2002 has a good run in the steve garvey binders

sheets 36-40 of the steve garvey binders, like sheet 35 and most of sheet 34 before them, consist of nothing but cards from 2002.  there are lots of inserts and parallels and just good ol' garvey goodness.  have a look.

here's sheet 36:

those cards are:

1. 2002 fleer greats of the game
2. 2002 fleer greats of the game unredeemed autograph redemption card
3. 2002 fleer greats of the game certified auto
4. 2002 leaf clubhouse signatures (bronze)
5. 2002 leaf clubhouse signatures (silver)
6. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic
7. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (debut year) with patch
8. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (debut year)
9. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (position)

true story: when i redeemed one of my 2002 fleer greats of the game autograph redemption cards (back then you had to mail them in), fleer sent back two copies of the certified auto card.  i picked up another redemption card later on and kept it to restore balance to the universe.

i am missing the gold version (numbered to 25) of the leaf clubhouse signatures card, but i have two versions of the leaf certified debut year relic, because one has a patch piece and the other doesn't.  i am weird like that when it comes to garvey relics as we have seen before and will see again later.

here are the backs:

i didn't mention that the debut year relics are numbered to 69 (garvey debuted in 1969), but i don't know why the position relic is numbered to 45.  seems random.

the fabric of the game parade continues on sheet 37:

those cards are:

1. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (jersey number)
2. 2002 topps archives
3. 2002 topps archives certified auto
4. 2002 topps archives relic
5. 2002 topps archives reserve
6. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (gold)
7. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (platinum)
8. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (titanium)
9. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (gold)

the jersey number relic is a fairly new addition to my steve garvey collection (it's numbered to 6), and the archives certified auto was pulled from a pack by yours truly.  that was some good karma coming to fruition that day.

i appreciate the gold label cards, as the first three use the photo from garvey's 1978 topps card with his 1974 topps card there in the background. the next three (two of which are on the next sheet) use his 1971 topps card photo with the 1978 card in the background.

here are the backs:

not much variation to the backs of the cards on this sheet.

as i mentioned, the mlb awards ceremony bat relics continue on sheet 38:

those cards are:

1. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (platinum)
2. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (titanium)
3. 2002 topps traded who would have thought
4. 2002 topps traded who would have thought (gold)
5. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought
6. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought (refractor)
7. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought (black refractor)
8. 2002 topps tribute
9. 2002 topps tribute lasting impressions parallel

i was pretty excited to see that garvey was included in the 'who would have thought' subset in the 2002 topps traded set, but i was even happier that he was on the checklist for 2002 topps tribute after being left out of the inaugural 2001 release (even though his number was one of just two retired by the padres at the time).

here are the backs:

the lasting impressions parallel is numbered to 87, which was garvey's last season in the big leagues.

topps tribute spills over onto sheet 39:

those cards are:

1. 2002 topps tribute first impressions parallel
2. 2002 topps tribute matching marks dual relic with gil hodges
3. 2002 upper deck piece of history
4. 2002 upper deck piece of history mvp club insert
5. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes insert
6. 2002 upper deck piece of history mvp club relic
7. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes relic
8. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes relic (with pinstripe)
9. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts

nice to see garvey and gil hodges on a card together. they are on that particular card because both drove in over 1250 runs in their respective careers. garvey got just past 1300, while hodges topped out at 1274.  here we see my need for relic variations again, but the next sheet is even worse.

here are the backs:

it's worth noting that, on this sheet and the next, there are 16 cards produced by upper deck from 4 different sets that use only six different photos (counting the backs).

sheet 40 is chock full of relics:

those cards are:

1. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts relic (bat)
2. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts relic (jersey)
3. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics
4. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (bat)
5. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (cream jersey)
6. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (cream/dirty jersey)
7. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (white jersey)
8. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (brown jersey)
9. 2002 upper deck world series heroes

in 2002, i actually called upper deck to find out how many different jerseys they used for garvey's sweet spot classics relics because it sure looked to me like there were three. they confirmed the use of a cream or off-white jersey which must have been from the minors unless the pads home whites were actually an off-white.  whatever. i was most happy that they used a photo of garvey from the 1978 world series with the jim gilliam memorial patch.

here are the backs:

and we aren't done with 2002 just yet.  stay tuned.

the eddie mathews memorial patch

eddie mathews played for the braves in boston, milwaukee, and atlanta - the only person to do so.  his rookie year of 1952 was the team's last in boston, and his last year as a brave, 1966, was their first in atlanta.  mathews led the milwaukee version of the braves to the world series in back-to-back years (1957 and 1958), and twice led the league in home runs while in wisconsin.

although he did not finish his career with the braves (he was traded to houston prior to the 1967 season, and then to detroit during that season where he played through the 1968 postseason), mathews still ranked first or second (either ahead of or behind hank aaron) in many team offensived categories at the time of his retirement following the tigers' world series win over the cardinals in 1968.

mathews passed away in february of 2001, and the team wore a memorial patch with his number 41 on their left sleeves for the entire regular and postseason.  here's a couple of cards showing the patch from recently inducted hall of famer tom glavine.  this first one comes from 2002 upper deck vintage

while this one is from 2001 leaf rookies and stars

of course, there is really only one player who should represent this memorial in my collection, and that's chipper jones.  like mathews, jones was a braves' third baseman, and like mathews and glavine, he will likely end up in the hall of fame.  besides, jones has supplanted mathews on many of those braves' career leaderboard categories, pushing the hall of famer into third place.  here's jones' 2002 topps total card

and his 2002 donruss fan club card as well

but the card in the binder is this 2002 topps gold label card

mathews was just the 7th player in big league history to reach the 500-home run plateau, and he held the record for most home runs in a season by a third baseman (47) that stood for 27 years until mike schmidt hit 48 in 1980.  the braves had retired mathews' number in 1967, but he wore it again when he returned as the team's manager in the early 1970's.

now that's buckner

i was flipping through a binder a couple of weeks ago when i noticed this 2002 topps gold label card

that is, of course, a bill buckner uniform relic card from the mlb awards ceremony insert set.  it's a cubbie card all the way, with the logo, relic, photo, and 1980 topps card in the background all coming from billy buck's time with the cubs.  still, i haven't parted with it because, of all the dodger players that didn't quite make it to the 1977 or 1978 teams, buckner is the one i was the most disappointed with.

i recall seeing the footage of hank aaron's 715th home run with buckner climbing the fence in left - what a great effort, i thought.  that guy is awesome!  then, when he led the league with a .324 average in 1980 (the reason he is featured on the card above), i was really disappointed that he wasn't still a dodger.  it was pointed out to me that there was really nowhere for buckner to play on those dodger teams, unless i was willing to not have steve garvey at first or dusty baker in left, and it was due to the trade of buckner that the dodgers acquired rick monday, so i accepted the fact that buckner was not a dodger.

still, i was happy to see that topps brought him back to the blue in this year's set, giving us dodger fans a certified sticker auto in the trajectory insert set

they used the same photo (rotated) that upper deck used in the 2004 legends timeless teams set, which offered an on-card auto of the former dodger

which was the first card of buckner as a dodger i had seen since, well, 2003 in upper deck's sp authentic chirography dodger stars set.  but before that, you have to go all the way to 1977 i am pretty sure.

i actually did pick up a buckner card from his days as a dodger recently.  it was also a nefarious 9 want, and it completes a team set for me.  it is his high numbered 1971 o-pee-chee card

on which he shares space with future dodger enzo hernandez and the braves' marty perez who is really wearing an angels' uniform.  here's the yellow back

buckner has been featured in a few topps releases over the past couple of years, but last year's tier one release was the only one that had him in dodger blue as far as i could tell.  this year marks the first time they've put him in a dodger uniform on a non-auto card since '77 with the release of allen & ginter.  that base card is on the nefarious 9, and i am looking forward to adding it to my buckner as a dodger collection.

a memorial patch for tommie agee and brian cole

on opening day 2001 (and only on opening day), the mets wore a patch on their right sleeves in memory of tommie agee - one of the team's 1969 world series heroes - and brian cole - a mets prospect.  the patch, which had the uniform numbers (20 - 60) of each player, is visible on this 2002 topps gold label mike piazza card

agee passed away in january of 2001 after suffering a heart attack.  although he won the 1966 american league rookie of the year award, he is best remembered for his play in the 1969 world series against the orioles.  in game three, he hit a home run off of jim palmer and made a couple of run saving catches in the outfield to preserve the victory for the amazin' mets.  his career ended when he was released by the dodgers in the spring of 1974.  and, if you are interested, here's a post i wrote about agee a while back.

cole died in march of 2001, just after spring training ended, as a result of a car accident.  he was one of the mets' top prospects at the time - the first building block in what the team saw as a cole/jose reyes/david wright foundation for the team.  cole had been named the organization's player of the year in 2000, and the plan for 2001 was to start him in aa, promote him to aaa at the all-star break, and then call him up to the big club in september, according to jim duquette.

this card almost made my header

when i was putting together the header for this blog just over 4 years and two months ago, i considered including a card of an expo.  specifically, this 2002 topps total orlando cabrera card.

that's why the first time i showed it, i used a photo (like the header) of it rather than a scan.  i considered using it in the header because i thought that it showed a couple other elements of my collection - cards featuring dodger stadium, and cards featuring the double play turn.  in the end, i decided against using it, mostly to keep the header free of non-dodgers.  besides, this version of the play, featured on cabrera's 2002 fleer premium card, 

shows dodger stadium better - that's sandy koufax's outfield wall retired number mural - but was strangely cropped and doesn't show the double play as well.

cabrera's 2002 topps gold label card is quite shiny and shows the same play as well

i know i have shown all three of those cards before, but i can't show one without the others.

here are some o-cab cards that haven't been featured here before.  like his 1999 skybox premium card

his 2003 donruss card

his 2003 topps opening day card

his 2006 topps card

and his 2008 topps chrome card

with refractor!

you may recall that cabrera was the guy who replaced nomar in 2004 and went on to win the world series as the red sox's starting shortstop.  that 'short stop' in boston kind of kickstarted the weary traveler stage of cabrera's career that saw him play for 7 franchises in the next 7 years.

another guy who bounced around a bit was roberto alomar, seen here on his 2003 topps traded card

here he is again on his 2003 fleer double header card

before he was traded to the white sox.  the first time.

cabrera is not alone in regards to his 2002 fleer premium card, either. here is rafael furcal's card from the set, which also has him turning two in dodger stadium

although he's turning two in philly on his 2001 upper deck card

other 2001 upper deck double plays include edgardo alfonzo

warren morris

and pokey reese

who also turns two on his 2001 fleer ultra card

that's not the last we'll see of pokey reese, either.  more double play cards coming tomorrow!

let's turn two, part three

on his 1989 score card (above), dave anderson is shown throwing the ball to first as mark grace slides in to second. it's the double play turn - one of my favorite plays in all of baseball. score must like the way anderson turns it, because the very next year, on his 1990 score card (below), there's he is again, firing the ball to first as he avoids the slide of the lead runner. at least score used different games and plays.not sure if the same holds true for the next group of cards. i posted orlando cabrera's 2002 topps total card (below) in the second installment of 'let's turn two'. orlando is at dodger stadium, mid-air, having already made the throw to first.


here is his 2002 fleer premium card. anything seem familiar? the picture is taken from a slightly different angle, but it is the same play. cropped a bit strangely, but still a nice card.
topps goes to the same well again on his 2002 gold label card. it's a bit later in the play, as orlando is coming back to earth. i will assume that all other pictures of orlando that were considered for his 2002 issues showed him picking his nose or adjusting his cup.

then there is bret boone shown on his 2002 topps stadium club card as pudge rodriguez slides into second.and here is his 2002 fleer ultra (below), also taken at arlington with pudge rodriguez sliding in, cleats high. looks like it could be the same play.
so what's my point? i don't really have one. i like these cards despite the repetition.