baseball is back, sort of

hockey and basketball may still be on the air, but baseball is back. i've seen some 2015 topps cards leak into the populace, so it's officially time to turn our attention to the national pastime.  and, with 2015 stuff out, i should show some of the 2014 cards that have been languishing in my scanned folder.

this is a 2014 bowman yasiel puig 1989 bowman is back insert

thankfully, unlike actual 1989 bowman cards, this one is standard sized.  topps just trimmed the top and bottom margins.  it would look better if they widened the photo frame to have equal sized margins all around the card - they way they did it makes it look trimmed.

these cards were inserted throughout bowman releases.  this one, of alex guerrero,

comes from bowman chrome, i believe.  these next few cards also come from bowman chrome - here's guerrero

along with erisbel arruebarrena

and hanley ramirez

this is a 2014 bowman platinum zack greinke card

greinke is the anti-marshawn lynch. he talks to reporters and speaks his mind. it's hard to tell what he's thinking these days, but i hope he sticks around for a while.

i have to admit that i bought a couple of packs of 2014 donruss at the dollar store.  no dodgers, but i did pick up this puig base

and his power plus insert

through other means over the course of last year.

i've had some of the pastime's pastimes 2014 topps allen & ginter inserts scanned for a while, but never got around to show them off.  here's puig

ramirez

jackie robinson

and hyun-jin ryu

puig's pastime is being a jokester

and one of his main joke partners is ryu.  i don't think they understand what the other is saying, but they make for good comic relief together.

here's a 2014 topps chrome puig card

and a ryu xfractor, too

i only have one 2014 topps heritage card ready to show, and it's carl crawford's

i'll be interested to see 2015 heritage.  i wasn't expecting much in 2013, but the 1964 design redux grew on me.  i'm left wondering if seeing the 1966 topps design modernized will incite any interest.  i'm guessing not.

here are a bunch of dodgers from the 2014 topps stickers release - jackie, puig, matt kemp, clayton kershaw, ryu, and greinke

there were no newer photos of kershaw, so topps had to use one from 2011.

i bought a pack of 2014 topps update a couple of weeks ago while succumbing to pack withdrawal.  at least it contained this yasiel puig all-star game access insert

with mini-miguel cabrera.

also from last year's update, here's a hanley power players insert

it feels good to get these 2014 cards out of the scanned folder and make some room for some 2015 cards.

new platinum dream

i took a shot at some 2014 bowman platinum when running through the local target last week.  i picked up one of those value packs - 3 packs plus the 3-card purple refractor pack.  i did ok for a dodger fan.

yasiel puig gold parallel

corey seager prospects base

seager is only 20 but hit .345 in a half season at double-a.  i wonder who the stop-gap shortstop will be for the next year or two - arruebarrena? alex guerrero? dee gordon?  can one of them play third?

byron buxton die-cut cutting edge stars insert

i would be more excited about this card if i were a twins fan.  lots of optimism here in the twin cities these days after the debuts of danny santana and kennys vargas.

anthony rizzo

cubs prospect is an all-star but is also already old news.

here are the purple refractors, plus a random base giant

andrew susac is up with the big club backing up buster posey, luis sardinas is also up with the suddenly very bad rangers, but lucas sims is still in high-a ball.  too bad that card came to me too late to send it to wes as part of the world cup of trading.

i beat the odds with my pack by pulling an autograph.  this is jake sweaney, phillies prospect.

dude's from bakersfield (former home to a dodger farm team) and is only 19 years old.  i picked up a chrome blaster, too - those cards will pop up here later today.