pennys (and other dodgers) from bob walk the plank

brad penny cards are not quite like bad pennies - they don't show up everywhere - but when they do show up in a trade package, i am thankful.  matthew from bob walk the plank recently sent some cards my way, and there were two brad pennys in the package.

2005 leaf century collection brad penny auto

and 2005 upper deck mlb artifacts brad penny relic

penny was a two-time all-star while with the dodgers, winning 16 games in both 2006 and 2007. he is the most recent dodger pitcher to start the all-star game, although that might change this year if greinke gets the nod.

penny was teammates with kaz ishii for a short time in 2004.  then, after just three seasons with the dodgers, ishii was traded to the mets prior to the 2005 season. however, the residue of nomomania meant that there was a glut of ishii cards on the market. matthew sent me a couple

2004 playoff prestige kaz ishii relic

2004 topps clubhouse collection kax ishii relic

for some reason i thought that the ishii relic from clubhouse collection was short printed, but i don't see that assumption validated anywhere.  at any rate, this relic is new to my collection.

matthew sent me my first certified john candelaria as a dodger auto card last time we traded, and now he has sent me my second.

2014 leaf memories 1991 leaf buyback john candelaria auto

and, going for three lefty dodger pitchers in a row, here's a 2005 donruss greats tommy lasorda relic card

donruss ripped off fleer with their greats of the game/dodger blues relic set, but i am not upset by it.  tommy is shown, of course, as the manager of the los angeles dodgers, but donruss also issued a card in this set with the die-cut relic reveal in the shape of the brooklyn 'b' in honor of his (short) stint as a pitcher for the bums.  they used the same photo, however.

the relic set also included burleigh grimes, sandy koufax, duke snider, don sutton, and orel hershiser - matthew sent the bulldog's card

like lasorda, i believe that koufax and snider each have brooklyn and los angeles versions of their cards.

not all of the cards matthew sent were autos or relics. no, there were also serial numbered die-cuts, like this 2003 donruss elite adrian beltre aspirations card

and there was a gold parallel insert - this 1998 donruss studo mike piazza studio proofs gold card

all of the cards were happily accepted and appreciated.  thanks matthew - i will have some cards out to you soon!

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?

another happy trade

it's been a while since i have picked up an autograph of burt 'happy' hooton's.  hooton was, of course, a member of the 1978 topps dodgers and the team of my youth, but he was also the 1981 nlcs mvp and a very solid pitcher who was often overshadowed by don sutton, bob welch, fernando and others.  i was happy myself to see this card, a 2005 upper deck mlb artifacts burt hooton autograph, in a trade package from robert at $30 a week habit

upper deck has issued a few autographed cards for hooton, and while i think i own most of them, i did not have this one in my collection.  very nice to have some variety in players featured - now if only there were some rick rhoden or bob welch cards coming out these days...

there were a number of other cool cards in the package from robert, like this 2000 fleer ultra card of mark grudzielanek

sliding home at dodger stadium.  this 2011 topps chrome orange refractor of matt kemp features an image taken from a similar angle

and you can see how much closer the seats are these days to home plate.  i really do miss the field level scoreboards and the union 76 signs.  i'll be getting back to the ravine in late august, and will take a moment to point out to my son how much less foul territory there is now compared to how it was just a few years ago.

i also got some numbered cards, like a matt kemp card from 2008 topps triple threads

a 2006 upper deck purple parallel looking card of hee seop choi

and a 2004 upper deck sweet spot classics roy campanella card

back in the early 2000's, we dodger fans were assured of two things when it came to card sets, no matter how large or how small.  those two things were cards of kevin brown (like this 2001 donruss)

and shawn green (like this 2001 fleer futures)

these days, it's kind of the same except it's kershaw and kemp who pop up in every set.  not that that's a problem, mind you.

i'll finish off this post with another dodger who is well represented in today's sets, duke snider.  this is a 2003 topps heritage flashbacks insert

and it features a pose that i don't think i have seen a dozen times.  nice work topps.  and nice work to you, richard.  thanks for the trade!