after a couple of decent variations and especially a nomar! in the 2006 topps dodger blister team set, i quickly sought out and purchased a 2007 set. it was not quite the same. you'll see what i mean. once again, the regular topps cards are on the left, and the topps dodgers team set cards are on the right.
first up, lad1 for 2007 - rafael furcal
no difference. at least it's not photoshopped like his 2006 card. i have to admit, i was hoping for nomar to be on top of the pack back in 2007. turns out, of course, that he was nowhere to be found.
jonathan broxton
again, no difference. broxton had been given one of those factory set 'bonus cards' in 2006 which was nice. chad billingsley had one of those in 2003, and then in 2007, topps issued a dodgers version of the complete factory set which had 5 additional dodger cards in it. i previously showcased those cards here, so no need to discuss again.
it's the same.
brad penny
ditto.
takashi saito
double ditto.
andre ethier
six cards in and only the number on the back is different. then we get to lad7.
juan pierre
juan pierre
look! the filmstrip square things changed color on the bottom! forget about how topps photoshopped a jersey onto pierre that hadn't been worn in games since the davey johnson era, they changed the color of some little tiny squares! in fact, all of the dodger team set cards are blue squares on top, white squares on the bottom.
jeff kent is next.
and his card is unchanged.
randy wolf
gets all of his squares changed! red and blue switched to blue and white! huzzah!
chad billingsley is the 10th card in the set
bo-ring!
jason schmidt
now we're talking! not only do the bottom squares get the color sapped right out, schmidt's topps card was issued in series 2, so they had some time to get him to pose in a real dodger jersey and without his arm in a cast. the photoshopped version in the team set is similar to the 2006 brett tomko as it features a giant at pac bell/at&t/the phone booth transformed into a dodger. it's certainly the most drastic variation of the bunch.
russell martin
no rookie cup for russell! the dreaded award variation! ethier got to keep his in the team set, but tough nuts for martin. otherwise, it's the same.
wilson betemit
this is back to boring.
finally, the last card in the set, lad14 is luis gonzalez
and the out of place guy gets a tighter cropping in the team set! i actually like this card because there is no baseball field anywhere in sight. gonzo could be walking through a city park or just strolling down the street.
so, in 2007, we had 3 color square variations, 1 photoshop variation, 1 cropping variation, and 1 disappearing rookie cup variation. will 2008 be any more diverse? stay tuned...
mcdowell took over closing duties for the worst dodger team of my lifetime. the 1992 squad lost 99 games and had just 29 saves as a team. mcdowell had 14 of them. he appeared in 65 games and finished 39 of them. he also won 6 and lost 10.
even though the dodgers signed todd worrell prior to the 1993 season, gott was the one who claimed the closer role. he saved 25 games with a 2.32 era. worrell managed 5 saves but had an era of over 6.
worrell began to regain his status as an elite closer in the strike shortened 1994 season. he had 11 saves to lead the dodgers when the season ended in august. his era was still over 4, but his strikeouts were up to over 1 per inning pitched. in 1995, worrell had 32 of the dodgers 35 saves, with a 2.02 era to boot. it was the first time in franchise history that a pitcher saved over 30 games. the following year, worrell saved 44 games as the dodgers made a postseason appearance in back-to-back years for the first time since 1977/78. of course, there were no saves to be had as they were swept in the nlds both years. worrell saved 35 games in 1997, but his era was pretty high - 5.28 - and he retired after the season ended. worrell sits in third place in the dodgers' career saves leaders with 127, just ahead of jim brewer at 125.
shaw made his first appearance as a dodger in the 1998 all-star game, giving up a run on 3 hits. he had 23 saves for the reds going into the break, and posted another 25 as a dodger. in 1999, he had 34 saves, followed by 27 in 2000. his final season in the majors was 2001 when he saved 43 games and returned to the all-star game, this time pitching just one-third of an inning in a national league loss. with 129 saves, shaw ranks second all-time for the dodgers.
gagne moved to the bullpen in 2002 and became 'game over' as he promptly blew most dodger relief records away. he saved 52 games and posted 114 strikeouts in 82.1 innings - a 12.5 k/9 ratio - and finished 4th in the cy young voting. he ended the season with 8 straight saves, carrying that streak into 2003. in 2004, gagne saved 55 games, breaking his own dodger record set the previous year and coming within 2 of the all-time record (which has since been broken). of course, gagne saved all 55 without blowing a single one (unless you count the all-star game) meaning he set a record with 63 consecutive saves (passing tom gordon who had 54 in a row). he also won the cy young award that year, the second time a dodger reliever had won. he again pitched in 82.1 innings, but this time, he struck out 137 batters for a closer record k/9 ratio of 15. 2004 was more of the same, with gagne saving 21 games in a row to bring his streak to 84 before blowing a save in july. once again, he pitched in exactly 82.1 innings, and he struck out 114 just as he did in 2002. he finished the season with 45 saves, and while the dodgers were back in the postseason, there were no saves to be had in the nlds. gagne missed the first month of the season in 2005, but returned to save 8 games in 8 chances before his season ending injury in june.
brazoban stepped into the closer's role in gagne's absence and posted 21 saves on the year. he also blew 6 save opportunities and lost 10 games in relief. still, he was pegged as 'ghame over' at the dodger thoughts forum. 
the dodgers weren't frightened by the nori nakamura disaster of 2005 and signed japanese pitcher saito to a contract for 2006. saito responded with 24 saves and 107 strikeouts in 78.1 innings as the dodgers won the wild card. they were swept by the mets, though, so there were no postseason saves. saito saved 39 games in 2007 and pitched a scoreless inning in the all-star game. he started the 2008 season as the closer, and had 17 saves through mid-july, but jonathan broxton was ready to take over. saito finished the season with 18 saves and left as a free agent after the season ended.
broxton saved 14 games for the dodgers in the second half of the 2008 season, and he saved the game 3 clincher against the cubs in the nlds. in 2009, broxton had 36 saves and two more in the postseason - 1 against the cardinals in the nlds and one against the phillies in the league championship series. although he earned the save in the 2010 all-star game, broxton struggled last year and was temporarily replaced as closer by hong-chih kuo. we'll see how long the leash is that don mattingly gives broxton in 2011.
fair enough. but whither the dodgers bullpen? will broxton close? that seems to be most likely, as i have to believe trevor hoffman would have taken the dodgers' offer if he would in fact have been the closer over broxton. 
b/w those angels of anaheim vlad, howie and jered.
now back to the issue at hand. an infield of loney blake furcal dewitt. not as catchy as gcrl, but oh well. the main thing that bothers me about all this (besides the fact that 
losing one of our top starters and that big bat may mean that even with a healthy furcal we will fall short. i mean, is hu not ready?
would he not be able to do as well as berroa did? can't this money go towards a bat? 
i did not know this set even existed. shiny. 
joe owns the pink border. he is secure with his masculinity while raising awareness for breast cancer research. true story - during a game last season, the metrodome video screen had a still shot of mauer next to the text 'support prostate cancer'. a couple innings later, the message came up again, this time corrected to read 'support prostate cancer research'.
