it's time for the encased cards from the steve garvey binders

you've seen the 9-pocket pages and the 8-pocket pages, so now let's see the 4-pocket pages from the steve garvey binders.  to be clear, these are not the pages with graded cards that are part of the oddball binders, but rather regular issue cards that were actually distributed in sealed cases.  have a look:

those cards are:

1. 2003 topps retired signature autographs
2. 2003 topps retired signature autographs (with "6" inscription)
3. 2004 playoff prime cuts ii mlb icons material prime relic /6
4. 2004 playoff prime cuts ii mlb icons signature material number relic/auto /6

those are some pretty sorry relics for cards numbered to 6.

here are the backs:

and here's the second sheet:

those cards are:

1. 2004 playoff prime cuts ii mlb icons signature material combo auto/relic /6
2. 2004 topps originals signature 1979 buyback auto /26
3. 2004 topps originals signature 1983 buyback auto /19
4. 2005 topps pristine legends refractors /549

1979 topps cards are pretty popular as far as buybacks go.  there are plenty of others from this set, however, including 1 1971 card, 1 1975 card, 4 1976 cards, 5 1980 cards, 10 1981 cards, a whopping 122 1982 cards, 32 1984 cards, and 129 1985 cards.  no 1978 cards, unfortunately.

here are the backs:

here's the third sheet:

those cards are:

1. 2005 topps retired signature autographs
2. 2008 tristar signa cuts 1984 donruss auto /25
3. 2013 panini hall heroes private signings auto /10

here are the backs:

looks like i have room for one more.

there are a few more cards to show before i'm done with the steve garvey binders, so stay tuned...

the rest of 2005 brings the first steve garvey binder to an end

before i get to sheet 59 in the steve garvey binder, i want to note that i did receive the 2005 donruss greats card in the mail the other day, and so i now know that the first card on sheet 55 is not the base version, but rather the un-numbered silver holofoil.  what that means is that all of these cards are going to shift one spot in the binders when i insert the actual base card in that first slot on sheet 55.  i already have these next sheets scanned, so i'm just going to go with it.

here's sheet 59:

those cards are:

1. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team quads swatch double padres relic (with willie mccovey, tony gwynn, and rickey henderson) /75
2. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team quads swatch single spectrum prime black padres relic (with willie mccovey, tony gwynn, and rickey henderson) /10
3. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team six dodgers (with darryl strawberry, rickey henderson, kazuhisa ishii, paul loduca, and kevin brown) /100
4. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team six swatch single dodgers relic (with darryl strawberry, rickey henderson, kazuhisa ishii, paul loduca, and kevin brown) /150
5. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia team six swatch single spectrum dodgers relic (with darryl strawberry, rickey henderson, kazuhisa ishii, paul loduca, and kevin brown) /100
6. 2005 playoff presitge
7. 2005 playoff prestige xtra bases red /150
8. 2005 playoff prestige xtra bases green /50
9. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons /100

again - the padres team quad cards had garvey and mccovey on the back, but they are considered the front in the binder.  it's too bad that garvey has the most non-descript patch piece on the card.  there are many more parallel versions of both the padres team quad and the dodgers team six cards, as well as the playoff prestige cards.  i've only got a few, as you can see.

here are the backs:

there are two different ishii jerseys being cut up for these cards, and i'm guessing that the loduca jersey being used is actually a mets black alternate.  playoff could have left loduca off the card and put al oliver on instead, as they did have oliver relics in that set.

here's sheet 60:

those cards are:

1. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons century silver /50
2. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons material jersey relic /50
3. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons material combo bat/jersey relic /10
4. 2005 playoff prime cuts mlb icons signature material trio mlb auto-bat/bat/jersey relic /10
5. 2005 topps all-time fan favorites
6. 2005 topps all-time fan favorites autograph
7. 2005 topps pristine legends
8. 2005 topps pristine legends gold die-cut refractor /65
9. 2005 topps pristine legends valuable performance relic

just like the previous page, this sheet holds only a fraction of the available parallels for the prime cuts card.  there are also a few more parallels for the fan favorites card, including a refractor that i am currently watching.

here are the backs:

sheet 61 is not full because it's the last sheet of this binder and i figured i should end the binder at the end of 2005, leaving some empty spaces for any additional cards i might obtain featuring the garv between 1989 and 2005.  i've already got the 2005 donruss greats card to add, so i can pick up 5 others without having to add a sheet.  anyway, here is sheet 61:

those cards are:

1. 2005 topps retired signature
2. 2005 topps retired signature gold parallel
3. 2005 upper deck ultimate signature signs of october dual auto (with ron guidry) /250

here are the backs:

yes, it used to be a sign of october when the dodgers and yankees would square off.  it's now been over thirty years since those two teams last met in the post season, and garvey was 2 for 6 against guidry in that most recent clash (1981 world series).

the next binder is on the clock - stay tuned...

too many tigers sporting memorial patches

for quite a while now, i've been posting about memorial patches on mondays.  i still have quite a few to get to, but two of the patches i have already covered include the ernie harwell patch worn by the tigers in 2010, and the sparky anderson patch that the motor city kitties wore in 2011.  dennis from too many verlanders recently sent me a package that included a whole mess of tigers wearing these patches.  here are two cards of brennan boesch from 2010 topps update that show the harwell patch.

these cards are both great examples of the patch that i did not have in my collection previously.  i'll keep the valverde in the memorials binder, however.

dennis also included a whole mess of cards showing the sparky anderson patch.

there we have cards from 2011 topps and 2011 topps update, and here are a couple (plus a parallel) from 2012 topps

boesch is back with a 2012 topps allen & ginter card

while alex avila and miguel cabrera show the patch on their 2012 topps archives cards

boesch and miggy also show the patch on their 2012 topps gypsy queen cards

and then there are the 2012 bowman cards

the tigers' american league central division rival kansas city royals also wore a memorial patch in 2011 (for former pitcher paul splittorff), and dennis threw this 2012 bowman billy butler card in the package as well.

he added another memorial patch, too - the harry caray memorial patch can be seen on this 1999 ud choice kerry wood starquest insert

although this was included as part of the complete 30-card set in a separate package.  i had claimed some cards from dennis, and he included this set (which contained a single dodger - adrian beltre)

as well as a set of the 1990 fleer league standouts insert set, which included current dodger manager don mattingly wearing pinstripes

i'll show some of the cards that i claimed in a later post.

there was yet another package that dennis sent recently.  it contained one card that he picked up at a card show with me in mind - a 2005 topps pristine steve garvey uncirculated card

i've got one in the garvey collection already, but now i have one for the dodger binder, too.

thanks dennis!

thoughts of fernando and newk

i was thinking about fernando valenzuela and don newcombe last fall as jose fernandez made his late season run.  if you have forgotten, the marlins rookie was 8-2 with a 1.43 era over the last 3 months of the season, and had 103 strikeouts in 88 innings during that time.  i was thinking about fernando because back in 1981, he became the first pitcher to win both the rookie of the year award and the cy young award in the same season, and i thought that fernandez had a shot at duplicating the feat.  however, because clayton kershaw won the cy young over fernandez, valenzuela remains the only pitcher to win both awards in the same season.  crisis averted.  now, here are a couple of el toro's cards that i've had scanned for a while.

1987 topps glossy send in

1988 topps

 and 1995 upper deck electric diamond

and 2004 fleer greats of the game

back in dodger blue.  it should be noted that fernando finished 5th in the league mvp voting in 1981 - the highest he would get in his career.

i mentioned up top that i was also thinking of don newcombe.  like fernando, newcombe won the rookie of the year award.  newk won his in 1949, but he didn't win the cy young award that year, mostly because the award didn't exist.  here are some cards of newks' that i've been saving for a rainy day.

2004 upper deck sweet spot classics

2007 upper deck sweet spot classics

and 2005 topps pristine (uncirculated)

now seems like a good time to show a couple other cards from that set - davey lopes

and don zimmer.

but i digress.

newcombe may well have won the cy young had it existed in 1949, but he did win it once it came into being.  newcombe was the very first person to win the award when it was initiated in 1956.  and that was when there was just one award for all of major league baseball.  he also won the mvp award that same season, making him the first player in history to win the rookie of the year, cy young, and mvp awards.  here's a 1961 topps card celebrating his mvp win that newk signed for me through the mail four years ago.

dwight gooden came as close to the trifecta as fernando had when, in 1985, the 1984 rookie of the year won the cy young award and finished 5th in the mvp voting.  ultimately, it was 2006 al rookie of the year justin verlander who, in 2011, became the second pitcher to achieve the feat.  still, newcombe is the only national league pitcher to do it, which brings us back to fernandez.  fernandez certainly looks like he has the stuff to pull it off, and he is one-third of the way there.  of course, he pitches for the marlins so he will have to be spectacular if he is to win an mvp award any time soon.

seeing things at the lcs

if you've ever wondered what pete rose, ryne sandberg, and steve garvey would look like if their faces were somehow combined into one, then go pick up a copy of this 1986 sportflics card.

when scanned, it looks mostly like rose.  here's the garvey image, or at least as best as i could manage.

i didn't need a copy, but i couldn't leave that card in the nickel box at one of the local card shops, now could i?  i also picked up a better looking garvey - again, no real need, but for a nickel…it's a 2005 topps pristine card for goodness sake!

i mentioned in an earlier post that i had made a few visits to the two local card shops over the last few months, and had some cards to show from those trips.  some of the nickel and dime boxes at these shops included boxes sorted by player - mostly hall of famers, stars, and notable twins.  some of the lesser organized boxes seemed to include bunches of cards of players who were at one time highly collectible, but now are not really sought after - probably moved out of the star boxes to make room for the bryce harpers and mike trouts of the world.  one such player is roberto alomar.

i found a bunch of alomars, including this 1995 topps d3 double play card

as well as base

and die-cut versions

of his 1995 upper deck championship series card.

like alomar, eddie murray seemed to have been moved into the low rent district.  i picked up a 1991 bowman card of the hall of famer

 it mentions his .330 average on the back

which led the majors in 1990, although murray didn't win a batting title.

here's a 1993 fleer vinny castilla card

on which he is shown turning two as a brave, but listed as a rockie.  i had forgotten that castilla was not always a third baseman.  castilla did not start the season as colorado's shortstop (freddie benavides had the honor of being the first ss in team history) but he took over the role in may.  he didn't move to third base full time until 1995.

there were some oddball cards in one of the boxes, many of which i had not seen before.  i picked up a 1992 fleer citgo darryl strawberry card for the dodger collection

it was a joint 7-11/citgo release, apparently.

there were even some ted williams cards floating around - this one of joe black is from 1993.

the tough thing with the nickel and dime boxes is that they aren't getting any new inventory.  i noticed that at both shops, although the lack of new material seemed to be for different reasons.  at one shop, they didn't appear to be busting any new product.  at the other, they seemed to be discouraging people from digging through boxes.  i'll expand on that next time.

a common mistake

i recently took a quick look at justcommons.com and saw some cheaply priced dodger relics.  i quickly snapped up a few from 2013 topps' chasing history insert set - carl crawford

adrian gonzalez

and gary sheffield

except i didn't realize that sheff had chasing history cards for the yankees (and the marlins) as well as the dodgers.  oops.  i wish that the site had photos of the cards like comc does.

i also picked up a 2003 bowman draft & prospects joe thurston bat

and a 2005 topps pristine scott elbert sticker auto

elbert missed most of 2013 due to injury, but did pitch a few games in the minors.

to finish off the package, i snagged a couple of josh willingham autos from 2013 panini pinnacle

and prizm

i won't keep these for too long - i had a couple other collectors in mind when i purchased these.

overall, i will probably still gravitate to sportlots most of the time, but might return to justcommons - as long as i know who is a dodger and who isn't.