feeling complete, except for some cards that should have been that i didn't make

i certainly didn't think this would happen, but i completed my 1955 topps brooklyn dodger team set recently by adding ed roebuck's card to my collection.

that means that my topps flagship/update dodger team sets are complete from 1954 through 2013, including variations (except for those super short printed 2012 topps update cards of the red sox three), and through 2015 if we are just considering the base cards.  add in a 1955 bowman team set, a 1963 fleer team set, and what i believe to be 1960 and 1961 fleer team sets, and i'm feeling pretty good about that part of my collection.

speaking of 1955 topps and completion, quite a while back i completed the 1995 topps archives brooklyn dodgers set, which includes some cards that should have been, including a 1955 topps tom lasorda card

topps created backs for these cards, too

because of this card, a 1955 topps lasorda card was never on my list of 'cards that should have been' to create, but 1956 and 1957 topps lasorda cards were.  bob lemke created a 1956 card, but i've never gotten around to a '57 lasorda.  speaking of '57's, jackie robinson was on my list of cards to create, since 1957 would have been a final tribute year with jackie's last season coming in 1956.  bob lemke has a '57 jackie, but he's in giants gear which is frankly disturbing.  still, i haven't made the time to finish that card that should have been, either.  other cards on my list were also final tributes that i haven't gotten around to, such as a 1980 topps willie davis card, and a 1995 topps steve sax card. some of the cards on that list, however, have been created by others.

for instance, here's a 1958 topps roy campanella

created by bob lemke

a 1959 topps pee wee reese

that would fit right in with the '59 set. unfortunately, i've misplaced the source for this card. if you know who created it, please let me know and i'll update the post.

a 1965 topps duke snider

created by cards that never were.  only slightly less disturbing than seeing jackie in giants gear.  and to think that the duke actually suited up for the nocals.

it's not just final tributes that were on my list - there are some cards just plain missing from history, like this 1977 topps reggie jackson

created by bob lemke, although i believe that there is a test/proof of this as an actual topps card out there (in keith olbermann's collection?).

still, most of the cards i wanted to create were final tributes, like this 1978 topps brooks robinson

created by uncle doc's card closet - when topps had (base)balls also created a final tribute for brooks, who was given the al kaline treatment and just had a season highlight card in what should have been his final tribute set.

in keeping with the oriole theme here at the bottom of the post, here are some cards that i made for ryan at o no another orioles blog a while back.  they are all of o's pitcher jamie walker.  i made a 2007 topps

a 2008 topps

and a 2009 topps

for ryan, who, like me, lamented the lack of cards given to non-closer relievers in sets these days.

as for all of the other cards i've created, i think there are some good ones in there, and certainly there are a lot of talented folks out there making their own cards that should have been, never were, or just need to be.  one of the best is travis from punk rock paint/the baseball card blog.  i still think that topps should pick up his 'pugilists & other pugnacious princes of play' idea and give us a real copy of this chan ho park card

made with a 2009 topps allen & ginter-ish feel.  come on, a set with that card, juan marichal wielding a bat, alex rodriguez getting punched by jason varitek, and aj pierzynski getting clocked by michael barrett among others? it's a no-brainer set that really ought to be made.  i'd collect the whole thing.

memorial patches for the pohlads

eloise pohlad, the wife of twins' owner carl pohlad, passed away in november of 2003, and the club added memorial patches to their right sleeves for the following season in memory of her.  they were simple patches, with the first name of her signature stitched inside a color coded rectangle - one for the away grays, one for the alternate blues, and one for the home whites.  you can see the gray patch on lew ford's 2005 fleer flair card

and the blue one is visible on torii hunter's 2005 donruss timeless treasures card

both of those cards are in my memorials binder, but i haven't been able to find a card that shows the white patch.  there weren't too many baseball card photographers at the metrodome in 2004, i suppose.  here's a picture of hunter at home from the 2004 alds against the yankees that shows the white patch.

and here's a better look at all three versions of the patch

in 2009, the twins wore a very similar patch for eloise's husband carl, who passed away at the age of 93 in january.  there was only one version of his patch, however.

had there been a white version to go with the home uniforms, we would have had a card showing it, as nick punto's 2010 upper deck card

features a photo from inside the metrodome with nicky wearing the 1983 throwback home whites.  speaking of the metrodome, the patch above the 'carl' patch is the 'final season of the metrodome' patch.  even old, multi-purpose dome stadiums got the commemorative patch treatment.

here's the patch on the alternate blue jersey of joe mauer, courtesy of his 2010 bowman card

looks like joe is on tatooine there.

here's francisco liriano's 2009 topps allen & ginter national pride insert showing the patch on the home white pinstripes

the patch shows up again, this time on the away grays, on alexi casilla's 2010 topps card

on delmon young's 2010 topps card

and on justin morneau's 2010 topps opening day card

and his chrome card

which, even though it uses the same photo as the opening day card, it's cut a little tighter so the patch is a little bigger.

i've got liriano's 2010 allen & ginter card in the binder

carl pohlad was the guy who bought the twins from calvin griffith in 1984 to keep them in minnesota, but he was also the guy who almost sold the team to a north carolina group in 1997, and the guy who was willing to let the team contract in 2001.  still, he was the owner during their run to two world championships (1987 and 1991), and despite his willingness to sell or contract the team,  pohlad oversaw the run of division titles in the 2000's, with the last under his watch coming in 2006.

the construction of target field began in 2007, and although carl pohlad did not live to see it completed, a statue of him and his wife was erected in the plaza outside gate 34 - the main entrance to the stadium.

the evolution of the dodger second baseman, part four

when last we visited the evolutionary chain of the dodgers' second basemen, we saw jeff kent retiring following the 2008 season.  to replace him, the dodgers went out and signed free agent orlando hudson.

orlando hudson (2009)

hudson's tenure as a dodger began with a bang.  after the season started on the road, the team opened in los angeles against randy johnson and the giants.  hudson went 4 for 5, hitting for the cycle in his dodger home debut.  he became the first dodger to hit for the cycle since wes parker did it in 1970.  he was also the second los angeles dodger to accomplish the feat, and the first to do it at dodger stadium.  the card shown above, a 2009 topps unique unparalleled performances insert, is all about the cycle.  hudson didn't miss many games that year, starting 143 contests as the team's second baseman although joe torre seemed to lean more towards ronnie belliard at second in the last few weeks of the season, and certainly in the postseason.  still, hudson won the gold glove for the position and signed a free agent deal with the twins for 2009.

blake dewitt (2010) first half

here we have a 2009 topps allen & ginter relic card of dewitt, who wound up as the dodgers' second baseman as the 2010 season got underway.  he started 76 of the team's first 103 games at second, hitting .270 with a .352 on-base percentage.  the dodgers traded dewitt to the cubs at the trading deadline that year, meaning that another second baseman would take over.

ryan theriot (2010) second half

theriot was part of the trade that sent dewitt to the cubs.  he and ted lilly came over for dewitt, brett wallach, and kyle smit. theriot, shown on a 2010 topps update walmart black parallel card, started 50 games for the dodgers at second.  he hit .242 and was traded to the cardinals after the 2010 season ended.  theriot wound up winning world series rings with the cards in 2011 and the giants in 2012.

jamey carroll (2011)

carroll had been with the team in 2010 (playing mostly shortstop with some second, third, and outfield thrown in), but played only second and short in 2011.  that's a target red parallel 2011 topps update card, by the way.  unfortunately, there aren't too many jamey carroll as a dodger cards out there. anyway, carroll wound up playing second base in 81 games for the dodgers in 2011.  aaron miles played in a few fewer games than that, although he made more starts than carroll.  however, carroll spent more innings at second than did miles, so carroll gets the nod here.  at the dish, carroll hit .290 in 2011 and like hudson, joined the twins after his dodger tenure ended.

mark ellis (2012-2013)

that's ellis turning two on his 2014 topps walmart blue parallel card.  ellis played second base in 110 games for the dodgers in 2012 (100 starts) and 119 games (106 starts) in 2013.  overall, he hit .264 and made only 9 errors.  he signed with the cardinals for the 2014 season.

dee gordon (2014)

dee is red hot on his 2014 topps red hot foil parallel.  he's also hot on the basepaths this season, having stolen 51 bases through 111 games.  there was speculation going into spring training that alex guerrero would be the dodgers' second baseman, but he was left behind when camp broke to get more developmental playing time.  gordon has made the most of his opportunity (he made the all-star team and has hit around .300 for most of the season).  it will be interesting to see what happens with hanley ramirez in the offseason.  if the dodgers don't re-sign him, will gordon move back to short with guerrero playing second, or will guerrero (or someone else) play short with dee staying at second.  i don't see darwin barney as a dodger long term.

just one position left to review - i'll get to the evolution of the dodger first baseman soon...

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!

more happy returns

yesterday i showed off some of the coaches and retired types that reader cory was able to coax into signing some of my cards for me.  here now are some actual players.  like andre ether, who signed a 2008 topps allen & ginger

as well as a 2009 topps allen & ginter

james loney

and hiroki kuroda

also signed allen & ginger cards, both from 2008.  i think we can all agree that allen & ginter looks just fantastic signed.

less awesome looking, but still pretty cool, are the cards that chad billingsley signed, including his 2005 topps rookie card

(hello joel guzman, my former dodger salvation) and his 2009 topps heritage card

also signing a 2009 topps heritage was juan pierre

and george sherrill

although his is from the high-number release.  for the record, i've had separate ttm successes with bills, pierre, and sherrill.  but not with chin-lung hu who signed a 2008 upper deck timeline card

that looks just as nice signed as do the actual 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams cards on which this card was based.

also from the timeline set, i had sent a reed johnson card which he signed

unfortunately for me, johnson has never returned his lone dodger card from 2010 topps update that i sent to him last spring.  finally, it just so happened that alfredo amezaga was in dodger camp in spring of 2010, and i sent a 2009 topps card just in case.

amezaga signed it but never did appear in a big league game for the dodgers.  that's not a bad haul, but there was more.  i'll show the rest tomorrow.