et tu, bill russell?

steve garvey wore a padres uniform.  ron cey suited up for the cubs and a's.  davey lopes wore the uniform of the a's, cubs, and astros as a big league player, and then wore rangers, padre, brewers, nationals, and phillies gear as a coach/manager at the big league level.  there are plenty of cards that show evidence of those three infielders wearing non-dodger uniforms, but i didn't think that was the case for the fourth - bill russell.

there was only one season in which russell wore a non-dodger uniform in the major leagues, and it was in 2000 when he served as the bench coach for the tampa bay devil rays.  i didn't think that there were any cards showing russell in his devil ray gear, and i may be correct, but i did stumble across this card, a 1999 multi-ad sports orlando rays card 

showing the shortstop of the team of my youth as the manager for tampa bay's triple-a team the year before joining the big league club as its bench coach.  this came after russell was fired by the fox folks and our hopes of another long-tenured dodger manager were dashed.  any and all cards of bill russell have a place in my collection, so i was happy to find this one.  and, apparently, there is another minor league card of russell showing him as the skipper for the shreveport swamp dragons in 2002. that was a giants farm team (shudder).

speaking of giants, i also found a couple of cards showing reggie smith, the right fielder for the team of my youth, wearing giant gear.  although, it's not san francisco giant duds, it's the uniform of the yomiuri giants

both cards are from the 2013 bbm legendary foreigners 2: deep impact set, according to check out my cards.  both cards are incredibly awesome, as well.  after spending one season (1982) with the nocal giants, reggie went to japan for a tumultuous year and a half, starting in 1983.  that second 'off shot' card is pretty cool, with reggie tipping his cap.  it would fit in my 'nob' mini collection, although i still haven't made that an official thing.  

i do have an official 'tatooine collection' featuring cards with nothing but dirt in the photo background.  this 2006 topps mickey mantle 2002 card fits the bill.

in 2006, topps essentially created mantle cards for all of the sets that had left card number 7 vacant - i believe it was from 1997 on.  still waiting for a mantle in the 1978 topps design...

moving along with some other recent pick-ups, there are few images that work better for companies without a license to use logos than the maskless catcher in gear.  such is the case with this 2013 panini elite extra edition mike piazza historic picks insert

there were 75 rounds in the 1988 draft, although not all teams participated in all rounds, and piazza is the lowest pick in the draft to make it to the majors.  the dodgers took eric karros 56 rounds earlier, in the sixth round of that draft.

speaking of sixth round draft picks, here's a shiny matt kemp 2011 topps finest refractor of matt kemp

kemp was the dodgers' sixth rounder in 2003.  i also grabbed a 2007 topps chrome blue refractor parallel of kemp

for my latest target as far as team sets go.  also new to the collection towards that endeavor are rafael furcal

derek lowe

and jason schmidt

just four left - randy wolf, andre ethier, takashi saito, and greg maddux.

another team set i am working on, but not really, is the 1953 topps team set.  i added rube walker

to my collection, but there are still many high ticket cards to be had before i am complete with that one.  someday, perhaps.

i began this post with one of the infielders for whom this blog is named in a strange uniform and ended it with a 1953 topps card of a brooklyn dodger named rube who later became a pitching coach, including for the mets during gil hodges' managerial reign and beyond.  as such, walker appeared on a couple of topps cards in 1973 and 1974 as a coach.  i wish the same luxury was afforded russell in 2000.

fun at the ballpark, indeed

it is odd to think that, after nearly seven years of posting, i have not yet featured this 1993 donruss triple play card of former dodger reliever roger mcdowell

so, when it arrived recently in a trade package from bo at baseball cards come to life, i figured that now was the time.  here's the back

 

mcdowell's teammates may have been amused by him wearing outrageous things, but i as a fan will just accept good baseball in a beautiful setting.  a setting like dodger stadium.  that's where this next card bo sent comes in.

that's a 1996 score select bret boone card, featuring a photo taken in dodger stadium.  the unnamed dodger in the scene is roberto kelly, who twice stole second against boone and the reds on july 30, 1995.  the wrist guard and red glove/sweat bands were a big clue as to the runner's identity, but really it was either him or chad fonville, and with kelly wearing number 21 it was fairly obvious.

this next one is easier.

that would be mitch webster sliding in while jose oquendo turns two in dodger stadium on his 1996 donruss card.

moving away from dodger stadium (to tatooine, in fact), we see rafael furcal sliding in front of freddy sanchez on sanchez's 2008 bowman card

as sanchez makes the double play pivot.

staying on tatooine, here's a 1993 score select joe girardi card

that would obviously fit into that particular mini collection of mine if it weren't already destined for the lurker collection thanks to dodger dave hansen making an appearance on the back

there are many more cards that bo sent that i'll be showing over the next few days - thanks for the cards bo!

turning two in black and blue and other colors, too

here's a quick post to show some double play cards that i picked up last november during a black friday spree.  timely, i know.

2012 topps chrome dee gordon black refractor

and 2012 topps chrome dee gordon blue refractor

blue works better for the dodgers, and so i picked up a couple others as well

2009 topps chrome orlando hudson blue refractor

(hello, juan castro)

and 2011 topps chrome rafael furcal blue refractor

with the position error

i am on record as noting that the best card in 2014 topps update belonged to justin turner, but before he was turning two as a dodger, he made the pivot in the flagship set as a met.  i picked up some of the parallels for my dp collection

2014 topps justin turner gold

2014 topps justin turner red hot foil

2014 topps justin turner toys r us purple

2014 topps justin turner walmart blue

unfortunately, turner wasn't included in the chrome set last year - either as a dodger or a met - so no blue refractor for me.

speaking of blue refractors, i am still trying to piece together the 2007 topps chrome blue refractor dodger team set, and could use some help...

how to assemble an atomic team set

i finally bit the bullet and bought the last few cards i needed to complete the 2011 topps chrome atomic refractor dodger team set.  i really like these kaleidoscope looking things.

clayton kershaw

of the 10 dodgers in the set, mr. cy young/mvp is one of only two players still with the dodgers.

chad billingsley

bills is pitching for the phils now. he's on the dl, but has made a couple of rehab starts in the minors as he works his way back from tommy john surgery.

dee gordon

dee is playing second base for the marlins following an offseason trade. he's hitting .348 with 7 steals so far in 2015.

jerry sands

sands was traded (as one of the players to be named later) to the red sox in the big adrian gonzalez/josh beckett/carl crawford deal, but was flipped to the pirates for joel hanrahan a short time later.  he finally resurfaced in the majors with the rays in 2014, and is currently hitting .381 for the indians in 7 games this year.

those were the last four cards i needed to complete my team set, but here are the other cards just to be thorough about it.

jonathan broxton

broxton is pitching out of the brewer bullpen these days. the good news is that his k/9 ratio is up (10 strikeouts in 6.2 innings so far in 2015), but so his is era (6.75).

ivan dejesus

dejesus was included with sands in the trade with boston in 2012, as well as the trade with the pirates that followed. unlike sands, dejesus played for boston in 2012 - he was 0 for 8.  that was the last big league action he's seen, but he's currently playing in the reds organization and hitting .364 at triple-a louisville.

andre ethier

currently the dodgers' fourth outfielder, ethier has appeared in 14 games and is hitting .276 in 2015.

rafael furcal

furky has been hobbled by injuries the last couple of years, playing in just a few games for the marlins last year after missing all of 2013.  he's currently with the royals, although still injured.

matt kemp

kemp seems to be enjoying himself in san diego, and he's healthy to boot. he's played in all 17 games this season, and is hitting .333 with a couple of triples, 14 rbi, and two steals.

james loney

loney was another one included in that 2012 trade with the bosox, but he is the rays' first baseman now.  he has only appeared in one game this season, however, as he suffered an oblique strain in the season opener.

good ol' chrome.  i think i will shift my attention to the 2007 topps chrome blue refractor dodger team set next.

8 jd drew

23 andre ethier

48 rafael furcal

54 jeff kent

106 brad penny

125 juan pierre

128 chad billingsley

149 jason schmidt

159 matt kemp

173 randy wolf

176 takashi saito

193 russell martin

229 derek lowe

275 greg maddux

please help me out if you can!

cards that made the writer's journey

i received a surprise envelope from jt at the writer's journey recently.  it made sense that two of the cards in the envelope were of eric the red - a 1993 topps card

and a 1993 upper deck card.  that particular card is one of my favorites, thanks to the great shot from dodger stadium that adorns the front, but i'll show the back since it is reminiscent of the topps card above

both feature davis in the pullover warmup with the sleeves turned up for maximum tattoo display.  plus, personalized wristbands!

here's a card from a simpler time that also made the trip - a 1983 donruss mike scioscia

the most interesting item sent was this rafael furcal postcard

the back indicates that it was printed in support of the dodgers dream foundation (now simply known as the los angeles dodgers foundation).  jt said he received it in a fan pack a few years ago (all i received in my most recent dodger fan pack was a mini pennant), so i'm calling it a circa 2010 dodgers dream foundation postcard.

all of the cards were found folded inside this page from a 2015 hall of fame calendar

that's some pretty good stuff to find in an unexpected envelope.  thanks jt!

let's get atomic in here. seriously. find me some 2011 topps chrome atomic refractors and be rewarded for it.

i feel like the girl with kaleidoscope eyes, without all the 'lucy in the sky with diamonds' nonsense. that's because i'm looking at some 2011 topps chrome atomic refractors.  i've got a few in my collection now, after posting my matt kemp card and asking for more 364 days ago.

now, i also have jonathan broxton

andre ethier

james loney

and rafael furcal

who is still turning two as an outfielder.

in addition to the kemp card, i also had ivan dejesus

when 2014 started, but i figured i would show him and kemp

again.

i also picked up a 2011 topps chrome chad billingsley xfractor recently

which is close, but not quite atomic.

so, i'm down to four that i need to complete my team set:

107 clayton kershaw
167 chad billingsley
211 jerry sands
212 dee gordon

kershaw and billingsley sit on the nefarious 9 list, but each of these cards are high priority targets for me.  if you can find one, you will be rewarded - i've got some 1950's vintage sitting around with nothing to do...

it's the end of the year as we know it, and i feel like showing some dodger double play turns

one last post in 2014, and it's all dodgers and all double play turns.  too bad there's no davey lopes or bill russell.  there is, however, their infield coach jim gilliam, turning two on his 1995 topps brooklyn archives 1956 reprint card

i dont think i knew that topps had listed gilliam as an outfielder on his 1956 card.  he's definitely not playing as an outfielder on the card.

here's a 2009 topps chrome orlando hudson xfractor

i'm working on updating my double play binders. there are a number of dodger dps, like the hudson above, that i only have one copy of.  i'm trying to get a handle on that so i can pursue duplicates appropriately.  i know i only have one of these - a 2011 topps ivan dejesus factory set limited edition card

but i might have two of his diamond anniversary parallel

conversely, i actually do have two copies of rafael furcal's 2011 topps factory set limited edition card

but maybe only one of the diamond anniversary parallel

furcal's 2011 topps card may be the best double play card of the set (remember - dee gordon's fantastic double play card came in 2011 topps update), and i had been lax in chasing the parallels.  so, here are the cognac,

gold,

and walmart black versions

the same photo was also used in 2011 topps chrome, thankfully, so here are the orange refractor

and xfractor parallels

gordon got his first taste of the topps flagship in 2012, when he was featured on a rookie cup card and another card that showed him turning two with larry 'chipper' jones sliding in.  this is the golden sparkle parallel

fast forward to 2014, and we had more parallels of dodgers turning two.  i found a yellow parallel of mark ellis from 2014 topps a while back

i definitely only have one of those.

same with this other retail parallel - a 2014 topps alex guerrero green border

it's a tatooine card, too, but i'm currently focused on two copies - the tatooine collection can wait.

i'm less certain about some of the other parallels of this card that i have, like his gold card,

red hot foil,

and 2014 topps chrome cards

pretty sure i have two copies of his 2014 topps chrome refractor

but i know i only have one 2014 topps chrome blue refractor

orange refractor,

and xfractor.

in fact, the duplicate xfractor is one of my nefarious 9 - my most wanted cards.

i'll finish the post, and year, with this - one of my 1953 bowman color pee wee reese cards

that i finally removed from its casing.  this is the one in my dodger binder - the one with the pinhole is in the double play binder.

happy new year everybody - if you can't tell, i'm resolving to work on my want/have lists.