the start of the post-playing career card sheets from the steve garvey binders

sheet 26 in the steve garvey binder is where we find the start of his cards issued following his retirement (post-final tribute stuff, anyway).  in the beginning, these were mostly oddball releases, but once card companies began making retro-themed sets, look out! there was a garvey card explosion.

here's sheet 26

the cards:

1. 1989 smokey dodger greats
2. 1989 padres magazine
3. 1990 baseball wit
4. 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary
5. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (gibson & garvey)
6. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (football)
7. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (batting)
8. 1990 collegiate collection michigan state (posed)
9. 1990 pacific legends

here we have the first photo re-use, thanks to two dodger stadium giveaway sets, plus four cards from the michigan state spartans set.  i think the photo of garvey in his football uniform (he was a defensive back) has been used in a panini release (not entirely sure, however), but i know that the posed photo was used in last year's upper deck goodwin champions set.

i'm also missing a couple from these years - the 1989 michigan state pepsi card (never seen one), and 1990 pacific legends glossy (never bothered to find one).

here are the backs:

moving on to sheet 27, we once again see some photo re-use and a few oddballs:

those cards are:

1. 1990 swell baseball greats
2. 1991 line drive
3. 1991 swell baseball greats
4. 1992 action packed
5. 1992 mci ambassadors
6. 1993 ted williams
7. 1993 yoohoo
8. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes
9. 1994 upper deck all-time heroes (heroes of baseball)

i really appreciate that first upper deck card with the photo from the 1974 world series, and the fact that it gives some relief from all of the photos of garvey with a bat.  another item worth noting is the mci card and its photo of garvey with the dual-ear flap helmet.

and now the backs:

those mci ambassador cards were apparently distributed at military bases where select retired players appeared and played in games for the troops.  upper deck arranged some 'old-timer' games of their own, which is where the photo on the second card from the 1994 ud all-time heroes set was obtained. this was a tie-in to all of those sheets upper deck issued around that time.

speaking of sheets, we are two pages into the post-active garvey cards, and we are already in 1994.  don't fret, as there are plenty more cards to see.  stay tuned.

now that's what i call bowman

when i think of bowman these days, i think of draft picks that may or may not pan out and confusing card numbers.  i often tell prospective trading partners that i don't buy bowman products, so odds are that i don't have any dodgers from those sets.  this is usually followed by me receiving a bunch of leon landry cards, and now he'll not be wearing dodger blue if he ever makes it to the big leagues.

that's one reason i prefer the bowman cards from before topps acquired the name.  like this 1951 bowman gene hermanski card.

hermanski had been a dodger for years before this card was issued.  of course, he was traded to the cubs during the 1951 season, along with bruce edwards

that right there is a very nice looking card.  i love the color strata of the grass, dirt, and fabric backdrop.

both of those cards (and the rest of the cards you will see in this post) were sent to me by dhoff at coot veal and the vealtones.  he let me know that he had some cards for trade and we were able to work out a deal.

the first bowman cards i ever saw were from 1955 (thanks to a neighbor of mine in the late 70's).  dhoff had a johnny podres card from that set for me

podres would win the world series mvp award in the year that this card was issued.  that's pretty cool.

but then, there was a non-bowman bowman card in the trade package.  an abomination that dared to call itself 'bowman heritage'.  a shiny card from 2003 of someone named  jordan pratt

pratt was a fifth round pick of the dodgers back in 2003, and pitched his way up to aaa in 2010.  it looks like that was his last year in the dodger organization, and possibly in organized ball.  i realize that this wasn't the first year that bowman had rainbow or chrome type cards, nor was it the first year that topps issued the 'bowman heritage' brand.  it just struck me how non-bowmanesque this card was when it was included in a package along with those great vintage bowman cards above.

moving on, here's a nice oddball of everybody's favorite all-american dodger first baseman, steve garvey.

you might say he's swell, as in 1991 swell baseball greats.

marlon anderson, he of one of the back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs for the dodgers in 2006, makes an appearance

this card is from 2006 upper deck update - number 1157 in the set.  it's a short print to boot.

speaking of update, there were a couple of cards from 2010 topps update in the package, including a piece of andre ethier's all-star game workout jersey

and a golden vladdy

i am fairly shocked that vladdy hasn't made it to the big leagues in 2012.  i thought he had played fairly well for the blue jays' minor league team this year, and when he requested his release, i figured somebody would pick him up on the cheap.  i was wrong, unfortunately.

finally, dhoff hit one of my lesser known wants, sending a non-red sox nomar garciaparra card.  this one is from 2005 upper deck

nomah!

thanks dustin!

another 73 down

thanks to don who found an amos otis for me

that's a classic '73 right there with what looks to be a brewers catcher (but likely not ellie rodriguez) in the foreground.  don also sent some parallel dodgers, like this 1995 score gold rush card of rafael bournigal

who is awkwardly high-fiving a lurking mike piazza.  i can imagine the staff as they assembled the checklist:

'we need another dodger in the set'
'how about piazza?'
'he already has a couple of cards'
'well find a player who has a photo that includes the italian-american superstar slugger, even if it's a no-hit, all-field backup shortstop'
'bournigal gets a card!'

here is one of mike piazza's cards from the set

i could do without his eyes featured so prominently.

score wasn't the only company doing some weird stuff to their parallels in 1995.  here's a 1995 topps ismael valdes cyber stats card

i think topps figured ismael would have gone 3-2 if the full 1994 season had been played, and he would have suffered blisters on his fingers on three separate occasions.  you dodger fans know what i'm talking about.

i predict the-riot! on a 2010 topps update gold card

which is markedly different from the 2011 topps update cognac cards

that particular ethier card is really just a checklist.  it's interesting that topps included no further text elaborating on what it meant by 'ethier streaks through april'.  who knows what future generations will think.

back to gold - here's darryl strawberry's 1992 topps gold card

i never get tired of that card.  so cool.

finally, in a nod to sesame street, don included a card that was not like the others.  it's a 1991 swell baseball greats card of ralph branca

thanks don! hope you enjoy your 73's i sent in return.