black and blue ryu and some other dodger cards

i'm continuing with a sort of random rambling theme today.

this is a 2013 panini black friday hyun-jin ryu card

it was somehow available on black friday, 2013. i don't recall how i obtained it (sportlots, maybe), but it is not worth standing in line waiting for stores to open to obtain.  still, panini did the same sort of thing last year, and i'm guessing panini is doing it again this year.  ryu is out for the season now, following shoulder surgery.  

this is a 2013 panini pinnacle matt kemp museum collection parallel

it doesn't scan as well as the museum collection inserts from the 1990's.

still more panini - this time from 2014 panini golden age

dusty baker

davey lopes

and zack wheat

as pleased as i was to see dusty and davey and other dodgers from the team of my youth in this set, i don't consider them to be from the golden age.  wheat, sure, but not the others.

wheat also got an insert card in the release - it's a 1913 the national game card

and i wish this had been the base set design

now here's a 2007 topps turkey red andy laroche card

and a 1999 topps chrome jeff shaw card

moving on to 2010 upper deck, here's a biography insert of jeff weaver

marking the time that he beat his brother jered in a game between the dodgers and angels.

olmedo saenz didn't have too many cards, but he spent four seasons with the dodgers and made it into the 2007 topps update & highlights set

even though 2007 was his fourth year with the club.  not much of an update there - more like an omission.

last card for today is a 2008 topps stadium club beam team autographed card of delwyn young

i secretly hoped that delwyn and delmon young (no relation) would have wound up on the same team just for the potential confusion factor.  would they have had their full names on the backs of their jerseys? who knows.

heroes by pwe

this post consists of six cards that i received from jeff at 2x3 heroes the other day. they were stuffed inside a pwe with even more cards.  i sense that the volley of pwe's between us has been renewed.

2014 topps chrome clayton kershaw chrome connection die-cut

2014 topps heritage yasiel puig new age performers

i think puig replaced matt kemp in the new age performer insert set last year.  i wonder how long he'll last on the checklist.

2014 panini golden age tommy lasorda

1982 kmart steve garvey

which reminds me that i should get wallet card out a bit more often.

there were some other cards in the envelope for my mini collections - double plays and tatooine cards mostly.  these two cards, however, are tatooine wannabes.  if only upper deck had cropped out the grass on these 2008 cards of michael young and curtis granderson

nice cards nonetheless.  thanks jeff.  i'll give you some time to digest the package i sent and start peppering you with some pwe's of my own.

now begins the yeager year

this is officially the first post of my 7th year running this blog.  7, the number that i associate with steve yeager, meaning that the garvey year has come to an end.  there are a number of things that i appreciate as a member of this loosely connected yet fast-friendly group, and there are a number of things that i am proud to have accomplished during my time as a member.  there are even some things that i am proud of not having done, if that makes sense.

most of all, i'm happy to have had this outlet to share my passion and my collection on my terms and no one else's.  with that said, here are some proper cards to kick off year number 7.

first up is a 1975 topps custom world series game 1 card that should have been.

i made it to commemorate the play at the plate brought to us by joe ferguson stepping in front of jimmy wynn and delivering a bullet to yeager in time to nail sal bando at home to end the top of the 8th and keep the score at 3-1 a's.  of course, ferguson led off the bottom of the inning but unfortunately flied out (he also made the final out of the game) and the dodgers went on to lose 3-2.  this particular copy was sent off to yeager ℅ hall of fame sports a couple of years ago.  both davey lopes (with his arm raised) and bill russell also appear on the card.  it's too bad the dodgers lost that game, otherwise i suspect this card may have been a reality!

here's another autographed yeager card from my collection, but new to the blog.  it's his 1979 topps card

this was not a ttm success, but rather a purchased card.  i still like it a lot.

i also like the fact that panini has been giving some love to the former dodger backstop in recent years.  i actually pulled this one out of the lone 2014 panini golden age pack that i purchased.

i think panini is most successful with catchers due to the fact that logos are often obscured by the mask, or the helmets are turned around.  here, however, panini went with a shot of yeager at the plate, so it becomes obvious that this is an unlicensed issue.  i'll still take it.

here's a link to my very first post, which was more of a mission statement.  i have stuck pretty true to what i laid out there, although many of the sets i was working on have been completed with different ones started, many of the limitations i had placed on my collection in terms of dodger team sets have been lifted, and i've added to the couple of mini collections i listed.  i don't really collect twins anymore, but i still have a bunch of cards to trade.

so thanks for what is now officially 6-plus years of reading my stuff, looking at my cards, and generally tolerating my existence among you.  i've got a few things planned over the next couple of months and maybe beyond that.  there won't be a reggie smith year, though; i promise you that.

puttin' on the ritz

you've likely seen this 2014 upper deck goodwin champions card of former dodger ron cey already

but it's new to my collection, and it features the third baseman of the infield of my youth in a tuxedo and top hat and needs to be shown off here.  cey famously posed in a tuxedo with some penguins for a poster back in the day, but i hadn't seen this image before.  it calls to mind another penguin - all that's missing is the monocle and cigarette…

meanwhile, steve garvey is left in his michigan state duds on his card in the set

garvey was inducted into the michigan state athletics hall of fame in 2010 (fellow spartan kirk gibson was inducted in 1994), and had his number 10 retired by the school earlier this year.  unfortunately, cards of davey lopes in his pajamas and bill russell in a gorilla costume were not included in the set.

i recently picked up another garvey card not licensed by mlb - a 2013 panini america's pastime auto

and i also 'picked up' another 2014 topps bunt 'card' of the garv.  it's another take on his 1974 topps card

at least they got the stats on the back right this time.

i have never heard of garvey being called 'hollywood'.

i failed to add this card from 2011 topps tier one to my collection, unfortunately.

that's a nice piece of the 1980 all-star game patch the dodgers wore in, of all seasons, 1980.  it went for $355 which was well above my limit.

let's cleanse the ron cey palette with a card of him in proper dodger attire - here's his 1975 hostess card

the batting helmet is an improvement over the tops hat, for sure.  and, the penguin is in dodger stadium where he belongs!

here's bill russell in chavez ravine, turning two on his 1980 dodgers police card

looks like opening day, given the banner on the outfield wall.

here's another card of the dodger shortstop - this is a silver parallel auto from 2014 topps archives

russell's inclusion in this year's archives set has probably been my favorite development of the collecting season.

of course, i am also pleased that davey lopes has an on-card auto of his own from 2014 panini golden age

with a blurb about the infield on the back

lopes also has a base card, which i'll show in a different post.

i also recently found a 1988 topps tiffany lopes card - i'm not sure if i had one already or not, so i bought it

even in astros' clothing, i covet davey lopes cards

i thought about picking up another 'set' of infield collectibles but ultimately passed on buying the 1978 slurpee cups of garvey, cey, russell, and lopes

i kept the images, though.

i believe this is the most recent infield reunion - a photo from the 2013 dodger old-timer game

looking good, infield - no need for formal wear!