to wit, a complete dodger team set

yesterday i wrote about my lack of confidence in completing the 1952 topps dodger set which includes a roy campanella high numbered card.  today, i write about a dodger team set that i have been able to complete, and it also includes campy!

1990 baseball wit is a strange set.  it is somehow affiliated with the little league organization, and it also serves as a trivia game apparently.  here's the back of campy's card, with a conveniently placed first question

the photo on campy's card is by jon soohoo, who is still the team's photographer, and who also runs the dodgers' photo blog.  lots of good stuff there.

here's the hero of yesterday's post, jackie robinson

who is also the answer to the first question on the back of his card

april 15 is less than a week away.  i've got a number of posts in the works for the 67th anniversary of jackie's debut.

here's the guy who signed jackie, branch rickey

rickey also invented the farm system according to the back of his card

i haven't posted nearly enough zack wheat cards.  luckily, he has one in this set.

the back of his card doesn't follow suit, however.  it's a different dodger who is the answer to the first question.

unfortunately, the garv is no longer the correct answer to that question as todd helton has a better career fielding percentage - .9962 to .9959.  also, i am not sure about wheat being the answer to the second question.  according to baseball reference, there are a few left fielders who had played more games there than wheat at the time this set was produced.

orel hershiser time!

nice dodger stadium photo, also by jon soohoo.  orel's card is the first one in the set, so his card back is full of information rather than questions

the number 1 on the front of his card doesn't mean anything as far as the set numbering goes.  in fact, i don't know what the numbers on the fronts of the cards mean.

the other dodger in this set is manny mota.  i picked up his card in a big oddball lot purchase a while back. the only other baseball wit card in my collection features the aforementioned steve garvey.  too bad he's a padre

he doesn't get top billing on the back of his card either

at least the back acknowledges his status among dodger fans - this one for sure.

is there anything better than vintage bargain bins?

well, obviously, there is. but vintage bargain bins are still pretty great. i ventured out to one of the local card shows a week or so ago, and spent most of my time digging through cards that were made before i was born. here's what i came up with.

1963 topps nl batting leaders, featuring tommy davis.not bad company for the 3-dog to be in. this was a buck as the front is a bit scuffed, but still, aaron, musial, frobby, and a dodger (and bill white, of course). awesome.

1959 topps danny mcdevitt

one of the few non-yellow 1959 topps dodger cards. 1959 was mcdevitt's 'career' year - he set personal bests in wins (10), complete games (6), saves (4) and strikeouts (106).

speaking of yellow 1959 topps dodgers, here's a 1959 topps charlie neal.1959 was a big year for charlie, too. career highs in runs, hits, doubles, triples (he led the league with 11), rbi and stolen bases. charlie was an all-star, won a gold glove, finished 8th in the mvp balloting and hit .370 in the world series to boot.

1959 topps joe pignatano.joe is a cousin of pete falcone. he was john roseboro's backup in 1959.

1960 fleer branch rickey.technically not a dodger, but still.

1960 fleer wilbert robinson.'uncle robbie' managed the brooklyn robins from 1914 to 1931, winning two pennants. they were the dodgers for one year prior to his taking over as manager, and then renamed the 'robins' after the new manager. when robinson retired, they went back to being known as the 'dodgers'.

1960 fleer dazzy vance.dazzy won 190 games for brooklyn over 12 seasons. he won a world series with st louis in 1934. if you think he looks rough, you should see the zach wheat card from this set.

1960 fleer arky vaughan.best known as a pirate, this hall of famer finished his career with 4 years in brooklyn. he lost 3 years during his time in brooklyn to what i assume to be military service.

1964 topps bob miller.looks like bob is playing catch in the front yard.

1964 topps frank howard.hondo without his glasses. 1964 was his final year with the dodgers, although topps would show him with the blue on his 1965 card.

1964 topps wes parker/john werhas.wes parker stuck, but john werhas appeared in only 40 games over three seasons with the dodgers. to my knowledge, he did not appear on 'batman' or 'the brady bunch'. game, set, match parker.

1965 topps jim brewer.no relation to bernie.

1965 topps johnny podres.1965 was podres' last full year with the dodgers. he was sent to detroit after appearing in just one game for the dodgers in 1966.

1966 topps john roseboro.roseboro is best known for taking over the catching for campanella and for getting struck in the head by juan marichal's bat. he also won his second gold glove in 1966, but went just 1 for 14 in the world series against the orioles that year.

1968 topps hank aguirre.1968 was aguirre's only year with the dodgers. he appeared in 25 games and had 3 saves.

1969 topps nl strikeout leaders bill singer.and two other guys. singer had 227 strikeouts in 1968 and led the league with a 8k/9ip ratio.

now we get to the less-vintage (meaning cards i was alive for)

1976 topps steve rogers.slowly making progress on the 1976 set.

1977 topps roy hartsfield and coaches.i like the variation. i thought i had this and the mariners version, but i didn't. still looking for the mariners version.

1978 topps lou piniella.

a 1978 topps yankee/yankee stadium shot card that is not a) a game action shot or b) taken in front of the 'brut' sign.

and now for something completely modern.

2007 topps chrome chad billingsley blue refractor.blue refractors rule.

2008 donruss threads steve garvey parallel #d to something or other

my inner joe collector came through for this one.

there you have it. i'm ready for more bargain bins.