kempin' it real

i think it was fitting that matt kemp played his first game as a padre at dodger stadium. i don't know what sort of reception he received yesterday, but i hope it was a good one. he was deserving of that respect from the dodger faithful.  i do know that kemp drove in the friars' only three runs, and that's about where the adulation from the dodger fans in attendance should have ended.  i, on the other hand, can't quit picking up cards of his.  dodger cards only, of course.

this is a 2012 topps museum collection jumbo lumber relic card, numbered to 20

and this is a walmart blue parallel league leader card from 2012 topps

kemp is currently on pace to eclipse the 126 runs he drove in during the 2011 season by quite a lot.

this is a 2011 topps chrome vintage chrome insert

i haven't seen any cards yet (i think donruss has the only ones) of kemp as a padre, but i am pretty sure that even when i do, there will still only be one padre that i collect.  and even then, i'm hoping that this 2014 panini classics steve garvey auto

will be the last of those cards for a while.

a patch for duke

hall of famer and center fielder extraordinaire of the last brooklyn dodger and first los angeles dodger teams duke snider died on february 27, 2011 at the age of 84.  in tribute, the dodgers added a patch bearing his retired number 4 to their uniforms for the 2011 season.

the patch was typically worn on the right sleeve, but for the all-star game, it was moved to the left chest.  it's there on andre ethier's 2011 topps update cognac parallel

as well as clayton kershaw's

and kershaw's diamond anniversary sparkle, too

i've got his plain ol' base card in the memorials binder though.

dee gordon's 2012 bowman card is also in the binder

since it is a good example of the patch on the right sleeve.

here are a few other examples, including kershaw's 2012 bowman card

and a whole mess of matt kemp cards

2012 bowman chrome legends in the making die cut

2012 topps tribute

2012 topps museum collection

and 2012 topps gold rush wrapper redemption thingy

i appreciate the fact that that particular kemp card features the 1944 brooklyn alternate unis, and even though that was a bit before duke's time, i added kemp's 2012 topps opening day superstar celebrations card

to the memorials binder as a sort of bonus card.  simply because i can.

i need a new favorite dodger

it turns out that yesterday was quite a day for the dodgers in terms of player personnel.  gone are dee gordon and dan haren (i already had a post queued up for later today before this other deal was made official) and in are jimmy rollins, howie kendrick, and some relatively unknown marlins.  well, add matt kemp to the list of former dodgers as he was dealt to the padres for yasmani grandal and a couple of other players.

here's kemp's 2006 upper deck rookie card

kemp was my favorite dodger, supplanting nomar.  he was more than that, however, as i referred to him as my baseball salvation - the guy i thought would be anchoring the team for 10 or 15 years.  i traveled to colorado to see kemp play not too long after he was called up. he was hitting around .350 at the time, and he didn't disappoint me, hitting his first career double and driving in a couple of runs.  he hit two home runs in the series finale, and i was hooked.

there probably won't be any 2015 cards of kemp wearing dodger blue, unless he's in the topps flagship series 1 release i guess.  here are some cards from the past, then, to keep my spirits up.

2008 topps chrome refractor

2010 topps triple threads emerald parallel

2010 upper deck jersey relic

2012 bowman's best

2012 topps museum collection

which reminds me that i need to do an official duke snider memorial patch post

2012 topps triple threads

2013 topps mini

and a 2014 topps chrome refractor

there's no doubt in my mind that kemp is now my favorite non-dodger, and that clayton kershaw is my favorite dodger.  there's also no doubt in my mind that i'll be heading to san diego in 2015 to see the bison play.