hand me downs that fit my collection perfectly

i used to receive hand me down clothes from my cousins in the late 1970's.  that was a dangerous time for hand me downs due to the many strange fashions of the time. these days, my hand me downs come in the way of cards, and night owl's unwanted cards are among the ones i appreciate the most.

thanks to the large number of folks who send cards to night owl, he accumulates lots of cool dodger doubles, and so i wind up with some nice hand me downs. should i say hand me downs again, or just show some cards?  right.

2011 topps roy campanella cognac parallel

the mustache was not a good look for campy.  my favorite thing about these retired player short print cards in 2011 was the dirty/aged baseball topps used behind the logo.  it was a nice touch.

2011 topps jonathan broxton diamond anniversary parallel

i must have missed the trade last year that sent broxton from cincinnati to milwaukee.  it's good to see his k/9 ratio is back up with the brew crew, but so is his era, unfortunately.

2008 topps chrome andruw jones xfractor

even andruw jones dodger cards are welcome.  i'm not entirely sure night owl had a double of this one - he may just have wanted andruw out of his house.

2011 bowman platinum prospects allen webster xfractor

webster was part of the big 2012 trade between the dodgers and the red sox. he started 18 games for boston over the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and is now in the diamondbacks organization.

it's not all parallels and shiny stuff that comes from night owl - there are other cool cards like this 1989 jj nissen superstars orel hershiser oddball

jj nissen is a bread company, by the way.

i even accept junk (or is this just trash) cards like this 1995 fleer ramon martinez card

it's still a dodger card, and it might just be one that i need.

here's a 1998 fleer metal universe card of catcher henry blanco

actually, blanco never caught for the dodgers.  he made his big league debut with the dodgers in 1997 and hit a single in his first at bat and a home run in his third, and played third base and first - not catcher.  he spent 1998 in the minors and then began a ten-team journey through the major leagues that lasted through the 2013 season.

here's another backstop who actually did catch for the dodgers - todd hundley on a 1999 upper deck victory card

hundley had two stints with the dodgers, the second of which was pretty bad.

2003 donruss diamond kings odalis perez silver foil parallel

perez was actually worthy of being a diamond king following the 2002 season. he posted the best numbers of his career, winning 15 games with an era of 3.00 and a whip of 0.99.  he also gave us a ball during a game in anaheim in 2006.

2002 topps roy campanella 1952 reprints

and so the post comes full circle, although this is a clean shaven campy.

i've got more night owl hand me downs to show some other time, and i'm pulling together some of my own to send back his way.  thanks greg!

fashionably late

i received an envelope of cards in the mail today from kyle of nolan's dugout.  these cards, however, are not from that envelope.  no, these are from the trade that kyle and i completed a few months ago.  yes, i continue to commit the sin of belated trade posting.  but, at least i complete my trades.  speaking of which, i still owe some cards to some folks from more recent card packages and that card show contest thing i did.  i'm working on it and will finish mailing stuff out soon.  now, on to the cards.

this 1996 pinnacle summit mike piazza card

takes its place alongside the 1981 fleer steve howe and 1991 topps tom lasorda cards as far as fashion model poses go.  hideo nomo's card from that same set features a more traditional image

kyle included a close up of the piazza fu manchu, courtesy of this 1996 leaf studio card.

while todd hundley hides his face behind a mask on this 2000 pacific card

it's not too often that i receive a trade package with a pee wee reese card inside, but kyle came through in that regard with this 1979 tcma the 1950's card of pee wee

and, it's not too often that i receive a kevin tapani as a dodger card, either.  kyle came through with one of those, too - a 1996 fleer ultra card

tapani probably doesn't have more than a few dodger cards, but i don't recall seeing this one before.

2000 skybox metal (or do we call this fleer metal?) cards of adrian beltre

and eric karros

were appreciated because of the presence of the dodger heroes patches that are visible.  that would be ron cey on beltre's sleeve and gil hodges on karros'.

i'll finish this trade post with a trio of shawn green cards.  first up is a 'first to market' dodger card of green.  i say that because this 2000 pacific prism card still shows green as a blue jay.

the other two cards are true blue dodger cards, and are pretty nice.  this is a 2000 upper deck gold reserve card

and this is a 2000 pacific crown royale die cut beauty.

thanks for the trade, kyle.  it won't take me as long to post about the most recent one - i promise.

a post borne of necessity

these cards all came from arpsmith.  a while ago.  i've been remiss in showcasing them, and then i received another package in the mail from him yesterday.  i can't let a previous trade get lapped like that (although the same thing is happening with the junior junkie).  for better or for worse, here are some of the very nice cards i received from adam as part of a prize package/trade.

2002 topps chrome alex cora

my scanner did a nice thing here.  the scan of that card sings.  it's very nice.

1969 topps willie davis

three dog night with some vintage joy for the world.

2000 fleer greats of the game tommy john

i really liked this set when it was released.  i remember treating myself to some packs after a job interview.  lots of dodgers on the checklist, too.

1984 fleer derrel thomas

my second favorite fleer card of thomas.  i like how this one tells me that he plays infield and outfield.  what about catcher?  a true utility guy.

speaking of catchers, here's a 2001 upper deck todd hundley

and a 2004 upper deck paul loduca

the best thing about those cards is not the lurking kaz ishii behind loduca, but rather the little dodger stadium photo on the lower front of the loduca card.  i missed upper deck cards in 2004 (other than the legends set) so i don't think i knew chavez ravine was on the dodger flagship cards.  the photo, by the way, is the same one that's on the backs of the legends cards.

2005 donruss hong-chih kuo

channeling jerry reuss with that haircut

and finally, a 2002 donruss best of fan club chan ho park jersey relic

it's part of a 'league leaders' subset maybe?  park did lead the league in starts in 2001.

adam - thanks for these cards and thanks for the additional cards that i will try to post before we get into another trade.

showdown throwdown

let us team collectors mourn the 2000's - with upper deck victory and topps total and upper deck 40 man and the like - sometimes the only way to get cards of our third string catcher or long reliever.  not quite as heralded as those releases was mlb showdown.  still, in 2000, it provided we dodger fans with a card of pedro borbon jr!

borbon jr was almost a dodger triple dipper - he was originally drafted by the dodgers in 1986, but did not sign.  they later signed him as a free agent in 1998, and he pitched in 70 games for them during the 1999 season.  after that, he was included in the raul mondesi for shawn green deal, but returned to the dodgers in the spring of 2003.  unfortunately, he was released before the season started so he didn't even double dip according to my definition.  anyway, i think that the 2000 mlb showdown card is the only one of borbon's that i have showing him in dodger blue.  it might be the only card made for him now that i think about it, as he was a loogy but never a closer.  ok, no.  he has a few cards from his mid-90's stint with the braves and even has one in 2002 ud 40 man as a blue jay.  good for him.

oh, and using my 20-sided die (thank you dungeon master), i rolled a 13.  looks like borbon got me to fly out.

here's another card from 2000 mlb showdown.  it's mark grudzielanek

it's too bad the g-man and doug mientkiewicz didn't both play for the cubs.  harry caray, who had enough trouble with grudzielanek, would have had a heart attack trying to describe a routine ground ball.  anyway, before grudz was dealt to the cubs, he had a few years with the dodgers and got a lot of cards.  he got me a single just now, as i rolled a 14.

another guy with a lot of cards, including one in the 2000 mlb showdown set was todd hollandsworth

i have to admit that i really don't understand this game.  are we to believe that todd hollandsworth does not fly out?  whatever, i rolled a 6.  first and second, one out baby!

hey, it's todd hundley from his first stint in dodger blue.

i rolled a two. figures. a strikeout.

raul mondesi was still a dodger in the 2000 mlb showdown set.

i really like all dodger cards from 2000 a lot.  many of them show the dodger heroes patch on the left sleeve that were worn during the 1999 season.  here, we can see mondy paid tribute to number 11, manny mota.  shouldn't borbon have worn mota's patch?  he wore a tommy lasorda patch instead.

upon closer inspection, i see that the hundley and the mondesi cards are 'edition 1' cards.  parallels, perhaps? who knows?  anyway, i rolled a five - mondy walks to load the bases. mondy walks - yeah right.

devon white has a few dodger cards, including a 2000 mlb showdown card

what will he do with 2 outs and the bases loaded?  if you guessed strike out, you are correct.  i rolled a one.

the last of the 2000 cards i will show is eric young's.

ey is rocking the jackie robinson patch, and he gets to lead off our second inning.  he walks with a rolled 6.

that brings up shawn green on a 2001 mlb showdown card

shawn green is certainly not a guy with only a handful of dodger cards.  no, he was in every set, every subset, every insert set - you name it, he was in it.  he also just cleared the bases with a 2-run home run thanks to a roll of the die that equaled the average age of the us serviceman in vietnam.  19.  19. 19 19 19.  at least according to paul hardcastle.

so, it's 2-0 if in fact i am doing this right, with nobody out in the 2nd inning.  here's a 2003 mlb showdown card of another frequently featured dodger, kevin brown

between brown and gary sheffield, i had a hard time buying dodger cards 10 years ago.  maybe that's why i branched out my pc's around that time to include more non-dodgers.  anyway, brown just pu'd with a 1.  and what's with the 21+ category?  does he have a bat +1?  and if so, then how many hit points?

here's shawn green again, this time working the goatee on a 2003 mlb showdown card

will he go deep twice in the same inning? no, he will not.  he will strike out with a second consecutive 1.

that brings up marquis grissom

grissom was traded by the brewers to the dodgers for the aforementioned devon white after the 2000 season.  he spent all of 2001 and 2002 with the dodgers, and actually played in 246 games as a dodger. he has that 2001 topps traded relic card, too, of which i swear i have a dozen copies.  by the time this card came out, grissom was up in san francisco hitting .300 for the nor-cals.  i rolled an 8, so he's on base with a two-out walk.

also gone from dodgertown in 2003 was eric karros, although he still got a dodger card in 2003 mlb showdown

the all-time los angeles dodger leader in home runs hits a single with a rolled 13.  actually, i'm sure he hit a gapper, but could only muster a wide turn of first thanks to the piano that he carried with him on the basepaths.

let's see what the guy who was supposed to replace karros can do, shall we?  here's one of fred mcgriff's few dodger cards, also from the 2003 mlb showdown set.

i'll assume that grissom went to third on karros' single, but it doesn't matter since the crime dog drew a walk with a 10 on the die.  bases loaded.

do you remember odalis perez's 2002 season?  15-10 with a 3.00 era and an all-star berth.  he was just 12-12 the year this 2003 mlb showdown card came out.

now i really know i am doing this wrong.  i rolled a 20, so that's a double.  maybe it's impossible for perez to homer.  4-0 with runners on second and third with two outs.

now we're back to why i started this post in the first place.  this is one of just a few paul quantrill dodger cards.

quantrill did get cards from topps in 2003 and 2004, most likely due to the fact that he led the league in pitching appearances in both of those seasons.  like borbon jr, he was drafted by the dodgers in 1986 but did not sign, so he's not a double dipper either.  he is a rally extender-er, though, as he just drew a two-out walk with a 19.

and that brings us to one of the jewels of the 2003 mlb showdown set, paul shuey.

though his face is obscured by shadow, shuey gets some cardboard love.  he pitched in 90 games for the dodgers over the course of the 2002 and 2003 seasons, but i think this is his only dodger card aside from one in the 2003 upper deck 40 man set.  he strikes out to end the inning (i rolled a 4) but that's ok. i can't find fault with a card that features paul shuey in a dodger uniform.

todd hundley two times

[this is the forty-sixth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, and ralph branca.]

there are many players who have had unheralded statistical anomalies that have made me take notice over the years.  one such stat was the 76 runs scored that steve garvey tallied in just 100 games during the 1983 season.  he had scored only 66 in 162 games for the dodgers in 1982, and in 1984, he scored only 72 times in 161 games.  had he not been hurt, garvey could have scored around 120 runs in '83, easily a career high, and almost certainly would have broken the 100-run barrier for the first and only time in his career.

another such stat that i found interesting came courtesy of todd hundley.  hundley hit exactly 24 home runs in each of his first two seasons with the dodgers, but he did it in 114 games in 1999 and just 90 games in 2000.  his batting average was quite higher in 2000, and he was able to cut down on his strikeouts that year, too.  here's his 2000 fleer tradition card

hundley was a met prior to coming to the dodgers, and he was injured when the mets acquired mike piazza from the marlins in 1998.  as a result, he came back to the team without his usual spot behind the plate being an option and so spent most of his time in left field.  meanwhile, the dodgers were willing to move charles johnson who had been acquired in their deal with the marlins, and so a hundley for johnson (and roger cedeno) swap was engineered after the 1998 season ended.  this is interesting to me because, according to baseball reference, the most similar player to todd hundley was charles johnson.

hundley played for the dodgers in those aforementioned 1999 and 2000 seasons, but signed as a free agent with the cubs prior to the 2001 season.  here's his 2003 topps card

on which we see him wearing number 99.  that's because damon buford wore number 9 when todd arrived in chicago.  buford was released during the 2001 season, and hundley moved to the single digit number.  that means that topps used a 2001 photo for his 2003 card.  in his two seasons as a cub, hundley played in a total of 171 games and hit 28 home runs.  his combined batting average over those two seasons was .199, and it was seemingly obvious that the injuries were becoming too much for him to overcome.

still, the dodgers were interested in bringing him back, and so they did by trading mark grudzielanek and their all-time home run leader (eric karros) to the cubs in december of 2002.  the deal had salary dump written all over it as the team saved about $7 million in 2003 (assuming they would have bought out the g-man and karros' contracts after the season).  however, hundley was due to make $6.5 million in 2004, so the team really was only saving half a million dollars.  and, they had to replace karros, and they did so by signing fred mcgriff to a deal worth just under $4 million.

anyway, hundley was back, and despite playing in only 21 games and hitting .182 during the 2003 season, topps got him in the 2004 flagship set.

by the way, i am guessing that the dodger lurking behind hundley is carlos perez, which would mean that the photo is from hundley's first stint with the club.  at any rate, that 2004 card turned out to be a final tribute for hundley, as he missed the entire 2004 season due to injury.  i would show you his final career stats, but i forgot to scan the back.

here's to you, todd hundley - another dodger double dipper!

from alston to young to me from someone

one day last week i got a couple of card packages in the mail, which, as you all can imagine, is not a rare occurrence. one of the packages, however, had me stumped.  there was a return address, but no name, and there was nothing inside the envelope other than a big brick of dodger cards.  no note.  i put that issue aside and delved into the cards.  they were provided in alphabetical order by last name, and while it wasn't aase to zimmer, it was close.  the first thing i saw was walter alston's mug.

this is a 2005 topps 'dem bums' insert card

it's cool because smokey didn't have a card in the 1955 topps set.  he did get a 1955 style card in the 1995 topps brooklyn dodger archives set, but it was different than the one above.

next up is adrian beltre

on a 2004 donruss career stat line card.  it's numbered to 262 since beltre's career batting average after the 2003 season was .262.  it's too bad it wasn't numbered /1 which would have been the number of botched appendectomies beltre had undergone.  i am compelled to remind everyone that beltre finished 2nd in the national league mvp vote in 2004 behind barry bonds, whose obp that year was .609!  good golly miss molly that's a high obp.

here's barry's former teammate bobby bonilla on a 1999 fleer tradition warning track parallel

it's actually a mets card, but i'll hang on to it.

i did not know anything about bob borkowski before i received this card

he was included in the 1955 topps set, but as a cincinnati red.  in fact, check out his card - it looks a lot like this one, as does his card from the 1995 archive set.  borkowski was the player the dodgers received in exchange for joe black.  he appeared in 9 games for the team in 1955, but did not appear in the postseason.

if this 1995 score 'hall of gold' card weren't so shiny,

you would see that delino deshields is turning two.  i wonder if there is a non-gold version of the card.  hall of glossy, maybe?

here's another shiny card, a 2004 ud reflections card of jason frasor

frasor was one of two pitchers that the dodgers acquired from the tigers in 2002 for hiram bocachica.  they flipped him in 2004 to the blue jays for jayson werth.

this 1996 fleer ultra greg gagne gold medallion card

scans better than it looks in person.  at first i thought it was a card from a pacific set.

much nicer is this 2000 fleer ultra todd hundley gold medallion card

i did a little bit of research on the address, and determined that the package (of which i will show more later) was sent to me by eutaw street cardboard as part of his 'name your team' promotion.  thanks kent!