more non-dodger dodger cards

it's weird that i consider a card a dodger card if it includes the dodger team name on it, regardless of whether the player is wearing the dodger uniform or not. for me, this goes back to o-pee-chee cards from the 1979 set, which were the first ones i encountered that forced me to make this sort of determination.  no one was going to tell me that the 1979 opc andy messersmith wasn't a dodger card.  later on in my collecting endeavors, i saw that cards from the 1960's often showed players in outdated uniforms, and my approach to these cards was confirmed by official team checklists created by other collectors.

more recently, i've been paying more attention to the opposite types of cards - cards with dodger players in uniform, but with a different team affiliation.  like this 2000 pacific paramount raul mondesi card

that's dodger blue that he's wearing, but the card says that he is a blue jay now.

other examples in my collection include a few gary sheffield cards.  here are his 2002 fleer platinum,

2001 fleer premium,

2002 leaf (complete with 'traded to' text)

and his 2002 upper deck authentics (which also has the 'traded to') text

cards.

kevin brown has a ton of dodger cards - the benefit of being the best pitcher on some pretty non-descript dodger teams, but his 2004 upper deck diamond collection all-star lineup card

is actually a yankee card

adrian beltre famously left the dodgers after leading the league in home runs in 2004.  the result were some non-dodger dodger cards in 2005 fleer classic clippings

and 2005 fleer national pastime

these are things that i didn't really think twice about, but when topps issued this 2006 card of jose valentin

i was surprised.  i don't recall a card like this in the flagship set since the 1979 bump wills fiasco.  before that, there were the 1974 glenn beckert and jerry morales cards, and to a lesser extent, the 1973 topps bill north card.  i only wish that topps had done the reverse with nomar garciaparra's card in the 2006 flagship set.

here's a 2007 upper deck greg maddux card

on which the words say 'padres' but the photo says 'dodgers'.

the most unusual example of these cards may well be this 1995 score summit antonio osuna card

except that it's an error.  osuna did not pitch for the tigers, nor was he ever a part of the tiger organization.  weird.  let's cleanse the palette with an actual dodger card from the same set

that's better.

i doubt that we'll see any of these any time soon with just one manufacturer licensed to produce cards that feature actual team names.  still, as that 2006 valentin card shows, topps may yet surprise me once again.

too many sorianos and yet not enough

i posted earlier today about three different packages i received from dennis at too many verlanders in the semi-recent past.  one of the packages came as a result of him asking folks to claim stacks of certain cards as part of his 'spring cleaning giveaway/contest'.  i claimed a stack of alfonso soriano cards, mostly back from his days as a second baseman, hoping for maybe a black armband or some double play turns.  here are some of the cards that i received.

starting in the upper left, we have a 2003 fleer tradition update 1963 fleer insert, 2000 upper deck victory, 1999 topps hd, 2002 leaf rookies & stars, 2003 leaf, 2001 topps chrome traded rookie reprints, 2005 fleer national pastime, 2008 upper deck sweet spot, and 2001 topps stadium club.  he's got a black armband on the last card, so that would most likely be for the club's former manager bob lemon (official memorial post coming soon).

there were no double plays in the stack, but i did uncover this 2005 topps heritage soriano twin killing card elsewhere in my collection

in the process, i stumbled across a few more that i hadn't shown on the blog yet.  here's a 1998 fleer tradition homer bush card

bush was made expendable by the yankees once soriano arrived on the scene, and he was dealt to the blue jays with david wells in the roger clemens deal.  here's bush turning two again, this time as a blue jay on a 2000 fleer impact card

last but not least, and in no way tied to soriano that i can think of, other than soriano stumbled to rob steve lombardozzi jr of a hit earlier this season, here is a 1988 score card of steve lombardozzi sr

i think i missed this one because second base is so dirty, but that's a dp turn fo sho.

thanks for the cards dennis!

a patch for warren spahn

warren spahn passed away in november of 2003 at the age of 82.  he had pitched for the braves' franchise in boston and milwaukee for 20 seasons, along with a final season split between the mets and giants, and so the atlanta braves wore a patch in his honor during the 2004 season.  the patch was shaped like home plate, with spahn's retired number 21 inside.

this 2005 fleer national pastime jd drew card gives a good view of the patch

but that is actually a dodger card.  i looked through my collection to see if i could do better by the winningest left-hander in history than that.

here's a 2005 fleer ultra chipper jones card

but the patch is tough to see.  how about this 2005 topps opening day andruw jones card?

that was the frontrunner for a while, but then i found this 2005 upper deck chipper jones card

that's the one in the binder.

spahn was a first-ballot hall of famer, going in with 83.2% of the vote in 1973.  he is sixth all-time in wins with 363 - the highest total for any pitcher in the modern era - and 63 of those wins came in games in which spahn threw a shutout - also the highest total for any pitcher in the modern era and sixth all-time.  those numbers would have been greater had he not lost three seasons to service in world war ii during which he was awarded the purple heart.  in 1999, spahn was named to the all-century team and in 2003 a statue of him was unveiled at turner field. i will assume that the braves take it with them when they move in a couple of years.