topps panders to the team collector and serves up variations - a side by side comparison of the 2006 dodgers

for the most part, the blister team packs that topps has been selling for the past few years offer little other than a point-of-purchase distraction at the local target.  at least that was what i thought, although topps did start to market them as having an 'exclusive' card the past couple of years - be it a mascot or a manager card or whatever.  at any rate, i wound up buying the dodger sets more as a completist than anything else.  i am happy to say that there is more than just a different number on the back.  let's have a look at the 2006 dodgers.  i'll put the regular topps card on the left, and their topps dodgers team set card on the right.  we'll go in the order of the cards in the team set, starting with 'lad1', eric gagne.

eric gagne

the cards are the same, except topps, for some reason, moved their logo over to the right side of the card for the team set version.  what a variation!

rafael furcal

again, topps on the left, topps dodgers on the right.  but you can't really tell since they are the same.  right down to the airbrushing, which is actually an anomaly for topps as we shall see when we get to bill mueller.

jeff kent

here's another one where there is no difference.

cesar izturis

ditto cesar izturis.  at this point, i am wondering why i bothered.

kenny lofton

that's why.  lofton's regular topps card kept him as a phillie, and his topps dodgers version shows him nicely airbrushed into the dodger road unis, right down to the blue cleats.  topps did issue a card for lofton in the update & highlights set

which is different from the topps dodgers card.  i like it - the more variety the better.

jd drew

back to boring, which is fitting for jd drew.  just the movement of the topps logo on these cards.

bill mueller

here's another decent variation.  unlike furcal's card above, topps kept mueller in his former team's jersey (red sox) and just changed the team affiliation to the dodgers in the flagship set.  in the dodgers' team set, however, topps airbrushed the jersey and the hat to make it a little more official.  sadly, there was no update & highlights card for mueller as his career ended due to injury in may of 2006.

jose cruz jr

no difference.

brett tomko

here's the double variation - tomko is airbrushed (appropriately) into a dodger road uniform, and topps moved their logo.  tomko did pitch in the phone booth for the dodgers twice in 2006, but obviously this image ain't from either of those games.

like lofton, tomko got a card in the update & highlights set with a completely different image

i might actually like the airbrushed card better.

derek lowe

speaking of guys with card images from san francisco, here's derek lowe, whose subsequent topps cards were all about pitching on the road in at&t park.  sadly, there is no variation here.

brad penny

brad penny gets the topps logo treatment, and nothing more.

odalis perez

gets nothing, and probably doesn't like it, but nobody cares.  it's just noise at this point.

jayson werth

werth is also left out of the variation party.  on a side note, is there anyone other than don wert whose last name is in order on the standard 'qwerty' keyboard?  i will guess not thanks to most of the vowels being placed next to each other on the top row.

nomar garciaparra

finally, with card 'lad14' we get to the best of the bunch.  nomar goes from a cub in the flagship set to a dodger in the team set.  it's not as good of a job airbrushing as the shadows are different and nomar was put into the dodger home whites.  topps even airbrushed the cubbie in the dugout although they didn't put a red number on the guy's jersey.  it's basically the same card that was in the 2006 opening day set, but i still appreciate it, as it's one of the last nomar topps cards made.  he did get a card in the u&h set thanks to his all-star status

and that was it.  no more nomar.

so, of the 14 cards, we had 4 topps logo variations, 3 team variations, and 4 airbrushing variations. not bad.

we'll see what 2007 brought in a few days.

the ultimate final tribute card

even before i developed an appreciation for the 1973 topps set, i counted this card among my favorite cards ever.  it's the 1973 topps roberto clemente card.

clemente died in a plane crash on december 31, 1972 while trying to deliver supplies to nicaragua after an earthquake a week or so earlier.   i'm not sure exactly when topps issued its first series of cards for 1973, but it seems reasonable that clemente's death occurred after this card was designed.  that makes it even more perfect - the black border (that is on all 1973 topps cards), combined with the shadows gives a sort of reverence to the card.

the cartoon on the back

celebrates his final big league hit - a double of off the mets' jon matlack - which also counted as his 3000th career base knock.  it's a great thing to see that nice big round number on the bottom of his baseball card (something steve at 'wait til next year' coined a 'clemente-ism').

this 1973 roberto clemente card is one of the reasons i have such an interest in 'final tribute' cards, and it will always be one of my favorites.

a day that will live in infamy - courtesy of chan ho park, double dipper

[this is the sixteenth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, and jon garland.]

12 years ago today, the cardinals' fernando tatis hit two home runs in one inning off of the dodgers' chan ho park.  both of those home runs were grand slams.  park had a 2-0 lead heading into the top of the third and then gave up 11, highlighted by tatis' 8-rbi inning.  that's right up there with johnny vander meer's back-to-back no-hitters (one of which came against the dodgers) as far as records that will never be broken.

anyway, park was a big time pitching prospect for the dodgers in the mid-90's.  he debuted in 1994 and went on to post an 80-54 record for the dodgers through the 2001 season, including an 18-win season in 2000.  mike piazza had predicted cy young awards for park, and i was on board.

then, after a 15-win campaign and a spot on the nl all-star team in 2001 (a game in which he gave up the memorable home run to the retiring cal ripken jr), park parlayed his potential into a big free agent deal with the texas rangers.  that didn't go so well.

in texas, park was a below-.500 pitcher with an era well above 5 runs per game.  during the 2005 season, the rangers sent park to san diego for phil nevin.

park rebounded slightly in san diego, which is to say that he won more games (one) than he lost, and did manage, in 2006, to get his era back under 5.00.  he was even added to the padres' postseason roster, and pitched well in his lone nlds appearance.  after the season, he signed a deal with the mets.  in new york, park appeared in exactly one game, giving up 7 earned runs in 4 innings after which he was released.  he signed with houston, but did not appear in a game for the astros.

prior to the 2008 season, park was brought back to the dodgers.

used primarily as a reliever for the first time since 1996, park posted an era of 3.40 and notched the only 2 saves of his career.  he made 5 spot starts including a 6-inning, 4-hit, no runs, 7-strikeout performance against the angels.  park was part of the postseason squad that lost to the phillies in the nlcs, pitching in 4 games and not allowing a run in that series.  he flipped and joined philly for 2009, helping them reach the world series where they lost to the yankees, although park again appeared in 4 games without surrendering a run.  park flipped again, heading to the bronx for the 2010 season.  this time, he didn't end up in the postseason, but in pittsburgh after he was waived by the yankees in august.  despite pitching well for the bucs for the last couple of months of the season, park has not found a team willing to sign him for the 2011 season.  that's not how i, or mike piazza, thought it would turn out.

here's to you, chan ho park - dodger double dipper!

wards of the league

bud is in control.

which way will the dodgers go?  as the expos/nationals from montreal to washington via puerto rico, or as the rangers who made the world series in their year of turmoil?  my guess, sadly, is that mccourt will fight and a fire sale will commence.  maybe matt kemp will enjoy his visit to target field in june enough to stick around?

it will be nice to see attendance pick up again, assuming that the ticket holders come back once frank is out.

but who knows how long that will take?  frank's favortie game - litigation - will take years.  with the rangers, hicks was an eager seller, and with the expos, there was no owner to get in the way.  i'm not sure what bud's exit strategy is, but i really hope this is a surgical strike and not a drawn out quagmire.  giggity.

[thanks for the 1966 topps ruboff, dfg.]

jon garland, double dipper

[this is the fifteenth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, and mike maddux.]

now that it's official, i'll add jon garland to the list of dodger double dippers.  official, as in garland finally made his first appearance for the dodgers after rejoining them following a year sabbatical in san diego.  you'll recall that garland pitched for the blue over the last couple of months of the 2009 season and did fairly well - he was 3-2 with a 2.72 era.  he was thusly rewarded with this 2010 topps card

later, garland appeared in topps' update series as a padre since he signed a free agent deal with them before the start of the 2010 season

after a 14-win season in san diego, garland was once again a free agent and ned was stocking up on starting pitching.  garland chose to return to los angeles, and he made his first start of the season after a bout of forearm stiffness.  it didn't go so well as he gave up 5 runs against the cardinals, but there's always next time.  as in tomorrow.

garland is featured in 2011 topps heritage as a dodger (sans hat) but i prefer this card from the 2011 topps dodgers team set

welcome back jon! 

the evolution of the left fielder, part 1

i'll start the left fielder evolution in the mid-50's with world series hero sandy amoros.  i'm starting there essentially because that's when baseballreference starts to differentiate the outfield positions on their team pages.  i'm lazy.

sandy amoros (1954-1956)

that 1955 topps card is sandy's rookie card, although he was a veteran of the negro leagues and debuted in the majors in 1954.  he's best remembered for his catch of a yogi berra fly ball that turned into a double play in game 7 of the 1955 world series, but amoros hit a home run in that series, and had an ops of 1.113.  unfortunately for amoros, he didn't do as well in the 1956 series, managing just one hit in 19 at bats.

gino cimoli (1957)

cimoli took over in left for the 1957 season, and made a splash.  by the way - i appreciate his 1958 card shown above because it looks like topps got rid of his bat for some reason.  cimoli established career highs in many categories during 1957, his first full season, and even made the all-star team.  he hit 10 homers, batted .293 and drove in 57 runs while playing 80 of his 142 games in left.  in the all-star game, cimoli appeared as a pinch hitter for pitcher larry jackson and struck out against billy pierce.  it was his only career all-star game appearance.

in 1958, cimoli shifted to center field and jim gilliam came from the infield to cover left.

jim gilliam (1958)

in total, gilliam only played 70 games in left field in 1958, but that was more games than anyone else.  the dodgers used a total of 13 different players out there in their first year in los angeles, including gil hodges, don zimmer and the previous year's left fielder, gino cimoli.  i am guessing noone was too comfortable playing in the short porch of the coliseum.

gilliam actually played all three outfield positions, as well as second and third, in 1958.  he made just one error in left, and had 5 assists from the position.  he also scored 81 runs and finished 19th in the league mvp voting.  in 1959, gilliam went back to being an infielder, so once again, a new face showed up in left field.

wally moon (1959-1961)

moon (and his fantastic unibrow as displayed on this 1959 topps card) had been acquired during the offseason in a trade with the cardinals for the aforementioned cimoli.  he took over in left and stayed there for three seasons - good seasons, in fact.  in 1959, moon led the league in triples and made the all-star team as the starting left fielder (he went 0 for 2 with a walk in the game).  he also finished 4th in the league mvp voting and helped the dodgers win their first world series title in los angeles.  in 1960, moon won a gold glove for his play in left (he had 14 assists), and in 1961, he hit .328 (4th best in the league) and led the league with an obp of .434.

moon began the 1962 season as the dodgers' starting left fielder, but moved to first base in late april to make room for 23-year old tommy davis. 

tommy davis (1962-1964)

davis had placed 5th in the 1960 nl roy voting and had been playing all three outfield positions with a little third base thrown in the mix during his first two years in the league.  in late april of 1962, walter alston stuck him in left field and let him take root.  the result was two of the greatest seasons in dodger history.  davis won back-to-back batting titles, hitting .346 in 1962 and .326 in 1963.  his 230 hits and 153 rbi in 1962 are still a dodger single season record.  for his efforts, davis made the all-star team both years, and finished 3rd and 8th in the mvp voting, respectively.  in the 1962 all-star games, he was a combined 0 for 5 as the starting left fielder for the national league.  in 1963, he again made the start and was 1 for 3 with a walk and scored the winning run for the nl squad.  later that year, davis hit .400 in the 1963 world series, helping the dodgers sweep the yankees and win their second title in 5 seasons. 

davis had a down year in 1964, hitting just .275 but still drove in 86 runs.  an injury in the 1965 season opened the door for another left fielder to take over.
lou johnson (1965-1967)

lou johnson stepped in after tommy davis injured his ankle early in 1965, and helped the dodgers get to the world series.  sweet lou  was acquired by the dodgers in april of 1964, but didn't play for the big club until 1965.  as davis' replacement, johnson hit .259 with 12 home runs and played good defense, helping stabilize the outfield.  the dodgers made it back to the world series, where johnson hit 2 home runs, including the game 7 solo shot that gave koufax the only run he needed to beat the twins and give the dodgers another championship.  johnson had a better year in 1966, and again helped the dodgers get to the world series, although they were swept by the orioles that year.  in 1967, he hit .270 while playing just 81 games in left, and was dealt to the cubs after the season ended.

len gabrielson (1968)

the dodgers had acquired gabrielson from the angels during the 1967 season.  he played a scant 57 games in left field for the dodgers in 1968, but that was more than any of the 8 other players the dodgers put out there.  they used wes parker, jim lefebvre, jim fairey, ted savage, al ferrara, cleo james, willie crawford, and even had rocky colavito for a short time in left.  in another strange twist to the season, gabrielson wound up leading the team with 10 home runs that year.  year of the pitcher, indeed. 

after the season, buzzie bavasi went to the padres, and al campanis took over as general manager.  he made a deal to bring some stability back to the position, landing manny mota from the expos.

manny mota (1969-1970, 1972-1973)

mota wasn't acquired until june, but still played more games as the dodgers' left fielder in 1969 than anyone else.  he hit .323 as a dodger, and then followed that up with a .305 campaign in 1970.  in 1971, mota split time between left and right to make way for willie crawford, but wound up reclaiming the starting left fielder job towards the end of the season.  in 1972, he hit .323 and earned some mvp votes.  he hit .314 and made the all-star team in 1973.  it was the lone all-star appearance of his career, and he pinch hit (not for pedro borbon) for dave giusti and grounded out.  while mota still played more games in left than any other dodger in 1973, he was easing into a platoon/pinch-hitting role that season. 
willie crawford (1971)

local prep star willie crawford was technically the dodgers' primary left fielder in 1971, although he and mota both appeared in 63 games there (crawford made 55 starts to mota's 47).  he and mota were also pretty close in 1969 (56 games/45 starts for willie to 64/54 for mota).  in 1971, crawford was only 24 even though it must have seemed he had been around forever - he had debuted in 1964 as a 17-year old - and he hit .281 with 9 homers and 40 rbi.  he would be moved to right field on a more permanent basis, so we'll see more of him when i get to the evolution of the right fielder someday.

that's all for part 1; be on the lookout for some sweet bill buckner eyebrows in part 2, coming soon.

1973 topps photography in my mailbox

my recent posting of 1973 topps goodness and a want list caught the eye of chris from 1973 topps photography recently, and he sent me some cards to check off of my list.  here are a few nice ones.

norm angelini-steve blateric-mike garman rookie card

in all of it's miscut glory.  mike garman is a member of the 1978 topps dodgers, so i already had this card in my 'evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers' binder, but this version fits nicely into my condition-non-sensitive set.  and, for those of you keeping track at home, yes, i have 3 copies of the mike schmidt rookie card - one for my topps dodger team sets from 1970 on, one for my set, and one for the aforementioned evolutionary binder.  i am a fool.

speaking of dodgers, here's willie crawford.

crawford debuted for the dodgers in 1964 when he was just 17!  by the time this card came out, he was encsconsed in right field for the blue.

mike hedlund

ginger!  and airbrushed ginger at that!

here's a back - john callison

no mention of john wesley harding.  i guess dylan was still too counter culture for topps in 1973.

another back, this one to point out that chris speier wasn't always a bad guy

he had his head on straight as a youngster - too bad he wore a giants' uniform which made me think less of him while i was growing up.

here's another giant, bobby bonds

with a lurking willie stargell.  the card is as much of pops as it is of barry's pop.  i had to go find my stargell card from the set to compare

man, i love 1973 topps photography.  thanks chris!