canadian food and other items of subjective merit

i guess poutine is the food most often cited as canadian fare, at least in my experience. i've been to canada many, many times, and i've never tried it, so i can't say whether it is any good or not.  what i do know to be good is receiving cards in the mail, as i did a short while back from brian at 'highly subjective and completely arbitrary'.

one of the cards that was on display in one of the team bags was this pedro guerrero oddball

it turns out that it is from a 1987 general mills fold-out food issue, which was obviously distributed in canada, because it's got the requisite french translations on it.  at first i didn't know it was a fold-out, and i thought that it just had the astros' kevin bass on the back.  but no, it's a fold-out

in fact, this is one of six fold-outs - one for each division - and it folds out to larger proportions.  inside there are more players, including the dodgers' steve sax

and fernando valenzuela

here you see fernando next to the padres' tony gwynn and the braves' dale murphy

with some of the other players being the astros' mike scott, giants' chili davis, and reds' dave parker.

the other player featured is the astros' bill doran, and i had to unfold the thing one more time to get him to show up.

that seems like a lot of astros, but keep in mind they won the division in 1986.  i like to think that if this had been issued a year earlier, steve garvey might have been included.

most of what brian sent was part of the trade break that he recently conducted, but there were a few other random dodgers included in the package, like this 1990 score john wetteland card

i haven't shown cards of the 1996 world series mvp very often on this blog, but that's because he was traded to the reds in the eric davis deal after the 1991 season so there aren't a ton of dodger wetteland cards to show.

there are even fewer (i think) of victor diaz, but a 2003 topps heritage card

is one of the ones available to team collectors like me.  diaz never actually played in a big league game for the dodgers, but he did see some action later with the mets and rockies.

i wish there were fewer cards of andruw jones as a dodger, but here's a 2008 topps heritage card, anyway.

if that card were the lowlight of the package, then this one was one of the highlights - a 2012 panini cooperstown tommy lasorda blue crystal parallel

there are no two ways about it - that is objectively a nice looking card. in my subjective opinion.

thanks for the cards brian - i'll show more of the trade break stuff another time.

seventy? seriously?

this is crazy, but don sutton - the lone hall of famer from the team of my youth - turns 70 years old today.  to celebrate, here are seven cards of his that i've not shown before.

2007 upper deck sp legendary cuts

2005 donruss throwback threads

2005 upper deck sp legendary cuts

2013 panini hometown heroes rivalry

1987 o-pee-chee box card

2007 upper deck sweet spot classic relic

2012 panini cooperstown credentials

as you can see, i don't discriminate when it comes to sutton - i'll take angels, a's, brewers, and even astro cards featuring the curly haired hof'er.

if it's sutton's 70th birthday, that means that it is also reggie smith's 70th birthday.  unfortunately, i am ill prepared with reggie's cards as he doesn't appear in many modern sets like sutton does.  i'll have to make it up to the right fielder of the team of my youth another time.

happy birthday to two of my favorite dodgers!

dodgers blue

so, the dodgers' season is over - prematurely by many people's thinking, including my own.  and while i don't live and die by the team, i am disappointed.  blue?  not really.  although these cards are.

2008 topps triple threads duke snider sapphire parallel numbered to 25

i bought this card a couple of weeks ago.  the same seller had a steve garvey card from the same set/same parallel run going at the same time.  i got the snider for $1.99 plus shipping (i was the only bidder) while the garvey card went for over $30 (i didn't win that one).  go figure.

2012 panini cooperstown don sutton blue crystal ice or cracked ice or some such nonsense, numbered to 499

the dodgers haven't been to the world series since don sutton was on their opening day roster.  yikes.

2013 topps josh beckett silver slate blue parallel

beckett just retired, by the way.

2013 topps zack greinke silver slate blue parallel

i would have loved to have seen greinke pitch in game 5 at home.

2013 topps kenley jansen silver slate blue parallel

i would have liked for jansen to pitch in some of those more critical situations, like the 7th inning of game 1.  if he's your closer/best reliever, use him when the need is the greatest.  screw conventional wisdom.

2013 topps clayton kershaw league leader silver slate blue parallel

i don't blame kershaw.  i don't blame anyone.  i don't think i've felt that way about anything baseball related since 1985, although jim tracy did befuddle me in 2005.  there's no point.  good gosh, i've gone existential in my baseball fandom!

2013 topps chrome adrian gonzalez blue refractor

gonzalez led the league in rbi during the regular season, but had just one hit with runners in scoring position in the nlds.  of course, he may only have hit a couple of times in that situation during the series, so i don't know that he is to blame.

2014 bowman clayton kershaw blue parallel

and 2014 topps clayton kershaw league leader walmart blue parallel

it will be interesting to see how fernandez and harvey bounce back next year.  it will be interesting to see how kershaw bounces back for that matter.

2014 topps hanley ramirez walmart blue parallel

hanley had a tough year with a lot of little injuries, but he hit when he was in the lineup.  will he get a big contract? from whom?  would the dodgers re-sign him to play third?  did it make sense for mattingly to remove him from game 1 for a defensive replacement? what if he caught jhonny peralta's line drive in the 7th inning of game 4 that instead went off of his glove?  so many questions.  hanley played well; clearly he is not to blame.

2014 topps yasiel puig the future is now insert

not a blue parallel like these other cards, but there is enough of a blue tint that i included it here.  puig is an enigma.  i was surprised but not surprised that he was benched for game 4.  he looked lost at the plate for much of the series, but you know that he could explode at any time, and for a team desperate for some offense that means a lot.  i don't blame puig.

for me, the dodgers' performance in the 2014 nlds comes down to what they did or didn't do as a team during the series.  yes, the team is comprised of individuals managed by an individual and brought together by another individual.  and, yes, there may be some room for improvement with any of those individuals.  but whatever happens this offseason, i'll still root for the laundry next season - even if (and actually especially if) the same people are wearing it.

what concerns me more is the fact that no dodger team has won their division (or the national league pennant before division play) three years in a row.  history would tell us that the best shot the dodgers have is a wild card berth which means a one game playoff which means kershaw.  doesn't it?

another bobby lost

sadly, former dodger pitcher bobby castillo passed away on monday - the second pitcher named bobby from the team of my youth to die this year.  i was reminded that arpsmith had recently sent me a 1982 topps castillo card that was signed by the pitcher himself

i was able to have castillo sign a couple of cards previously, but this one is much more boldly signed.  rest in peace, bobby.

arpsmith included another signed card from 1982 - a 1982 fleer burt hooton card to be exact

i appreciate having a socal connection with what seems to be a decent lcs nearby.  in addition to the in person autos he found there, arpsmith also sent a 2007 upper deck spx autographed card of delwyn young

and a 2007 ud artifacts jersey card of jeff kent

here's a 1994 upper deck fun pack mike piazza checklist card

unlike collector's choice, i think the silver signature was standard on this card.  also, piazza's wearing the tim crews memorial patch on this card.  there will be, of course, a separate post regarding that memorial someday.

speaking of collector's choice, here's a 1997 udcc hideo nomo all-star connection insert

nomo didn't make the all-star team in 1997, in fact, the only time he appeared in the midsummer classic was in his rookie year of 1995 when he was the game's starter.

pee wee reese, on the other hand, appeared in 10 all-star games, including 9 straight from 1945-1954.  here's a 2012 panini cooperstown crystal parallel of the dodger shortstop that arpsmith included

the kaleidoscope pattern and cropping of the familiar photo distract me from the fact there is no logo.

there's no logo on this next card either, but lest there be any doubts, tommy lasorda is still in charge.  he is 'calling the shots' according to this 2013 panini hometown heroes insert

clearly he did not call jack clark's shot in the 1985 nlcs.

thanks for the cards adam!

cartwright!

perhaps one of the best early episodes of seinfeld was the chinese restaurant one.  the foursome waited in real time for a table, but lost out when the host called out 'cartwright' instead of 'costanza' when it was their turn to be seated.  that's a long way to go to get to this 2012 panini cooperstown card of alexander cartwright

it came to me from jeff at 2x3 heroes as part of his 'tis the season giveaway and features the baseball pioneer in fireman gear from his time as the honolulu fire chief.  

there were also a mess of twins in the package, including a 2012 topps heritage jamey carroll

on which the former dodger does his best 'suttoning' pose, and a bunch of angels including a 2006 fleer ultra vladimir guerrero

i also found this 1987 ralston purina steve garvey card

in the package.  i think i still need the cookie crisp version - it doesn't say '1987 collectors' edition' on it.

don't worry - jeff also sent some dodgers along.  here's a 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee cory wade black parallel card

but the biggest, best, baddest card of the entire package was this 2013 panini america's pastime fernando valenzuela autograph

el toro autografia certificado para mi!  mucho gusto! muchas gracias jeff!

tc pwe

quick post today - i received a couple cards from topher at crackin' wax the other day in a pwe - part of his 'take my cards' program.  it didn't take long for the cards to travel across town.  here's a roy campanella field generals card from 2012 panini cooperstown

and here's a don sutton credentials card from the same set

thanks to all the bloggers out there who had posted these inserts before, i knew that there would be no photo on the card when i requested it, but i had to have it since it features the only hall of famer from the team of my youth.

thanks topher - looking forward to the series one case break!

and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be

yesterday was vin scully's 85th birthday.  i celebrated by opening my mail and finding this card waiting for me.  first, i'll show the back

i was so pleased to see scully included in the 2012 panini cooperstown release, i quickly picked one of his cards up on ebay.  here's the front

it's an insert set - there's also a red barber card that i will need to get at some point.  i am by no means complaining about a real honest to goodness card of the dodger broadcaster (the first since fleer's 2004 announcing greats card), i just sort of wish that they had used a later image of scully.  i am being selfish here, but i picture scully more like he is today.  i know panini did use a later 'in action' photo for his autographed card, but i don't think i will lay out the cash for one of those unless the prices settle a bit.  to say the first few have been volatile is putting it mildly.  i was watching several copies of the autographed card on ebay, and the first one went for $410.  then there was a bin for $300 that someone quickly snagged, followed by another for $175.  there's one up now at around $250 (as i type this on friday morning) and another at about $150, but both have a couple of days left yet.

anyway, there are several dodgers in the set that i also picked up over at sportlots.  i believe the only dodger i am missing is duke snider (can you help a blogger out?), although there are a number of hall of famers who played for the dodgers that may be featured in a dodger uniform.  because panini had to remove all indications from the unis, maybe rickey henderson is shown from his time as a dodger.  heck, maybe the duke of flatbush is really a met on his card.  i am guessing, though, that panini tried to match the image with the team that each player is enshrined under in cooperstown.  that would leave jim hunter hatless.

it's easy to know what team is represented on these cards.  walter alston

 spent his entire managerial career with the dodgers, as did tommy lasorda

i believe lasorda got special dispensation from the hall which is why he was inducted without the usual 5-year waiting period following retirement.  alston up there had to wait until 1983 (7 years after he retired) to get in.

don sutton had a longer wait

but he's in now, whether reggie jackson likes it or not.  he is obviously shown as a dodger here, pitching in candlestick even, and i thank panini for not using a photo of him as a brewer.

roy campanella was only ever a dodger in the big leagues

and i can't believe that he wasn't inducted until 1969.

pee wee reese

came to the dodgers from the red sox organization, but i doubt that this is a 1939 minor league photo of the captain.  he joined the hall as a veterans committee selection in 1984, the same year don drysdale was inducted.  speaking of which, there are no cards in the set for big d or sandy koufax, although both maury wills (not in the hall) and shawn green (on the ballot for the first time this year) are both featured in autograph insert sets.

here's jackie robinson

jackie was the first player voted in by the writers since joe cronin and hank greenberg in 1956.  i think that's the longest stretch the hall has gone without a player be admitted by the writers.

during that stretch, zach wheat

had been voted in by the veterans committee in 1959, and although he spent his final season in philadelphia with the a's, that is definitely a brooklyn uniform wheat is wearing.  here's his teammate and fellow hall of famer burleigh grimes similarly dressed

the dodgers (and robins) wore pinstripes for much of the 1910's and 20's which would have covered the time that both wheat and grimes played for brooklyn.  here's a 1983 donruss hall of fame heroes card of grimes showing the 1964 veterans committee inductee in a robins uniform, circa 1919.

i like this panini set.  it reminds me of the cramer legends sets from the early 1980's which i collected (at least the first 3 sets - there might be a 4th i am missing).  i won't chase the whole set, but i definitely am looking for the snider and the barber insert.

happy bday vin; i can't wait to hear you say 'dodger baseball is on the air' in 2013.