night owl sent a lot of lefties

i am glad that night owl is a dodger fan.  the well deserved popularity of his blog brings with it an expanded trading pool, and other dodger collectors like myself benefit from the hand me downs.

it's been quite a while since i received my most recent package of dodgers from new york state, yet i haven't finished putting together the return package.  what do you get the card collector that has too few holes in his collection?  i'm working on it.

one thing i noticed was that there were a lot of left-handed dodgers in the package he sent.  like johnny podres, of whom there was a 1961 post card

fast forward about 40 years, and we find kaz ishii on a 2002 fleer tradition update this day in history relic card

and a 2005 topps heritage chrome refractor

the relic card references may 4 (may the fourth be with you, by the way), as that was the day in 2002 that ishii made his sixth major league start, and earned his sixth major league win.  he was 8-10 over the course of the remainder of the season.  i saw his 9th start of the season in milwaukee, and he did not look very good.  he walked 6 in 5+ innings of work, but still got the win since that was the game that shawn green hit four home runs and drove in seven.

here's a 2010 topps update hong-chih kuo relic card

2010 was a good year for kuo. he was an all-star, and his era during the regular season was 1.20.  unfortunately, things seemed to fall apart after that.

2014 bowman chrome prospects julio urias

urias is 18 years old this season, and his k/9 ratio is still well above 11.  his win-loss record at the moment is 1-2 in double-a, but i don't think anyone is worried.

folks shouldn't be worried about clayton kershaw, either, as he shut out the nationals over 8 innings yesterday while striking out 14.  here's his 2014 panini prizm diamond dominance card

receiving that card in the package was a surprise, as it means that at least a couple of people bought packs of prizm and sent that card to night owl.

here's a 2015 topps fernando valenzuela highlight of the year insert

that was nice to receive.  fernando was never my favorite pitcher on the dodgers - i would say bob welch and then orel hershiser held that title during fernando's run - but his start to the 1981 season was undeniably awesome.

enough with the pitchers, here are some lefty batters that also showed up in the package.  this is a 2005 donruss champions jd drew impressions relic card

and this is a 2011 topps lineage andre ethier 1975 mini relic card

like i said, i'm glad night owl is a dodger fan.

i've got a case of the mondays

not really a case, just three cards of former dodger rick monday.  the first one is a relatively new addition to my collection, and it comes from 2014 panini prizm

yes, that's mo in dodger gear and a sticker auto.  last year, panini released some autographed cards of monday as a cub and i didn't bite.  i was happy to see this release this year.

here's a 1987 mother's cookies a's card of the first overall draft pick in the first ever amateur draft

i believe that the a's recognized their all-stars throughout their time in oakland in the 1987 set rather than their current roster.  monday was a member of the all-star team in 1968 which was also the first year that the a's were in oakland.  he wouldn't make it to the midsummer classic again until 1978 when he started the game as a dodger.  love the sanitarys, by the way.

speaking of which, here is his 1983 fleer card, just because.

always good to see half of steve yeager.

unlike the boomtown rats, i do like mondays.  especially in dodger blue.

dodger cards are patriotic

i bought a hanger pack of 2014 panini prizm last week primarily because i was intrigued by the 'red, white, and blue pulsar prizm refractor pack!' promised inside.  they look like bomb pops or rocket pops and are perfect for the fourth of july.  here are the three i received - former dodger kiroki kuroda

jorge de la rosa

and taijuan walker

also appropriate for the fourth of july is this 2014 topps wil myers future stars variation i found in a series 2 value box

while the futures game usa uniform is not red, white, and blue, myers is wearing the stars and stripes.  a better team usa jersey can be found on this 2013 topps joe mauer wbc card

and then there are these 2005 donruss champions cards of dodgers - al oliver

darryl strawberry

and jayson werth

- that could not be any more red, white, and blue.

the truth is, however, that when it comes to the home dodger uniform, there is nothing but red, white, and blue.  here are a couple of cards to illustrate that fact - a 2004 upper deck kazuhisa ishii at home in dodger stadium

and a 1995 upper deck collector's choice orel hershiser gold signature parallel

tailor made for the fourth of july.  happy birthday, america!