first base coach and hitting instructor, but he meant a lot more to the franchise than that.  here's my 1954 bowman card of gilliam

gilliam had just come off his rookie season when this card was published - a season that saw him take over at  second base for jackie robinson and the dodgers and win the 1953 rookie of the year award.  gilliam went on to play for the dodgers through the 1966 season, winning four world series rings and playing in three other fall classics.  he had actually retired as a player following the 1964 season to become a coach, but injuries led to the dodgers activating him in both 1965 and 1966.  beginning in 1967, however, gilliam served the dodgers solely as a coach.

gilliam was known as a mentor to the infielders, including the likes of ted sizemore and, of course, steve garvey, ron cey, bill russell, and davey lopes.  lopes held gilliam in high regard and delivered one of the eulogies at his funeral.  then, in game 1 of the world series, lopes hit two home runs and as he circled the bases, he raised his fingers to the sky in tribute - perhaps the first time that the now commonplace salute was made.

here's a postcard from 1979 showing lopes at bat during the 1978 world series, wearing gilliam's number '19' in a memorial patch that the team added to the uniforms for the fall classic.

i used that photo a while ago to create a card that should have been from 2001 upper deck decade the 1970's

in large part because there weren't any world series highlight cards in the 1979 topps set, nor were any photos from the series used for any other cards that year.  that meant i had to wait until the early 2000's to see the patch on an honest to goodness baseball card.

this 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics card of steve garvey

shows the patch as he records an out at first base.  thurman munson is the runner, i believe, as this photo (including munson approaching the bag) was featured in sports illustrated.  upper deck used the photo on garvey's jersey relic insert, too

although it is paired on that version with a padres' jersey swatch.

in 2001, i got my first glimpse of the patch on a card, again thanks to upper deck.  they inserted this don sutton all-star game salute relic card in the flagship release

and used the photo again on the back

a similar photo was used on this 2004 upper deck sp game used edition patch card of sutton

although that's clearly a patch from one of sutton's oakland a's jerseys.

i've also found a few photos from the series online that show the patch, including this pregame photo of garvey

 this photo of lopes, ron cey, and reggie smith,

 and this photo of tommy lasorda arguing about reggie jackson's interference

that's the dodgers' reggie on whose uniform the patch is visible, which leads me to the card that represents gilliam's memorial patch in my binder.  it's this 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic reggie smith card

it's pretty fantastic.

gilliam passed away on the same day that the dodgers won the pennant, and the team retired his number 19 prior to game 1 of the world series.  gilliam remains the only dodger to have his number retired without being enshrined in the hall of fame.  he was just a few days shy of his 50th birthday when he died.

a 2x3 heroes guessing game

jeff at 2x3 heroes sent me one of his plain white envelopes a while back, stuffed with a third of a nine-pocket sheet.  each of the three pockets had some cool cards in it, and jeff added a note saying 'guess which pocket was not from a nickel box.  let's see if i can figure it out.

pocket #1 - 1987 fleer fernando valenzuela all-star team insert

this was a tough pull for me back in 1987.  there's a steve sax card in the insert set, too.  this could have been more than a nickel

1985 fleer limited edition steve garvey

this card is from a boxed set, so it could go for more than 5 cents.

2004 topps all-time fan favorites steve garvey

all-time fan favorite cards shouldn't be selling for a nickel.  especially ones with steve garvey on them.

pocket #2 - 1990 pacific baseball legends steve garvey

garvey in a dodger uniform is worth more than a nickel

2001 upper deck decade 1970's steve garvey

i wonder if upper deck ever had plans to do a 1980's set like this.  they could have used a modified 1983 topps design and made cards of guys like dale murphy and orel hershiser.   i would have collected that set, just like i did with this one when it came out.

2013 topps hanley ramirez chasing history insert

it's not the foil version, so it could be in a nickel box, i suppose

pocket #3 - 2013 topps mini adrian gonzalez

miniature dodger stadium background action available only online.

2014 topps gypsy queen yasiel puig

a short print of the dodger right fielder

2014 topps gypsy queen yasiel puig glove stories insert

one of puig's two cards in this insert set

ok, i think it is pretty obvious which pocket did not feature cards from the nickel box.  puig is still in the cases at the card shows, and i'm hoping that he plays well enough to keep his cards under glass for a long time.

thanks for the cards jeff!

basking in the glow of a topps certified bill russell auto with some non-certified successes

i am not sure that this morning's post regarding the 2014 topps archives bill russell autograph card really conveyed the excitement i felt when i first saw it.  rest assured, i went from disbelief to excitement to a steady state of happiness in a short order of time.  it's only a card for which i have been waiting for, well, ever since topps started putting autographed cards in their packs.

meanwhile, i've had a few other russell autographed cards sitting patiently in my scanned folder.  this is a 1985 donruss card that i picked up in a lot of dodger auto'd cards

looks legit.

these next three - a 2001 upper deck decade 1970's

2004 upper deck legends timeless teams

and 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts

were all the result of a ttm success i had with the former dodger player, coach, and manager over 2 years ago.  look at upper deck recycling images in 2004 just like topps does today!

russell doesn't sign through the mail anymore, and only upper deck had issued certified russell autos until this year (as part of the 2003 sp chirography set, the 2004 legends set, and the 2005 upper deck classics release).  still, i'm hoping you haven't seen the last of the bill russell autographs that i will acquire for my collection.

more former trade bait

here are some more cards that i received from oscar at all trade bait all the time.  these posts today cover two or three swaps that we have made over the past few months.  i'll start this post off with another decade themed steve garvey card.  this one is from 2001 upper deck decade 1970's, and is a card from the decade dynasties insert set.

the front touts the dodgers' nl championship years of 1977 and 1978 (the teams of my youth!), but the back gets it right and recognizes all three of the dodger pennant winning teams of the decade.

here's a card i had not seen before.  it comes from a set called 1986 sports design products and obviously borrows from the 1969 topps design

walter alston doesn't get much attention from the card companies these days which i suppose makes sense.  manager cards, even of hall of fame managers, are probably not too coveted.  heck, topps doesn't even feature every active manager in the heritage sets.

1992 upper deck raul mondesi

mondy was featured in the set, but mike piazza was not.  that says a lot about the expectations for piazza back in 1992.

another roy, hideo nomo on a 1997 score card

do you remember topps fusion?  i know i bought a few packs back in 2001.  here's a kevin brown bowman's best card from that set.

what a confusing set after the fact.  it's not a bowman's best card, it's a topps fusion card.

2002 fleer fall classics is a set that i put together back when it came out.  there were short print cards of many players, showing them in different uniforms - for example, garvey's regular card had him as a dodger and the sp had him in padres duds.  i completed the short print set, too.  thankfully, there were no duke snider as a met or giant cards issued.  just this dodger card

also from 2002, here is an eric gagne topps 'home team advantage' card

this is the first one of these i have seen in person.  not sure what the story is behind these cards.

and, like the earlier post, you knew there would be more shawn green cards.  these are from 2003 fleer flair

and 2003 topps finest

i didn't think much of green's goatee, by the way.

thanks again oscar!  there's still more to come today, too...