the benefits of crackin' wax's series one case break keep rolling in

i received my redemption cards that were made possible by crackin' wax's 2013 topps series one case break.  first up are the spring fever cards that were obtained from your friendly lcs by redeeming an insert in random packs.  i guess topps wants us to get out of our mother's basement and venture outside.    luckily for me, topher did the legwork.  

here's matt kemp

and aj ellis

then there were the silver slate cards which were made available by redeeming wrappers.  i received an adrian gonzalez card

next up at cw is the allen & ginter case break.  looking forward to it.

thanks topher!

what if they held the biggest card show of the year and i didn't show up?

this weekend is the biggest card show of the year in the twin cities (outside of twinsfest).  it attracts vendors from all over the region and beyond (plus mr. mint at least once).  it's the show where one dealer had boxes of 1975 topps minis and there were vintage bargain bins all over the place.

i had planned to go tonight and pick up a 1956 topps duke snider card to complete my '56 dodgers team set.  that's because earlier in the week i picked up this beauty of a card:

a 1956 topps roy campanella card.  it is a really nice looking card - one i have wanted for a long time.

as far as the show goes, i don't think i will be able to swing it.  the past two years i have gone on friday night when it opens, and i know i can't be there tonight.  tomorrow, the likes of frank robinson, pete rose, cal ripken jr, johnny bench, and eddie murray are signing autographs, but i won't be able to be there then, either.  on sunday, there is a slim chance that i could get there shortly before the thing closes at 4, so i guess i will go with the same refrain that dodger fans used back during the early part of campy's career - wait 'til next year.

so instead of that duke snider card, i'll show some other vintage cards.  these are some of the cards that i've picked up over the last couple of years but haven't figured out how to fit into a post.  problem solved.

1960 topps bob aspromonte

this was one of the last few 1960 cards i needed.  it's numbered in the 500's (547) and usually goes for a few bucks.  i put it off for as long as i could.  i think i used some 'ebay bucks' to finally acquire it.

1961 topps frank howard 

that's the card of the reigning nl rookie of the year who was also a member of topps' all-rookie team, but hondo got jobbed out of his rookie cup (which was actually a trophy back in 1961).  teammate tommy davis has the trophy on his card, but for some reason, topps left it off of howard's.  i believe that he is the only member of the all-rookie team to not get the trophy on his card.

1962 topps duke snider

here's the silver fox on his final topps card as a dodger.  luckily for me, his 1963 topps card (which is a high number) lists him as a member of the mets so i don't 'have' to bother.  this is a nice card for duke to go out on - a pensive look from within the walls of the coliseum.

1963 topps johnny podres

i should be on the lookout for an upgrade here.  podres' card is one of the few (moose skowron's is another that comes to mind) dodger card from 1963 to have the blue bottom.  i like it better than the more prevalent green or red.

1965 topps john roseboro

roseboro's card has that weird blue border up top.  i've never seen one that was orange all the way around.  by the way, i am very excited for next year's heritage release.  very excited.

1966 topps willie davis

the 3-dog here is a high number (535), so it took me a while to track down at a price i was willing to pay.  the corners are a bit soft, but it fits in my collection nicely.  now if only i could find a photo of davis in an angels' uniform, i could get to making that final tribute card that he never got.

1970 topps maury wills

this card, of course, is wills' first official topps card as a dodger (he's on one of the 1959 world series recap cards in the 1960 set).  which reminds me - a while ago i posted all of the topps cards that should have been of the 1962 league mvp and asked if there were any similar cards folks wanted to see.  three people responded so i'll probably take a stab at making each of the cards that they requested.  they are:

a 1951 or 1952 card of artie wilson (padrographs)
a 1983 card of harold reynolds (mariner1)
a 1979 card of jim bouton (dayf)

but, since a 1968 topps deckle edge wills was at stake, i need to designate a winner.  random.org tells me that the card goes to...

...dayf.

i'll get something thrown together sometime soon.

a post borne of necessity

these cards all came from arpsmith.  a while ago.  i've been remiss in showcasing them, and then i received another package in the mail from him yesterday.  i can't let a previous trade get lapped like that (although the same thing is happening with the junior junkie).  for better or for worse, here are some of the very nice cards i received from adam as part of a prize package/trade.

2002 topps chrome alex cora

my scanner did a nice thing here.  the scan of that card sings.  it's very nice.

1969 topps willie davis

three dog night with some vintage joy for the world.

2000 fleer greats of the game tommy john

i really liked this set when it was released.  i remember treating myself to some packs after a job interview.  lots of dodgers on the checklist, too.

1984 fleer derrel thomas

my second favorite fleer card of thomas.  i like how this one tells me that he plays infield and outfield.  what about catcher?  a true utility guy.

speaking of catchers, here's a 2001 upper deck todd hundley

and a 2004 upper deck paul loduca

the best thing about those cards is not the lurking kaz ishii behind loduca, but rather the little dodger stadium photo on the lower front of the loduca card.  i missed upper deck cards in 2004 (other than the legends set) so i don't think i knew chavez ravine was on the dodger flagship cards.  the photo, by the way, is the same one that's on the backs of the legends cards.

2005 donruss hong-chih kuo

channeling jerry reuss with that haircut

and finally, a 2002 donruss best of fan club chan ho park jersey relic

it's part of a 'league leaders' subset maybe?  park did lead the league in starts in 2001.

adam - thanks for these cards and thanks for the additional cards that i will try to post before we get into another trade.

some through the mail successes - three world series guys and one other guy

i realized the other day when i was posting about a pat neshek through the mail success that i had let almost two years pass without showcasing the cards that former dodger mike marshall (not former dodger dr. mike marshall) signed for me via the us postal service.

this is the 1985 topps card that i sent to neshek for his set pursuit

is nice.  i also received from the former pcl triple crown winner a 1989 fleer base

and world series insert card signed.

it's a weird card in that the 'one swing' the text refers to was marshall's three-run home run in the third inning of game 2 of the 1988 world series which gave the dodgers a 5-0 lead, but the photo is from his triple later in the game which didn't drive in any runs.  that's the oakland third baseman carney lansford applying a (late) tag.

just over a year later, marshall was on the move to new york, as this 1990 o-pee-chee card demonstrates.

i kinda miss writing about o-pee-chee variations.

here's another dodger from that 1988 world series team that signed some cards for me a while back.  game 1 starter tim belcher signed and returned a 1992 topps card

plus a 1989 topps card

and a 1989 fleer world series card of his own

again, the card is odd in that the photo comes from his game 4 start in oakland, but the text is referring to his game 1 start at home in dodger stadium.  at least that's the way i read it.

this next guy was in line to get the series mvp award if orel hershiser hadn't been so dominating.  here's a 1981 fleer mickey hatcher card signed by the stuntman himself

mickey also signed a 1989 o-pee-chee world series highlight card

isn't it a shame that fleer and o-pee-chee had world series highlights in their set, but topps did not?  yes, it is a shame.  here's another card that mickey signed - a 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams card

i am kind of tired of writing about these timeless teams cards, to tell the truth.  i do like the set, it's just that i've been very busy with a lot of other things that i must and/or have chosen to do instead of updating the blog.  i will finish that blog before the all-star break, though.  back to mickey - 1980 was hatcher's second year with the dodgers, but it was also his last - for a while.  he was sent to the twins prior to the 1981 season for ken landreaux - the guy who caught the last out of the 1981 world series.  hatcher wasn't the only dodger to be sent to minnesota in the early 1980's, though.

there was also this guy - bobby mitchell - who signed his 1982 fleer card for me

mitchell had a total of two hits as a dodger before he was dealt to the twins in the bobby castillo trade prior to the 1982 season.  he did not appear in the 1981 postseason, unfortunately.  mitchell did spend 1982 as the twins' primary center fielder (replacing hatcher in that regard), achieving career highs in pretty much every category.  i sent this card to him when he was managing in salt lake city a couple of years ago.  mitchell is currently a roving minor league instructor for the angels, i believe.

thanks to these former dodgers for signing my cards!

well, that was all sorts of awesome

despite having to switch over to espn2 (thanks red sox and yankees for once again taking way longer than 3 hours to complete a game), i enjoyed seeing the dodgers on tv today.  maury wills, tommy davis, tommy lasorda, orel hershiser, and sandy koufax with a little vin scully thrown in by the espn folks was also great to see, as was the renovated stadium.

i noticed that the back walls of the bullpens are no longer covered in greenery, and that the low fences in the right and left field corners now look like shorter versions of the regular outfield fence instead of the railing that used to be along the foul territory, and i was somewhat disappointed to see the advertisements back on the outfield wall.  regardless, the place looked great and it seemed to be rockin'.

and how about clayton kershaw today?

that was as close to a one man show as i think i have ever seen.  i'm not concerned about the offense. yet.  we'll see how they do tomorrow and go from there.

eyes on the prize

as another season kicks off, here's a reminder of what the boys in blue (and every other major leaguer) are playing for.

this is the last one that the dodgers have won, coming in 1988 and displayed on a card from the 1989 mother's dodgers set of cards.

back then, it was kirk gibson

who was the mvp of the regular season and made the impossible happened.

that was thanks to a big walk that mike davis

coerced from dennis eckersley

and also made possible by an rbi single from mike scioscia

earlier in the game, although it was rick dempsey

who would finish the series behind the plate and get to be the one to rush the mound and hug orel hershiser after the final out was recorded.

it was the second world championship for fernando valenzuela

although he was hurt and did not pitch in the postseason.

after the dodgers won, they attracted a few new faces - veterans who wanted to win - like mike morgan

old foe willie randolph

and eddie murray

each of whom joined the dodgers hoping to help the team repeat as world champions, because as lou piniella will tell you...

...the ring is the thing.

expectations are high this season.  i'm hoping they are realized.

i see opening day

no foolin'!  it's opening day, although hanley ramirez won't be playing.

i received my 2013 topps opening day team set the other day, and it included three ramirez cards - that ballpark fun insert above, his base card,

and a play hard insert

hanley played a little too hard in the wbc and hurt his thumb.  as a result, we get a couple of months of luis cruz and justin sellers at short, with juan uribe and maybe nick punto at third.  yikes.

matt kemp also got his fair share of cards in the set, including a play hard insert

a ballpark fun insert

a superstar celebration insert

and an opening day stars insert

it's too bad there was no card to celebrate raul mondesi's extra innings walk-off in the 1999 home opener.

the last of the inserts belongs to adrian gonzalez, who also was included in the opening day stars insert set

one of the cards i was most interested in seeing was carl crawford's

i hope topps does better in series 2 of the flagship.

here's hoping the dodgers can beat the nocals and make it a wire to wire first place finish in the west.