heroes, legends, greats, and fan favorites in the steve garvey binders

sheet 41 of the steve garvey binders takes us from world series heroes in 2002 to donruss legends in 2003.  have a look.

those cards are:

1. 2002 upper deck world series heroes classic world series moments (with catfish hunter relic)
2. 2002 upper deck world series heroes classic world series moments (with thurman munson relic)
3. 2002 upper deck world series heroes classic world series moments gray relic (with dave winfield)
4. 2002 upper deck world series heroes classic world series moments white relic (with dave winfield)
5. 2003 donruss classics legend
6. 2003 donruss classics legend timeless tributes
7. 2003 donruss classics legend significant signatures auto
8. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer
9. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto (black ink)

more relic color variants, and now we'll see some signature variants as well.  the nine cards on that page feature only two different photos of the garv.

here are the backs:

sheet 42 also contains 9 cards with only two different photos:

those cards are:

1. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto (blue ink)
2. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto notations (81 ws)
3. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto century notations (6)
4. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto century notations (81 ws)
5. 2003 donruss team heroes
6. 2003 donruss team heroes glossy
7. 2003 donruss team heroes chicago collection
8. 2003 donruss team heroes master set
9. 2003 donruss team heroes statline

here are the backs:

while the second card on the sheet is numbered to 75, the century notation cards are numbered to 100, and donruss obviously had garvey go back and add different notations to his sticker sheets in order to produce planned notation variants.  why they varied the print run and type of cards with the same notation (81 ws) is beyond me, but at least the variations are documented.  there are also notations of his mvp year and one other i think.

sheet 43 brings the padres back to the collection:

those cards are:

1. 2003 donruss team heroes auto
2. 2003 fleer flair greats
3. 2003 fleer flair greats home team
4. 2003 fleer flair greats home team cuts relic
5. 2003 padres carl's jr.
6. 2003 playoff prestige signature impressions auto
7. 2003 topps all-time fan favorites
8. 2003 topps all-time fan favorites refractor
9. 2003 topps all-time fan favorites auto

a couple of notes worth making - the flair greats home team card was from a kind of extension to the regular flair greats set.  the dodgers, along with the giants and a couple of other teams had a few of these extra cards.  also, i recall the all-time fan favorite card being referenced in beckett's review of the product as one of the cards that misses the mark.  a photo of garvey from 1980 on the 1973 design does look odd, i will agree.

here are the backs:

good to see the carl's jr happy star on the back of the middle card.  western bacon cheeseburgers were a staple of my college days in socal.  i also find it interesting that the cartoon from garvey's original 1973 topps card was kept for the atff set,  still factual, but given the drama surrounding his relationship with cyndy, topps could have opted for something else since they had to update the stats on the back anyway.

plenty more garvey goodness to come - stay tuned...

sunday morning target dodgers - the penultimate sheet edition

so far, i've shown 1,060 cards from the 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary giveaway set.  that means that there are only two more sheets of 15 cards to show.  here's the next to last sheet:

ed goodson

when i started following the dodgers in 1977, i recognized that ed goodson had the unenviable job of being a backup first baseman on the team for which steve garvey played.  goodson played in the field in only 17 games for the dodgers in '77 (13 at first, including one complete game in which garvey only appeared as a pinch hitter, and 4 at third).  however goodson did play several games at third base for the blue in 1976 after being acquired along with dusty baker from the braves.  still, he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter in his two seasons with the club, hitting .273 in 62 plate appearances in that role in '76, but just .182 in 45 pinch-hitting plate appearances in '77.

dixie howell

not to be confused with another dixie howell who played at the same time, the dodgers' howell was originally signed by the team in 1938.  he didn't reach the big leagues until 1947, however, following a trade with the pirates.  he eventually returned to brooklyn in a 1952 trade, and played for the dodgers in 1953, 1955, and 1956.  howell did not appear in the world series in any of those seasons, and he hit just .250 in 24 regular season games for the dodgers.

lyn lary

as lary's 12-year big league career was coming to a close, he played for three teams during the 1939 season. he began the year with the indians and finished it with the cardinals, but in between, he played in 29 games for the dodgers.  he hit .161 with a double, triple, and a single rbi for the man who holds the yankee season record for rbi (107) by a shortstop.

al lopez

hall of fame catcher al lopez caught more games than anyone else up until bob boone broke his record in the late 1980's.  of his 1.918 games caught, close to 750 came with the robins/dodgers from 1928 through 1935.  he played in a total of 762 games for the franchise over that timeframe, but spent a few complete games in the infield and had some other appearances as a pinch-hitter.  he hit .279 for brooklyn overall, and hit the last 'bounce' home run in major league history in 1930 while with the robins.

lee magee

magee's given last name was hoernschemeyer, which is longer than hollandsworth and would have been the longest surname in franchise history.  however, he opted for magee.  playing for brooklyn towards the end of his career, magee began the 1919 season with the robins, and hit .238 in 45 games. he was traded to the cubs in june after the robins' organization heard rumblings of his association with gamblers and rumors of magee betting against his team while he was with the reds in 1918. following the 1919 season, magee did admit that he had bet on a game (he claimed he bet on the reds while other evidence showed he had bet against them and did indeed try to throw the game) and he was banned.  a few months later, the black sox scandal was brought to light.

mike a. marshall

marshall, or general soreness, never faced the other mike marshall, although their careers did overlap in 1981.  this mike marshall was one of the dodger prospects that i, along with legion other dodger fans, were anxiously awaiting in 1981.  he had hit .373 in triple-a albuquerque with 34 homers and 137 rbi that year (good enough to win the pcl triple crown), and received a september call-up.  yes, even though he was a first baseman and i was a huge fan of steve garvey, i wanted to see marshall in the majors.  i figured the dodgers would move him to the outfield anyway, which they eventually did.  however, they also let garvey go after the 1982 season.  whatever, marshall stayed with the dodgers through the 1989 season, after which he was traded to the mets.  he had struggled with injuries throughout his career (even reportedly sitting out a game due to general soreness), but did lead the 1988 dodgers with 82 rbi.  my lasting mike marshall memory comes from 1988.  i was at the dodger/met game on august 24 that year.  orel hershiser was 17-7 going into the game, and the mets were the best team in the national league. me and some friends were able to wrangle tickets a few rows up from the dodger dugout from another friend's dad (a longtime season ticket holder) and headed to the game.  marshall hit an rbi double off of future dodger bob ojeda in the fourth to score the first run of the game.  hershiser was dealing zeroes through seven, and it was feeling very much like a playoff game.  leading off the top of the 8th, mookie wilson hit a fly ball to right that i believe marshall misplayed.  wilson wound up on third with a triple, and the mets scored two runs that inning and beat orel and the dodgers 2-1.  it turned out to be the second of hershiser's eight straight complete games as well as his last loss of the regular season, and it was during his next start (in the 5th inning, to be exact) that the bulldog began his record breaking scoreless streak.

russ meyer

meyer pitched for the dodgers from 1953-1955, and he appeared in both the '53 and '55 world series.  in the latter, meyer threw 5.2 innings of scoreless relief in game 6.  he was 32-13 for the dodgers during the regular season over those three years, despite an era of 4.47.

dee moore

moore's big league career began in 1936 with the reds. he pinch-hit in a couple of games, but in his first appearance as a defensive player in a major league game, moore was not catching, but pitching.  he threw five innings in relief (allowing an unearned run) and later was the starting pitcher in the reds' final game of the season, pitching two scoreless innings.  moore didn't pitch in the majors again after that, and after being out of the big leagues for a few years, he found himself with the dodgers for the start of the 1943 season.  he hit .253 in 37 games for brooklyn as a catcher and third baseman before the phillies selected him on waivers.

walt moryn

the pride of saint paul, minnesota, moryn was signed by the dodgers in 1948 and eventually got to play in his home town when the dodgers moved their triple-a affiliate from montreal to the saintly city.  he was called up to the show by the dodgers in 1954 and again in 1955, although he didn't see playing time in the world series in '55.  following the 1955 season, moryn was traded to the cubs where he was an all-star in 1958.

john purdin

purdin pitched for the dodgers in 1964 and 1965, and then again in 1968 and 1969 after being held in the minors in 1966 and 1967.  the second appearance of his career, his first career start, resulted in a two-hit shutout of the cubs on september 30, 1964, and he earned his second win a few days later on the last day of the season.  purdin won two games again in 1965, but his era jumped from 0.56 to 6.75, and his next two seasons were spent in the minors. purdin spent all of 1968 with the big club, winning (again) two games - this time with a more respectable 3.07 era.  1969 was his last season in the majors, and purdin was held decision-less for the first time, appearing in only nine games for the dodgers.  purdin wound up with the white sox (and was included in the 1971 topps set), but he never returned to the majors after the 1969 season.

vicente romo

there was no romo-mania in 1968 when romo made his big league debut with the dodgers, or in 1982 when he returned to the club to fulfill his double dipper destiny. i wrote about the adventures of romo here, if you are interested in learning more.

harry smythe

smythe began the 1934 season with the yankees, but was acquired by the dodgers in late may. with brooklyn, he pitched in 8 games, winning one and losing one.  smythe then returned to the international league where he continued his previous success, and ultimately was elected to the il hall of fame.

joe vosmik

after spending the entire 1930's playing in the american league, vosmik brought his .311 lifetime average to brooklyn where he promptly hit a respectable .282 in 116 games.  in 1941, however, vosmik was batting just .196 after appearing in 25 games and was released by the dodgers.

hank webb

acquired from the mets for rick auerbach, webb pitched in 5 games for the 1977 dodgers (which means i created a 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update card that should have been for him). in 8 innings of relief work over the course of those 5 games, webb allowed only two runs but earned no decisions.  webb's son, ryan, was acquired by the dodgers in april, but was released soon thereafter and is now pitching for the indians.

whitey witt

witt was the third outfielder in the yankee outfield of the early 1920's, playing alongside babe ruth and bob meusel until earle combs came along in 1925.  he was released by the yanks on july 4, 1925, and was later signed by the brooklyn robins.  witt played in 63 games for brooklyn in 1926, hitting .259 with just 2 extra base hits.

i'll have the final sheet of the set next week. stay tuned...

pennys (and other dodgers) from bob walk the plank

brad penny cards are not quite like bad pennies - they don't show up everywhere - but when they do show up in a trade package, i am thankful.  matthew from bob walk the plank recently sent some cards my way, and there were two brad pennys in the package.

2005 leaf century collection brad penny auto

and 2005 upper deck mlb artifacts brad penny relic

penny was a two-time all-star while with the dodgers, winning 16 games in both 2006 and 2007. he is the most recent dodger pitcher to start the all-star game, although that might change this year if greinke gets the nod.

penny was teammates with kaz ishii for a short time in 2004.  then, after just three seasons with the dodgers, ishii was traded to the mets prior to the 2005 season. however, the residue of nomomania meant that there was a glut of ishii cards on the market. matthew sent me a couple

2004 playoff prestige kaz ishii relic

2004 topps clubhouse collection kax ishii relic

for some reason i thought that the ishii relic from clubhouse collection was short printed, but i don't see that assumption validated anywhere.  at any rate, this relic is new to my collection.

matthew sent me my first certified john candelaria as a dodger auto card last time we traded, and now he has sent me my second.

2014 leaf memories 1991 leaf buyback john candelaria auto

and, going for three lefty dodger pitchers in a row, here's a 2005 donruss greats tommy lasorda relic card

donruss ripped off fleer with their greats of the game/dodger blues relic set, but i am not upset by it.  tommy is shown, of course, as the manager of the los angeles dodgers, but donruss also issued a card in this set with the die-cut relic reveal in the shape of the brooklyn 'b' in honor of his (short) stint as a pitcher for the bums.  they used the same photo, however.

the relic set also included burleigh grimes, sandy koufax, duke snider, don sutton, and orel hershiser - matthew sent the bulldog's card

like lasorda, i believe that koufax and snider each have brooklyn and los angeles versions of their cards.

not all of the cards matthew sent were autos or relics. no, there were also serial numbered die-cuts, like this 2003 donruss elite adrian beltre aspirations card

and there was a gold parallel insert - this 1998 donruss studo mike piazza studio proofs gold card

all of the cards were happily accepted and appreciated.  thanks matthew - i will have some cards out to you soon!

2002 has a good run in the steve garvey binders

sheets 36-40 of the steve garvey binders, like sheet 35 and most of sheet 34 before them, consist of nothing but cards from 2002.  there are lots of inserts and parallels and just good ol' garvey goodness.  have a look.

here's sheet 36:

those cards are:

1. 2002 fleer greats of the game
2. 2002 fleer greats of the game unredeemed autograph redemption card
3. 2002 fleer greats of the game certified auto
4. 2002 leaf clubhouse signatures (bronze)
5. 2002 leaf clubhouse signatures (silver)
6. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic
7. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (debut year) with patch
8. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (debut year)
9. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (position)

true story: when i redeemed one of my 2002 fleer greats of the game autograph redemption cards (back then you had to mail them in), fleer sent back two copies of the certified auto card.  i picked up another redemption card later on and kept it to restore balance to the universe.

i am missing the gold version (numbered to 25) of the leaf clubhouse signatures card, but i have two versions of the leaf certified debut year relic, because one has a patch piece and the other doesn't.  i am weird like that when it comes to garvey relics as we have seen before and will see again later.

here are the backs:

i didn't mention that the debut year relics are numbered to 69 (garvey debuted in 1969), but i don't know why the position relic is numbered to 45.  seems random.

the fabric of the game parade continues on sheet 37:

those cards are:

1. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (jersey number)
2. 2002 topps archives
3. 2002 topps archives certified auto
4. 2002 topps archives relic
5. 2002 topps archives reserve
6. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (gold)
7. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (platinum)
8. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (titanium)
9. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (gold)

the jersey number relic is a fairly new addition to my steve garvey collection (it's numbered to 6), and the archives certified auto was pulled from a pack by yours truly.  that was some good karma coming to fruition that day.

i appreciate the gold label cards, as the first three use the photo from garvey's 1978 topps card with his 1974 topps card there in the background. the next three (two of which are on the next sheet) use his 1971 topps card photo with the 1978 card in the background.

here are the backs:

not much variation to the backs of the cards on this sheet.

as i mentioned, the mlb awards ceremony bat relics continue on sheet 38:

those cards are:

1. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (platinum)
2. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (titanium)
3. 2002 topps traded who would have thought
4. 2002 topps traded who would have thought (gold)
5. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought
6. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought (refractor)
7. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought (black refractor)
8. 2002 topps tribute
9. 2002 topps tribute lasting impressions parallel

i was pretty excited to see that garvey was included in the 'who would have thought' subset in the 2002 topps traded set, but i was even happier that he was on the checklist for 2002 topps tribute after being left out of the inaugural 2001 release (even though his number was one of just two retired by the padres at the time).

here are the backs:

the lasting impressions parallel is numbered to 87, which was garvey's last season in the big leagues.

topps tribute spills over onto sheet 39:

those cards are:

1. 2002 topps tribute first impressions parallel
2. 2002 topps tribute matching marks dual relic with gil hodges
3. 2002 upper deck piece of history
4. 2002 upper deck piece of history mvp club insert
5. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes insert
6. 2002 upper deck piece of history mvp club relic
7. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes relic
8. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes relic (with pinstripe)
9. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts

nice to see garvey and gil hodges on a card together. they are on that particular card because both drove in over 1250 runs in their respective careers. garvey got just past 1300, while hodges topped out at 1274.  here we see my need for relic variations again, but the next sheet is even worse.

here are the backs:

it's worth noting that, on this sheet and the next, there are 16 cards produced by upper deck from 4 different sets that use only six different photos (counting the backs).

sheet 40 is chock full of relics:

those cards are:

1. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts relic (bat)
2. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts relic (jersey)
3. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics
4. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (bat)
5. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (cream jersey)
6. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (cream/dirty jersey)
7. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (white jersey)
8. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (brown jersey)
9. 2002 upper deck world series heroes

in 2002, i actually called upper deck to find out how many different jerseys they used for garvey's sweet spot classics relics because it sure looked to me like there were three. they confirmed the use of a cream or off-white jersey which must have been from the minors unless the pads home whites were actually an off-white.  whatever. i was most happy that they used a photo of garvey from the 1978 world series with the jim gilliam memorial patch.

here are the backs:

and we aren't done with 2002 just yet.  stay tuned.

10-plus years of matt kemp dodger cardboard are coming to an end

it took 11 years, but i finally picked up a 2005 bowman chrome matt kemp autograph card

it's not the refractor version, so it didn't take too much to acquire.  around the same time, i picked up a 2015 topps kemp rainbow foil parallel insert

bookends of a dodger career, to an extent.

it's no secret that matt kemp was my favorite dodger, and so i do wish he were playing better for the padres.  he's played in every game so far, but his home run total (1), average, and on-base percentage are not close to what he would normally have at this point in a season.

i don't own a matt kemp 1/1, so i fall short of the pentafecta in my collection, but i did add a 2013 topps triple threads relic card numbered 7/9 to my collection recently

it was the red patch that compelled me to land this card.

i've avoided 'matt kemp as a padre' cards so far (2015 topps gypsy queen might be the only release to feature him in padre duds to date, now that i think about it), but i am sure that pretty soon i'll have to decide whether to keep collecting his cards or not.  either way, i'll still have the best years of kemp's career on cardboard.

arrueba… arruebarr… arruebarr-ain't playing here no more (for this year, anyway)

so, it's tough to get a verbal joke across with written text (think office space), but i saw recently that dodger infielder erisbel arruebarrena had been suspended by the team indefinitely for some sort of infraction. it could be that he refused to report to triple-a after clearing waivers and being removed fromt he 40-man roster.  he's still under contract, however, so he could be back next season.

for some reason, arruebarrena was given a short print photo variation in 2014 topps update

and, as you can imagine, i was able to pick one up on the (very) cheap even before the suspension was announced.

ever since the 2012 topps traded super short print dodger card debacle i no longer strive to get all of these flagship/traded sp's, especially since the puig and kershaw sp's don't seem to have had their bin prices reduced even with an extended disabled list stint for puig and a slow-ish start for kershaw.

there's a new most wanted card in town

for a long time, perhaps for as long as i have had the nefarious 9 (my most wanted cards) listed on the sidebar of this blog, the card at the top of the list was a 2007 upper deck sweet spot classic steve garvey/reggie smith dual signatures card.

now i have one.

this is a gold stitch version which is numbered to 15.  and, it's 08/15 which means it's an ebay 1/1, since that's reggie smith's jersey number.  good thing there don't seem to be any reggie smith supercollectors. i am joking about the ebay 1/1 nonsense, but i am happy about the lack of competition for this card as i picked it up for less than i had anticipated.  the signatures are bleeding, but at least they are not completely faded like some cards from this set.

i suppose i still am on the lookout for the regular version of the card, but i've removed it from the most wanted list. that means that anyone who finds a 2008 donruss threads steve garvey /250 parallel will be rewarded!