this is the time of year to drop strong hints

do you make a christmas list? i was told at an early age by my uncle that it is better to give people an idea of what you would like to receive this time of year than to leave it to chance and perhaps wind up with a box of handkerchiefs.  lesson learned.

i recently noted on a night owl post that i was looking for a 2014 topps stadium club mike piazza card (of which night owl had two), and not too long after, i received the card in the mail from said blogger.

piazza didn't travel alone, either.  greg threw in a 2014 topps chrome hanley ramirez purple refractor

and a 2013 topps gypsy queen clayton kershaw white framed card

as well.  i will take night owl's dodger hand-me-downs any day of the week.  yes, that was a strong hint.

jeff at 2x3 heroes and i have been swapping pwe's for a while now, but the pace has increased recently.  i was quick to return the three-pocket insert that he used to send me the previous batch of cards with a note that said something like "you're it" or "your turn" or "send me more!".  he got the hint.  here's a 2014 bowman chrome mini card of mr cy young and mvp

plus a 2013 topps sandy koufax (also mr cy young and mvp) cut to the chase card

you want more mr cy young and (world series) mvp?  ok, here's orel hershiser on a 1994 fleer ultra card

and a chan ho park insert card from the same set.

park was neither a cy young nor an mvp, although piazza once went on record saying that chan ho had cy young stuff.

jeff also sent a 2014 bowman chrome prospects auto card of brandon trinkwon.

he must have bought these in bulk, because i am pretty sure he sent one to zakwin also.

last but not least, there was this card - a 2008 upper deck michael young card

the future dodger is not, however, playing baseball on tatooine as there is a little sliver of grass in the upper left corner.  a clearing on the forest moon of endor? perhaps. tatooine? no.

thanks for the cards guys.  send me more.  hint hint.

the rest of the cards that should have been from the garvey binders

i am almost done with showing pages from my steve garvey oddball binder.  then it will be time to show the pages from the 'regular' collection binders.  get excited.  here are the rest of the cards that should have been that i've created or received or otherwise had to print myself over the last few years.

punkrockpaint is responsible for the 1988 topps card, while the writer's journey sent me the digital version of the gypsy queen card.  the last three are topps bunt 'cards' that i printed out.

random cards from the scanned folder are like a box of chocolates

look deep into scott erickson's eyes on his 2005 topps total card

he'll make you forget that this is a post of cards thrown together with little to no thought or common theme.  just a bunch of cards i have scanned over the years, but not posted for one reason or another.  as an aside, i forgot all about this card when i went to a signing that erickson attended three years ago when the twins celebrated the 1991 world series team.  that's ok - his wife was there, and i forgot all about baseball cards for a moment.

now it's time for some edwin jackson.  this is a 2005 topps turkey red card

and this is a 2005 upper deck all-star classics

jackson made his big league debut on his 20th birthday (9/9/03), squaring off against randy johnson and the diamondbacks.  the dodgers made him a winner that day, and again a couple of weeks later in san francisco (a game that i attended).  jackson was wild in that game, walking 8, but he struck out barry bonds and allowed no runs and only 2 hits in his 6 innings of work.  jackson was back with the dodgers for a handful of games in 2004 and 2005, but was traded to the devil rays prior to the 2006 season.  in his 12-year career (so far), jackson has pitched for 8 teams.

2005 upper deck espn cesar izturis web gems

izturis won a gold glove in 2004 which largely explains his appearance in an insert set

2011 panini playoff contenders chris reed

reed was the dodgers' first round pick in 2011.  he was born in london, but attended high school in socal and went to stanford after that.  he's currently a double-a chattanooga. 

2011 bowman andre ethier gold parallel

and 2011 bowman ted lilly gold parallel

ethier only gets one parallel in this post, but lilly gets three.

2011 topps ted lilly diamond anniversary platinum parallel

and 2011 topps update ted lilly cognac parallel

i still prefer lilly's 2013 topps card.

here's a few more from 2011 topps update.  remember javy guerra?

who comes in cognac form

and platinum parallel fashion as well

guerra was picked up on waivers by the white sox earlier this year, so he and ronald belisario are making it deja vu all over again in the chisox bullpen.

one more from 2011 topps update - it's matt guerrier

guerrier was dealt to the cubs last year for carlos marmol, but signed with the twins prior to this season. he was just recently dfa'd by the club, although aside from his last outing he hadn't pitched that poorly.  i was a fan - as much as one can be of a non-closer reliever.

in other news, chris capuano is now a yankee.  here's his 2012 topps update card

and his 2013 topps gypsy queen white framed parallel

he had started the season with the red sox after two years with the dodgers, but was released on july 1. after a short stint with the rockies' organization, capuano had his contract purchased by the yankees and made a start for them just the other day.  he turned in a quality start, but didn't get a decision.

we've been waiting for beckett

just over four years ago, i lamented the fact that the dodgers had not had a pitcher throw a no-hitter since 1996.  yesterday, i watched from my couch as josh beckett recorded the last three outs of the game to end his first career no-hitter and the dodgers' run of futility in that department.  here's a 2013 topps stickers 'card' of beckett that i must have been saving for this occasion.

i also had this carl crawford sticker from the same set ready to go in the scanned folder, so why not today?

even though crawford was 0 for 5 in the game.

if there is any down side to the no-no, it is that vin scully didn't get to call it.  i believe he has called every other dodger no-hitter since carl erskine's second career no-no which was thrown in 1956.  i like charley steiner, but it just wasn't the same.

we will all be on johnny vander meer watch in a few days, but for now i'll just enjoy the fact that another dodger pitcher has thrown a no-hitter.  only three more to catch sandy koufax...

…but hopefully there will be some beckett no-hitter cards in some future releases, including the next round of gypsy queen if there is such a thing.

a few trades for boxing day

i hope everyone had a good christmas.  i'm planning to keep the holidays going right through the weekend, and that includes the 26th.  boxing day, as they call it north of the border.

it seems like a good day to acknowledge some cards i have received recently from some nice blogger folks.  this first card came from dhoff at coot veal and the vealtones

that would be a 2013 topps gypsy queen steve garvey relic.  dhoff and i were working on a trade when things kind of fell through.  he still sent this card, however, which was most unexpected and completely appreciated.  i'll be looking for something to send in return...

tj at the junior junkie sent me some cards that were part of a ken griffey jr bday giveaway.

1989 topps andres galarraga

1989 topps isn't as bad as i used to think it was.  whatever that's worth.

2005 upper deck past time pennants whiety ford

whitey says 'they went that-a-way'

2013 topps gypsy queen rod carew

i know i have mentioned before that rodney cline carew's batting stance was one that i mimicked on the wiffle ball diamond as a kid.  this looks more like a reggie jackson stance.  carew was usually stooped over with a bit of a lean.

thorzul at thorzul will rule sent me two 2013 topps update twins gold parallels as part of his annual 'trade me anything' festivities.  someday, i'll take advantage of the 'anything' scenario and send him something off the wall instead of just some cards from his want list.  this year, i claimed kyle gibson

and anthony swarzak

from his update purchase.

tom from the angels in order sent me a nice package of cards featuring memorial patches a while back.  i will show those cards in individual memorial patches, except for this one.  it was the lone dodger in the bunch, and since i have a few good examples for the memorials that this card displays, i'll show it here.  it's a 1994 leaf eric karros card

 that's the tim crews '52' patch on his left sleeve.  the back of the card shows the patch again

along with a generic dodger stadium scene.

thanks for the trades, guys.  and enjoy the rest of the holidays everybody!

cards and things from the diamond king

it's time to show some dodger goodies that came my way a while back as a result of a trade with the diamond king.  i sent some cards for his steroids/scam project, and he sent me cards of honest, hard working dodgers, like hall of famer don sutton on a 2006 fleer greats of the game insert card

i appreciate the inset photo of dodger stadium with the palm trees and the sunset.  unfortunately, the 'dodgers' script seems to be a bit off.  oh well, this is still a great insert set chock full of dodger greats.  obviously.

speaking of dodger greats, here is clayton kershaw on a 2012 bowman draft picks and prospects insert.

he shares space with a padres' southpaw, max fried, who was also a top ten draft pick.

here's a 2011 bowman platinum matt kemp ruby parallel

and a couple of josh beckett parallels from 2013 topps gypsy queen.  the first is the framed blue parallel numbered to 499

and the second is the framed white parallel that is not serial numbered

the dodgers will have beckett back in 2014 for one more season.  he was 0-5 in 2013 before his season was lost to injury.  hopefully he will bounce back in a big way.

another dodger who lost time to injury in 2013, and of whom i received multiple parallels, is andre ethier.  this is his 2013 topps heritage chrome parallel

and this is his 2013 topps heritage chrome refractor parallel

see the difference?

the diamond king sent a couple of double play cards along to keep the dodgers company, which was nice.  here's a 1995 score gold rush parallel of roberto alomar

and a 1999 topps stars card of miguel tejada

the most unusual (and unexpected) item in the package was a 8x10 giveaway sheet commemorating the 1972 oldtimers day at dodger stadium.

that was the day that the dodgers retired the jerseys of jackie robinson, roy campanella, and sandy koufax.  it also marked, i believe, the last time jackie appeared in public, or at least at dodger stadium.  he passed away in october of 1972, about four months after the ceremonies.

thanks for the trade!

a patch for gehrig john neshek

a couple of days from now (october 2) will mark what would have been gehrig john neshek's first birthday.  he was born to a's reliever pat neshek and his wife in the midst of a division title race in 2012, but tragically passed away 23 hours later.

the a's, who clinched the american league west on october 3 - the same day that gehrig died - wore memorial patches during the playoffs.  you can see the 'gjn' patch on coco crisp's 2013 topps gypsy queen card below.

pat neshek returned to the team during the playoffs against the tigers, and he threw a perfect two-thirds of an inning.  neshek and the a's will return to the playoffs again this year, but i am not sure that it makes this time of year any easier on pat and his wife.  i cannot imagine the weight of that loss.

it's like i like it like this

brandon league looks excited.

i was excited, too, to receive a trade package from it's like having my own card shop a while back.  that 2013 topps opening day blue sparkle parallel looks better than it scans.

there were other nice cards in the package, including a 2009 topps steve garvey ring of honor insert

topps actually used a photo of the garv from 1981 for the card that celebrates his lone world series title which came in 1981.  genius.

here is the card that started the trade - a 2013 topps gypsy queen dustin pedroia

turning two! alex rodriguez forced out at second! two of my least favorite players on one card!

here's a 2009 topps heritage derek lowe card.

the sleeve that contained this card had a note that this card was a possible short print.  it was! it is!

1995 score raul mondesi rules insert

it looks like one of mondesi's rules was to smack cory snyder on the forehead after each run he scored.

more mondy! this time courtesy of 1994 fleer flair

this next card is a 2003 fleer ultra insert of hideo nomo

nomo appears on a couple of these 'double up' inserts.  unfortunately, this is the one with kaz sasaki on the other side, not the ichiro one.

one more japanese import to finish off the post - 2003 fleer focus jersey edition kazuhisa ishii card

it says that the card is mlb 'shirtified'.  perhaps the worst play on words for an insert set ever.

thanks daniel!