how about a blog bat around challenge? the subject: cards that i (you) used to own

i have been buying packs (and sometimes boxes) of baseball cards since 1978.  some years, i bought more than others, but it's been a constant thing in my life since i was handed my first pack in 1977.  throughout that time, i've traded some cards away, and sold others, to further my collection.  there is one card, however, that i regret having dismissed from my hands, and that is the subject of this post. the card that i used to own that i wish i still did.

the very first card i felt remorse over trading was a 1978 topps steve garvey.  i had a double, but i was planning to start my dodger team set collection.  however, i needed a mickey rivers card for the full set, and my neighbor offered to give me rivers for garvey.  i made the deal, and my regret didn't last too long as i was able to get another garvey card fairly easily not too long thereafter.  before i get too far along, i'll show some cards that i used to own that i am ok with having sold or traded.

first up is this 2003 upper deck legendary cuts bill dickey cut auto numbered 09/25

i bought a box of legendary cuts that year for $60 and found this card in one of the packs.  i have no regrets about putting this up on ebay and taking the $200-ish that it commanded. still, i kept a photo of it for posterity.

similarly, i pulled this 1/1 mickey mantle magenta printing plate from a box of 2006 topps chrome

and sold it on ebay.  no regrets.

i've owned some non-gimmick cards that were pretty cool, but for one reason or another didn't fit into my collection.  like this 1909-1911 t206 jack egan card

and this 1951 topps luke easter card

both are nice and were cool to have, but likely fit better in the collections of some random ohioans.

there have been some other, even less spectacular cards that i've traded away yet felt the need to scan first and show here now, like this 1960 topps mound magicians card

this 2011 topps josh hamilton commemorative patch card

this 2012 topps carl yastrzemski facsimile auto stitch card

2011 topps diamond dig contest kelly johnson diamond die-cut black #/60

why did that have to be a d-back instead of a dodger?  obviously, i had no problem ejecting that card from my collection.

but now we come to the card that i do regret letting go of.  almost.  first, another story.  back in 2000, a friend and i split a box of upper deck legends.  one of my packs contained a mickey mantle jersey card with a pinstripe.  i shortly thereafter put it on ebay with a pretty high reserve, and while it was sitting there, my friend questioned why i would want to sell that card - "isn't that why you collect?", he asked. "to have a card like that?"  he was right, of course, and i was secretly happy that the card did not reach the reserve (it came within $15, as i recall).  i still have that mantle card, plus a couple of ruth bat cards that i've pulled from tribute packs, and several other non-dodger, non-double play, non-any of my mini collections that are just cool cards to own.

now, seriously, on to the whole point of this post.  i used to own this card:

well, not exactly that card, but another of the only 30 versions of the 2001 topps tribute walter alston patch cards that exist.  i could not find a photo of the card (i know i took one), but it featured a portion of the 100th anniversary of the national league patch worn by teams in 1976 (and visible on the 1977 topps manny mota card), which means that the uniform it was taken from was worn by smokey in his final season as the dodgers' manager.

i found the card in a local card/comic store.  it was on the 'markdown' wall, and was listed on sale for $49.99.  that was about the cost of a pack of 2001 topps tribute, if i recall correctly, and i knew that it was worth more than that.  now, i was not fully entrenched in collecting at this time (i bought cards more so out of habit and tradition), and really hadn't thought about what my collection was beyond maintaining my yearly dodger team sets from the topps flagship and traded sets, as well as my run of complete sets of those releases (a habit i abandoned a few years ago).  so, i bought the card with the full intent to sell it for a profit.  let me repeat that.  i, a dodger fan and collector of dodger cards, bought a 2001 topps tribute walter alston patch card with the intent to sell it.  and i did.  i made about $160, which was great, but future gcrl would become very disappointed in that past gcrl.

so disappointed, in fact, that i have kept my eye out for another version (or the same one) ever since.  i did find one on ebay (hence the picture of the card above), but it was already gone by the time i saw it.  my card sold to someone in alabama or arkansas - i do not remember which - so folks down that way, please keep an eye out.

in the meantime, i have added a different dodger manager's 2001 topps tribute patch card to my collection

that's alston's successor, tom lasorda, and his card features the red number patch that i enjoy so much.  i also own another patch from this set, one i pulled from a pack from a box i purchased in 2004 or so.

it's been about 11 years, and it may not neatly fit in my collection, but i'm not sure that i'm ready to part with eddie mathews yet.

so, what do you say?  what cards have you owned that you regret are no longer in your collection?  i'd like to read about it - either in the comments or as a bat around - because i feel your pain.

an indians' black armband for team president (and owner) jim dunn

jim dunn was the owner of the cleveland indians from 1916 until the time of his death in june of 1922.  as such, it was on his watch that the indians won their first world series in 1920 against the brooklyn robins.  following his passing, the team added black armbands to their left sleeves in dunn's honor.  tris speaker is wearing the armband on this 2002 fleer greats of the game card

even though fleer considers this to be a red sox card (he began his career in boston and won his mvp award there in 1912).  continuing the tie to the red sox, dunn and his partners had purchased the indians from charles somers, who at one time was the owner of the bosox.

that same photo of speaker, although more tightly cropped, also shows up on a 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts card

with speaker identified as a member of the cleveland indians.  still, i've got the 2002 fleer greats card in my memorials binder for this one.

later today, i'll post another black armband worn by the indians in the 1920's - worn for ray chapman, to be specific.  while speaker was on that team (he hit .320 in the world series against the robins), we know that the photo on these two cards comes from 1922 thanks to the font of 'cleveland' on his jersey. the 1920 indian away jerseys used more of a block lettering style.  

and now for the tale of disappointment that i expected from a repack

hot on the heels of the pleasant repack experience i had recently (and posted about earlier today), i found myself in target a few days later and bought another one.  i again chose one that showed tim lincecum in one of the windows.  i should not have done that.

here's what was inside, starting with that 2008 topps chrome target t205 lincecum

1989 upper deck ellis burks

1994 fleer ultra glenallen hill

1993 leaf kurt manwaring

1992 donruss triple play albert belle

1989 upper deck tim flannery

1981 donruss keith moreland

1990 donruss terry kennedy

2010 topps tyler flowers

1989 topps glossy all-stars mark mcgwire

1981 topps marty pattin

1996 fleer ultra curt schilling

1981 topps andy hassler

1998 fleer metal universe hideki irabu

1981 topps dick tidrow

1992 classic four sport phil nevin

1981 topps steve stone

1994 topps tony gwynn

1991 upper deck dave bergman

1988 fleer mike moore

1988 fleer mike moore

1992 fleer bj surhoff

1988 fleer earnie riles

1992 fleer eric king

1992 leaf kevin reimer

1985 topps whitey herzog

1987 topps bobby valentine

1989 donruss tom brunansky

1989 topps keith hernandez

1982 topps lee mazzilli

1991 leaf jack armstrong

1991 leaf dwight evans

1987 topps terry kennedy

1991 leaf gary gaetti

1991 leaf barry jones

2006 fleer ultra huston street

1991 leaf greg harris

1987 topps rob wilfong

1991 leaf randy milligan

1991 leaf howard johnson

1991 leaf darren daulton

2004 fleer hot prospects omar vizquel draft edition

2010 topps brett anderson

2010 topps cliff pennington

2010 topps angel pagan

2010 topps kansas city royals

2010 topps casey kotchman

2010 topps toronto blue jays

1989 topps glossy all-stars andre dawson

and the last card of the first pocket, 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts luis aparicio

the other window had this 2012 topps heritage doug fister black border parallel showing

behind it were these cards

1989 topps glossy all-stars ryne sandberg

1991 topps andy hawkins

1991 topps joe boever

1988 score dave engle

1989 upper deck tony armas

1991 donruss jim clancy

1990 fleer award winners ozzie smith

1984 topps darrell brown

1989 donruss bill long

1984 topps rafael ramirez

1991 upper deck brian downing

1987 donruss john shelby

1987 donruss frank viola

1990 upper deck lance mccullers

1991 donruss wayne edwards

2000 ud victory ken griffey jr 

1990 donruss pascual perez

1987 donruss howard johnson

1991 score mike henneman

1990 upper deck bill swift

1989 fleer bob kipper

1991 upper deck norm charlton

1989 score scott terry

1989 upper deck gary green

1993 upper deck jose uribe

1994 topps jimmy key

1991 upper deck alex cole

1992 topps scott aldred

1987 topps pirates leaders

1988 topps john wathan

when's the last time you saw a manager wearing a helmet?

1990 topps traded bobby cox

very poor airbrush job

1995 ud collector's choice ray mcdavid

1989 topps bruce hurst

1991 upper deck brian barnes

1989 topps greg gross

1988 donruss bill buckner

1988 donruss gene garber

1987 donruss brian downing

1988 score mel hall

1988 topps jeff stone

2012 topps addison reed

1989 topps larry parrish

1990 donruss lance johnson

2009 upper deck first edition alex gordon

2009 upper deck first edition jeff samardzija

2009 upper deck first edition alex rodriguez

2009 upper deck first edition josh hamilton

2009 upper deck first edition jj putz

1989 topps glossy all-stars will clark

and the last card of the repack, to put me out of my misery, 1996 fleer ultra frank thomas checklist

i don't think there was even a sniff of a dodger in there.  this repack will probably sour me on buying any more for a few weeks, i would guess.

thoughts of managers and other cards

adam from thoughts of sox sent me some cards a while back, including this 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts card of hall of fame manager walter alston

he managed the dodgers to 7 pennants and 4 world series titles in 23 years, winning 2040 games and finishing below .500 just 4 times.  he was four games short of managing 23 full seasons, as he abdicated his managerial role late in the 1976 season, allowing tommy lasorda to take over.  that got me thinking, so i pulled my lasorda card from the same set

(which features a photo from the 1998 all-star game - after lasorda had retired from managing), and i scanned the backs of the cards together

these two cards together summarize the dodger franchise performance from 1954 into the 1996 season - 42-plus seasons.  crazy.

back to the cards adam sent, here's a 2005 bowman draft picks and prospects russ martin gold parallel card

that i should have shown on canada day

here are a couple of andy laroche cards from 2007 upper deck sp rookie edition

laroche was last seen in 2013 with the blue jays.  he's still in their system, but hasn't appeared in the majors yet this year.

from 2011 topps chrome, here's a rafael furcal refractor

the many permutations of 2011 topps furcal cards combine for one of my favorite dodger double play cards, even though some of them (including the card above) list furky as an outfielder

also from 2011 topps chrome was this ubaldo jiminez refractor

that was sent along due to the 'ksm' patch on the jersey, just above the glove.  i wrote about the patch here as part of my memorials collection.

thanks for the cards adam!

the legend of dazzy vance

was dazzy vance one of baseball's greatest pitchers, as this 1982 tcma card suggests?

i'm not sure.  i am sure, however, that dazzy vance was a dodger double dipper.

[this is the seventyfourth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, guillermo mota, joe beckwith, jamie hoffmann, babe herman, joe medwick, juan castro, ron perranoski, clyde king, paul waner, hughie jennings, ron negray, broadway aleck smith, george smith, johnny cooney, jim fairey, frenchy bordagaray, doc casey, waite hoyt, luis olmo, clyde sukeforth, willie keeler,  harry howell, germany smith, johnny allen, marv rackley, bobo newsom. and maury wills.]

vance was 31 with an 0-4 lifetime record when he debuted for the brooklyn robins in 1922.  he won 18 games that season, and led the league in strikeouts.  he would continue to lead the league in strikeouts in each of the following six seasons, becoming the first (and still the only) national leaguer to claim seven straight strikeout titles.  in 1923, vance again won 18 games, and then in 1924, he achieved the pitcher's triple crown - a league leading 24 wins, 2.16 era, and 262 strikeouts.  he also won the league mvp award that year.  vance led the league with 22 wins in 1925, and he led the league in era in 1928 and 1930, but never won another triple crown.

following the 1931 season, wilbert robinson retired and the robins became the dodgers.  at 41, vance pitched in 27 games for the dodgers in 1932, but was just 12-10 with a 4.20 era.  after the season, he was traded to the cardinals.  vance helped the cardinals win the pennant in 1933, and he made an appearance in game 4 of the world series.  the cardinals lost that game, but beat the tigers to give vance a world series title in his only trip to the postseason.  the following year, vance began the season with the reds, but returned to the cardinals in june of 1935.  they released him in the spring of 1936, and he was quickly signed by the dodgers.

in his second stint with brooklyn, vance was used exclusively as a reliever, posting a record of 3-2 in 20 appearances with an era of 4.41.  he retired following that 1936 season.  19 years later, in 1955, vance was elected to the baseball hall of fame as noted on his 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts card

remember, only two of vance's 12 seasons with brooklyn occurred when the team was known as the dodgers, so it is fitting that the robins are his team noted on the front of the card.  one of vance's teammates for about half of his time with the robins was fellow hall of famer burleigh grimes, who was also featured in the 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts set.

grimes never pitched for the franchise when they were known as the dodgers, so i was disappointed to not see 'robins' on the front of the card.  what is even worse is that the back of grimes' card has nothing but robins - both at the top and then again with each season that he pitched for the franchise

the back of vance's card also has robins up top, which is consistent with the front of his card, but the yearly stat rows should also say robins from 1922 through 1931 instead of dodgers

overall, vance won 190 games for the franchise, more than any other brooklyn pitcher and behind only don sutton and don drysdale in franchise history.  his 1918 strikeouts for the team are also the most of any brooklyn pitcher, and he trails only the two dons and sandy koufax on the franchise leader board in that category.  so, even if vance is not one of baseball's greatest pitchers, he most certainly is one of brooklyn's greatest.

a beast of a sase

if you haven't sent a sase (or, as i did, a few sases) to wes at jaybarkerfan's junk yet, what are you waiting for?

the first of my self-addressed stamped plain white envelopes was returned to me last week.  it was a beast - literally and figuratively.  i have sent three cards by way of a single forever stamp before, but wes was able to turn my 46 cents into 8 cards (!) plus a dodger hologram.

first up is the guy who helped popularize 'beast mode', matt kemp

that is a very nice looking 2013 bowman chrome green parallel.

here's that hologram i mentioned - it's from 1989 upper deck.

as are the next few cards.

jose gonzalez is just hanging out in the dugout

while orel hershiser is out throwing shutouts

and kirk gibson is winning games and the mvp

now, that gibson card features a photo from the aftermath of his game 1 pinch-hit walk-off home run, but the card is really all about his winning the national league mvp (yes, he deserved it mets fans).  there is another card of gibson in the set that celebrates the famous home run, and it carries the mark of the beast

upper deck describes me as 'frantic' (i was in the right field pavilion that night).  nervous, anxious, hopeful, and then frenzied for sure.  anyway, you are all familiar with upper deck and it's obsession with assigning card number 666 to the dodgers, right?

but wait, there was another.  this 2003 upper deck sp legenday cuts card of leo durocher is numbered to 1299

which means that someone (meaning me) has to have the one numbered '666'.  or, in this case, '0666'.  that's ok - i don't mind.  to me, the number means simply 'garvey-garvey-garvey'.  or  maybe these days, 'garvey-puig'.

one more serial numbered card from the envelope, but it's 311.  it's a 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic don drysdale

the 8th card sent was this 2000 skybox autographics angel pena auto card

so that was it for the first sase.  however, wes had also sent me a couple of cards as part of a trade.

2008 topps stadium club blake dewitt  photographer's proof auto

and 2008 upper deck sp authentic chad billingsley by the numbers auto

thanks for all the cards wes!

if it's taken me this long, there's no use waiting any longer

every once in a while, i will take a gander through my scanned folder.  a lot of times, i scan cards for a specific post, like the cards for the 'evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers' posts, or a 'double dipper' post.  sometimes i will scan cards as they come in or if they catch my eye, and then i wait for the right post idea to come along.  well, i'm done waiting with these four cards.

the following four cards have been taking up space in my scanned folder for almost 4 years - not quite the entire time i've been running this blog.  yes, yesterday was the 4th anniversary of garvey cey russell lopes.  so, as i embark on year number 5, here are some cards that have been stuck in purgatory for most of years 1 through 4.

2008 ud piece of history russell martin, joe mauer, brian mccann relic

i did not think that martin would decline so quickly.

2003 ud sp legendary cuts walter alston relic

shiny!  this guy was the manager of the dodgers when i was born and when i attended my first dodger game.  it's nice that the card companies didn't ignore managers like alston. although i am somewhat pleased that there haven't been a whole lot of john mcgraw cards.

2008 topps moments and milestones gary sheffield

sheff was one of the greatest offensive players the dodgers have ever had.  it's too bad that they couldn't harness his offensive prowess for good instead of evil.  kind of like sinestro.

finally, here's a 1999 upper deck angel pena card

pena must have felt a bit like ed goodson in the mid-1970's.  there wasn't a whole lot to do when you are steve garvey's backup, just as there wasn't much for pena to do at the big league level when mike piazza is reigning supreme behind the plate.  but, with piazza gone for good heading  into the  1999 season, pena got a shot at some playing time.  although the dodgers had todd hundley as their primary backstop, pena got into 43 games and hit 4 homers.  he appeared in a total of 71 games for the dodgers over three seasons (1998, 1999, and 2001) as the dodgers passed the catcher's torch from hundley to paul loduca.

so, there you have it - 4 cards and 4 years.  but i'm not done yet.