i chose wisely

i mentioned in the earlier post today that i chose what turned out to be a dud of a rack pack of 2015 topps stadium club from the target shelves, but that i had also ordered some singles off of sportlots.  being able to choose specific cards means that i was not disappointed with the subsequent envelope that showed up in my mailbox.  have a look.

2015 topps stadium club fernando valenzuela

i have wanted this card ever since it was first shown on the sell sheets for the set.  it features fernando up in one of the pavilions at dodger stadium signing autographs, and is a great card with a great image from a great time in dodger history.

2015 topps stadium club yasiel puig

another great dodger stadium shot that showcases something not usually seen on cardboard - clouds and a nice socal sunset.

2015 topps stadium club dusty baker

another shot from dodger stadium - vintage johnnie b. baker.  much better than baker as a brave which was the case with allen & ginter previously

2015 topps stadium club josh beckett

i was really happy to see that beckett got a card in the set.  it's a final tribute, too, so here are the stats on the back

in addition to adrian gonzalez on the front of the card, we get a glimpse of drew butera.  this may be the only cardboard on which butera (who has never hit over .200 in any season) appears as a dodger.

speaking of lurkers, here's don newcombe lurking on jackie robinson's 2015 topps stadium club card

and here's robinson lurking on larry doby's card from the set.

but we aren't done with dodger lurkers yet, as alfredo griffin makes a cameo on former dodger lenny harris's 2015 topps stadium club card

that card features a play at second, but not a double play.  i did grab a couple of twin killing cards, however, including carlos baerga

and brandon crawford

both feature world series double plays, too.

last but not least is this 2015 topps stadium club kevin gausman card

that i purchased due to the fact that he's wearing the alternate black jersey, and so it has the orange text tom clancy memorial patch.  i've updated the post specific to that patch, by the way.

it's tough for me to refrain from purchasing packs every once in a while, and i won't go back to swearing off packs as i did at some point in the past, but it does make a lot more sense to pick cards up on the secondary market.

i chose poorly

i grabbed a rack pack of 2015 topps stadium club the other day while at target and was disappointed in the parking lot when i opened the pack.  clearly, i chose my pack poorly. here are the 12 cards i received

i had already ordered a few cards off of sportlots (including the adam laroche card featured in the recent minnie minoso memorial patch post), and i was hoping for some of the other standout cards/photos.  instead, what was in my pack was some pretty standard stuff aside from maybe the ivan rodriguez and tim hudson (boo) cards.  two yankees, a diamondback, and a giant make for a pretty lousy pack for this dodger fan.  

on the bright side, the adam dunn card was a nice surprise.  since dunn retired after the 2014 postseason, this card is a final tribute, with his career totals on the back

there are only 34 people in history with more home runs than adam dunn (he's tied with jose canseco), but there are only 2 people (reggie jackson and jim thome) with more career strikeouts.

the minnie minoso memorial patch

adam laroche is sporting the memorial patch worn by the white sox for minnie minoso on this 2015 topps stadium club card

following minoso's death at the age of either 89 or 92 in march of this year, the chisox added the patch with minoso's retired number 9 to their jerseys.  minoso had played for the white sox from 1951-1957, and again from 1960-1961, and then again in 1964.  and again in 1976 and 1980.  over those 12 seasons, minoso hit .304 as a member of the white sox with over 1500 hits.  he was a favorite of the fans and owner bill veeck, who had signed minoso for the indians while he was that team's owner, and then traded for him a couple of years later after buying the white sox.

the last two appearances, in 1976 and 1980, were part of a plan by veeck to allow minoso to play professionally in his fourth and fifth decades.  minoso had debuted with the cleveland indians in 1949, and so had played in the 40's, 50's, and 60's during his prime years.  as a 50-year old in 1976, minoso was used as a designated hitter, going 1 for 8 with a single and becoming the third-oldest player to hit safely in a game.  in 1980, minoso was used twice as a pinch-hitter, and was 0 for 2 in those at bats.  minoso wanted to appear in a game in 1990, but major league baseball denied the 64-year old's request.

minoso did get to appear in a game during the 1990's, however, as veeck's son mike - a co-owner of the independent league saint paul saints - gave him an at bat in 1993.  then, in 2003, minoso led off for the saints and drew a walk before being lifted for a pinch runner who was probably at least 50 years younger than the 77-ish minoso.  i was actually at that game as fate would have it - it was also a saints hat giveaway night with green hats provided by general mills brand lucky charms.  good times.

the hunt for tom clancy's oriole memorial

best-selling novelist tom clancy, who once made some moves towards purchasing the minnesota vikings, realized his goal of professional sports ownership as an investor in the baltimore orioles.  after clancy passed away on october 1, 2013, the orioles decided to add a memorial to their jerseys for the 2014 season. rather than a black armband (as they had done for jim mckay, another investor), the team went with a patch on the right sleeve bearing the name 'tom clancy'.

the patch shows up on some 2015 topps cards that i have seen, such as this alejandro de aza card

but right now i have this 2014 topps update adam jones power players card

and this 2014 topps stadium club chris davis card

in my memorials binder.  these cards represent the away and home versions of the patch, which would be black text on gray and black text on white.  there are two other versions of the patch that have also found their way onto cardboard at some point.  there is the orange text on black worn on their black alternate jerseys, as seen on kevin gausman's 2015 topps stadium club card

and black on orange worn on their orange alternate jerseys, represented by chris davis' 2015 bowman card.

i'm glad to have cardboard examples of all four.

clancy was best known for his series of novels involving cia operative jack ryan, including 'the hunt for red october', 'patriot games', clear and present danger', and 'the sum of all fears', each of which were made into major motion pictures.  clancy was 66 years old at the time of his death.