i'm assuming manny didn't get a call-up

just over four years ago, the chicago white sox put in a waiver claim on manny ramirez, and the dodgers let him go.  just like that, manny's brief dodger career was over.  what he did for them in 2008 after being acquired at the trade deadline was ridiculous - a 1.232 ops in 53 games?  2 homers, and a .500 batting average in the 2008 nlds?  2 homers, 7 rbi, and a .533 batting average in the 2008 nlcs? ridiculous, i say!  of course, he never did play a full season for the dodgers, thanks to injuries and suspensions, but we have mostly good memories and some nice baseball cards from his time in la.

here's a 2009 upper deck card showing him field his position in saint louis

in 2004, i traveled to boston to see the dodgers make their first appearance at fenway, and manny misplayed a fly ball in the 9th inning that, instead of ending the game, allowed the dodgers to tie the score.  of course, david ortiz hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the inning, so it was 'no harm, no foul' for manny.

here's his 2010 bowman chrome card

and a 2010 upper deck biography insert

manny hit a home run for the red sox the next day, but the dodgers won handily.  i saw eric gagne pitch in another non-save situation, and he struck out the side (including ortiz looking to end the game).  i never did see manny play for the dodgers.

after suiting up for the white sox, manny went to the rays for the 2011 season, but retired after playing in just 5 games.  he was also looking at a 100-game suspension due to a second violation of the mlb drug policy.  later that year, he applied for reinstatement, and signed with the a's prior to spring training in 2012.  his suspension was reduced to 50 games, but the a's didn't promote him to the majors once he was eligible, and manny asked for his release.  that resulted in this 2012 topps card of manny being rendered moot

kind of like the jose canseco cards featuring him as an angel and an expo.  manny played winter ball, and then went to china in 2013 to continue his comeback attempt.  he played well enough that the rangers signed him to a minor league deal, but he again missed out on a call-up when texas replaced the suspended nelson cruz with alex rios instead.  then, earlier this year, manny signed with the cubs to become a player-coach at triple-a.  i must admit i was/am hoping for him to be called up to the big club once rosters expanded, but he's hitting only .222 as of august 30 so i doubt that happened/will happen.  so, the 2012 topps card likely serves as his final tribute, with his complete career stats on the back.

of modern-era players, only barry bonds has a better career ops than manny's .996, although albert pujols is very close at .995, and he is currently 8th all-time in that category.  still, i am sure he wouldn't mind dropping behind pujols if it meant one more month in the big leagues.

tatooine grab bag

i understand that filming of the next star wars movie is underway in the united kingdom and abu dhabi. that likely means more tatooine.  maybe the skywalkers will take in a ballgame together while they are there.  you know, because sometimes baseball cards make it look like the game is played in the desert sands of tatooine.  for example...

...here's adrian beltre getting back to the bag on his 2004 upper deck card

while damion easley does the same on his 1998 topps card

as does bubba trammell on his 1998 upper deck card

roger cedeno got to second base while carrying his helmet like a football on his 1997 topps card

orlando hudson tries not to lose the pop up in the suns of tatooine on his 2004 topps card

while reed johnson launches one on his 2004 topps card

russell martin's 2008 topps stadium club card features a nice tatooine play at the plate

while joe mauer's 2010 bowman chrome card features an oddly cropped tatooine play at the plate

some more desert shots - 2008 upper deck jake peavy season highlights

1996 upper deck collector's choice jeff blauser (a double play turn aftermath)

and a lance parrish card, also from 1996 upper deck collector's choice.

it turns out, the parrish is a final tribute, as he did not return to the major leagues following the 1995 season. here are his career stats

not shown, his short stay (10 minor league games) in the dodger organization in 1993.

kemp and kershaw go together like a horse and carriage

happy new year!  i'm not making any resolutions, but i would like to see the dodgers' front office resolve to give clayton kershaw what he wants and sign him to an extension, and also resolve to not trade matt kemp.  i am willing to hitch the team's fortunes to these two guys and see what happens.

with that, let's have a look at a few kershaw and kemp cards that i've been scanning but not posting for a while.  we'll start with a 2011 panini playoff contenders combo card of the two

here's another combo card - these two are like peas and carrots - this one is from 2013 topps heritage

now for some shiny solo stuff - 2013 topps finest kershaw

and kemp

and a kemp refractor

2013 topps tribute kershaw

and kemp

here's a 2011 bowman international parallel, reminding us that kershaw is from texas.

kemp's home state of oklahoma also makes an appearance on that card.  see?  they're even neighbors!

here's a matt kemp 2012 topps mini card that was handed out at the national convention

now for a 2010 upper deck biography kershaw

and a 2011 topps marquee kemp - the blue parallel version

here's a 2010 bowman chrome kershaw

and a 2010 bowman platinum kemp

obviously, most of kemp's cards show him with a bat, but he does have a few that show him fielding or on the bases.  pretty much all of kershaw's cards show him pitching.  i'm hoping that 2014 opening day at least shows him at the plate delivering his 2013 opening day home run against the giants.  but if the rest of his cards show him pitching in dodger stadium like this 2011 bowman finest futures card, i won't complain.

here's a black bordered 2008 topps allen & ginter kemp mini that i picked up on sportlots for 18 cents a couple months ago.

and here's a 2009 upper deck goodwin champions kershaw that i've had scanned for a while

just a few more - 2013 bowman platinum kemp

and 2009 upper deck signature stars kershaw

and last but not least - some 2013 topps stickers of kemp

and kershaw

man, do i hope these two stick together with the dodgers.  in 2014 and beyond.

location, location, location

it's nice to get out of the office.  usually, however, my excursions include going from one office building to another.  not like when i lived in socal and would stop at dodger stadium to mull around between meetings at disney in glendale and my office in newport beach.  no, these days the closest i get to that is walking past target field in the skyway on my way to a meeting in an office building downtown.

well, i recently had a work related meeting at an office building that was literally right across the street from one of the local card shops.  i didn't know that ahead of time, and as i got close to the building my card shop spidey-sense was sounding off.  as luck would have it, i happened to arrive about a half hour early for the meeting and so forgoing lunch to kill some time perusing the bargain boxes in the lcs was a no-brainer.

i didn't find a whole lot of exciting things, but it was a nice way to spend a lunch break.

there were a few double play cards to acquire, like this willie bloomquist card

and a john mcdonald card

both from 2011 topps update.  i am assuming that mcdonald has turned two, otherwise he is completely missing the tag.

here's another blue jay taking care of business - yunel escobar on his 2010 topps card

neil walker's 2011 topps card shows him waiting for the feed from the left side of the diamond

and jason bartlett's 2011 topps card shows him making the pivot.  pivot! pivot! piv-ot!

former dodger delwyn young jumps to avoid a sliding mark derosa on his 2010 topps card

while jimmy rollins stands his ground on his 2010 bowman chrome card

it's nice to see topps finest in a common bargain box, especially when it's a dodger or another type of card that i collect.  like this 1998 jeff kent specimen on which kent is turning two.

among the non-double play cards that i picked up was this 2009 topps willy aybar card

there was a time that i thought aybar might be the dodger third baseman for a long time.  he debuted in 2005 after the departure of adrian beltre, and hit pretty well.  ned sent him to atlanta in 2006, however, along with danys baez and some cash for wilson betemit, who did serve as the dodgers' primary third baseman for 2006.  more accurately, he started more games there than any other dodger that year, but that was still less than a quarter of the team's games.  i'll get into that a little deeper when i finish the 'evolution of the third baseman' series.  someday.

anyway, i bought the aybar card because of the lurking derek jeter.  note that he's wearing a black armband (for bobby murcer), but this card goes in the lurker binder, not the memorial binder.  i'll find some other bronx bomber to represent murcer in the collection.

here's the lone dodger i rescued from the lcs that day, a 1995 bowman's best mike piazza card

i'll have to see if i can schedule a couple more meetings soon.

double plays cards will be the death of me

my double play card cataloguing and organizing has hit a roadblock recently.  i am trying to get them all gathered together so i can seed them in the 'greatest double play card of all time' tournament - a tournament whose outcome is probably already known.  i will see this through, if for no other reason than my sanity, and i would really like to get it done before the 2013 cards come out.  anyway, here are some more cards to show that document the turn at second base.  

2011 topps lineage ryne sandberg

there is also the cloth version, mini version, and a couple other parallel versions of this card.

2010 bowman justin turner

and 2010 bowman chrome ruben tejada

i believe that tejada's regular bowman card is cropped so that it is not apparent that he is turning two.  i left that card in the dime box.

2010 upper deck everth cabrera biography

there are a lot of cabrera's who play middle infield positions and turn two.

2011 bowman andrew romine

appears to have been gunning for aj pierzynski's head

2011 topps ian desmond

2011 topps david eckstein

2011 topps yunel escobar

2011 topps howie kendrick

2011 topps eric young jr

on a card his dad would be proud of.

here are some 2012 offerings - 2012 topps ian desmond

2012 topps ruben tejada

at this rate, tejada could be this generation's walt weiss as far as dp cards go

2012 topps troy tulowitzki

2012 topps chrome dustin pedroia

which may be the worst dp card of all time

2012 topps update maicer izturis

and 2012 topps update wilson valdez

i didn't think much of this card when i pulled it from a blaster, but then it showed up again in a trade package from all the way to the backstop.  i did some research, but it is unclear whether valdez threw to first to try to double up robinson cano or if he was just content with the force out as cano was safe on the fielder's choice.  i'll keep it in the binder anyway.