random relics

relic cards aren't the draw that they used to be, that's for sure. questions about authenticity and overproduction have removed much of the luster from them.  the novelty that persuaded me to pay $20 for a pack of pacific game used back in 2001, only to get a piece of neifi perez's bat has certainly worn off.  these days, relic cards are practically a dime a dozen.

with that said, here are 10 that i am happy to have in my collection, even though they've been wallowing in my scanned folder without a post to display them for quite some time.  i'll note what each relic is, based on the guarantee on the back of the card.

2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts pee wee reese game used jersey

2005 upper deck classics bill russell game used pants

2005 upper deck classics pedro guerrero game used jersey

2001 upper deck sp game bat edition gary sheffield game used bat

2003 upper deck honor roll hideo nomo game used jersey

2004 donruss throwback threads hideo nomo game worn jersey

2004 upper deck vintage hideo nomo game used jersey

2004 upper deck shawn green game used jersey

because shawn green probably has the most dodger relic cards of anyone out there - at least from the peak era of relic cards.

2005 topps opening day paul loduca game worn jersey

you can see where the dodger script patch was removed from this particular swatch

2010 topps heritage james loney game worn jersey

on all of the cards except loney's, the guarantee on the back specifically ties the jersey, bat, or pants to the player on the front of the card and notes that said jersey, bat, or pants were worn or used in an official major league baseball game.  there is no guarantee on the back of loney's card, only the mention of "game-worn jersey" on the front.  i am left to assume that it is loney's jersey, but who knows for sure? also left unsaid is in what sort of game was this jersey worn?

i know this has all been said before, but i needed a vehicle to get these cards out of the scanned folder.  i'm still collecting these, by the way, as long as there's a dodger on the front of the card.

a patch for warren spahn

warren spahn passed away in november of 2003 at the age of 82.  he had pitched for the braves' franchise in boston and milwaukee for 20 seasons, along with a final season split between the mets and giants, and so the atlanta braves wore a patch in his honor during the 2004 season.  the patch was shaped like home plate, with spahn's retired number 21 inside.

this 2005 fleer national pastime jd drew card gives a good view of the patch

but that is actually a dodger card.  i looked through my collection to see if i could do better by the winningest left-hander in history than that.

here's a 2005 fleer ultra chipper jones card

but the patch is tough to see.  how about this 2005 topps opening day andruw jones card?

that was the frontrunner for a while, but then i found this 2005 upper deck chipper jones card

that's the one in the binder.

spahn was a first-ballot hall of famer, going in with 83.2% of the vote in 1973.  he is sixth all-time in wins with 363 - the highest total for any pitcher in the modern era - and 63 of those wins came in games in which spahn threw a shutout - also the highest total for any pitcher in the modern era and sixth all-time.  those numbers would have been greater had he not lost three seasons to service in world war ii during which he was awarded the purple heart.  in 1999, spahn was named to the all-century team and in 2003 a statue of him was unveiled at turner field. i will assume that the braves take it with them when they move in a couple of years.

yeah jetes!

i picked up some 2014 topps allen & ginter yesterday afternoon from the local target, and one of the first cards i encountered was this one of the retiring yankee captain.

i did not make it out to see jeter when the yankees were here last weekend, but i've seen him play a few times over the years.  by the time he retires, he should be sixth all-time in hits.

i only got one regular mini of a ballplayer - this one of junior lake

instead, i received a black bordered randy johnson

since i shopped at target, i also received a three-pack of gold-ish bordered parallels - ryan howard

george kell

and grant balfour

meh meh and meh.

here's a base and mini of one of the non-ballplayer subjects, glen waggoner

one of the creators of rotisserie baseball, he is responsible for the time suck that i devote myself to each spring.

airplanes!

i pulled one of the outlaws, bandits, and all-around ne'er do wells mini inserts - bonnie and clyde

speaking of ne'er do wells, the lone short print i found was this one of the giants' hunter pence

topps also made him a short print in 2014 heritage.  that's ok with me - the fewer giants cards the better.

my favorite cards of the packs were the pastime's pastimes inserts that fall 1:2 packs.  i pulled three of them, including this one of stephen strasburg

these are nice cards.  i might consider putting together this insert set, but i won't chase anything else out of this year's ginter.

let's bring this post back to jeter - here are three double play cards that i've not shown yet from the collecton.

1998 fleer sports illustrated then and now

1998 upper deck sp authentic

and 2005 topps opening day

i seem to have pulled a lot of his cards over the years, and if i am buying packs next year, i am sure it will be hard to avoid them then as well.

phillie memorial patches for tug mcgraw and paul owens

the phillies wore a memorial patch for two of their own in 2004.  former reliever and 1980 world series hero tug mcgraw and former gm and manager paul "pope" owens both passed away between the 2003 and 2004 seasons.  the patch is visible on these three 2005 topps opening day cards - placido polanco (turning two)

mike lieberthal

and jimmy rollins

it's there on their right sleeves, and looks like this - a banner for owens and a shamrock for mcgraw

the best example i have in my collection is jim thome's 2005 donruss card

i appreciate the fact that this patch has some color, similar to the king clancy patch.

mcgraw is one of the few players to be memorialized by multiple teams (ralph kiner is being so honored this season by the mets and pirates), while owens was a lifelong phillie - from the minors through to his role as scout, gm, and ultimately manager of the big league club - and more than worthy of a memorial patch of his own.

feels like 1985 (or 2004) times

well, that sucked.  down 2 games to none with their best pitchers having pitched as well as one could have hoped doesn't give me a whole lot of hope.  the dodgers have lost two of the last three postseason series that they have played against the cardinals, and, unless they go 4-0 (or 4-1) in their next few games, they will lose another one.

so, it feels like an appropriate time to show some cards that i received from madding at cards on cards a while back.  he didn't send any cards from 2004 - the last time the dodgers dropped a series to saint louis - but he did send this donruss all-stars card of pedro guerrero from 1985 

that was the year of jack clark and ozzie smith and tom niedenfuer.  enough about that.

there were a healthy number of mike piazza cards in the package, too.  like this fantastic 1994 topps stadium club card

a nice post-play at the plate card featuring piazza wearing the tim crews memorial patch in dodger stadium.  madding sent a few other memorial patch cards that i will show in their respective posts sometime in the future.

here's another piazza play at the plate card, this one coming from 1994 upper deck.

the strongest man in socal was featured on another 1994 upper deck subset card, this one a home field advantage card

which also showcased dodger stadium's symmetrical dimensions.

here's piazza again on a 1995 upper deck card

with a photo that could've fit right in with upper deck's 2010 set

same with this 1998 donruss card from the fan club subset

piazza gets out of the gear and up to the plate on his 1998 upper deck card

which features some spring training agility drills

one last piazza card, this one from 1998 upper deck collector's choice

one of his last dodger cards, too, by the way.

fast forward to 2005 topps opening day, here's kazuhisa ishii signing some autographs

as he is in the 2005 topps chrome set, too

fast forward again to 2011, here's a 2011 bowman dee gordon card

it's another dodger stadium card, and another memorials card as dee's sporting the duke snider memorial patch.

thanks for the trade kerry.  here's hoping the dodgers can even up the series and make more like 2009 than 2004 or 1985.

one good turn deserves a few more

yes, it's double play time.  here's troy tulowitzki's 2013 topps archives card.

if it looks familiar, i might have shown it in one of my archives posts from a few weeks back, as well as my series two post since it's the same photo that was used for his 1972 mini insert.

going back in time to 2004 fleer tradition with omar vizquel

and further back to 1997 fleer ultra with delino deshields

it wasn't until recently that i realized that, in 1997 at least, the ultra gold medallion cards weren't just parallels of the base set - they had completely different photos.

now on to the jimmy rollins portion of the post.  rollins turns two on his 2003 bowman card

his 2005 upper deck card

and his 2005 fleer ultra card

and teammate placido polanco does the turn on his 2005 topps opening day card

back to 1998 with pinnacle and craig biggio

and carlos baerga (plus a sliding ryne sandberg)

here's a 2007 upper deck david eckstein

a 2008 upper deck first edition rickie weeks

and a 2008 topps stadium club dustin pedroia

i have picked up a number of new-to-me double play cards over the past few months.  once i get my posts and lists up to date, i will commence with the greatest double play card of all-time tournament.  for reals.