trades in spades

the tail end of 2014 was fairly productive for me in terms of trades initiated and completed.  just check out the trade tracker to the right if you don't believe me!  here are some of the cards that i've reecently received from some great trading partners:

from tom at the angels in order, i received (by request) a 1990 fleer league leaders tim belcher card

and a forlorn looking steve sax to boot

i kind of collect all steve sax cards. sort of.  not officially or anything, but if i see one, i will usually pick it up or ask for it, as was the case here.

thanks tom!

now on to a trade i made with zippy zappy.  you know what that means - i now own a 2013 sega card gen card!  so what if mine is a ronald belisario card?

sure, he's stinking it up with the chisox now, but beggars can't be choosers when it comes to these hard to find cards.

belisario was joined by some stateside manufactured dodger cards, like this 2011 topps jackie robinson prime 9 insert

and a 2005 topps update & highlights russell martin card

i had hoped that the dodgers would reacquire martin for 2015, but i guess yasmani grandal will have to do.

here are a couple more from zippy zappy - a 1990 topps fernando valenzuela

featuring the always fantastic shot from the first base side photographer's well at dodger stadium, and a 1989 topps traded eddie murray card

i had high hopes for the dodgers in 1989 after they acquired murray, but there were just too many injuries. i couldn't and didn't complain, though - 1988 got me through even the terrible 1992 season.

thanks kenny - i hope you enjoyed our first trade as much as i did!

one more trade to show - this one comes from dennis at too many verlanders.  he found a davey lopes card and thought of me for some reason.  it's a 2001 upper deck prospect premieres lopes heroes of baseball relic card

with a photo taken from that same photographer's well as the fernando card.  very nice - thanks dennis!

i'm prepping a few packages that will go out shortly to the likes of catching up with collecting, the angels in order, too many verlanders, cards on cards, night owl, and am holding some cards for a couple of others.  let me know if you want in on the trading in 2015!

a helping of leftovers - more ttm successes to be thankful for

well, i hope the turkey and football and pie and gelatinous cranberry from a can has served you well today.  i am taking another moment to be thankful for some through the mail successes.  these are way down the list of things i am truly thankful for, but they rate fairly high in terms of collecting related things to be thankful for.  hopefully that makes sense.

here's a 1961 topps jim golden card

not sure why i hadn't sent a request to golden before a couple of weeks ago.  he may be best remembered for being one of the guys that the dodgers got from philadelphia in exchange for sparky anderson.  he was also traded for nellie fox later in his career.

thanks jim!

another former dodger, chad kreuter, signed a couple of cards for me a couple of years ago.  here's his 2001 topps card

and his 2002 topps card

kreuter may be best remembered for being the first dodgers since (i believe) reggie smith to go into the stands after a fan.  in kreuter's case, a fan in chicago stole his hat, and chad wanted it back.  it was the incident that led to kevin malone being referred to as 'the sheriff', as i recall.

thanks chad!

now for a 2005 topps update & highlights blake dewitt card

dewitt signed that one for me shortly after he left la for chicago.

thanks blake!

from one blake to another, here are a couple of casey blake cards that the former dodger signed for me through the mail.

2009 topps allen & ginter

looks nice!

2010 topps

thanks casey!

the last few are of the non-dodger variety, and are mostly due to my desire for more signed 1978 topps cards. first, though, there is this 1973 topps don kessinger card

followed, of course, by his 1978 topps card

love the lapels, by the way.  kessinger was named player-manager of the white sox for the 1979 season, and so he got two cards in the 1979 set, which i thought was pretty cool.  topps had done the same for frank robinson in 1975, but for some reason only gave him the team card in 1976 and 1977.  silly topps.

thanks don!

here's kessinger's teammate and subordinate, eric soderholm

soderholm was the first overall pick of the 1968 draft (january secondary) when he was taken by the twins.  appropriately, he also signed a 1976 topps card from his tenure in minnesota.

off the top of my head, i think this brings the number of former number 1 overall picks in my ttm autograph collection to 7 - soderholm, rick monday, tim foli, floyd bannister, bill almon, tim belcher, and josh hamilton - although i think most don't consider the secondary draft to be a true number 1 overall pick.  i think of that particular draft to be the one wherein the dodgers picked davey lopes in the 2nd round.  but i digress.

thanks eric!

back on topic - here's a 1978 topps bill castro card

and a 1978 topps card of his teammate, lary sorensen

thanks bill and lary!

the topps dodger autograph project - 2005 through 2008

time for the next installment of the topps dodger autograph project.  these cards were signed free of charge through the mail.

2005 topps, chad billingsley

bills has signed a few cards for me through the mail.  i've also received cards from this set signed by edwin jackson and milton bradley.  however, that billingsley card above (which also features the guy i thought was going to be my baseball jesus, joel guzman) was obtained in a 50/50 ttm/trade event i had with reader cory a couple of years ago.  there are more from that fantastic transaction to be showcased in this and the next post.

2005 topps update & highlights, jason phillips

phillips signed this card for me while he was serving on the mariners coaching staff.  he might still be there, i don't know for sure.  i've also had success with blake dewitt and jose valentin from this set

2006 topps, bill mueller

topps didn't photoshop mueller for the flagship set, but the team was changed to 'dodgers'.  jim tracy and jason phillips are the only other 2006 topps dodgers who have signed for me through the mail.  i recall seeing a mueller ttm success in which the sender asked him a question along the lines of 'what does it take to be a big leaguer?'  mueller's answer was 'you have to fall in love with preparation'.  i like that quote, and have actually used it a couple of times.

i don't have any cards from 2006 topps update & highlights signed

2007 topps, james loney

other ttm successes i have had from this set include chad billingsley, luis gonzalez, juan pierre, and delwyn young.  plus a i have a purchased grady little signed 2007 topps card.

2007 topps update & highlights, andy laroche

i also have a 2007 topps u & h card signed by hong chi kuo from the 50/50 ttm/trade

2008 topps, delwyn young

in addition to delwyn (which was the result of a regular ol' ttm request), i also have a 2008 topps ramon troncoso autographed card from the 50/50 ttm/trade

2008 topps update & highlights, casey blake

although i have had a ttm success with blake directly, the card above came from the 50/50 ttm/trade deal.  in addition to blake, i have a card from this set signed by angel berroa that also came from that deal.  we'll see a couple more next time. 

thanks to all these players for signing my cards!  here's a running list of the topps dodger autograph project:

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

1975 topps - ron cey

1975 topps mini - joe ferguson

1976 topps - bill russell

1976 topps traded - dusty baker

1977 topps - steve garvey

1978 topps - dave lopes

1979 topps - charlie hough

1980 topps - jerry reuss

1981 topps - doug rau

1981 topps traded - ken landreaux

1982 topps - dave goltz

1982 topps traded - jose morales

1983 topps - ron roenicke

1983 topps traded - rafael landestoy

1984 topps - fernando valenzuela

1984 topps traded - mike vail

1985 topps - burt hooton

1986 topps - enos cabell

1987 topps - steve sax

1987 topps traded - matt young

1988 topps - len matuszek

1989 topps - mickey hatcher

1990 topps - kal daniels

1990 topps traded - juan samuel

1991 topps - tim belcher

1992 topps - roger mcdowell

1993 topps - dave hansen

1993 topps traded - tim wallach

1994 topps - jody reed

1995 topps - chris gwynn

1996 topps - todd hollandsworth

1997 topps - brett butler

1998 topps - greg gagne

1999 topps - jose vizcaino

2000 topps - jeff shaw

2001 topps - chan ho park

2002 topps - andy ashby

2002 topps traded - joel hanrahan

2003 topps - jim tracy

2003 topps traded - ron coomer

2004 topps - edwin jackson

2004 topps traded - milton bradley

2005 topps - chad billingsley

2005 topps update & highlights - jason phillips

2006 topps - bill mueller

2007 topps - james loney

2007 topps update & highlights - andy laroche

2008 topps - delwyn young

2008 topps update & highlights - casey blake

valentin day

i was happy to find in my mailbox the other day a couple of cards signed by jose valentin, the former dodger and current manager of a minor league team in fort wayne, indiana.  valentin signed his 2005 topps update & highlights card

and his 2006 topps card

i was happy to get these back because i enjoy getting dodger base topps cards signed, and i also am a fan of the different team/uniform combo on the 2006 card - it kinda reminds me of o-pee-chee cards, and we all know that i like those o-pee-chee cards.

valentin was brought on board to play third base for the dodgers in 2005 (despite having had played mostly shortstop in the years previous) but he got hurt in may and missed a good chunk of the season.  he wound up playing in just 56 games for the dodgers, but rebounded nicely for the mets in 2006.

thanks jose!

loneys from heaven

i have been lax in doing trade posts this year.  it's not because i don't appreciate the cards that have come in to my possession, it's more laziness on my part.  with the year half over, it's time to get busy posting about trades.  here are some cards i received from cardboard heaven a while back

the main card of the trade was this 2003 bowman james loney autograph

james was just a kid in 2003, and the dodgers brought in fred mcgriff to man first after trading eric karros to the cubs.  add in a transplanted shawn grene, a season of hee seop choi, and a year of nomar, and you get to big game james in dodger first base lineage.  here he is all grown up on a 2010 bowman chrome card

i also received a 2005 topps updates & highlights matt kemp card

at one of the dodger/twins games this week, a guy in front of me was touting kemp as the next triple crown winner.  i think it is possible, though not likely, but wonder whether that guy bothered to vote for kemp in the all-star voting. probably not. the fact that kemp is not in the top 3 outfielders in terms of voting is pretty crazy.

here are a couple more youngsters - a 2010 bowman pristine chris withrow

and jerry sands

i was a bit disappointed sands got sent down.  i was looking forward to seeing him in minny, but the way tony gwynn jr played, i guess i can't complain too much.
i'll end the post with a 2011 topps andre ethier toppstown card

i still don't know what the purpose of toppstown cards are, but it's nice to have dre in my collection.

thanks cam!

thinking of sox

a while back (as in a few months ago), i received a package from thoughts of sox.  it was an 'out of the blue' package, but contained lots of blue.  with a small amount of red.  and fuschia, as seen on this 1995 topps archives brooklyn dodgers clem labine 1952 topps reprint.

perhaps topps used a photo from labine's senior portraits as a base for this card.  labine, of course, was the dodgers' "closer" for many years before moving on to the tigers and pirates before finishing his career as a member of the expansion mets in 1962.  he won three world championships - with brooklyn in 1955, la in 1959, and pittsburgh in 1960.  i only need a couple more cards from this set.  maybe by the end of the year it will be complete.

here's some red (sox).  a 1971 topps high number tom satriano

i love the old school shin protector in the background.  tom satriano don't need no catcher's gear!  satriano played most of his career with the angels, starting in 1961 with the expansion club.  only the last two seasons of his career were spent in boston.  in fact, this 1971 card is a final tribute, as satriano hung up the spikes after the 1970 campaign.  i need quite a few cards, especially high numbers, to complete this set.  i'll probably look to win a medium grade lot on ebay to knock out a bunch for what is hopefully a low price.

here's a 2007 upper deck first edition juan pierre

he looks like he is wearing a mask like brian hunter on his silly 1999 topps card.  no, it's just shadow, but that is a cubs jersey pierre is wearing.  this is a dodger card in name only, but that's enough for me.

i'll just show a couple more cards that adam sent, although there were more than just 5 cards in the package.  the last two are dueling jeff kents from 2005 topps update and highlights.

 

kent spent the last 4 years of his career in la, and was certainly worthy of his all-star selection in 2005.  that year, he hit .289 while scoring 100 runs and driving in 105.  he was the dodgers' primary second baseman for all 4 of his seasons in la (even though he missed a bunch of games in 2006 to injury) and he never hit below .280. today, the dodgers are still searching for his replacement three seasons after his retirement.  there are rumors that rafael furcal may return as a second baseman when he comes off the dl, but i'm not sure that's the solution.  maybe if he starts reading motocross magazines in the clubhouse...

thanks adam!  i'll get some cards out to you soon.

jason phillips through the mail success (sans marriage proposal)

so it wasn't exactly a marriage proposal former dodgers' catcher jason phillips threw into the stands at safeco last year, but i'm glad all he sent me were my cards back - signed.

first up is his 2005 topps update & highlights card

followed by his 2006 topps base card

not only are the cards sequential, but the pictures are as well.  kind of like the 1993 topps traded/1994 topps mike piazza cards that were such a disappointment to me. 

i remember phillips fondly, as he was the guy the dodgers got in return for kazuhisa ishii during spring training 2005.  jim tracy used phillips as the team's primary catcher over dioner navarro, and sometimes played him at first base over hee seop choi.  he was one of tracy's 'ja(y)son brigade' - along with werth, repko and grabowski - that found substantial playing time in a most disappointing season as the 2005 dodgers defended their nl west crown by losing 91 games.  still, phillips made some good memories during his one year in la, including his first home run as a dodger - a grand slam against the reds that came on a day he went 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored.

here's to you, jason - good luck and thanks! 

culling dodgers from capewood's collection, part two

the recent trade with cliff at capewood's collections was too much for just one post, so here's the second batch of cards i randomly selected from the dodger bounty.

2004 topps retired davey lopes.i like old school players on current card designs almost as much as i like current players on old card designs. unlike 2009, these cards were a whole separate set. well done, topps.

2006 topps matt kemp rookie debut

the bison's debut was less than memorable. he started his career by striking out in his first three at bats. he did single in his 4th at bat, though, and the next day went 2 for 3 with 2 rbi and a stolen base.

2005 topps all time fan favorites steve garvey

certainly my all time fan favorite. here they kept the horizontal layout of garvey's original 1974 card and used a photo that is probably pretty close to that year. unlike the 1973 design that used a 1980 photo in one of their other fan favorites releases.

2004 fleer jolbert cabrera

a true utility player, cabrera played every postion for the dodgers in 2003 except pitcher and catcher. i remember him as the first dodger to wear number 6 since garvey left. there's still hope, though - mitch webster wore number 20 prior to don sutton being voted into the hall of fame and getting the number retired. currently, joe torre is wearing garvey's number.

2004 topps bazooka eric gagne

i am disappointed that there is no appearance by bazooka joe.

2005 fleer showcase preacher roe

i had only seen cards from this set in repack boxes. elwin charles roe was 22-3 in 1951. he was traded to the orioles after the 1954 season and missed out on the 1955 world championship.

2002 bowman heritage duke snider

the duke was around for 1955, though.

2003 topps traded james loney

man, i dig james loney. hopefully the line drive doubles turn into home runs, but the guy is pretty clutch. i learned today that his nickname is 'geoffrey' as in the toys-r-us mascot. nice.

2002 fleer greats of the game hack wilson

one year after he drove in 191 runs, wilson was traded twice in the span of 2 months. first, the cubs sent him to the cardinals of all places, and the cardinals flipped him to the dodgers. in his first (of 3) seasons with the dodgers, hack drove in 123 runs and finished 13th in the mvp voting. not bad. still, this card would upset me if i were a cubs fan. it's kind of like all those upper deck sweet spot cards that show garvey with the padres. it just ain't right.

2004 bowman brian pilkington

pilkington had a pretty decent 2003 season splitting time between high-a and aa. he went a combined 13-6 with a 3.77 era. he didn't pitch at all in 2004 - i am guessing he was injured - and returned to high-a in 2005, his final season.

2005 topps update & highlights hee seop choi

man, i really rooted for this guy, partially because jim tracy seemed to despise him. he hit 5 home runs in the home run derby - this was the year it was the us vs the world - but was not a member of the all star team.

2002 topps total terry mulholland

a genuine loogy (lefty one out guy), mulholland pitched in 20 seasons for 11 different teams, including 2 stints with the giants and phillies. he was in la for part of the 2001 and 2002 seasons going 1-1 in 40 games, including 3 starts.

2003 bowman chrome edwin jackson

jackson made his debut in a much hyped 2003 game against randy johnson on his 20th birthday. he won, going 6 innings and giving up only one run on a sacrifice fly. i saw him pitch at san francisco in his 4th and final start that season. he gave up only 2 hits in 6 innings and struck out 7 (including bonds once), but walked 8. he was a bit wild, but clearly had potential. i guess that's why he was traded by ned to the devil rays for lance carter and danys baez. yikes.

thanks again cliff! i'll probably be sending you some more astros and phillies very soon!