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.

did jeff kent sub for steve garvey?

check out the back of this 2006 upper deck spx insert card.  it's got some good all-star info on none other than steven patrick garvey, the mvp-winning, gold glove obtaining, consecutive game playing, errorless streak fielding, 200-hit hitting, and don sutton scuffling dodger first baseman that i built a quarter of this blog around.

here's the front.  with a photo of...jeff kent?

now, i get that this is a 'spxtra info' insert, and it has some generic dodger information, such as their all-time record and a factoid about the number of championships they have won.  still, the lack of a first name in the text on the back leads me to believe that garvey was the intended player to be featured on the front.  why the switch to the barry bonds brawling, motorcycle crashing, not truck washing, milton bradley offending dodger second baseman i do not know.  i am disappointed at the prospect of having one less steve garvey card in my collection, however.

still, i am happy to have this card to call my own, thanks to a trade with the dutch card guy.  he also sent these other cards along, including another dodger second baseman.

both the auto and this gold parallel card

are from the 2009 topps update set.  it was the hudson auto that i saw on the trade bait page that prompted the trade.  as you may recall, hudson does not sign dodger related items.  that is his prerogative, but the joke is on him when topps slaps his stickers all over cards showing him in a dodger uniform.

also included in the package was this 2009 bowman chrome prospects (i think? bowman confuses me with their set names) josh lindblom auto.

this is my first auto, and may be the first card in my collection of the dodger reliever, period.  it's real nice.

and, what is this? a 1989 fleer card that i did not previously own?

yeah, this 1989 fleer superstars card of kirk gibson did not look at all familiar to me.  i really hope that there aren't anymore like this floating around because the thought of actively pursuing 1989 fleer issued cards does not excite me in the least.

i was excited about this 2011 topps finest jerry sands card

because i did not purchase any finest cards last year.  or the year before.  i pretty much rely on the kindness of traders to obtain them.  kind of like bowman.  i don't buy bowman, but i appreciate it when i get them in trades.  it's fun to find out who the kids down on the farm are, like andre ethier's little brother devon.

he's struggling in the rookie league this year, but the purple-ness of this card makes me not care too much about that.

it's a pretty even bet that any trade i complete will include a shawn green card.  he was the last dodger to be featured in pretty much every set and insert set until kemp and kershaw came along.  this is a 2002 topps stadium club 'beam team' insert

i am not sure what the 'beam team' was or if they had a secret clubhouse with advanced weaponry.  it sounds like a saturday morning cartoon, and not the kind today where kids have to learn while they are watching tv.

last but not least, a 2005 donruss elite adrian beltre 'passing the torch' card

i don't know what donruss intended here, as beltre left the dodgers to join the mariners for the 2005 season.  perhaps he was meant to have been shown alongside norihiro nakamura, the guy the dodgers mistakenly thought could play third base and hit major league pitching.

here's a bonus question - name the player who spent the most time at third base for the dodgers in 2005.    bet you can't do it without cheating.

thanks for the trade jeroen!