dodger (and other) cardboard from mets cardboard

what makes more sense than receiving a mike piazza dodger card from justin at mets cardboard? not much.  i sent him a bunch of mets, and he sent me some dodgers and other good stuff for my collection.  here's the aforementioned strongest man in socal on a 1993 topps stadium club card

i don't know the full story of piazza switching from number 25 to 31, but i know it had to do with time wallach signing with the dodgers for the 1993 season.  i wonder how much wallach had to give to get the number from piazza.

here's a 1996 fleer joey eischen

part of the reason that i scanned this card was that i was pretty sure that eischen hadn't been shown on the blog before. he pitched in a total of 45 games for the dodgers over the course of the 1995 and 1996 seasons, and non-closing relievers weren't showing up on a lot of cards back then.  but then i remembered that he made his debut on the blog as part of a mother's cards post earlier this year.

1996 skybox dugout axcess eric young axcess airlines frequent flyer insert

i don't care much for card companies when they misspell things on purpose, like 'axcess'.  or 'authentix', as is the case on this 2002 fleer authentix shawn green power alley insert

however, if those cards featured the dodger stadium murals like this 2003 fleer focus jersey edition shawn green card

i'd be more accepting of the spelling.  i'm not going to kick them out of my collection, mind you, but i'm  going to shake my head every time i see them.

2004 topps total robin ventura

the santa maria native finished up his career playing more first base than third base for the 2004 dodgers.  he also pitched in a game.

2008 topps finest hong-chi kuo autograph

always cool to find an auto card in a trade package.  it's also cool to find a card from a set that you're trying to finish, like this jr towles card from 2008 upper deck timeline.

there's been so little movement on my part with that set that it took me a moment to figure out why i was getting a card of an astro that wasn't a tatooine or double play card.  speaking of double play cards, justin sent a bunch of those, too, more than i showed last weekend.  i'll show the others that were new to my collection later.  thanks justin!

clearing out the scanned folder - miscellany edition

not every card that i scan is a dodger card, which makes sense because my collection has a fair share of cards featuring players from other teams.  sometimes, however, i get ahead of myself and scan some stuff without a specific post in mind. other times, i do have a post in mind, but it never comes together.  and then there are some cards i scan because they fit into one of my mini collections.  there are some of each in this post.

2000 skybox dominion scott rolen

i believe that i figured out a long time ago that the dodger catcher lurking on this card is angel pena, so i'll go with that.

1975 sspc elias sosa

sosa was a brave just before he became a dodger. he was part of the deal that brought lee lacy back to la for mike marshall.

1995 upper deck mike blowers

here's another future dodger, as blowers played for the dodgers later in the 90's.  thanks to this card, we know that blowers once caught a foul ball at tiger stadium at 2:55 (or is it 2:56?) in the afternoon.

1997 bowman vladimir guerrero

one of my last remaining player collections.  it was good to see vladdy in this year's archives release.

2001 topps archives jack morris

and 2001 topps archives lou whitaker

both cards are part of my 1978 topps master set.  still waiting for the design to be used in the revitalized archives release.

2002 topps 206 mike piazza team 206 insert

still working on this set

2008 upper deck timeline brandon jones

still working on this set, too.

2014 topps stadium club albert pujols

pujols just recently passed steve garvey on the all-time hits list. i scanned this card because it fits in my 'nob' collection, should i decide to make it an official collection.

1992 megacards babe ruth babe's farewell

this card also belongs in that collection.  it features a cropped version of nat fein's pulitzer prize winning photo, and is a great card to have. i'm glad i scanned it.

the phil rizzuto number memorial patch

aside from 3 seasons spent serving in the us navy during world war ii, phil rizzuto was the yankees' shortstop from 1941 through 1954, and he remained in a part-time role as a player for two seasons beyond that.  with rizzuto on the field, the yankees won 7 world series in 9 appearances, losing only to the 1942 cardinals and 1955 brooklyn dodgers.

for 40 years after his retirement as a player, from 1957 through 1996, rizzuto was a yankee broadcaster who used the phrase 'holy cow' with abandon.  when he passed away at the age of 89 in august of 2007, the team added his retired number 10 to their left uniform sleeve in tribute (they were already wearing a black armband for teammate cory lidle who had died the previous offseason).

even though the memorial came about towards the end of the season, there are plenty of examples of it in the 2008 card releases.  here's an alex rodriguez card from topps' 2008 national baseball card day effort

and topps also gave us this joba chamberlain card as part of the 2008 topps yankees 14-card factory set

i thought that it would be appropriate for the yankee shortstop, derek jeter, to represent this memorial in the binder, but this was the only card i had of jeter wearing the memorial - a 2008 upper deck starquest insert

and there are better examples of the memorial than that.  one of those better examples is not this 2008 upper deck piece of history phil hughes card

no, this 2008 upper deck national baseball card day ian kennedy card gives a good look at the memorial

but he's wearing the away grays, and it would be nice to feature a card of the memorial on the home pinstripes.  how about this 2008 upper deck timeline card of alex rodriguez?

that would work except that i like a card of chien-ming wang better.  no, not this 2009 upper deck card

i was referring to this 2008 upper deck first edition card of wang

the photo comes from the same game as the one upper deck used on the 2009 release, but i prefer the simpler design of the 2008 release.

rizzuto was the 1950 american league mvp in what clearly was his best offensive season.  he hit .324 that year, 50 points higher than his career average, and set career highs with 200 hits and 125 runs scored.  rizzuto did not garner much support for the hall of fame in the years he was on the ballot (he peaked at 38.4% of the vote in his final year on the ballot), but was selected by the veteran's committee in 1994.  in a perfect world, that would mean good things for the likes of alan trammell, bert campaneris, and even tony fernandez - all of whom had better jaws scores than rizzuto.

then, not now

in a continuing effort to pare down the number of cards sitting patiently in my scanned folder, i bring you a post featuring cards from 2008.  yes, 2008.  five years ago, when mannywood was taking hold and the dodgers were relevant in the dog days of august for the first time in a few years.

unfortunately, the only way they made it on to the 'then and now' topps heritage inserts was on the backs of their stars from yesteryear.  like don drysdale

and johnny podres

who represent the blue on those two 2008 topps heritage inserts.  peavy is the only one of the four to have won the cy young award in 1959 or 2007, which are the years that these cards are based on.  that's not the focus of the cards, however.  the drysdale/peavy card deals with strikeout leaders, and each of the pitchers shown did in fact lead the big leagues in k's.  the podres/bedard card represents the k/9 ratio, in which bedard was tops in 2007.  even so, the card is still off, as podres was 6th.  drysdale was 2nd, and herb score was first.  i'm not complaining about a 'bonus' dodger card though.

2008 donruss playoff prime cuts jackie robinson

i thought donruss didn't have a license in 2008.  looks like they forgot to 'glare out' the brooklyn 'b'.

2008 upper deck timeline chin lung hu (2004 ud legends design)

this card reminds me that i have been neglecting my timeless teams blog.  again.

2008 upper deck premier russell martin and james loney patch relic card

these two former dodgers are on their way to the postseason, just like in 2008.  loney, of course, hit that big grand slam against the cubs in the nlds that year to set the tone.

2008 topps stadium club clayton kershaw 1st day issue

looks like kid k is on his way to a third straight era title.  he also leads the league in strikeouts, and hopefully the voters can look past his relatively low (14) win total to award him his second cy young award.

i feel better getting these cards over to the 'posted' folder.  i need to do this more often.

the evolution of the dodger third baseman, part four - where do we go from here?

we left off the evolutionary chain of dodger third basemen last time with tim wallach, who manned the hot corner for the dodgers from 1993-95, and for the last part of the 1996 season as well.  he was re-acquired by the dodgers after their newly acquired third baseman went down with an injury.  still, mike blowers started 90 games at third for the dodgers in 1996, so he gets some attention here.

mike blowers (1996)

blowers is wearing his seattle mariners uniform there on that 1996 upper deck collector's choice card.  he had three different stints in seattle, including 1997 - the year following his time in la.  the dodgers acquired blowers after the 1995 season in which he hit 23 homers and drove in 96 runs.  he was hitting .265 with 6 homers and 38 rbi after 92 games with the dodgers when his season ended thanks to an injury.  the dodgers replaced him with wallach, and blowers walked as a free agent after the season ended.

wallach was a stopgap, and he retired following the 1996 campaign.  so, the dodgers went out and got another third baseman to fill the void.

todd zeile (1997)

zeile's 1997 topps finest card tells the story, as he was a free agent acquisition prior to the 1997 season.  he played a whopping 160 games at third base for the dodgers, and hit 31 home runs with 90 rbi and a .268 batting average.  this was too good to be true, however, as he was traded away with mike piazza early in the 1998 season.

adrian beltre (1998-2004)

beltre was 19 when he took over the third base position for the dodgers.  bobby bonilla, who was acquired as part of the piazza/zeile trade bounty, was originally slotted at the hot corner, but beltre wound up making 74 appearances with 54 starts and 49 complete games compared to bonilla's 59, 57, and 34.  that's his 2000 fleer gamers card, by the way.  beltre provided some long lost stability at the position, playing a total of 957 games for the dodgers at third base from 1998 through 2004.  his tenure culminated with a 48 home run (to lead the league), 121 rbi, .334 batting average season that netted him a silver slugger and second place in the league mvp voting.  then it was off to seattle.

beltre's departure resulted in a rag-tag of players trying their hand at third base.  the dodgers signed a japanese player, norihiro nakamura, and gave him the keys, but he flamed out after just 14 games.  after that, there were many who tried.  i'll pick one.

oscar robles (2005)

mike edwards made 39 appearances at third for the dodgers in 2005, with 33 starts and 31 complete games for a total of 294.2 innings.  robles gets the nod from me here due to his 40 appearances at third, even though he started only 31 games there with 30 complete games and 292.1 innings.  that is partly due to the fact that i had a 2005 upper deck sweet spot card of robles already scanned as well as the idea that robles represents to me the fact that jim tracy lost his marbles in 2005.  maybe i should have used edwards, as robles played more short than third in 2005.  oh well, neither one factored into the equation for very long.

wilson betemit (2006-2007)

the dodgers acquired betemit near the 2006 trade deadline after the guy they intended to be their third baseman, bill mueller, was lost for the season due to injury.  betemit appeared as the dodgers' third baseman in 102 games over the 2006 and 2007 seasons.  he was traded at the 2007 deadline to the yankees for scott proctor, but he still made more appearances at third than any other dodger in '07.  nomar gets a nod here, though - he played third after betemit left.

blake dewitt (2008)

the dodgers gave 22-year old rookie dewitt the third baseman's job in 2008 (his '08 upper deck timeline card is appropriate here, don't you think)?  in all, he made 95 appearances and 77 starts there, but failed to convince the organization that he was the answer.  in fact, he found himself playing second base by the time the postseason rolled around as he started every playoff game at second for the dodgers in place of the injured jeff kent.

casey blake (2009-2010)

the dodgers acquired blake during the 2008 season, and he really took over the position then.  he re-signed with them for the 2009 season and turned in 131 starts at third that year.  in 2010, he started 134 games as the dodger third baseman.  in 2011, however, he was able to make only 45 starts.

juan uribe (2011, 2013)

uribe made 53 starts at third for the dodgers in 2011, so he gets the nod here over blake and aaron miles.  also, he's got the sweet brooklyn baby blues on that 2011 topps update card.  he kinda sorta lost the job to

luis cruz (2012)

but he's got it back in 2013.  until yasiel puig pulls a pedro guerrero and gets moved over to third.  seriously, though, who knows what the future will hold for the dodgers' hot corner.  hopefully something stable.

in my ongoing crusade to collect dodger cards...

...i received some cards from jeff at my sports obsession.  these cards were sent to me a looong time ago, and they have sat in my scanned folder for far too long.  sorry jeff.  here's a shiny 2002 donruss rookie crusade card of victor alvarez.

alvarez, you might recall, is the guy with the interesting signature.  putting a sticker on this card, however, would probably be too much.  although something tells me that donruss did just that.  hold on - yep, they did. gross.

here's a 2004 donruss card of dave roberts

it's a career stat line parallel, so it too is shiny and even serial numbered.

there were some more recent cards in the package, too, like this 2008 upper deck timeline chin-lung hu card

hu got a ton of cards in 2008.  now, four years later, i thought he was out of baseball after being released by the indians earlier this year, but he is playing in an independent league.

here are a couple of cards from 2009 topps ticket to stardom - chad billingsley

and manny ramirez.

remember him?

here's a 2010 bowman card of carlos monasterios

monasterios spent the entire 2010 season on the dodgers' 25-man roster as a rule v draftee (acquired via a trade with the mets).  to date, that is the only season in which he has pitched in the big leagues.  he underwent tommy john surgery in 2011 and had another surgery earlier this year.  the dodgers released him in april, and it will be interesting to see if he lands with another team.

here's one of those shiny refractor things from (i think) a cereal box or blaster of 2010 topps

another jackie for the collection.

i think when i received the package, this was a newly issued card.  no joke.  it's a 2011 topps heritage andre ethier card

i think i may have scanned it because it was the first of the 2011 heritage cards i had seen.  thanks for the trade, jeff!

giants cards can be useful

i believe the dodger/giant rivalry to be a bigger deal than yankees/red sox or cubs/cardinals or twins/brewers or whatever other manufactured rivalries that bud selig wants to try to peddle.  growing up in southern california, we disliked all things about no-cal, and the giants were at the top of the list.  these days, i count san francisco as one of my favorite cities to visit, but i still dislike the giants.  so, you had better believe that i was more than happy to send some cards featuring the san francisco nine out of my collection, and in return receive some pretty cool dodger cards.  it's all thanks to arpsmith, whose cardboard obsession focuses on the dodgers' foes, and who was kind enough to agree to trade with someone who bleeds dodger blue.

here's a 1959 topps card featuring johnny podres, clem labine, and don drysdale.

in 1959, podres was 3-0 against the giants, with a 2-hit shutout in one of the games.  labine, meanwhile, was 1-0 with 2 saves in his appearances against the giants, while big d was 4-2 in 7 starts versus san francisco.  no wonder a giants fan was willing to part with it.

i also received a former nefarious 9 card - a 1984 fleer tom niedenfuer

as is often the case in our little community, i needed one of these and now i have an extra as i also received a copy from mrmopar recently.

there were some pretty big cards in the package, too.  literally.  like this 1988 topps big mike davis card

along with his oversized 1989 bowman card

but, as much as i appreciate the walk that mike davis earned in game 1 of the 1988 world series, he was not even the best davis in the package.  that honor goes to willie davis, who appears on tony gwynn's 1992 pinnacle 'the idols' subset card

i know i have shown that card before, but it is so cool that i wanted to show it again.

arpsmith also noticed that i am still trying to finish my 2008 upper deck timeline set, and he moved me a couple of cards closer to that goal.  he sent along a jay bruce

and a prince fielder card

and also included an andre ethier jersey card

ethier returned to the lineup last night, as did matt kemp.  so, it makes sense to close with a kemp card, like this 2012 topps heritage new age performers insert.

thanks for the trade arpsmith!