turning the pages of the steve garvey binder into 2005

the 53rd sheet in the steve garvey binder features six cards from 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams, but i wish that there were more.  here is sheet 53:

those cards are:

1. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams (1974) bronze parallel /50
2. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams (1977) auto sp - print run of 35
3. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams (1981) auto sp - print run of 75
4. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams legendary signatures dual auto (with davey lopes) /150
5. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams legendary signatures dual auto (with ron cey) /150
6. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams legendary combo triple signatures auto (with dusty baker) /50
7. 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts
8. 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts significant fact relic /1
9. 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts historic swatches relic

i've written quite a bit about the timeless teams set, and used to have a bronze parallel of garvey's 1980 subset card, but i traded it for the 1974 version to help another collector out.  so, i still need three bronze parallels, four gold parallels, plus two autos, four gold auto parallels, and then there are the four 1/1 autos, too. that's a lot.  i should note at this point that there are other relic cards from the set, as well as some from other 2004 sets (and other years, too) that will be shown later. they are either encased or otherwise too big or thick to fit in a standard nine-pocket sheet.

the 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts 1/1 relic card is actually 1 of 99.  there are 99 unique "significant facts" printed on the cards which are stamped "1 of 1".  so, i have the only one that touts garvey's 95 rbi in 1975.  kind of a weak 1 of 1.  on the last card, we've got the padre relic swatch on a dodger card, which will happen again on the next sheet.

here are the backs:

 there's one more card from 2004, and it's on sheet 54:

those cards are:

1. 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts significant swatches
2. 2005 baseball hero deck playing card
3. 2005 donruss classics stars of summer /1000
4. 2005 donruss classics stars of summer relic /250
5. 2005 donruss diamond kings
6. 2005 donruss diamond kings framed red
7. 2005 donruss diamond kings materials bronze /200
8. 2005 donruss diamond kings materials silver /100
9. 2005 donruss diamond kings materials gold /50

there is a triple-relic card from the 2004 sp legendary cuts set that i would very much like to find. it features garvey, along with his dodger teammates reggie smith and dusty baker. it's only got a 15 card print run, however, so it is unlikely that i will find it.

while i am missing some of the autos and parallels and auto paralles from the 2005 donruss classics stars of summer insert set, my five cards from 2005 donruss diamond kings represent only about one-tenth of the garvey cards available from that set.  ridiculous.  i'm missing 50 cards, according to beckett, including bronze, challenge (whatever that is), framed black, framed blue, framed green, gold, hawaii, and other variant parallels of just the base version of the card.  as i said, ridiculous.

here are the backs:

even without all of those parallels, there are still plenty of cards and pages to be shown.  stay tuned...

steve finley dodger cards are in short supply

despite hitting one of the biggest home runs in dodger regular season history, steve finley did not appear  on too many cards as a dodger.  he was featured in the 2004 topps traded set after joining the dodgers in a deadline deal with the diamondbacks, but by the time the 2005 season rolled around, finley was playing for the angels in anaheim.  thankfully, there are a few dodger cards of finley (his 2005 fleer ultra card is one of the best, but i'll show it in a future post).  i recently picked up a couple - more specifically this 2005 donruss longball leaders insert

this 2004 donruss studio high numbered/update sort of thing

and his 2005 donruss diamond kings card

those are clearly dodger cards of the guy whose 2004 game 161 walk-off grand slam against the giants eliminated the no-cals and gave the dodgers the nl west crown.  these next few are not.

here's a 2005 fleer classic clippings card of finley

he's a dodger on the card, but it's actually a card that falls under the anaheim angels domain.  same goes for this 2005 upper deck espn card

and this 2005 upper deck mlb artifacts card

cards that show a dodger, but claim him as an angel. thank goodness for comc - i was able to search for 2005 steve finley cards and identify a bunch that featured dodger blue but were not on my radar due to the angel affiliation.  of course, i then went out and bought them from sportlots.

same goes for shawn green, who is a dodger on this diamondback card, also from 2005 upper deck mlb artifacts

as well as this 2005 upper deck pros & prospects

there are plenty of shawn green dodger cards, however, so my collection is not hurting in that regard.  any other team collectors look for these types of cards - the laundry is right, but the team affiliation is not?

running with rhubarb

it's been a while since i completed my latest trade with the rhubarb runner at e rayhan rayhahn. someday, i would like to have my want lists as complete and organized as rhubarb runner.  until that day, i will accept any smattering of dodger cards.  anyway, for some carefully culled twins cards, i received a very nice load of dodgers.

2013 topps triple threads sandy koufax

oh, so now we're just including triple threads koufax cards in our trade packages?  no big deal, i guess.  and, where there's koufax, there's likely duke snider

yes, of the 2012 topps gypsy queen variety.  but what about pee wee, you ask?  don't worry, he's here too.

2005 upper deck mvp batter up! insert

the package wasn't all brooklyn glory - here's a 2013 topps hanley ramirez emerald parallel

and a 2013 topps chrome matt kemp die cut insert

kemp was also represented by 2006 bowman draft

and a 2006 bowman draft gold parallel

here's a 2005 upper deck pros & prospects yhency brazoban card

yhency filled in for eric gagne as the team's closer for a while.  that was during the time that i was reading and commenting on jon weisman's 'dodger thoughts' blog.  someone over there coined the phrase 'ghame over' when yhency was pitching.  there were even t-shirts made.  good times.

not so much good times with nori nakamura.  he flamed out pretty quickly, but there are still a few cards of his to be had by dodger collectors.  this one is from 2005 leaf certified.

last, and actually probably least, is a 2005 donruss diamond kings paul loduca dual relic

thanks for the trade david!  i'll be checking your want lists again soon!

happy birthday to steve garvey - the big six-five!

time waits for no man, and that includes the first baseman of the team of my youth, steve garvey.  the garv turns 65 today, and it's been over 26 years since he last suited up in a major league baseball game. time flies.  thankfully (most of the time), card companies have kept him in their sights as they compile checklists for sets featuring retired players.  you had better believe that today is going to be chock full of those, plus one or two from his actual playing days.  hopefully some other bloggers join in the fun of wishing number 6 a happy 65th.

on to the cards.  here's a 2009 topps sterling white parallel numbered to 50

i really like the red accents on this card, just like the red number on the dodger home whites.

here's a 2002 fleer greats of the game card

on which the nl iron man sports the dual earflap batting helmet.  not a good look.

garvey was featured in topps' 2011 update set with an insert in the '60' run of cards.

this year's update set included a manu-patch insert set featuring all-star game mvp's.  i thought for sure that garvey would be included - the man won two all-star game mvp awards - but no, he was not.  sportflics did give him a card in their 1986 set that recognized his status as a midsummer classic mvp, along with fellow two-timer gary carter, and singular winner fred lynn

here's a better look at garvey's image on the card

of course, both of garvey's all-star mvp's (1974 and 1978) were won as a dodger, yet he's a padre on the card.  in fact, none of the players featured are wearing the uniform of the team they won the award with.  lynn won as an angel, but was with baltimore by the time this card was released, and carter is wearing his mets uni rather than the expos gear that he wore when he won his awards.

here's another padre garvey card, this time from 2005 donruss diamond kings

garvey was one of the inaugural diamond kings way back in 1982.  unfortunately, he didn't achieve the same status when he went to san diego.  here are the padres who were diamond kings instead of garvey:  dave dravecky (1984), tony gwynn (1985), goose gossage (1986), and kevin mcreynolds (1987).  i don't know that he deserved the honor over any of those guys, but i don't think donruss repeated diamond kings until the early 90's anyway.  nope - that's not true.  i just checked and george brett was a dk in 1982 and 1987.

moving on, here's a 2006 fleer greats of the game autographics card

this is pretty much how i think of garvey - manning first base in dodger stadium with the home whites, tidy stirrups, and red white and blue wristband.  none of that brown pinstripe stuff with a mcdonald's wristband.  yuck.

it's been everywhere, man

yes, the travelin' box finally made an appearance in the land of 10,000 lakes.  i got skipped in the last go around, but got first dibs on this round along with my normal slot (yet to come).  for those of you who don't know - here is a primer on just what the box is all about.

and, for some perspective, the cards i sent in for my initiation into the rotation were a 1960 topps al kaline, a 1963 topps gaylord perry rookie card, a 1971 topps tom seaver, and a 1973 topps babe ruth/hank aaron/willie mays card.

now that i am trading with the box, i added a card from 1958 topps, a 2002 topps tribute hall of famer bat card, a hall of famer rookie card from 1966 topps, plus a few more cards of the vintage and relic and star variety.

here's what i traded for.

1958 topps eddie mathews all star

i undertook a project back in the early 2000's where i completed a sampler set for all topps releases from 1952 through 1969 (the years i figured i would never complete the full sets).  basically, it was (at least) one card from every team, every subset, every design variant.  i had a 1958 nellie fox all-star, but didn't yet have a national league equivalent.  now i do.

2009 topps juan pierre black parallel

serial numbered pierre.

1996 sportflix mike piazza

thanks to all who put dodgers in the box.

next up are some cards that spoke to me, since i do sort of have a soft spot for the twins.

2005 diamond kings johan santana dual jersey

1967 topps jim kaat

and more impressively, 2000 fleer greats of the game jim kaat autograph

i have given up hope regarding a 1978 topps kaat auto (i don't want to pay $25 for it) so i was happy to see this certified auto in the box.

last, but certainly not least, is this 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures card of la rams great jack youngblood

i was a huge rams fan from 1977 through 1980 (the super bowl year) and even a little bit after that.  i was upset at the time that they didn't keep vince ferragamo (he went to canada in 1981), and didn't fully get back on the bandwagon when he returned in 1982.  instead i turned my attention to the minnesota vikings.  anyway, my favorite player was jack youngblood.  it started with the name.  youngblood.  the rams also had a jim youngblood on the team, but jack was the better player by far.   plus, he played in the 1979-80 postseason with a broken leg, and even played in the meaningless pro bowl after the super bowl.  i had been looking at his autos off and on over the past few years, but never pulled the trigger.  until now.

i can't wait for the box to make its triumphant return this way.

the first robin of spring

i'm told that it's spring now. it doesn't look like it up here. the temperature is in the single digits and there is at least a foot of snow still on the ground. i walked by target field yesterday afternoon and found it hard to believe that opening day will take place there in less than two weeks. anyway, i picked up this card a while back - when it was 'still' winter - and figured now was a good time to show it off.

it's a 2005 donruss diamond kings hall of fame heroes of brooklyn robins great, burleigh grimes.

grimes pitched for the dodgers - sorry, robins - from 1918 through 1926. he won 158 games wearing the brooklyn uniform, and led the league in victories in 1921 with 22. it's nice to see grimes, let alone the robins, get some modern day baseball card attention. the spitballer is enshrined in cooperstown as a brooklyn-ite, although it doesn't appear that his plaque mentions the robins.

i picked up a couple more cards from this insert set, both of which feature another dodger franchise hall of fame (obviously) hurler. it's don sutton, everybody!

so he's in angels' gear there even though he is enshrined in cooperstown as a dodger. that's ok, though - the back is all about some stuff that he did while wearing the angel uniform, including notching his 300th career win.

maybe his second card in the set will have him in dodger blue.

nope.  the back addresses his career start total, but it also mentions his 300th win again.

that's lame, and i don't get the sepia tone. it's not a parallel or a variation, it's another card in the same insert set. not sure if grimes there has a sepia too.

anyway, it's spring and there's the robin to prove it.

today's secret ingredient is...rhubarb!

yes, it's battle rhubarb here at gcrl today.  i recently completed a trade with rhubarb runner at 'e rayhahn rayhahn' for the second or third time.  it's always fun to see what dodgers i get in exchange for some twinkies (not the hostess kind).  shall we begin?  allez cuisine!

2002 fleer ultra chan ho park jersey

big chan ho looks pretty ticked at full body chan ho.  but, as we shall see later, what this card has going for it is that it is all dodgers. there is no ambiguity.

2005 donruss diamond kings edwin jackson

i wonder how many times white sox 'announcer' hawk harrelson has called jackson 'e-jack' so far.  or worse.

1991 donruss mike hartley

as this card shows, the beauty of dodger stadium cannot be diminished, even on a 1991 donruss card.  still, let's cleanse the pallete with this card:

2010 upper deck dodger stadium

ah yes, a shot from the parking lot (the price gouging parking lot).  this is the right field corner, with the 'all you can eat' right field pavilion, palm trees, and the stadium club restaurant being showcased.  the visitor's bullpen is between the pavilion and the main part of the stadium.  that gagne poster means that this photo is likely from the mid-aughts.

2003 fleer ultra paul loduca

buh-bye.

2008 upper deck a piece of history andruw jones jersey (with torii hunter)

here's where things get strange.  a brave and a twin.  no, sorry, that's a dodger and an angel.

2009 upper deck rafael furcal jersey

a brave?  well, at least the dodgers logo is more prominent than the text on that jones card.

2009 upper deck a piece of history rafael furcal jersey

now this is more like it.

thanks david!

padrographs and autobiographs

rod from the great pacific northwest (and padrographs) sent me a package a while back. let's take a look at some of the goodness.

2005 donruss diamond kings steve garveywe'll start with a padre, which is only fitting. i don't believe garvey was ever featured as a padre diamond king previously. the injustice!

2000 topps gallery shawn green. i collected shawn green with such a fervor, yet i haven't shown too many of his cards to date. odd. he probably has more game used cards than any other dodger player ever.

1999 topps finest todd hundley.

this is from todd's first incarnation with the dodgers. he pretty much stunk in 1999, but actually rebounded quite nicely in 2000, after which he signed a free agent deal with the cubs. for some reason, the dodgers decided to bring him back in 2003, and even traded mark grudzielanek and eric karros to do so. bad idea, as hundley hit a-buck-eightytwo in just 21 games.

1994 mike piazza.

i was really excited when this set first came out - piazza's first non-traded set topps solo card. what i got was a washed out card with basically the same photo as the 1993 traded card. lazy topps.

1993 leaf lenny harris

turning two with former dodger willie randolph sliding in.

1991 topps ramon martinez.

you can kind of see the way ramon used to lean back, similar to what tim lincecum does. speaking of which, i am actually rooting for the freak to beat the rockies. just for today, though.

1976 topps willie crawford.

willie was a bad ass. no doubt.

1990 leaf juan samuel.

one of the many to parade at second base after steve sax left.

finally, here is the readerman card rod sent, which i filled out. i couldn't choose just one favorite.

thanks rod! and happy reading!