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...

one more time - avert your eyes!

you've been warned! here's another 2008 tristar signa cuts card that i've added to my collection

that would be a 2001 fleer greats of the game ron cey card that's been butchered and repackaged and is one of 25 similarly butchered cards of the penguin.  it's not a certified auto from the gotg set, either, as those cards were printed with gold borders.

i don't mind these signa cut cards - i have a few now in my collection - but i prefer ones like this that are cut up cards as opposed to photos.  and, the fact that it's not a certified auto that was chopped up is a good thing.  yes, even i have my limits when it comes to cards like these.

for the love of sax, avert your eyes!

i can't help myself. 

i picked up another dodger featured in the slasher set known as 2008 tristar signa cuts.  this time, it's steve sax and a butchered version of his 1985 donruss card that joins the collection.

 it looks better (relatively) rotated.

saxy! i used to keep my batting gloves in my uniform pants just like that - fingers out - because that's how sax did it.

unfortunately, i don't have a full card of sax to cleanse your palette, so instead, here is a randomly selected 1997 fleer mike blowers card

blowers preferred to clutch his batting gloves apparently; perhaps he was concerned about pickpockets.

i've got my eye on another signa cut card, but i'm not sure i will pull the trigger or not.  if i do, i'll be sure to warn you ahead of time so that you can properly prepare for the cardboard desecration.

avert your eyes - twice!

what is that?  and why is it encased?

well, i am pretty sure that it is an autographed 1989 donruss mike scioscia card that has been mutilated so that a 2008 tristar signa cut card could be made.  i still don't know why this particular card from that issue is encased.  the plaque says 'limited edition' so maybe that's why.

still, it's not as rare as this other scioscia card i have from the set, which is numbered out of 5.  this one is his 1981 topps rookie card all chopped up

it looks better on its side

i will admit that i thought about removing the signed part of this card and slapping it on my copy of the full card that is missing only scioscia's auto.  i think i will hold out for a different opportunity to finish that card off, however.

as always, avert your eyes

yes, it's time to show off (?) another 2008 tristar signa cuts card from my collection.  this one is of ralph branca, and features a chopped up 1988 pacific card

tristar lets me know that branca was a '3x all-star'.  i'm here to tell you that he was also a '2x dodger'. that's right - this is a dodger double dipper post!

[this is the forty-fifth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, and don sutton.]

branca debuted for the dodgers as an 18-year old in 1944.  three years later, he won 21 games and was the ace of the staff.  branca remained with the dodgers through the 1952 season, but was waived by the team after 7 appearances in 1953.  he was claimed by the tigers, and pitched in detroit for about a year, spanning the latter part of the '53 season as well as the first half of the 1954 campaign.  in july of '54, the tigers released branca, and he signed with the yankees a few days later.  he made 5 appearances for the yankees, including 3 starts, and was 1-0 with a 2.84 era.  unfortunately for branca, the yankees missed out on the pennant that year despite winning 103 games (cleveland won 111), and he was released shortly after the end of the season.

branca was only 28 when the yankees released him, but he remained unsigned for the entire 1955 season and most of 1956.  in fact, it wasn't until september 6th that the dodgers brought branca back to ebbets field for the last time.  the next day, branca made his first and only appearance of the season, and the last of his career.  he was brought in to relieve ed roebuck in a game which had the dodgers trailing the giants 6-1.  branca pitched the eighth and ninth innings, allowing no runs and striking out two, including willie mays.  not a bad way to go out.

usually i will show a card or two from the players year(s) in between their stints as dodgers, but i don't think there are any branca cards showing him as a tiger or a yankee, except for the 1991 topps archives 1953 card that should have been thingy which i don't own.  i do have a couple of his cards from his first stint as a dodger, but there is no 1957 card to cap his career.

i do have this 1993 ted williams card

but the back only features 5 of branca's season statistics, all during his first run as a dodger.

here's to you, ralph branca - another dodgers double dipper!

i can't believe i made it through the entire post without mentioning bobby thomson.

you can look if you want to...

...but tristar signa cuts are still a bit of an abomination.  in this case, it's a 2008 tristar signa cuts card of candy maldonado, using his 1985 topps card as the muse.

the card celebrates the candy man's cycle, hit in 1987 when he was a member of the giants.  below is my version of his 1985 topps card, as it was signed through the mail.

not a whole lot of similarities there between the signatures, is there?  still, i prefer my card whole.  that's not to say that i won't keep picking up these types of signa cuts, as long as the price is right.

once again, avert your eyes

although it might not be as scary (or maybe creepy is more like it) as the card i posted last year on halloween, this one is more disturbing.  it's the second tristar signa cut card that i own, and it's a butchered copy of burt hooton's 1978 topps card.

the horror!  luckily for me, i have a couple of these unmolested in my collection.  happy also signed a 1979 o-pee-chee card

a 1981 topps card

and a 1985 topps card

for me.

i like how the tristar card mentions that hooton was the 1981 nlcs mvp. he was 11-6 in the regular season with a 2.28 era (third best in the league), but he really shone in the three rounds of playoffs that postseason.  in the nlds against the astros, hooton started game 3 and got the win, giving up three hits and one earned run in 7 innings of work.  his next appearance came in game 1 of the nlds against the expos.  hooton again got the win, working 7.1 innings without allowing a run at all.  he started game 4 of the series, too, and again went 7.1 innings for the win while giving up just one unearned run.  14.2 innings with a 0.00 era and two wins?  good enough for the mvp award.

he was 1-1 in the world series against the yankees, but gave up only 2 earned runs in 11.1 innings pitched.

'happy' halloween everybody!

avert your eyes!

this card really is an abomination.  but, the player collector (and sadist) inside of me won out, so i bought it.
it is, of course, a 2008 tristar signa cuts card featuring a cut mutilated autographed 1984 donruss steve garvey card. numbered to 25, even, although the others i have seen are not this horrific.

at least it wasn't a dodger card they put through the woodchipper.