above average cards from average joe

i recently completed a trade with average joe and here are some of the cards i received:

1989 bowman fernando valenzuela

check out those stirrups!  i think they make fernando look taller.  speaking of taller, i am not/was not a fan of topps trotting out the early 50's size for these cards.  i think they learned their lesson, as they have not done so since.

1986 fleer ron cey

it's still strange to see cey as a cub.

1988 fleer star sticker steve sax

saxy!

1990 fleer jose gonzalez

i think there were high hopes for jose in the late 80's but by 1990 things had not panned out.  the dodgers traded him to cleveland for mitch webster.

1991 leaf bobby ojeda

the dodgers acquired ojeda from the mets for hubie brooks, and he pitched pretty well for them in 91.  in 92, though, he was part of the worst team in los angeles dodger history, not that it was his fault by any stretch of the imagination.  still, i associate him (and eric davis and todd benzinger and a few other dodger transients) with that team.  after leaving the dodgers as a free agent, ojeda signed with cleveland for the 93 season.  ojeda was in the boat that tim crews was driving when crews and steve olin were killed during spring training 1993.  he did pitch for cleveland later that season, but made only 11 total appearances after the accident.

thanks joe! hope you enjoyed the cards i sent your way.

thoughtful cards from thoughts and sox

it is always a pleasure to open the mailbox and see unexpected padded envelopes.  especially when they hold treasures such as those sent to me recently by adam at thoughts and sox!  behold the unforeseen greatness with nary a bipping in sight!  (first let me applaud adam on his $2 ($2!!!!) purchase of a 1954 bowman preacher roe!  we should all be so lucky).

1960 topps norm larker

larker had the season of his life in 1960, batting .323 to finish 2nd in the nl batting average race (dick groat hit .325).  he essentially took over first base from gil hodges, and then yielded it to ron fairly as he was selected by the houston colt .45's in the expansion draft after the 1961 season.

2009 upper deck danny ardoin

ardoin has bounced around a bit since signing with the a's in 1995.  he debuted with the twins in 2000, then went to kansas city (but didn't make it to the bigs), signed with the rangers (appeared in 6 games), signed with the rockies (115 games over 2 seasons), picked up on waivers by the orioles (5 games), signed by the nationals (no big league appearances), traded to the astros (ditto), traded to the cardinals (no dice), and finally signed by the dodgers ( 24 games in 2008, although none in 2009).  that is quite a ride around professional baseball.

2009 topps ticket to stardom matt kemp

i believe matt kemp's ticket has been cashed.

2009 ud goudey 4 in 1 matt kemp, russell martin, andre ethier, rafael furcal

i like the 4 in 1 cards, although there are too many variations.  i might have to do one of these for the infield.

2008 donruss threads duke snider (century legends)

always nice to get a new card of the duke, although the photos are rarely new.  i think i've seen this image on several cards now.

2008 donruss sports legends paul molitor

adam also hit on one of my favorite non-dodgers (more expansive post coming soon).  i was a big molly fan for quite a while.

thanks adam!  i am compiling some red sox to send you as i type!

a collection of baseball cards from baseball card recollections

doc over at baseball card recollections not only makes awesome cards that should have been, he also is trying to give away 1000000 cards.  first though, he offered the cards up for trade, and i pounced on a few dodgers.  here are some of the cards i received.

1989 cap'n crunch eddie murray

still sealed, with gum, and backed with a robin yount card.  i wonder if this gum cuts up the roof of your mouth like cap'n crunch cereal does.

1976 hostess steve yeager

another food item card.  pretty cool that yeager was featured in this set as he hadn't really established himself - 1975 was really his first full season as the dodgers' catcher.

1981 topps sticker burt hooton

the mvp of the 1981 nlcs!

1986 topps mini leader bob welch

this card celebrates the fact that bob ranked 5th in the national league in era in 1985.  in fact, he finished second on the dodgers' staff (orel hershiser had a 2.03 era to welch's 2.31), and the dodgers had 3 of the top 6 in the league that year (hershiser, welch, and fernando valenzuela with a 2.45 era).  dwight gooden led the league with a 1.53 era.

there were also a few cards featuring that jewel of chavez ravine, dodger stadium, such as this 1992 fleer ultra randy tomlin card

it's always nice to see the sun shining on the field level scoreboard.

thanks doc!  i'll get your pre-71 cards to you soon!

welcome (back) to the jungle!

the game's not over for eric gagne, who signed a minor league deal the other day.

here's hoping he earns a spot, and i mean really earns it.  even though that spot would be for the 6th or 7th inning.

the 1985 and 1986 topps steve garvey all star cards that should have been!

did you know that steve garvey started the all-star games for the national league in both 1984 and 1985?  apparently, neither did topps.  they included keith hernandez in the all star subsets in 1985 and 1986, despite the fact that hernandez wasn't even on the team in 1985!

more east coast bias, i suppose.  here then are the 1985 and 1986 steve garvey all star cards that should have been:

1985

1986

the images for both cards are from the glossy all star insert sets, so at least topps gave garvey his due there.

 

here's to you, steve garvey cards that should have been!

what is a nickname?

according to thomas paine, 'titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title'.  fair enough.  i do know that there is something great about baseball and its propensity for great nicknames.  i think i have mentioned previously how much i like the 2006 fleer greats 'nickname greats' insert set, and i know i have posted about (the guy that is supposed to be) jay 'moon man' johnstone and jim 'the toy cannon' wynn before, but here are a few more from my collection that are worthy of high titular praise:

ron 'the penguin' cey

this could quite possibly be the best nickname ever.  it's not a 'berman-ism' like john 'tonight, let it be' lowenstein or bert 'be home' blyleven (both of which i absolutely love), but rather a reference to ron cey's gait.  maybe mordecai '3 finger' brown comes close.  i'll stick with the penguin, though.

here's burt 'happy' hooton.

i guess the man doesn't smile.  josh wilker kills anything i would have to say about hooton, so i'm not going to write anything more.

how about john 't-bone' shelby?

shelby's middle name starts with a 't', or maybe it's just 't', and that's where i thought the nickname came from, but always trustworthy wikipedia says it's due to his 'slight frame'.  whatever the reason, it's a good badass nickname.  shelby was a member of the 1983 and 1988 world champions.  everyone talks about mike davis' walk in game 1 of the 1988 series, but let's not forget that shelby drew a walk off of dwight gooden in the nlcs to set up mike scioscia's unlikely game-tying 9th inning home run.

tim 'rock' raines

as in 'solid as a...'.  i guess he got this nickname early on in his career, but it seems to me it didn't get mainstream attention until 1990 or so.

there are so many other great cards in the checklist (like rusty 'le grand orange' staub), and i may try at some point to complete this set.  until then, i created a few that should have been included.  here then are the 2006 fleer greats of the game nickname greats that should have been:

orel 'bulldog' hershiser

this should have been a no-brainer for the set.

mickey 'stunt man' hatcher

i think the entire 1988 dodger bench was nicknamed the stunt men, but i'll let mickey hold the name on his own.  he certainly responds to it in person.  plus, we need more mickey hatcher cards where he's not doing something goofy. 

you knew i would include a steve 'popeye' garvey card, didn't you?

i don't recall garvey being called popeye too much, actually, even though he did have large forearms.  i remember 'senator' or 'mr. clean', but he has signed several cards with this nickname so i guess it's legit.  don zimmer is a better popeye though, at least facially if not in the forearm department.

who else has a good nickname, worthy to be included in this set.  how about a certain blogger?

much better than the last names of four infielders, even if they were the infield of my youth.

if you, or anyone you know, happen to have any real nickname great cards lying around - i want 'em!

january joe collector box break loot

i should be getting the february cards fairly soon, so i need to show off what came my way via the january breaks hosted by jeff at i am joe collector.

2007 upper deck exquisite nomar!

i honestly don't know why upper deck is so opposed to using a baseball diamond as the background on their non-flagship cards.  especially when all of their other designs are variations on an 'x'.

2007 upper deck exquisite dual auto - glen perkins and alexi casilla

casilla got the big hit in game 163 last year, but he joins perky in the dog house.  now with former dodger orlando hudson on board, casilla may be looking at more aaa time.

speaking of perkins, here's a 2009 topps 206 auto

two perkins hits.  not much to say about that.

here's some 206 base cards - jonathan broxton and orlando hudson

they look like they are playing catch outside the circus tents set up on the outskirts of town.

clayton kershaw and roy campanella

under the yellow skies of where, exactly?

finally, a bunch of 206 minis - manny ramirez, russell martin, jackie robinson and joe mauer.

not too bad for a group break.

thanks jeff!