et tu, bill russell?

steve garvey wore a padres uniform.  ron cey suited up for the cubs and a's.  davey lopes wore the uniform of the a's, cubs, and astros as a big league player, and then wore rangers, padre, brewers, nationals, and phillies gear as a coach/manager at the big league level.  there are plenty of cards that show evidence of those three infielders wearing non-dodger uniforms, but i didn't think that was the case for the fourth - bill russell.

there was only one season in which russell wore a non-dodger uniform in the major leagues, and it was in 2000 when he served as the bench coach for the tampa bay devil rays.  i didn't think that there were any cards showing russell in his devil ray gear, and i may be correct, but i did stumble across this card, a 1999 multi-ad sports orlando rays card 

showing the shortstop of the team of my youth as the manager for tampa bay's triple-a team the year before joining the big league club as its bench coach.  this came after russell was fired by the fox folks and our hopes of another long-tenured dodger manager were dashed.  any and all cards of bill russell have a place in my collection, so i was happy to find this one.  and, apparently, there is another minor league card of russell showing him as the skipper for the shreveport swamp dragons in 2002. that was a giants farm team (shudder).

speaking of giants, i also found a couple of cards showing reggie smith, the right fielder for the team of my youth, wearing giant gear.  although, it's not san francisco giant duds, it's the uniform of the yomiuri giants

both cards are from the 2013 bbm legendary foreigners 2: deep impact set, according to check out my cards.  both cards are incredibly awesome, as well.  after spending one season (1982) with the nocal giants, reggie went to japan for a tumultuous year and a half, starting in 1983.  that second 'off shot' card is pretty cool, with reggie tipping his cap.  it would fit in my 'nob' mini collection, although i still haven't made that an official thing.  

i do have an official 'tatooine collection' featuring cards with nothing but dirt in the photo background.  this 2006 topps mickey mantle 2002 card fits the bill.

in 2006, topps essentially created mantle cards for all of the sets that had left card number 7 vacant - i believe it was from 1997 on.  still waiting for a mantle in the 1978 topps design...

moving along with some other recent pick-ups, there are few images that work better for companies without a license to use logos than the maskless catcher in gear.  such is the case with this 2013 panini elite extra edition mike piazza historic picks insert

there were 75 rounds in the 1988 draft, although not all teams participated in all rounds, and piazza is the lowest pick in the draft to make it to the majors.  the dodgers took eric karros 56 rounds earlier, in the sixth round of that draft.

speaking of sixth round draft picks, here's a shiny matt kemp 2011 topps finest refractor of matt kemp

kemp was the dodgers' sixth rounder in 2003.  i also grabbed a 2007 topps chrome blue refractor parallel of kemp

for my latest target as far as team sets go.  also new to the collection towards that endeavor are rafael furcal

derek lowe

and jason schmidt

just four left - randy wolf, andre ethier, takashi saito, and greg maddux.

another team set i am working on, but not really, is the 1953 topps team set.  i added rube walker

to my collection, but there are still many high ticket cards to be had before i am complete with that one.  someday, perhaps.

i began this post with one of the infielders for whom this blog is named in a strange uniform and ended it with a 1953 topps card of a brooklyn dodger named rube who later became a pitching coach, including for the mets during gil hodges' managerial reign and beyond.  as such, walker appeared on a couple of topps cards in 1973 and 1974 as a coach.  i wish the same luxury was afforded russell in 2000.

when the cards go blue

it's nice when the coloring of a card accentuates elements in the photo, and it is particularly nice when it is dodger blue that is being accentuated.  following up on my recent decision to complete the 2007 topps chrome blue refractor dodger team set (which is not really a recent decision - as a team collector, i had already decided to complete it - it's more like prioritizing), i have picked up a trio of cards.

2007 topps chrome jd drew blue refractor

2007 topps chrome brad penny blue refractor

and 2007 topps chrome juan pierre blue refractor

see what i mean?  jd's helmet, brad's stirrups, and juan's fake blue jersey all look better surrounded by those blue borders.

here are some other blue parallels.

2010 topps finest manny ramirez blue refractor

and 2010 topps opening day manny ramirez toppstown

go ahead. steal the code.

sometimes, the blues don't quite match, which was the case with the walmart parallels that started showing up in 2012.

2012 topps dee gordon walmart blue parallel

2013 topps kenley jansen walmart blue parallel

2014 topps hanley ramirez walmart blue parallel

2014 topps update chone figgins walmart blue parallel

and then there are some blue parallels that sparkle, like this 2013 topps dee gordon silver slate blue sparkle parallel

with dee turning two.

sometimes, the blue is subtle, as is the case with this 2014 panini hall of fame don drysdale blue refractor

numbered 54/75 - one off of his jersey number!  just kidding - that does not excite me, but blue cards featuring the big blue wrecking crew (yes, by that i mean dodgers - not new york football giants) do.

a haphazard canada day post

july 1 snuck up on me this year - i blame the weather.  it doesn't seem like july here yet.  anyway, enjoy some cards featuring teams from north of the border.  like this 1998 fleer ultra orlando cabrera card

or this 1998 pacific crown collection mike lansing card

both of those feature double play turning expos, and the lansing also features british columbia native larry walker.  happy canada day guys!

here's a blue jay turning two (or at least trying to).  it's maicer izturis and his 2014 topps card

he's got lyle overbay bearing down on him in a game from may 2013.  izturis threw to first too late to get curtis granderson, but it still goes in my double play binder.

this 1989 upper deck neal heaton card is in my dodger stadium binder

that is most likely joey amalfitano in the background there.

i am running short of expo and blue jay cards in the scanned folder, but i did have this 1979 topps blue jays team card at the ready

it's actually the thin-stock send in version of the card.  roy hartsfield, as you might recall, was a dodger coach in the early 1970's.

eric gagne is one of two canadians to win a cy young award (fergie jenkins is the other).  here is the montreal native's 2002 upper deck superstars card

 and another one from 2004 upper deck

looks like it was game over there.

russell martin was born in toronto but grew up in quebec.  this canadian made his big league debut on cinco de mayo, as noted on this 2006 topps update & highlights rookie debut insert

 here's a crookedly scanned 2007 topps chrome refractor of the former dodger backstop

who is one of three canadians to win a gold glove (larry walker and joey votto are the others).

here's martin again on perhaps my least favorite dodger card of the last several years.  it's from 2010 topps, and it's his 'when they were young' insert

i'll take these types of cards if they show jim hunter with his dog, or sal bando in little league, but i don't need to see big leaguers in footsie pajamas.

take us home bc native and only canadian to win the american league mvp award, justin morneau.

happy canada day, eh?

yeah, i took his cards. big whoop. wanna fight about it?

here are some cards that i took off of topher's hands, courtesy of the crackin' wax 'take my cards' process.  i made a donation to big brothers, chose some cards, and sent in a sase.  it was just that simple.

i was late to the allen & ginter party, so anything prior to 2008 i am not quite sure what i have in the way of dodgers.  i picked up a rafael furcal

and brad penny

card from the 2007 set.  it kind of looks like furcal is posing in front of a map of yellow eurasia.

here's a 2007 topps chrome juan pierre card

i cringe every time i see a version of this card.  the blue jerseys that were worn in games only during davey johnson's reign.  not good.

speaking of not good, that is how i remember luis gonzalez's time as a dodger.  still, i needed his 2007 topps heritage card for the ol' collection

here's another furky, this one comes from 2010 upper deck

i like recalling how this was 'series 1' as if there was going to be another series after upper deck didn't try so hard to obscure logos.

here's a 1987 donruss opening day steve sax card.

and a 1989 donruss orel hershiser '59 and counting' card

i don't recall requesting orel, but a card featuring a dodger juggler is always welcome.  but please don't start sending me your 1989 donruss cards.  those are cards i won't take.

thanks topher!

i can't begin to imagine how cool next year's version of this card will be

topps put an opening day highlights card of clayton kershaw in their 2013 opening day set.  that makes sense, but what doesn't compute for me is that it was a super short print.  why put ssp's in a set like opening day?  why put them in any set, really.  anyway, i picked one up for a reasonable price.

the card celebrates his 7-inning, 9 strikeout, no runs allowed performance against the giants on opening day 2011.  he picked up the win as the dodgers beat the no-cals 2-1.  next year's card should be spectacular, as on opening day this year, kershaw shut the giants out and provided the first sign of any dodger offense with an 8th inning solo home run.  that whole game was an opening day highlight for sure.

since opening day, however, i've been feeling a bit blue about the team's performance.  things are starting to look up, but maybe a different type of blue will cheer me up

like a 2007 topps chrome blue refractor jeff kent card

that blue scans so much better than the 2010 topps chrome blue refractors.  here's russell martin's card to prove it.

and then there are the walmart blue bordered cards, like this 2012 topps hong-chih kuo

and these 2013 topps josh beckett

and aj ellis cards

walmart went with a different shade of blue for the 2013 topps heritage parallels, of which i have the matt kemp specimen

although it's no chrome refractor, i like the looks of that card.  hopefully kemp doesn't make me blue by blowing out his hamstring.

a fall classic and other double play turns

still with the double plays?  why yes, i am.  here's a nice one from 2007 upper deck featuring a play from the 2006 world series and future dodger aaron miles

upper deck also got horizontal with that set, as seen on former dodger jose valentin's card

it features a play that may well have occurred in the 2006 nlcs - game 7 perhaps?

the phillies didn't make the postseason, so the photo on jimmy rollins' 2007 upper deck card isn't from october

but he's still turning two.

here's a 2006 topps opening day sports illustrated for kids insert with another fall classic dp turn

it's from the same play that's shown on the 'breaking up two' card from 2006 topps turkey red.  ausmus succeeded in breaking up the double play.

now for some decidedly non-world series twin killings.

here's jose lopez's 2007 topps card

and marcus giles from 2007 topps

and 2007 topps chrome

plus omar vizquel from 2007 topps chrome, too.

2007 topps update used double plays as a way to tie two players together to make 'classic combo' cards.  didn't work, but we still got some dp cards as a result - here are mike fontenot and khalil greene

and troy tulowitzki and jose reyes

you can barely see the lead runner coming into the frame, but howie kendrick isn't jumping for no reason on his 2008 topps card

while mark loretta's card from that set is a bit more traditional

finally, here is a 2008 upper deck first edition card of khalil greene

throw in what appears to be the third baseman's shoulder, and if this were a topps card it might be part of a 'classic trio' subset.