spring has sprung

spring training camps have been broken for the year, and the dodgers are now in southern california passing time with the angels until their season opens on monday.  arpsmith is also in socal, and that's where he presumably acquired these cards that i received recently.

2015 topps adrian gonzalez spring fever

there's only one local card shop that i go to these days (i think there are 3 or 4 in the twin cities), but i don't know if they participate in this promotion or not.  thankfully, arpsmith has a guy who does.

here's a midsummer card - 2014 topps update dee gordon all-star relic

that would be a piece of the all-star game warm up or practice apparel. kudos to topps for getting a photo of dee from the asg to use on the card.

here's another relic - 2014 topps gypsy queen zack greinke

i'm expecting big things from zack since this is an opt-out year for him.

2014 topps heritage minors jesmuel valentin

valentin is the son of jose valentin, who is currently the padres' first base coach.  the dodgers traded jesmuel to the phillies last year as one of the players to be named later in the roberto hernandez (fausto carmona) deal.

2001 topps heritage gary sheffield

arpsmith sent me some cards towards my 2001 topps heritage want list, including the sheff above. i recently took a quiz to see if i could name the top 21 los angeles dodger home run hitters of all time. i got 18 of them right - i forgot john roseboro and ron fairly, who were tied with 90 at the bottom of the list, but i am ashamed to have not named sheffield who put up some of the best offensive numbers ever by a dodger.

last, but not least, here's a 1987 fleer bill russell card, signed by the shortstop of the team of my youth himself

russell did not make the list of the top 21 la dodger home run hitters despite playing his entire career there and appearing in more games than any other la dodger.  russell had only 46 home runs during his career.

thanks for the trade adam! here's hoping the giants give someone else from their division a chance to win the world series this year.

yes, the cards celebrate

or, perhaps more accurately, my card collection celebrates when i receive trade packages in the mail such as the one reader john sent not quite a couple of months ago.

he knocked quite a few cards off of my 1965 topps want list, like this world series card

as well as the game 6 recap card featuring the yanks' jim bouton

love those stirrups.

john also included bouton's base card

plus another yankee-ish card, the american league batting leaders featuring tony o, brooks robinson, and elston howard

that's card number 2 in the set.

here's the 1965 american league mvp and future dodger, zoilo versalles

there was a multi-player rookie card (hello sandy alomar, sr)

a bob chance rookie cup card

with him wearing a cleveland indians jersey as a washington senator

here's the angel manager bill rigney

i believe the halos became the california angels in 1965, with rigney staying on as manager into the 1969 season.  he later led the twins to the postseason in 1970.

here's the back of jim king's card

i'm showing it because i like the backs of 1965 topps cards, and this one also mentions double plays.  it's not a double play card, but it gets bonus points for a dp mention, even if it's related to outfield double plays.

john took a shot at my 2001 topps heritage want list, too.  he sent along dodgers darren dreifort

and chan ho park

along with some other cards, including some teams that weren't represented in the 1952 topps set

of course, the red sox and giants were in the '52 set, and the twins were the senators back then.  i just didn't take the time to separate the scan.  also, dig on cristian guzman's facsimile signature.

last, but not least, john included one of the unnumbered checklists.

thanks for the trade john - i hope we can do it again sometime!

i picked 'em poorly but came out ahead

i participated for the first time this past year in cards on cards' college bowl pick 'em league.  i wound up getting slightly less than half of the winners right, although i did get my highest confidence pick correct.  anyway, i was well out of the prize slot, but kerry sent me some cards anyway.  most of these come from his 2014 topps mini break, in which i took the dodgers and the mets.  i was hoping for a justin turner card as part of the mets team haul (he's turning two on the card), but it didn't pan out.  just like my picks.

here are some of the dodgers from the 2014 topps mini set that kerry rescued from sealed packs for me:

clayton kershaw cy young

the now retired josh beckett

the now unsigned free agent chad billingsley

the now unsigned free agent brian wilson

the now red sox left fielder hanley ramirez

the now full-time dodger left fielder carl crawford

the now still a fourth outfielder andre ethier

the dodger right fielder yasiel puig (unless joc can't handle center)

plus a 'the future is now' puig insert

i should probably show some of the ny metropolitans that came my way, so here are bobby parnell

and ey jr

kerry also sent a few cards towards my 2001 topps heritage set, including former and current twin torii hunter

plus a nice 2004 donruss classics rickey henderson card

which counts as a final tribute since rickey didn't appear in the majors after his 2003 stint with the dodgers

no active player has more stolen bases that ichiro, who sits at 487.  rickey had 1406 in his career.  although barry bonds eventually passed rickey in career walks, he is still the career leader in runs scored, with the closest active player (alex rodriguez) over 350 runs behind.

last, and maybe least, here is a 1986 fleer update card of alex trevino

who played catch under the watchful eye of a stalker after joining the dodgers.

thanks kerry! i'll be sending some cards on cards your way soon!

'o' yeah!, another trade with ryan

sending me an email asking to trade or if it's ok to send me some cards, or if i want some cards, or even just letting me know that you are sending cards is a lot like yelling 'hey kool-aid!'  i'll bust through the email wall saying 'oh yeah!'.  ryan from 'o' no another orioles blog told me he was sending me some cards, and then he did just that.  he must have read a recent post in which i mentioned that i was half-heartedly going after the 2001 topps heritage set, because he sent a nice stack of cards for my endeavor.

here's mark grudzielanek

and eric karros

two of the dodgers in the set.  

now, i am sure i've told this story before, but when i first heard about this set, i pre-ordered a box on ebay for what turned out to be a fantastic price.  unfortunately, the seller (a card shop owner somewhere out east) passed away before the cards were released, and i never received my cards.  if he just wanted to keep my box once it was realized just how hot of a product this was going to be, he went through an elaborate hoax with lawyers and what not.  unfortunately, there was not much i could do but leave negative feedback once i was told that there were bigger creditors than i in line for renumeration, as this was way before ebay's money back guarantee, and i wasn't going to file a small claims court claim.  so, the set came out and i bought a few packs, but was kind of soured on the whole thing.  i picked up a few singles here and there and eventually decided to put the set together as i had originally planned, but the pursuit has stalled out over the years.  maybe this is the kickstart i needed.

i was happy that the dodgers weren't part of the short prints, even though they were with the original 1952 topps set.  instead, team collectors of the mets, orioles, padres, phillies, and red sox were pretty well screwed.

here are some other cards that ryan sent.

rick ankiel

and jd drew

those two cards on cards would have been pretty hot items in 2001.

tony armas jr

because we should not forget the expos

freddy garcia

i do not know who he is honoring with the number '43' on his cap

and jose vizcaino

who was actually twice a dodger and once a postseason hero for the 2000 world champion yankees.

those are just a few of the cards that ryan sent, and i've finally added a want list for the set to my want list site.  as of right now, i haven't crossed any cards off since i need to find my partial set to do so.  while i'm doing that, feel free to ask me about setting up a trade.

thanks ryan - i'll have some stuff out to you early next week!

telling the tale of a most bountiful repack

it had been awhile, so i went for a fairfield repack while at target the other day.  i chose one that had an unopened pack of 2012 topps and a 2001 topps heritage ray lankford

in the front windows.  i've been working on the 2001 heritage set since 2001, which is to say that i haven't been doing much with it since then.  i need to get my list posted, although it's a low priority set so i probably won't.

the two back windows of the package featured a 2010 topps tim lincecum card

and a 2010 topps brewers card of ryan braun and prince fielder.

based on that fact, my hopes were limited.

the 2012 topps pack netted the following:

jordan pacheco
mark kotsay
chris getz
jacoby ellsbury
st. louis cardinals
alfredo simon
andy pettitte/cliff lee timeless talents insert
ichiro golden moments insert

this is interesting because there was another 2012 topps chris getz card already among the loose cards.  speaking of which, here they are

1991 o-pee-chee premier carlton fisk
2014 topps john jaso - this is a series 2 card, so this was a very fresh repack
1990 topps ames all-stars keith hernandez

2011 topps jeremy jeffress
2009 topps allen & ginter james mcdonald - a dodger!
2007 tristar prospects plus trystan magnuson
1993 topps willie mcgee
2012 topps chris getz - told ya
this is where the repack gets streaky
1988 topps uk mini alvin davis
1988 topps uk mini mike schmidt

1988 topps uk mini eddie murray
1988 topps uk mini roger clemens
1988 topps uk mini wade boggs
1988 topps uk mini paul molitor
1988 topps uk mini nolan ryan
1988 topps uk mini dave winfield
1988 topps uk mini ozzie smith
1988 topps uk mini mike dunne
1988 topps uk mini mark mcgwire
2009 ud first edition vladimir guerrero

2009 ud first edition daisuke matsusaka
2009 ud first edition michael bourn
2009 ud first edition john smoltz
2009 ud first edition randy johnson
2009 ud first edition joey votto
2009 ud first edition stephen drew
2009 ud first edition mike aviles
2009 ud first edition randy johnson - second double of the repack
1991 upper deck steve bedrosian
1988 donruss ernie whitt
1988 score george bell
2009 ud first edition jorge posada
1989 topps glossy all-star rickey henderson
1987 topps rick reuschel
1991 topps glossy rookies todd zeile
1991 topps glossy rookies kevin tapani
1991 topps glossy rookies frank thomas

1991 topps glossy rookies robin ventura
1991 topps glossy rookies jose offerman - a dodger that i am pretty sure i need!

1987 topps roger clemens
1987 topps mike diaz
1987 topps mitch webster
2014 topps nl all-star team set clayton kershaw

a dodger that i know i need, and the star of the repack!  that card is worth the price of admission right there.

2011 topps phil coke
2011 topps doug fister
2011 topps carlos quentin
2011 topps paul maholm
2011 topps carlos pena
2011 topps john lannan
2011 topps jj putz
2011 topps leo nunez
2011 topps aaron rowand
2011 topps jonathan broxton
2005 fleer hot prospects alfonso soriano
1987 topps don carman
1987 fleer update john shelby
1984 topps jeff jones
1999 upper deck travis lee checklist
1990 donruss dave stewart diamond king
2000 bowman chrome jason romano
1986 topps rod scurry
2001 upper deck decade the '70s roberto clemente world series highlights
1989 topps terry puhl
1987 topps jorge orta
2014 topps yankees team set david phelps
2001 bowman luke lockwood
1997 fleer flair showcase charles nagy
2004 playoff absolute memorabilia rickey henderson

oh rickey!  how great to find a card of him as a dodger in a repack!

1986 fleer gary roenicke
1986 topps george bamberger
1995 score mark smith
2008 topps mark derosa
1990 donruss mel hall
2013 topps jeff francouer
1988 fleer mike schmidt
1984 topps mike schmidt

1991 fleer ultra robin yount
1991 leaf gary carter
1991 upper deck dennis eckersley
2007 topps update & highlights mickey mantle a life in baseball #4
1991 pacific nolan ryan fireball pitcher
1990 score bill kreuger
1985 topps glossy all-star rod carew
1989 topps david cone
2008 topps shane victorino
2013 topps jered weaver chasing history foil

2010 topps new york yankees 27 world series titles don larsen
2010 topps new york yankees 27 world series titles hank bauer
2010 topps new york yankees 27 world series titles yogi berra

i had not seen cards from this set before.

last, and probably least, there was a 1991 bowman norberto martin

i was really pleased with this repack.  that kershaw card representing some fine repack karma.  good times.  some of you might want to look for some of these cards in some upcoming trade packages...