a baseball card celebration of the dodgers and the infield of my youth.
i wrote about perconte a while back and there is really nothing more to add, other than he is a fast ttm return, and has a nice signature. as for the card itself, the ultimate goal here is to get fernando and scioscia to sign it, too. we'll see how that goes.
i guess we learned that poor pitch selection at the plate, coupled with poor pitching on the mound, is no way to advance to the world series. congrats to the phillies - just be sure to beat the yankees, too.
i don't know why topps made the 2006 heritage set so washed out - these 57s have some great color. the color on this card is enhanced by the advertisements on the outfield fence, the grass, and, of course the dodgers uniforms. although the photographer is kind of off-center, and even though the silver fox is not looking at the camera, the card is perfect. 
muted color (the dodgers aren't even wearing uniforms with the red numbers on them!), non-linear player placement, and off centering of the subject players, and you get a poor man's version of the 1957 masterpiece, even if everyone is looking at the camera.
come on, manny! "shower" us with runs batted in!
the first ever pick in the amatuer draft hit just .191 in those 31 games, appearing primarily as a pinch hitter. his final home run came on may 5 against cecilio guante of the pirates. it was a 3-run, pinch hit homer which temporarily gave the dodgers the lead in a game they would eventually lose in extra innings. sadly, his last 6 at bats ended in strikeouts.
we'll start with a 1972 willie davis.
hard to tell that it's not a topps card, although it is a different card stock. i should have scanned the backs. oh well. looks like willie's eyes are closed. i never noticed that before.
1977 steve garvey
not a variation, per se, but it does lack the 'nl all star' banner at the bottom. it also lacks that annoying scratch or hair that most 1977 topps garveys seem to have on the left side.
here we get the bilingual-ality of o-pee-chee, plus the logo.
more bilingual-ness and the o-pee-chee moniker. i think this is a picture from candlestick.
the only difference here is the o-pee-chee label in the lower left. did you know dave anderson is the rangers' third base coach? me neither.
o-pee-chee was really lazy in 1990. they didn't even remove the topps text from the fronts of the cards. the cards are shinier though, kind of like topps traded.
here's a non-topps design issue. tommy lasorda lurking in the dugout, along with someone in mid-farmer blow.
back to using the o-pee-chee label.
coincidentally, i received a couple cards from mr. reuss in the mail today (will be featured another time), along with a sticker stating "coming soon, jerryreuss.com!"
i won't go on too much because i post a lot about garvey already, but to receive signed cards (he also signed this 1988 score)
from your favorite player is pretty darned cool. i was excited when i opened the envelope, that's for sure.
