random relics

relic cards aren't the draw that they used to be, that's for sure. questions about authenticity and overproduction have removed much of the luster from them.  the novelty that persuaded me to pay $20 for a pack of pacific game used back in 2001, only to get a piece of neifi perez's bat has certainly worn off.  these days, relic cards are practically a dime a dozen.

with that said, here are 10 that i am happy to have in my collection, even though they've been wallowing in my scanned folder without a post to display them for quite some time.  i'll note what each relic is, based on the guarantee on the back of the card.

2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts pee wee reese game used jersey

2005 upper deck classics bill russell game used pants

2005 upper deck classics pedro guerrero game used jersey

2001 upper deck sp game bat edition gary sheffield game used bat

2003 upper deck honor roll hideo nomo game used jersey

2004 donruss throwback threads hideo nomo game worn jersey

2004 upper deck vintage hideo nomo game used jersey

2004 upper deck shawn green game used jersey

because shawn green probably has the most dodger relic cards of anyone out there - at least from the peak era of relic cards.

2005 topps opening day paul loduca game worn jersey

you can see where the dodger script patch was removed from this particular swatch

2010 topps heritage james loney game worn jersey

on all of the cards except loney's, the guarantee on the back specifically ties the jersey, bat, or pants to the player on the front of the card and notes that said jersey, bat, or pants were worn or used in an official major league baseball game.  there is no guarantee on the back of loney's card, only the mention of "game-worn jersey" on the front.  i am left to assume that it is loney's jersey, but who knows for sure? also left unsaid is in what sort of game was this jersey worn?

i know this has all been said before, but i needed a vehicle to get these cards out of the scanned folder.  i'm still collecting these, by the way, as long as there's a dodger on the front of the card.

black armbands for ray chapman

ray chapman was the shortstop for the cleveland indians from late in the 1912 season through august 16, 1920.  the schedule that day in august saw the indians play the yankees, and chapman was beaned in the head by yankee starter carl mays.  although he was initially able to walk to first base, chapman soon thereafter collapsed on the field and was taken to the hospital.  he passed away the next day, becoming the only major league player to die from being hit by a pitch, and one of two to have died directly or indirectly (the philadelphia athletics' doc powers died in 1909 from post-surgical infections brought on after being operated on to fix internal injuries he suffered after crashing into an outfield fence during a game) from injuries sustained on the field.

according to the hall of fame, many teams added black armbands to their uniforms in honor of chapman, including the indians, red sox, tigers, and yankees in the american league, along with the reds, robins, cubs, and giants in the national league.  i have in my memorials binder a few cards showing the armband, such as this 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts ty cobb card

the tigers went away from the old english 'd' from 1918 through 1920, and 1920 is the only season that they wore a black armband (according to the hall of fame), so i am confident that the armband cobb is sporting is in honor of chapman.

[edit - i later came across a 2004 topps tribute card of cobb

that shows the armband more prominently than the legendary cuts card, so i've swapped it out in my collection.]

similarly, the uniform that babe ruth is wearing on this 2011 topps stickers foil sticker

includes the black armband that the bronx bombers wore for chapman.  i know this because the jersey features the 'new york' lettering that the team wore on their away jerseys from the beginning of ruth's tenure with the team in 1920 through 1926. the club went back to 'new york' on the away grays during the last few seasons of ruth's yankee days (1930-1934), but the placement of the 'y' was different.  besides, the only other time the yankees wore a black armband while ruth was a member of the team was at the end of the 1929 season to mark the passing of manager miller huggins, which came during the time that the team's away jerseys said 'yankees' on the front.

[edit - i was happy to see topps use this image on a regular sized card in 2021 archives

so i've swapped it out in my collection.]

also from the yankee team of 1920 comes the photo of hank thormahlen that was used on his 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set

thormahlen actually looks like he's wearing two black armbands, and i don't know why.  he was a pitcher with the yankees from 1917 through 1920.  thormahlen actually relieved carl mays later in that fateful game and threw a scoreless 9th inning.

chapman's team, the indians, wore the armband for the remainder of the season and postseason, as they advanced to the world series against the brooklyn robins.  you'll notice in the photo linked above that, while the indians wore the armbands in the fall classic, the robins did not, or at least did not for the entire series.  i would guess that it was more likely that the non-cleveland teams wore the armband for a short time during the month of august.

anyway, this 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts card represents the armband worn by the tribe in my collection. it features their ace - hall of famer stan coveleski

who is also wearing the armband on his 2006 upper deck classics card

coveleski was the starter for the indians in the game in which chapman was beaned, and he beat the yankees with a complete game for his 19th win of the season.  coveleski went on to beat the robins three times in the world series by completing each of his three starts, one of which was a shutout.

in 2010, the indians broke out the 1920 uniforms, complete with the black armband, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of their first championship.  here's a shin-soo choo toppstown card from 2011 topps that shows the throwback uni

so, i've got 3 of the 8 teams that reportedly wore the armbands in my collection, and i'm on the lookout for the others although i'm not holding out hope.

my favorite dodger double play combo

there should be no doubt that i am referring to bill russell and davey lopes when i mention my favorite dodger double play combo.  so, i appreciate when card companies match the two up.  back in 2005, upper deck did just that - putting russell and lopes on one of their 'classic counterparts' inserts in their 2005 upper deck classics set.

there were also dual autographed versions

and dual relic versions

of the card.  i picked up one of each over the last year or so.  here's the back of the relic card.

obviously russell's uni piece comes from dodger garb, but i was hoping that the blue lopes swatch was a dodger patch/lettering piece.  no dice, as it comes from davey's time in chicago.

here's a dodger turning two, just for fun.  it's delino deshields on a 1997 fleer card

i guess delino's primary dp partner as a dodger was greg gagne.  not as memorable as russell and lopes.

the dodgers' babe

looking for alyssa milano?  sorry, this post is about one of the players known as 'babe' to play for the dodgers (they've had at least two, plus a coach).  babe herman holds a few dodger franchise records.  his .393 batting average in 1930 is the highest ever by a dodger. and, his .381 average the year before is the second highest.  his 143 runs scored and his on base percentage of .466 in 1930 were the highest by a dodger in the 20th century, and his slugging percentage (.678) and ops (1.132) are the highest by any member of the franchise ever. ditto his 241 hits, 94 extra base hits, and 416 total bases in 1930. and, until last year, he was the last player to hit for the cycle twice in one season, which he did as a dodger in 1931.

one thing herman also did was double dip as a dodger.  to be more accurate, he began his career as a brooklyn robin, and finished it as a brooklyn dodger, while playing for three other franchises (including a cincinnati double dipping) in between.  yes, this is a double dipper post.

[this is the fiftyfirst installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, guillermo mota, joe beckwith, and jamie hoffmann.]

aside from the 1990 target dodgers card, this 2005 upper deck classics might be the only card featuring herman as a dodger - in my collection, anyway.

herman broke into the big leagues with the robins in 1926, and remained with them through his fantastic 1931 season. during that time, herman hit .340 with an ops of .955 over 851 games.  prior to the 1932 season, the dodgers traded him (with ernie lombardi and wally gilbert) for clyde sukeforth (who went on to become jackie robinson's first major league manager in 1947), joe stripp (himself a near dodger double dipper - he was reacquired by the franchise after the 1938 season but released during the spring of 1939), and tony cuccinello.

herman had a good year with the reds in 1932, hitting .326 while leading the league with 19 triples.  still, he was traded to the cubs where he played through the 1934 season.  after a 26-game stint in pittsburgh to start the 1935 season, herman was dealt back to the reds where he played until he joined the tigers for the 1937 campagin.  after he was released by detroit, herman played minor league ball in the pacific coast league with the hollywooed all-stars.  then, in 1945, he was brought back to brookolyn to t=lay asa a dodger for the first time.  at 42 years of age, he hit .265 in 37 games with a home run an d 9 rbi.  interestingly enough, clyde sukeforth also returned to the dodgers' active roster in 1945, after a 11 year hiateus.  he hit .294 in 18 games.  not sure what was going on in brooklyn in 1945 that they brought back these two guys after such long absences from the majors, but it meant that babe herman double dipped, so i guess i am ok with it.  for the record, sukeforth did not double dip - he did not play for any other big league team between 1934 and 1945.

a davey lopes pentafecta?

i might need a ruling on this.  here's the relic - a 2002 topps stadium club bat card of the dodger second baseman.

it's from a regular season game, but that's as specific as topps gets.  i have a few lopes autos, but here's probably the most unusual.  it's a 2001 upper deck sweet spot auto 

from davey's time as the brewers' manager.  i don't think there are any certified autos that show him as a cub, athletic, or astro, aside from his topps originals buybacks.  

and, completing the trifecta, we have his rookie card from 1973 topps.

now we get into what separates the penta- from the tri-...  here are a couple of 1/1's that i have from 1981 topps.  they're two of the color separation proofs, straight from the topps vault.

i wish topps would have used less pink.  but, they are not noted as 1 of 1 anywhere, so i'll show this card, too.  it comes from the 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams set (yes, i will get back to my timeless teams blog eventually, although it might have to wait for my o-pee-chee blog to finish up in early october).

yes, that's a 1 of 1 auto from the set.  interesting that the only thing that makes it so is the '1 of 1' stamp below the name, which upper deck applied after the card had been signed.  i know this because i have another 1 of 1 from the set (two, actually), and the stamp on one of them is over part of the signature.  for all the other numbered cards, the stamp is on the back.

that's four-fifths of the pentafecta.  just need the patch to be complete.  how about this 2005 upper deck classics card?

i supersized it so you can see the 'classic materials'.  when i bought it, i thought it was a patch, but now that i have it in hand i am inclined to think that it is just a part of a lopes' cubs jersey, although it seems a bit thicker than the regular swatches we see.  it's knitted and not smooth, though, like the other dodger patches i have in my collection.

so maybe it's just a quadrofecta.  at least i'm trying!  let me know if you have a lead on any lopes patches!

indian cards giveaway bonanza!

as most of you know, david at indian cards... recently purged a bunch of cards from his collection.  i was the happy recipient of an 800 count box, filled with dodgers, twins, and blue jays (my 2nd favorite al team).

here is just a sample of the bounty i received.

1982 tcma baseball's greatest pitchers sandy koufax

this card is complete with creases and coffee stains, but it's koufax.  it needs to be celebrated.

2009 ud sp authentic chad billingsley platinum power

die-cut goodness.

1997 donruss elite hideo nomo checklist

celebrating nomo's no-no in 1996. you know, the one he threw against the rockies, in coor field, at the height of their offensive juggernaut.  also the one that bob dole claimed was thrown by a brooklyn dodger.  just before he fell off the stage.

2005 donruss champions kaz ishii jersey

this guy had more sp's and relic cards made than any other player i can think of for a couple of years.  big things were expected from him after what nomo did.  it didn't quite turn out that way, though.

1996 score sample raul mondesi

i'm pretty sure that's a sample card.  you have to know which subtle differences to look for to be sure, though.

2000 fleer focus raul mondesi

another rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul card as we transition, like he did, to the american league portion of the post.  always nice to see these dual-team cards.

1981 topps ken landreaux

another american league dodger, although this card precedes his tenure in la.  dude caught the final out of the 1981 world series.

2005 upper deck classics lyman bostock

i wish bostock would get more love from the card companies.

awesome cards! this package receives the 1990 topps tommy lasorda official 'i bleed dodger blue, and i approve of these cards' thumbs up!

thanks david!

culling dodgers from capewood's collection, part one

a while back i worked out a trade with cliff at capewood's collections. i sent him a bunch of astros and phillies, and he sent me a ton of mid 2000's dodgers. between 2003 and 2006 i didn't buy too much stuff. i would pick up a pack here and there, and dig through the bargain bin at the local shop once in a while for dodgers. so, a lot of these cards were new to me which was awesome. in fact, i'm still digesting the box cliff sent. here are a few of the goodies.

2004 upper deck legendary cuts tommy lasorda. while i enjoy this card, i am sure cliff hated pulling it. just as i would dislike pulling a bill virdon or danny ozark card.

2004 donruss team heroes joe thurston.

i had high hopes for thurston, but he kind of fizzled. he spent 2006 with the phillies and was playing well for the cardinals at the beginning of this season.

2004 playoff absolute memorabilia don sutton.

i love the fact that this card has the big '2004' on the front. sure, the absolute logo also has the date, but the foil sometimes makes it hard to read. when sorting cards by year it's tough sometimes to know by the copyright date on the back, so this kind of thing helps. thanks playoff!

next up, a joel hanrahan trifecta

2002 topps traded

2002 topps traded chrome

2002 topps traded gold

hanrahan has had a tough go with the nationals this year, but at least he's playing in the bigs. most of the guys from this set haven't been so lucky.

2002 leaf shawn green.

what do this card and romaine lettuce have in common? they're both leafy greens. ha! check out the dodger stadium outfield wall in the background. that's pee wee's retired number! these days it would be an adelphia sign or something like that.

next, a bunch of 2006 fleer cards that have me thinking about those sweet o-pee-chee variations.

tim hamulack.

danys baez.

bill mueller.
rafael furcal.
turning two! with pokey reese and eddie mathews!

2005 upper deck classics don drysdale.

big d looks pissed. i bet this pitch was a high and tight fastball.

let's end this installment with the penguin and his card from the same set.

thanks cliff!

round 2 coming up tomorrow!