an invitation from steve garvey and more via jaybarkerfan's junk

i don't know how he does it, but wes from jaybarkerfan's junk continues to find some great stuff to send my way.  he recently sent me an oversized package that contained this gem

i had never heard of sports america club, but i figure i would have signed up if i had been aware.  of course, that's when i thought it was a 1981 or 1982 endeavor, due to garvey showing up with a dodger hat on the front of the letter and the choice between donruss, topps, fleer, or 'other' as my favorite card manufacturer on the back.  however, it turns out that this was a thing in 1988 - the year after garvey retired.  here's an image of an actual sports america club kit that i found on ebay

note the presence of 1988 cards around the inset photo of garvey in a dodger helmet.  knowing it was from '88, i can say that i would not have joined, even though i was promised a personalized, signed photo of the garv himself.

wes also included a (sort of) bipping of kevin gross cards - four 1991 fleer cards

and a singular 1992 upper deck card

there was also a legitimate bipping of 2007 tristar prospects plus chris withrow cards

that's one - here are the other four

my collection went from zero of these cards to five in the matter of one package.

rounding out some of the more notable cards wes sent, we have the fantastically sunglassed steve yeager on his 1981 fleer card

pedro guerrero's last dodger card from 1988 topps

which may have been included in a sports america club kit, now that i think about it

a 1992 topps stadium club mitch webster

because nobody else is showing you mitch webster cards

a target red parallel of hanley ramirez's 2013 topps card

and a 2013 topps museum collection hyun-jin ryu

which actually did the traditional korean last name first thing. a tip of the cap to topps and to wes for another great package of dodger goodness!

the evolution of the dodgers' first baseman, part 2

in the first installment of the evolution of dodger first basemen, we ended with hall of famer eddie murray signing a free agent deal with the mets, making room for someone else on the evolutionary chain.  the dodgers acquired todd benzinger via trade shortly after losing murray, but a rookie ultimately won the job in spring training.

eric karros (1992-2002)

yes, for 11 seasons, karros was the dodgers' first baseman.  that is the longest tenure since gil hodges, who just happened to be karros' dad's favorite player.  karros (shown on his 1992 upper deck card) was never an all-star, but he put up solid numbers.  he won the 1992 nl rookie of the year award with 20 homers and 88 rbi, and had probably his best all-around season in 1995.  that year, he led the dodgers to the postseason for the first time since 1988 with a .298 average and 32 homers and 105 rbi - good enough to win the silver slugger and finish 5th in the mvp voting. he also hit 2 homers with a .500 average in the nlds against the reds, but the dodgers were swept.  following the 2002 season, karros was traded to the cubs, but his name remains at or near the top of many los angeles dodger leader boards today.  karros is the all-time la dodger leader in home runs (270), and he is fourth (behind bill russell, willie davis, and steve garvey) in games played.  he trails only davis and garvey in total bases and doubles, and only garvey in rbi.  karros is also currently the all-time la dodger leader in strikeouts, but matt kemp (should he remain a dodger next year) will pass him as soon as he k's 54 more times.

i suspect that the karros/mark grudzielanek for todd hundley/chad hermanson deal was a salary dump (the dodgers saved themselves over $10 million (if one assumes that karros' option would have kicked in) with the trade, even taking on hundley's salary.  the dodgers had paul loduca behind the plate, so they didn't need hundley, but they did need a first baseman to replace karros.  so, they took the guy who had been playing there for the cubs.

fred mcgriff (2003)

a couple of weeks after trading karros to the cubs, the dodgers signed former southsider first baseman fred mcgriff.  that's his 2003 playoff prestige card, giving a sort of o-pee-chee vibe.  the crime dog had joined the cubs during the 2001 season after it became apparent that the team had gotten rid of mark grace too soon - matt stairs wasn't cutting it as grace's replacement.  mcgriff, who had averaged 30 home runs a season in his previous 16 seasons, needed just 22 to reach 500 for his career, and i sure thought that he would do it with the dodgers.  unfortunately, mcgriff hit only 13 home runs while playing in only 86 games.  in fact, he started only 79 games at first base, with jim tracy using seven other players at first (including ron coomer, robin ventura, daryle ward, paul loduca, mike kinkade, larry barnes, and even jolbert cabrera).  mcgriff returned to the devil rays for the 2004 season, but still fell 7 homers shy of 500.

shawn green (2004)

green, shown playing first on his 2005 upper deck card, had moved to the infield following the team's acquisition of milton bradley just prior to the beginning of the 2004 season.  earlier in spring training, green had worked out at first, but jim tracy said that he would be playing right field once the season began.  so much for that.  2004 turned out to be green's swan song for the dodgers, and he hit 28 homers with 86 rbi and a .266 average.  he also hit 3 homers in the nlds against the cardinals that year.  i was a big shawn green fan even before he joined the dodgers, and i was sad to see him go.

hee-seop choi (2005)

that's a 2005 bowman sterling bat relic card of hee-seop choi, once thought to be the answer for the cubs at first base following the departure of the aforementioned fred mcgriff and some seasoning behind karros.  instead, the cubs dealt choi to the marlins for derrek lee (a good deal as it turned out), and the fish sent choi to the dodgers in the 2004 trade that broke jim tracy's heart.  ok, that might be a bit extreme, but tracy lamented the loss of paul loduca in that trade, and i'm not completely certain that he didn't take some of his frustration out on choi.  choi began the 2005 season as the team's first baseman, and wound up hitting 15 homers with 42 rbi in 133 games, only 78 of which were starts at first base.  choi participated in the home run derby during the all-star break (he had hit 3 homers in a game against the twins in june and 6 in the series against the twinkies) but was essentially just a pinch hitter for tracy following the break.  he lost most of his starts to olmedo saenz in the second half.

nomar garciaparra (2006)

nomah! that's nomar's 2006 upper deck sweet spot update card - not sure why upper deck issued an update to sweet spot, but i'll take it.  there are too few cards of nomar as a dodger.  nomar had never played first base in the major leagues before joining the dodgers, but that's all he played in 2006.  he appeared in 122 games for the dodgers that year, 117 of which were starts at first.  as the nl comeback player of the year, nomar hit .303 with 20 homers, 82 runs scored, and 93 runs driven in.  he made the all-star team and finished 13th in the mvp voting, while helping the dodgers reach the postseason.  despite a move to third in 2007, nomar still played more games at first base, but not as many as james loney, the next step on the evolutionary chain.

james loney (2007-2012)

after four 'one and done' first basemen, loney (shown on a 2008 upper deck baseball heroes relic card) brought some stability back to the position.  he hit .331 as a rookie in 2007 in 96 games (85 of which were starts at first) and also hit 15 home runs.  other than a dip in 2010, loney was pretty consistent in his first few seasons with the dodgers, driving in around 90 runs and hitting in the high .280's.  he was slumping in 2012, batting just .254 with 4 homers and 33 rbi after 114 games played, when he was traded to the red sox in the megadeal that landed the dodgers their current first baseman.

adrian gonzalez (2013-present)

that's gonzalez's 2013 topps finest card, by the way.  gonzalez hit .297 as a dodger during the 2012 season after the trade, and then hit .293 in his first full season with the club.  this year, he is batting just .276 (through this past sunday), but he has eclipsed last year's 22 homers and 100 rbi with 23 long balls and 103 runs driven in so far this year.  i am hoping that he eclipses his postseason numbers from last year as well, as he hit over .300 with 3 homers and 7 rbi in the 2013 playoffs.

and so we have reached the end of not only the dodgers' first baseman evolution, but the evolution of each position.  you can use the 'evolution' label to find the posts for all of the positions (some may be slightly outdated as i began this with a run through the managers over five years ago).  it's been fun tracking the history of the dodgers by position using baseball cards, which was one of the goals i had when i started this blog almost 6 years ago, although that also means i am getting closer to the end.

bo knows tatooine

i recently completed a trade with bo from baseball cards come to life.  i sent him some set needs, and he sent me some tatooine cards.  i don't necessarily seek these types of cards in trades, but bo sent me some good ones.

one of the many fantastic staged cards that topps put out in the early 1990's is this 1991 topps benito santiago card

sorry, i guess he was benny in 1991.

the padres were frequent visitors to the desert planet, apparently.  here's a very 1973 topps-ish 1992 upper deck card of paul faries

 as well as a 1993 leaf tony gwynn

and let me take a moment to recognize the passing of mr. padre.  i've mentioned a few times that while i was living in orange county, i would often drive to san diego to see the dodgers play.  one of the series that i attended included the last three games of the 1995 season, including (obviously) the season finale.  the dodgers had clinched a playoff berth the night before (it was the first time i had been in attendance when they clinched - that was really cool), and so the teams were just playing out the string.  chan ho park made his first big league start, striking out 5 in 3 innings of work.  the game was tied 1-1 heading into the 7th when mike busch hit a 3-run homer to put the dodgers ahead 4-1.  in the bottom of the frame, gwynn led off with a double and was removed from the game for a pinch runner.  it was a nice move by bruce bochy, as it allowed gwynn to get an ovation as he left the field.  and what an ovation he did receive.  everybody stood and applauded, and i could feel the deep appreciation that the padre fans had for number 19.  he acknowledged the crowd, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual.  i am glad i got to see gwynn play a few times and get a few hits, but that ovation as gwynn walked off the field is my lasting memory of him.

back to the post at hand.

the cubs played some games on tatooine, too.  here's a 1993 upper deck shawon dunston card

and the back of sammy sosa's card from the same set

the cubbies must have been playing the mets outside of mos eisley, because here's eddie murray's 1993 upper deck card

with a couple of southsiders

other examples of tatooine cards from bo include a 1990 upper deck lance parrish card

a 1993 topps stadium club tim hulett card

plus some cincinnati folks - 1993 upper deck barry larkin

and a 1995 upper deck collector's choice john roper

when it came to the ropers, i was more of a mr. ferley fan.

here's the back of a 1994 upper deck randy tomlin card

tomlin can run, but he can't hide from the imperial stormtroopers on his tail

finally, here are a couple of cards from 1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition - carlos baerga

and will clark

clark looks like he just bulls-eyed a womp rat in beggar's canyon.

thanks for the cards bo!

the mets' william shea memorial

following the loss of the giants and dodgers, the mayor of new york asked attorney william shea to lead a group whose purpose was to bring national league baseball back to the city.  he explored luring an existing franchise to make the move and looked into expansion.  neither option seemed to go anywhere, so he joined with branch rickey to form the continental league in 1959.  major league baseball must have seen this new league as a threat and consented to expansion for the 1961 and 1962 seasons.

one of the new franchises in 1962 was the new york metropolitans, and two years after their debut, the mets were playing in their new stadium, named for the man who helped make the franchise a reality.  shea died in october of 1991 at the age of 84, and the mets decided to wear a memorial patch in his honor the following season.

you can see the 's' patch on the left sleeve of eddie murray's jersey on this multiple exposure 1992 upper deck card commemorating murray's 400th career home run

it's also visible on jeff kent's 1993 leaf card

dick schofield's 1993 topps card

and the front

and back

of todd hundley's 1993 upper deck card

the card that represents the memorial in my collection is this 1992 o-pee-chee premier howard johnson card

love the turtleneck.

this memorial is one of those relatively rare cases in which the honoree was neither a player nor an employee of the team (nor a relative of a high ranking employee).  shea was just a guy who helped bring the national league back to new york.  the team has also honored him by adding his name to the retired numbers display, as well as by naming the pedestrian bridge at citi field after him.  i guess it's the least they could do after leaving the stadium that bore his name.

dime box double plays

nick from dime boxes was at it again, recently.  he sent me some cards which included a few double play turns that were new to my collection.  have a look.

2014 topps opening day kolton wong blue parallel

1991 leaf jody reed

you can see the black armband on reed's sleeve for tony conigliaro

1992 upper deck kurt stillwell

which wasn't really new to my collection (nice tatooine scene, by the way), but now i have a copy for the binder that i can use to show the dp turn on the back

looks like it might be a gold hologram version as well.

1993 topps stadium club mike gallego

nothing slides like a deer

1994 fleer  scott fletcher

1994 leaf joey cora

2004 topps traded tony womack

2004 upper deck miguel tejada

channeling 1973 topps

and 2006 fleer ultra jorge cantu

not a good slide from who i assume to be the marlins' alex gonzalez, but some great cards from a great trader and blogger.  thanks nick!

i collect what steve garvey items i can, and what i can't, i can

over the course of a couple of packages, reader mark sent me an eclectic mix of cards - dodgers and double plays and players from the team of my youth that were no longer dodgers.  however, the coolest thing he sent was a 1977 rc cola can

i used to drink royal crown cola, but i had forgotten what cans from back in those days were like.  steel and sturdy and sometimes with ballplayers on them.  this one features one steven patrick garvey.

now, this posed a dilemma for me.  i have, at times, owned some oddball, non-card items featuring the garv, but i haven't held on to all of them.  that mainly has to do with storage.  i do have a couple of bobbleheads, but i decided that the best thing to do here was to dismantle the can.  more on that later.

here's another sort of oddball - a 1969 mlb photo stamp of one and done dodger shortstop zoilo versalles

after playing for the dodgers in 1968, he was selected by the padres in the expansion draft but was traded to cleveland before the 1969 season began.  this magic hat seems more dodger that indian, so i will classify this as a dodger stamp.  cool.

i could have sworn that i picked up a copy of this 1980-88 baseball immortals sandy koufax card

a couple of years ago after seeing it on another blog, but it appears that i was mistaken.  i am very happy that mark sent me this card.

i'm not quite as excited about this 1992 score jose offerman rising star card

but, as a team collector, you take the good with the bad.

here's a 1994 conlon tsn card of nap rucker

rucker spent his entire 10 year career with the brooklyn franchise.  they were known as the superbas, dodgers, and robins during that time, and in 1915 (the year represented by the card), they were the robins.  he finished his career with a 134-134 record despite a nice 2.42 era.  i guess the franchise didn't provide much run support even back then.  anyway, rucker may or may not have been the inventor of the knuckleball.

i am not convinced that this 1992 upper deck jose lind card features a double play turn

but i do know that it features dodger stadium's low railing in the background!

here's a card of one of the 1978 topps dodgers and another knuckleballer, charlie hough

i have kind of/sort of expanded my collection of players from the 1978 topps dodger team from just topps releases to all releases, so this card is welcomed even if it is just a 1992 donruss card.

so, now back to the garvey can.  i was able to open it up pretty easily, but it's not quite as flat and smooth as one would like.

still, it will fit into a binder pretty nicely.

mark - thanks for the trades!