blogosphere participation, part three - thorzul will trade and you may win!

quite a while back, i worked out a small trade with thorzul will rule. i knew there was a reason i had kept some 1992 fleer ultra around. anyway, i sent a few cards from his want list, and he reciprocated with some 2007 topps i needed, plus these boys in blue.
2007 upper deck goudey nomar garciaparra. i have missed nomar’s cards in the topps issues as i mentioned here, so i tend to hoard his other dodger cards. nomah!
2007 upper deck goudey luis gonzalez. blech. here’s how i feel about luis. at least it doesn’t look like his presence (thanks ned) stunted the growth of matt kemp too much. or this next guy for that matter…
2007 topps allen & ginter andre ethier. acquired for the board game (milton bradley – for whom i will always be cheering) and the subject of one of my favorite FJM posts (ripping plaschke to high heaven), ethier is the third arizona state sundevil to play for the dodgers and wear number 16. free cards of all 3 and more to the first person to name the other two in the comments below.

bill, thanks again for the trade, and may thorzul’s reign be one of peace and prosperity.

last minute campaign stop...at chavez ravine

on the field for camera day, it's candidate jim eisenreich and his 1999 upper deck card. fans are roped off while the players walk around inside a viewing area. camera day was the first time i was ever on the field at dodger stadium - i was about 8 or 9. anyway, jim seems to have his campaign strategy down: eye contact, firm handshake, and lick those lips before kissing the babies.

nice shot of the right field pavilion and scoreboard in the background, too.

scoreboard, baby!

yes, it's the field level, individual light bulb operated, union 76 sponsored, black and white scoreboard at dodger stadium. it played a supporting role in the 1993 topps set, as evidenced by:

scott servais. it's a bit blurry here, but still visible. i am guessing that this was an attempted sacrifice, as scott appears to have thrown the ball somewhere other than first, while a dodger is running towards first.bill swift. with the union 76 logo. the "h-e" refers, of course, to hits and errors. a light would appear to the left of the 'h' or to the right of the 'e' to let the fans know the scoring of a questionable play. of coures, everyone is listening to vin scully on their transistor radios, so they already knew how to score the play. right?donovan osborne. back to blurry. and with an obscured unocal logo. if joe amalfitano would get out of the way, and if it were taken at night, this card would look a lot more like this one:

1989 topps john tudor. one of night owl's awesome night cards.

let's turn two - 1992 donruss style

the phases of the turn...

transfer ball from glove to throwing hand...

prepare to throw the ball (mindful of the sliding baserunner)...

release and follow through...

jump if necessary...

prepare to land. hard.

or...

prepare to be bowled over.

or

just play leapfrog.

smiling ron cey

1978 o-pee-chee ron cey. the second of my favorite cards i have posted, and they both happen to be 1978 o-pee-chee. i have already extolled the virtues of the set design, and i can't wait to see this site take off. i used to spend some time every other summer in canada, including 1978 which just happened to be the year i really started collecting.

this particular card once adorned the wall of my bedroom. if you look closely, you will see the thumbtack holes on the top and bottom. this card has been with me for 30 years, traveling from the great white north to southern california and on to minnesota. seeing this card now just makes me smile. like the penguin.

trick or treat turns out to be treat!

thanks so much to tribecards aka indians baseball cards always for the fantastic box of treats. i had steeled myself to expect tricks - lots of giants cards featuring jack clark (that would have been a double trick) and gary lavelle, but all i got were treats. some really cool treats, too. here are just a few of them. we'll kick it off with italian american superstar slugger mike piazza and his 1996 pinnacle card. the strongest man in so-cal appears to be practicing for his pert shampoo commercial.

1995 pinnacle zenith antonio osuna. i have a soft spot for antonio. he used to wear a chain around his neck that had a license plate sized medallion on it. good times.

2000 stadium club devon white. devon is the kind of guy i forget played for the dodgers. i love this card because it shows the outfield wall mural, with gibby reaching for that backdoor slider, and it features the dodgers' alternate hats and jerseys. seriously. do the yankees wear alternate jerseys or hats? no. why mess with the classic look. i am glad the dodgers don't break this stuff out anymore.

1992 pinnacle tom candiotti. i'll have to try this grip out this weekend (if it doesn't snow). i typically grip the seams with two fingertips when i throw a knuckler. that's probably one reason why it rarely works.

2005 topps cesar izturis. a double play turn! the middle infield combo of izturis and alex cora. not as fond a memory for me as russell and lopes. speaking of which...

1984 topps bill russell. by this time, he was the last of the gcrl infield still with the team. who'da thunk it.

1977 topps dave(y) lopes league leader card. those are two ornery looking men.

thanks again david! look for some wahoo in the near future.

the left field corner makes a nice backdrop...

it may not be the hollywood sign or randy's donut, but the left field corner at dodger stadium has served as a popular backdrop for card photographers. here is a sampling, from the late 80s...

1989 upper deck john tudor. tudor is bringing back the windbreaker under the jersey look that was so popular in the 70s.

1988 topps glenn hoffman. the future dodger manager. if only someone had thought to write something crude on the knob of his bat, he could have trumped billy ripken by a year.

1989 topps ramon martinez. his rookie card. i guess they don't let rookies out of the dugout for pictures.

1989 topps ricky horton. another 1989 topps, but this one has the money shot with the palm trees.

being a team collector, it bothers me when many of the cards of players from the same team in the same year include the same pose, or the same backdrop. the 2007 topps dodgers are a good example. but that will be another post. or several.