i ran into the fuzz at the card shop

a new (yes, new!) card shop opened up in the twin cities about a year ago.  one of the owners is also one of the 'vintage bargain bin guys' from the local shows.  he's the one that sold me my 1955 topps sandy koufax card, in fact.

it took me a while to get over there, but i finally did a few weeks ago.  the store is packed with not just cards, but various pieces of memorabilia and pretty much every kind of sports collectible you could think of.  amid the bobbleheads and pennants, there was a shelf that had a bunch of smaller complete sets on it. boxed sets, like the fleer sets of the 80's and 90's, along with some mail-in sets and some stadium giveaway sets.  it was there that i found a 1993 dodgers police set for $3.

started in 1980, the police sets were, like the later mother's and keebler sets, a good way to get some of the deeper roster players on a card.  and, there were coaches!  i know i have belabored that point recently, but i'm not sorry about it.  here's the coaches card from the 1993 dodger police set

that's manny mota, joey amalfitano, ron roenicke, ben hines, tommy lasorda, ron perranoski, joe ferguson, and mark cresse.

lasorda also got a card of his own

with the one of the outfield pavilions in the background.

ramon martinez was still king of the hill at dodger stadium in 1993

and his little brother pedro was there with him

boyhood friends eric davis

and darryl strawberry

roamed the outfield at chavez ravine, with disappointing results.

the 1993 set was the one that featured lance parrish, despite the fact that he never did suit up in a big league game for the dodgers.  i've shown the front of parrish's card before - i bought it as a single to document his dodgerdom - so here's the back

one reason that parrish never got the call from the dodger brass was the play of a rookie catcher named mike piazza

piazza went on to win the rookie of the year award and hold the dodgers' catching job for about 5 years before he was traded to the marlins.

i'm not sure which card in the set is more desirable - the pedro or the piazza - but i am sure that jody reed's card

is probably not in the running.

lance parrish was not a dodger, unfortunately

a couple months ago, i wrote about the fact that larry hisle, though featured as a dodger on his 1972 topps card, was in fact, never a dodger. well, here's another one. lance parrish.parrish was included in the 1993 lapd dodgers stadium giveaway set. best known as a member of the detroit tigers in the late 70s and early 80s, parrish was signed by the dodgers as a free agent prior to the 1993 season. he had previously spent time in philadelphia, anaheim, and seattle after leaving the tigers, and had been fairly productive. the dodgers, meanwhile, had lost mike scioscia to free agency, and were going into the season with 23 year old mike piazza and 26 year old carlos hernandez behind the plate. with the veteran parrish waiting in the minor leagues, piazza started the season with an 11 game hitting streak and was well on his way to winning the rookie of the year award. suddenly, parrish was expendable, and he was released by the dodgers on may 7. he would play in just 10 games for the indians after signing with the tribe that same day. parrish then went to pittsburgh for the 94 season and finished his career in toronto in 95, after being signed by the royals prior to the season.

a classic case of the veteran catcher becoming a vagabond at the end of his career. too bad the dodgers don't officially show up on his resume.