finest

so, the dodgers clinched last night, and things are set up pretty well for the rotation going into the playoffs.  i am not one of those who are adamantly opposed to pitchers winning the mvp, although it would take a very special case for me to support not giving the award to an everyday player.  that said, clayton kershaw is your national league mvp.  here's his 2014 topps finest card

when it came to choosing my favorite dodger from among the young crop of players including kershaw, james loney, russell martin, and matt kemp, i chose kemp over kershaw largely because of the everyday thing.  here's his 2014 topps finest card

i haven't had a pitcher as my favorite dodger since the lean years of the early 1990's, and i'm not giving up on kemp, but holy shnikes kershaw is fantastic!  consider that the dodgers are 23-4 in his starts this year, and 68-64 in everybody else's.  he's going to lead the national league in era for the fourth straight season (hello, sandy koufax), and he leads the national league in war - not just for pitchers, but for all players. kemp hasn't been so bad either, working back from the injuries that sucked the life out of his 2013 season.  he probably won't challenge 40/40 again, but his slugging percentage is getting back up towards .500 which is nice.

those are the only two dodgers i have from this year's finest release, but i do have a couple of 20-year old finest cards languishing in the scanned folder.  here are delino deshields

 and pedro astacio

kemp and kershaw, they are not.

so, i sought out a repack

this 1992 bowman vaughn eshelman card means business.

i found it in a repack that i sought out after finding (both surprisingly and somewhat disappointingly) only current cards at one of the local walgreens.  i had my mind set on a repack, so a couple of days later i picked up a hanger of recycled cards at target.

here's the oldest card from the pack - a 1985 topps bryn smith

that's nice - i'm kind of a bryn smith fan.  i met his dad when i was in high school is how that came about.

this 2012 topps update ra dickey card is the newest card from the repack

nice shot of the knuckle grip, but why isn't he wearing number 49 like a good knuckler?

as always, there were some 1987 topps cards included, such as this tony gwynn all-star subset card

and there was also some 1988 fleer, including this tim wallach card

the card design works well with the expos' unis, although the blues don't quite match.  that card will be heading to new mexico at some point.

there was actually a 1989 fleer card that i am going to keep in the repack - this checklist card that features the dodgers and red sox

there are your defending world champions, from dave anderson to tracy woodson.  i don't know about you other set collectors, but i always included the fleer checklists with my team sets, probably because in 1983 and 1984 (and possibly other years) they featured a photo of the manager on them.

here's a 1990 topps willie stargell glossy all-star card

pops was the honorary captain of the national league squad in 1988 as he was voted into the hall of fame that year.

there was a complete 14-card factory set of the 2008 topps yankees in the repack

joba looks like he's relieving himself on the lawn outside a kegger somewhere.

i beat the odds and picked a repack that included an autographed card.  it's a 2006 topps '52 matt albers card

i would have preferred another auto card of a different matt from that same set, but repack purchasers can't be choosers.  not in that way, anyway.

packs are sometimes the best medicine

i was in a walgreen's a couple of weeks ago, and on the way to the pharmacy counter, i decided to detour and buy a repack.  only there were no repacks - only hanger packs of 2014 topps series 1.  i was shocked.  the last time i saw current baseball cards for sale in a drug store, i was 9 in downtown los angeles picking up a pack of 1980 topps that netted me a reggie smith card.  this time around, the only dodger was a bunting dee gordon.

i won't bore you with the base cards because i didn't scan any of them other than dee.  instead, here are the inserts.  

upper class albert belle

he's got some trick-or-treaters in his sights.

all rookie cup team johnny bench

the insert that celebrates the rookie cup does not have a rookie cup on it.

the future is now yoenis cespedes

his future does not include the 2014 postseason, and that may not be in the a's future, either.

green parallel jonny gomes world series game 4 highlight

the twins' announcers the other night kept calling yan gomes jonny, and i was confused.  this gomes is now on the a's as he was part of the cespedes deal.

red hot foil dayan viciedo

i've got a bunch of dodger red hot foil cards that i need to show at some point.  i kinda like these things.

last, but not least, a camouflage parallel of justin upton

better to get justin than melvin (aka bossman junior).  not as nice as kate in camo (sandals), but she's not in the set.

even after opening this pack, i still wanted a repack.  off to target...

pedro guerrero mail-in autograph success!

yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the major league debut of pedro guerrero.  also debuting in the september 22, 1978 dodger game were rudy law, brad gulden, and dave stewart.  unfortunately, i still haven't received my triple threads stewart redemption so this post will just be a petey post.

a couple of years ago, i sent two cards to hall of fame sports for guerrero to sign.  the first was my custom 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update card that should have been

and the second was his official rookie card - the 1979 topps dodgers prospects card

that also featured law and joe simpson.  i also have versions of this card signed by law and by simpson, but not on the same card.

as a steve garvey fan, i was nervous about any dodger prospect whose position was listed as first base.  guerrero, however, was quickly moved to the outfield for the following seasons so i didn't need to worry about the garv being replaced.  not until 1983, anyway.

as for his debut that occurred 35 years ago yesterday, guerrero pinch-hit for rick sutcliffe in the 5th inning and singled against randy jones.  he eventually came around to score on a reggie smith sacrifice fly, and his career was officially under way.  and, for the record, law and gulden were both 0 for 1 that day, and dave stewart threw 2 innings, allowing a hit but no runs. he also struck out one while facing the minimum six batters (the single he allowed was erased by a double play).  35 years ago! i am old.

the grounded flight of the bumblebees

i'm working on a trade with matt from bob walk the plank, so i'm pulling together some pirates.  these cards won't be leaving my collection, however, even though they feature the black and yellow.

1984 donruss dave parker

the cobra is giving me the stare down from inside dodger stadium.  i will keep this card in my dodger stadium binder.

1984 donruss lee lacy

the black jersey/yellow pant combo is just not a successful look.

1984 fleer lee lacy

here it is again.  the fact that lacy wears yellow sleeves under the jersey puts it over the top.

1984 fleer rick rhoden

ah, a simple white jersey with the pillbox hat.

1985 donruss rick rhoden

i spoke too soon - there's the full yellow ensemble

1986 donruss highlights rick rhoden

rhoden at the plate!  he was voted the nl pitcher of the month for june of 1986 when he went 5-1 in 6 starts with a 1.99 era, 3 complete games, and 35 strikeouts.  he also kicked ass at the plate that month, going 9 for 19 with 3 doubles, 4 rbi, and 0 strikeouts.  kudos to donruss for putting a photo of rhoden with a bat on the card.  if i had three of this card, i'd keep one, send one to matt, and send the other to nick.

1987 donruss all-stars rick rhoden

now donruss put him back on the mound.  rhoden was an all-star in 1986 - his first time at the game since 1976 when he was with the dodgers.

1987 topps mini leaders rick rhoden

rhoden was second in complete games and fourth in era in 1986, so he received a card in this set.

i'm keeping the lacy and rhoden cards because while i really haven't committed to collecting non-topps base cards of the 1978 topps dodgers, i am not necessarily opposed to the idea either.

finally, i am not sending this 1991 topps gary redus to matt (or to wes for that matter)

because dodger lenny harris is lurking.

don't worry matt - i'll have some different (and hopefully better) pirates in the mail this week.

memorial patches for the pohlads

eloise pohlad, the wife of twins' owner carl pohlad, passed away in november of 2003, and the club added memorial patches to their right sleeves for the following season in memory of her.  they were simple patches, with the first name of her signature stitched inside a color coded rectangle - one for the away grays, one for the alternate blues, and one for the home whites.  you can see the gray patch on lew ford's 2005 fleer flair card

and the blue one is visible on torii hunter's 2005 donruss timeless treasures card

both of those cards are in my memorials binder, but i haven't been able to find a card that shows the white patch.  there weren't too many baseball card photographers at the metrodome in 2004, i suppose.  here's a picture of hunter at home from the 2004 alds against the yankees that shows the white patch.

and here's a better look at all three versions of the patch

in 2009, the twins wore a very similar patch for eloise's husband carl, who passed away at the age of 93 in january.  there was only one version of his patch, however.

had there been a white version to go with the home uniforms, we would have had a card showing it, as nick punto's 2010 upper deck card

features a photo from inside the metrodome with nicky wearing the 1983 throwback home whites.  speaking of the metrodome, the patch above the 'carl' patch is the 'final season of the metrodome' patch.  even old, multi-purpose dome stadiums got the commemorative patch treatment.

here's the patch on the alternate blue jersey of joe mauer, courtesy of his 2010 bowman card

looks like joe is on tatooine there.

here's francisco liriano's 2009 topps allen & ginter national pride insert showing the patch on the home white pinstripes

the patch shows up again, this time on the away grays, on alexi casilla's 2010 topps card

on delmon young's 2010 topps card

and on justin morneau's 2010 topps opening day card

and his chrome card

which, even though it uses the same photo as the opening day card, it's cut a little tighter so the patch is a little bigger.

i've got liriano's 2010 allen & ginter card in the binder

carl pohlad was the guy who bought the twins from calvin griffith in 1984 to keep them in minnesota, but he was also the guy who almost sold the team to a north carolina group in 1997, and the guy who was willing to let the team contract in 2001.  still, he was the owner during their run to two world championships (1987 and 1991), and despite his willingness to sell or contract the team,  pohlad oversaw the run of division titles in the 2000's, with the last under his watch coming in 2006.

the construction of target field began in 2007, and although carl pohlad did not live to see it completed, a statue of him and his wife was erected in the plaza outside gate 34 - the main entrance to the stadium.

a black armband for charles ebbetts

dodgers' owner charles ebbets passed away in april of 1925.  ebbets, who also managed the team for part of one season, was featured in yesterday's sunday morning target dodger post so i figured today would be a good day to post about the memorial that the team wore in his honor.  believe it or not, both the robins (as the brooklyn club was then known) and the new york giants wore black armbands during the 1925 season in ebbets' memory according to the hall of fame's website.  here's a 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts card of dazzy vance showing the robins' version of the memorial 

i've been unable to find even a photo of a giants' player wearing an armband in 1925, let alone a card.  it is possible that the giants wore the armband for just a short time or even a single game.  anyway, i'm glad to have the vance card in the collection.  the patch on the front of the jersey, by the way, was worn by all national league teams in 1925.  it recognizes the 50th year of national league baseball.

ebbets worked his way up the brooklyn organization from a bookkeeper to director of baseball operations, naming himself manager for the latter part of the 1898 season.  he bought out ned hanlon (the former owner of the baltimore orioles) in 1902 and began his ownership tenure; a tenure that included financing and building ebbets field, the home of the dodgers from 1913 through 1957.  ebbets was 65 years old when he died.