27 August 2013

a spin around dodger stadium

no surprise - fleer is going to lead this tour around chavez ravine.  let's start with a 1982 fleer jim bibby
with the scoreboard in right center field over his left shoulder.  now we are moving clockwise as the scoreboard is over bill dawley's left shoulder on this 1985 fleer card
this 1982 fleer silvio martinez card gets us to the right field corner,
with the visitor's bullpen just at the edge of the card oner his right shoulder, and the field level scoreboard at the other edge over his left shoulder.  that's the same scoreboard that gary woods is hanging out near on his 1982 fleer card
always nice to see the friendly dodger stadium ushers and their straw hats!

mike lacoss is playing catch in front of the dugout seats on his 1982 fleer card
as is his teammate (and future dodger) mike vail
those seats are long gone, and may be best remembered as the location where mike brito would stand with his radar gun and cigar during games.  brito, by the way, is the scout who signed fernando and yasiel puig, along with at least a couple dozen other major league players.

next up is reggie jackson's 1981 donruss card (one of them, anyway) which gets us to the camera well next to the dodger dugout
i am guessing that this photo is from the 1980 all-star game which was played at dodger stadium.

jose oquendo's 1985 fleer card gets us further up the line to the end of the camera well
and juan eichelberger's 1982 fleer card features the start of the field level scoreboard on the third base side
here's the end of that scoreboard on frank pastore's 1982 fleer card
this card is almost identical to bob welch's 1983 fleer card - with ray knight playing the role of ron cey.  john smoltz has a very similar looking card, too.

i can't let this post go by without using some dodger cards, so here is chan ho park's 2000 topps card with the low rail down in the left field corner
with a touch of the dodger bullpen gate also visible.

this 1994 mother's piazza card of (who else) mike piazza shows the other end of the bullpen with the left field pavilion and the diamondvision board
dave anderson's 1989 upper deck card picks up where piazza's card left off (note the 370 sign on the outfield wall)
and we'll end up in right-center with tony gwynn on a 1992 fleer ultra insert card
gwynn, who played right field as you all recall, has gone to his right to catch a ball up against the outfield fence in dodger stadium.  this is likely from april 12, 1991 as the dodgers hosted the pads on opening day.  these banners (seen better on this other gwynn card from 1992 fleer ultra)
were put up to commemorate the dodgers' world series titles on the opening day games that i attended, at least.  i don't recall seeing them otherwise.

so there you have it, a virtual tour of dodger stadium.  now here's an aerial shot courtesy of the good year blimp 1988 fleer
i am quite thankful for fleer and their use of photos from dodger stadium in their sets.  much like i imagine a cubs fan appreciates 1981 donruss or a yankee fan appreciates every topps set from the 60's and 70's.

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