i think i found the lost symbol

seriously, what is that thing behind jerry mumphrey on his 1988 topps card? someone alert dan brown.

the first 30 homerun foursome and the 1978 topps record breaker card that should have been!

ok, so lou brock broke the record for most lifetime stolen bases, pete rose set the record for most career hits by a switch hitter, and sparky lyle set the record for most relief appearances in a career, but for topps to comemmorate such things as most consecutive seasons with one team (brooks robinson), most homeruns in one world series (reggie jackson), most times hitting 2 home runs in one inning in a career (willie mccovey) and most games with 10 or more strikeouts in a career (nolan ryan) with a 1978 record breaker card, but overlook the feat of the dodger foursome of steve garvey, reggie smith, dusty baker and ron cey was just plain wrong.

all they did was become the first set of four teammates to hit 30 homeruns in the same season. i mean, reggie was already going to be on the world series recap card. why inundate us with another yankee card?

here then, is the 1978 topps card that should have been:and, the back

18 years later, an upstart group from colorado would match the feat, and guess what? upper deck gave them a card to celebrate.oh, topps. what could have (and should have) been...

obak heaven (or is it iowa?)

mario at (the now defunct) wax heaven sent me a bunch of tristar obak a while ago in return for a slew of luis polonia cards. here's a small sampling:

and i do mean small.

nolan ryan minithere was another ryan mini included that was identical to this one, except it said 'll' next to jacksonville. that's the type of variation i can do without. jacksonville was also a dodger affiliate not too long ago.

stan musial

this one is numbered to 50, but it has the rumble strip defect.

gene conley auto

numbered 13/200

and a lonnie chisenhall autonumbered 20/50

mario also included a printing plate from that upper deck 20th anniversary thingnot too bad for luis polonia.

now, i am not a collector of minor league teams or players, so if you have any interest in any of the cards shown, or if you need others, please let me know. there were about 20 different minis included in the package.

thanks mario!

tommy john in person/through the mail success!

i know. i've done a tommy john post already. but that was an ebay auto success. this is better. so much better.

reader dennis recently contacted me to let me know that tommy john was going to be signing at a bank grand opening in new jersey. i quickly sent a card and a letter to the branch manager congratulating her on the new branch and asking her if she would have mr. john sign and return the card. well, she did, and it is awesome.meanwhile, dennis attended the event and got some autos as well. we worked out a deal, and he sent them to me.

1976 topps1977 toppsanother 1978 toppsand 1979 topps what a bonanza! but that's not all...

dennis also sent me a signed 1977 topps davey lopes card now that is fantastic.

now, back to the 1978 topps - i am still stuck on 19 pieces of my modest 1978 topps dodgers autograph project.

here's the tally:

team card (red adams) - through the mail success!

dusty baker

glenn burke

ron cey - through the mail success!

vic davalillo - ebay success!

terry forster

mike garman - through the mail success!

steve garvey - through the mail success!

ed goodson

jerry grote - through the mail success!

burt hooton

charlie hough - through the mail success!

tommy john - in person/through the mail success!

lee lacy - through the mail success!

tom lasorda

dave lopes - through the mail success!

ted martinez - ebay success!

manny mota - through the mail success!

rick monday

johnny oates - ebay success!

doug rau - through the mail success!

lance rautzhan - through the mail success!

rick rhoden

bill russell - through the mail success!

reggie smith - through the mail success!

elias sosa - through the mail success!

don sutton

steve yeager

nlcs (davey lopes) - through the mail success!

19/29 = 66%

anyone know of a terry forster signing?

thanks dennis and the branch manager at lakeland bank (and tommy)!

a random sampling of what i collect

let's take a sunday stroll through the categorical fields of my collection, shall we?

i collect, first and foremost, steve garvey and dodger cards. like this 1971 dell today's team stamp. ok, so it's not really a card per se, but you get the idea.

i also collect dodger (and other players of interest) autographs, especially through the mail successes. here's a 1973 topps steve garvey with wes parker lurking, which makes it another type of card i enjoy.

i wish wes parker would sign through the mail - it would be nice to get him to sign this one, too.

i also collect post-2000 twins, primarily joe mauer. excuse me, that's mvp joe mauer.

cards featuring dodger stadium are also part of the collection, like this 1993 fleer luis salazar

just another day hanging out at the cage in chavez ravine.

here's a double play turn on augie ojeda's 2002 fleer cardand a classic play at the plate from 1973 topps you can guess from the text that george hendrick (scourge of the stirrup) is safe at home.

finally, there are the final tributes, whether they are announced as such or not.

true, this 1995 upper deck ryne sandberg final tribute is premature as he would return to play for a few more seasons, but you get the idea.

if you or anyone you know has cards that look like the ones above, please take a look at my want lists, and let's trade!

bob stinson through the mail success! (color me impressed!)

being a huge fan of the replacements, i thought it was cool that bob stinson used to play for the dodgers. of course, they were two different bob stinsons, but still... sadly, the replacements' bob stinson passed away in 1995, but the dodgers' bob stinson is alive and presumably well, signing cards through the mail for a small fee.

here's his 1970 topps rookie card and his 1978 topps card
stinson is one of two former dodgers with the nickname 'scrap iron'. go figure. anyway, he played for the dodgers in a handful of games in 1969 and 1970 before being traded to the cardinals in the dick allen deal. after playing with the cardinals, he spent time with the astros, expos, and royals before being selected by the mariners in the 1976 expansion draft. he would play for the mariners until his release near the end of the 1980 season.

thanks bob! (both of you)

more joe collector group break cards

since he's already done the december box breaks, i should probably post the stuff i got from the october and november 'i am joe collector' events.

here's a 2008 upper deck premier chris carpenter auto

1 of 25. carpenter was the sotd in my fantasy league last year. i took him in the 11th round. i was pleased with myself.

2008 donruss playoff prime cuts shooter hunt what a name. a first rounder, but he hasn't pitched too well so far. a lot of walks.

here's a guy who has pitched better, 2009 topps chrome brian duensing auto duensing was a bit surprising after he got called up, but he certainly earned his stripes down the stretch. too bad he was hit around a bit in the alds, although it was the next guy who relieved him and allowed an inherited runner to score on matsui's homerun

yes, it's francisco liriano on his 2009 upper deck goodwin champions cardcan't wait to see which liriano shows up in 2010.

back to 2009 topps chrome, here's the al mvp joe mauer mvp! mvp! he should be under contract very soon if the twins have any smarts about them.

2009 upper deck goodwin champions justin morneau the twins' other recent mvp. here, morneau ponders baseball in a post-apocalyptic world. must be january 2013.

finally, tony o on a 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts card i am really looking forward to receiving the december goodies - there was a dodgers sweet spot bonanza!

thanks jeff!