thoughts of managers and other cards

adam from thoughts of sox sent me some cards a while back, including this 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts card of hall of fame manager walter alston

he managed the dodgers to 7 pennants and 4 world series titles in 23 years, winning 2040 games and finishing below .500 just 4 times.  he was four games short of managing 23 full seasons, as he abdicated his managerial role late in the 1976 season, allowing tommy lasorda to take over.  that got me thinking, so i pulled my lasorda card from the same set

(which features a photo from the 1998 all-star game - after lasorda had retired from managing), and i scanned the backs of the cards together

these two cards together summarize the dodger franchise performance from 1954 into the 1996 season - 42-plus seasons.  crazy.

back to the cards adam sent, here's a 2005 bowman draft picks and prospects russ martin gold parallel card

that i should have shown on canada day

here are a couple of andy laroche cards from 2007 upper deck sp rookie edition

laroche was last seen in 2013 with the blue jays.  he's still in their system, but hasn't appeared in the majors yet this year.

from 2011 topps chrome, here's a rafael furcal refractor

the many permutations of 2011 topps furcal cards combine for one of my favorite dodger double play cards, even though some of them (including the card above) list furky as an outfielder

also from 2011 topps chrome was this ubaldo jiminez refractor

that was sent along due to the 'ksm' patch on the jersey, just above the glove.  i wrote about the patch here as part of my memorials collection.

thanks for the cards adam!

craig biggio vs. royce clayton in a double play showdown

i can't seem to stop finding cards of craig biggio and royce clayton which feature double play turns.  this post will exhaust the ones from my scanned folder, but i am sure there will be more.

1995 score biggio

i'm not sure biggio got the relay throw off on this one. twice on july 9, 1994 the astros attempted to force mark parent at second (they were successful once), but both times the batter was safe at first.  i will guess, based on the direction that the throw seems to be coming from, that this was the attempted force in the first inning on an anthony young bunt.  both were safe.

i have no idea about the dp shown on royce clayton's 1994 upper deck sp card

other than he definitely made the relay

1996 upper deck biggio

the astros are back at wrigley

1998 pacific omega

as are the cardinals

1998 fleer sports illustrated then and now biggio

and 1998 upper deck collector's choice biggio

pretty sure that's the same play from two different angles

1999 fleer ultra clayton

now he's with the rangers

biggio is back in philly on his 1999 upper deck card

where he's stepping on helmets

clayton wins this round thanks to his 1998 topps stadium club card

that is a double play card nicely done.

dodger cards are patriotic

i bought a hanger pack of 2014 panini prizm last week primarily because i was intrigued by the 'red, white, and blue pulsar prizm refractor pack!' promised inside.  they look like bomb pops or rocket pops and are perfect for the fourth of july.  here are the three i received - former dodger kiroki kuroda

jorge de la rosa

and taijuan walker

also appropriate for the fourth of july is this 2014 topps wil myers future stars variation i found in a series 2 value box

while the futures game usa uniform is not red, white, and blue, myers is wearing the stars and stripes.  a better team usa jersey can be found on this 2013 topps joe mauer wbc card

and then there are these 2005 donruss champions cards of dodgers - al oliver

darryl strawberry

and jayson werth

- that could not be any more red, white, and blue.

the truth is, however, that when it comes to the home dodger uniform, there is nothing but red, white, and blue.  here are a couple of cards to illustrate that fact - a 2004 upper deck kazuhisa ishii at home in dodger stadium

and a 1995 upper deck collector's choice orel hershiser gold signature parallel

tailor made for the fourth of july.  happy birthday, america!

another bobby lost

sadly, former dodger pitcher bobby castillo passed away on monday - the second pitcher named bobby from the team of my youth to die this year.  i was reminded that arpsmith had recently sent me a 1982 topps castillo card that was signed by the pitcher himself

i was able to have castillo sign a couple of cards previously, but this one is much more boldly signed.  rest in peace, bobby.

arpsmith included another signed card from 1982 - a 1982 fleer burt hooton card to be exact

i appreciate having a socal connection with what seems to be a decent lcs nearby.  in addition to the in person autos he found there, arpsmith also sent a 2007 upper deck spx autographed card of delwyn young

and a 2007 ud artifacts jersey card of jeff kent

here's a 1994 upper deck fun pack mike piazza checklist card

unlike collector's choice, i think the silver signature was standard on this card.  also, piazza's wearing the tim crews memorial patch on this card.  there will be, of course, a separate post regarding that memorial someday.

speaking of collector's choice, here's a 1997 udcc hideo nomo all-star connection insert

nomo didn't make the all-star team in 1997, in fact, the only time he appeared in the midsummer classic was in his rookie year of 1995 when he was the game's starter.

pee wee reese, on the other hand, appeared in 10 all-star games, including 9 straight from 1945-1954.  here's a 2012 panini cooperstown crystal parallel of the dodger shortstop that arpsmith included

the kaleidoscope pattern and cropping of the familiar photo distract me from the fact there is no logo.

there's no logo on this next card either, but lest there be any doubts, tommy lasorda is still in charge.  he is 'calling the shots' according to this 2013 panini hometown heroes insert

clearly he did not call jack clark's shot in the 1985 nlcs.

thanks for the cards adam!

let's hear it for the gold, white, and blue and the few nomar cards featuring him as a dodger

from the non-filed boxes of cards i've found some cards for my non-red sox nomar collection.  i started the collection when he was traded to the cubs, not knowing that he would sign with the dodgers prior to the 2006 season.  at that point, collecting nomar cards really just became part of collecting dodger cards.  unfortunately, he chose not to sign with topps after 2006, so there aren't as many cards of him wearing dodger blue as i would have liked.

anyway, here are a few of the too-few cards that feature nomar as a dodger that i recently rediscovered. 2006 bazooka came in gold chunk

regular white

and a blue parallel

plus, they all came with a terrible photoshop transformation of cubs apparel into non-existent dodger duds.

this is a 2008 upper deck piece of history timeless moments insert

the back of which is all about a two-homer game he hit for the bosox in 1998.  at least he's actually wearing dodger duds here, and we get to see his signature red sweatband.

this last one is a 2006 upper deck national card from the annual convention

that's more like it.  can't go wrong with the home whites.

and now i have no more nomars in my scanned folder.

a haphazard canada day post

july 1 snuck up on me this year - i blame the weather.  it doesn't seem like july here yet.  anyway, enjoy some cards featuring teams from north of the border.  like this 1998 fleer ultra orlando cabrera card

or this 1998 pacific crown collection mike lansing card

both of those feature double play turning expos, and the lansing also features british columbia native larry walker.  happy canada day guys!

here's a blue jay turning two (or at least trying to).  it's maicer izturis and his 2014 topps card

he's got lyle overbay bearing down on him in a game from may 2013.  izturis threw to first too late to get curtis granderson, but it still goes in my double play binder.

this 1989 upper deck neal heaton card is in my dodger stadium binder

that is most likely joey amalfitano in the background there.

i am running short of expo and blue jay cards in the scanned folder, but i did have this 1979 topps blue jays team card at the ready

it's actually the thin-stock send in version of the card.  roy hartsfield, as you might recall, was a dodger coach in the early 1970's.

eric gagne is one of two canadians to win a cy young award (fergie jenkins is the other).  here is the montreal native's 2002 upper deck superstars card

 and another one from 2004 upper deck

looks like it was game over there.

russell martin was born in toronto but grew up in quebec.  this canadian made his big league debut on cinco de mayo, as noted on this 2006 topps update & highlights rookie debut insert

 here's a crookedly scanned 2007 topps chrome refractor of the former dodger backstop

who is one of three canadians to win a gold glove (larry walker and joey votto are the others).

here's martin again on perhaps my least favorite dodger card of the last several years.  it's from 2010 topps, and it's his 'when they were young' insert

i'll take these types of cards if they show jim hunter with his dog, or sal bando in little league, but i don't need to see big leaguers in footsie pajamas.

take us home bc native and only canadian to win the american league mvp award, justin morneau.

happy canada day, eh?