double plays are a dime apiece

it's always fun to get a trade package from nick at dime boxes in part because he also collects double play cards, and so he sends me some that turn out to be new additions to my collection.

for example, i already had this 1968 topps game card of claude osteen in my dodger collection

but now i have one for my double play binders, too.  sure, it doesn't show the play at second base, but it still references a twin-killing enough to warrant a spot in the binder.

here are some more traditional double play turns that nick sent:

1991 leaf wally backman

1992 topps bill doran gold 'winner' parallel

1997 fleer alex gonzalez

2012 topps mike aviles gold parallel

2001 fleer tradition jay canizaro

2003 upper deck 40man junior spivey

and a 2004 mlb showdown 'hard slide' card

obviously, that's wes helms sliding in, but i'm not completely certain of the cub turning two.  2003 was helms' first season with the brew crew, so it is most likely either alex gonzalez or mark grudzielanek (and just by visual inspection i know that it's not grudzielanek).  it turns out that on may 7, 2003, keith osik of the brewers hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play with helms as the lead runner.  although the second baseman for the cubs that day was ramon martinez, the shortstop was indeed alex gonzalez.

thanks for the dp turns nick!

remember that time that hideo nomo shut out the braves on opening day?

tomorrow marks the 17th anniversary of one of the more memorable dodger home openers that i had the good fortune to attend.  on april 8, 1996 i somehow scored my company's corporate seats a few rows behind the dodger dugout and witnessed hideo nomo battle tom glavine and the defending world league champion braves.  nomo gave up only three hits, although he did walk 5, and he managed to make a third inning raul mondesi rbi single stand up for a 1-0 shutout victory.

one year later i was again at the ravine for opening day only to see curt schilling and the phillies shut the dodgers out.  it was a bittersweet event for me because i knew at that time that i was moving to the midwest and that it would likely be the last dodger opener i would attend for a while.  i had been to five or six in a row (plus a few of the angel openers) and i enjoyed seeing all the extra things that opening day provides, like barry manilow singing the national anthem.  it turned out that i was able to attend the '98 opener, but i haven't been to one since.

anyway, i figured this was a good time to show off a bunch of hideo nomo cards that i have had scanned for a while. some of them arrived as part of trade packages, and some have been in my collection since the days of hideomania.

here's a 1995 upper deck sp card

and a card from 1995 score select certified

i appreciate the 'peek-a-boo' photos on those cards.  they remind me of nomo's 1997 bowman card which is one of my favorite cards ever.

moving on to 1995 fleer flair

and a 1996 donruss promotional sample

those two cards showcase the 'backwards lean' in nomo's delivery.  it was fun to try to emualte nomo's windup and delivery.  i almost fell over a couple of times because i leaned too much.

here's a 1997 topps screen play card

here's a video for a better look at the card

i'm looking for the mike piazza card from this set.  please let me know if you have one to send!

here the 1995 nl roy is rewarded with an award winner card in the 1996 upper deck collector's choice set.  this also happens to be a silver signature parallel

there were a lot of 'extra' nomo cards in 1996 thanks to his success.  upper deck even had a five-card nomo highlights insert set in their flagship release.  arno from i'm ballsy sent me two of the five cards recently, and here they are

i'm now looking for cards 1, 3, and 5 from the set.  there were more bonus nomo cards in other 1996 sets, of course, and this one is a checklist (duh) from 1996 upper deck sp

always nice to see nomo with the lumber

and, here's a 1997 fleer card

that was part of the base set, but was not his base card

these next two are two of my favorite nomo cards - from 1998 pacific online we get this goodness

and from 1998 upper deck we have nomo on the basepaths

both feature dodger stadium in the background, but the upper deck card gives us a view down the third base line that i enjoy quite a bit.

here's his 2004 mlb showdown card

and i'll finish the post with a 2004 topps clubhouse collection nomo bat card

it feels good to clear my scanned folder of nomo cards, but there are plenty more in the collection to display.

seen any good double play cards lately?

wanna see some more?  the double play dump continues.  here's jose macias on his 2002 upper deck card

edgardo alfonzo on his 2002 upper deck authentics card

craig biggio on his 2002 upper deck authentics card

carlos guillen on his 2003 donruss card

rey ordonez on his 2003 donruss card

edgar renteria on his 2003 donruss card

michael young on his 2003 donruss card

jose hernandez on his 2003 topps opening day card

ramon vazquez on his 2004 mlb showdown card

edgar renteria (again) on his 2004 topps gold glove subset card

carlos guillen (again) on his 2004 topps traded card

alex cintron on his 2005 topps card

and placido polanco on his 2005 topps chrome card

and we're not done yet...

cards and cards and cards and cards from cards on cards

i recently completed a trade with madding at cards on cards. i sent him a box of cardinals, and he returned the favor by sending a great big bunch of dodgers and 1979 topps. yes, he noticed that i had decided to upgrade my 1979 set, and so he sent me 454 of the 726 cards i will need to do so. awesome.

here's rick monday to testify.
if you or someone you know would like to contribute to the 1979 topps upgrade project, here's the want list. thanks in advance!

here are a few of the non-1979 dodgers i received:

2004 mlb showdown fred mcgriff
the crime dog is on the hall of fame ballot for the first time. i wish he could have hit 7 more home runs as a dodger to get to the 500 mark.

1994 topps (gold) dax winsletti wonder how often he is called 'kate'. he pitched in the dodgers' organization for 3 years before going to the cubs in the forgettable trade that brought willie banks to the dodgers. winslett pitched one year at aa, but did not advance beyond that level, unfortunately.

2009 upper deck goodwin champions clayton kershaw
kershaw didn't pitch in aaa either. but for different reasons.

1990 score young superstars chris gwynn
part of the dodgers' 'other brother' collection.

1988 topps uk mini orel hershiseri assume this was an attempt to get the folks across the pond interested in american baseball. so who better to influence the minds of the english than a guy who looks like a librarian.

i also received a couple of checklists. the good kind. like a 1995 donruss brett butler checklist celebrating his 2000th hit

finally, there was this - a 2009 upper deck matt kemp jersey card.very nice.

thanks madding! let's do it again sometime!