at the end of 2011, some of my first 2011 cards

as you can tell by the title, i had planned to run this post last year.  that's because i had hoped to clear my scanned folder of the trades i had received in 2011 to start the new year.  i failed. 

these dodger goodies came from rhubarb runner in exchange for some twins, i imagine.  trade posts are not usually the most interesting posts out there. i'll try for interesting.

we'll start with former dodger, casey blake

it will be interesting to see if blake is rejuvenated by the thin air of colorado

2011 topps opening day clayton kershaw

it will be interesting to see how many opening day starts kershaw makes for the dodgers

2011 topps james loney

it will be interesting to see how james loney starts the season in 2012.  like he did in 2011? or as he finished in 2011?

2011 topps russell martin

it will be interesting to see if martin continues to have nice looking cards now that he's a yankee.  at least we know he will have more cards, anyway.

vicente padilla

it will be interesting to see whether padilla signs with anyone.  supposedly, he is pitching lights out in winter ball.

2011 topps andre ethier '60'

it will be interesting to see if ethier is healthy, and whether ned extends his contract.

2011 topps duke snider '60'

it will be interesting to see what glut of brooklyn dodger inserts topps gives us this year.

2004 upper deck eric gagne awesome honors

it will be interesting to see if gagne gets any hof votes when he appears on the ballot in 2014.

2005 donruss throwback threads ron cey

it is interesting that donruss believes the penguin played first base.  not in that infield!

thanks rr! i have some more twins ready to go!

topps serves up some variations again - a side by side comparison of the 2011 topps dodgers

now that 2011 topps update is out, i can finally put this post to bed.  here's a comparison of the dodger cards made by topps and included in the blister team set and their flagship series 1, 2 and update counterparts.  the topps dodger set cards are on the right.

andre ethier

topps isn't messing around.  the topps logo is in the same spot, unlike some cards from previous years.  these card fronts are exactly the same.

chad billingsley

ditto.

clayton kershaw

ditto again

this is getting boring.  here's rafael furcal

very very nice card, but still the same. 

matt kemp

ditto ditto.

hiroki kuroda

finally!  topps eschewed the photo of kuroda with his eyes closed and went for one with his cheeks full of  mashed potatoes.  po-ta-toes!

ted lilly

back to the same ol' grind

rod barajas

even seeing a lurking clayton kershaw twice isn't enough to make me happy for a lack of variation, especially with the dearth of rod barajas dodger cards

vicente padilla

just one variation so far.  so sad.

jay gibbons

hey hey!  mr. mitchell report got a card in the team set, but was off the roster by the time series 2 rolled around.  good that his short time as a dodger was documented, though.

here's double dipper jon garland

same deal as gibbons, except garland got a heritage card. i would guess that garland would have been in series 2 had he not been injured.

james loney

so much for variations.

hong-chih kuo

hong-chih status quo

casey blake

another nice card.  twice as nice?  not really.

juan uribe

uribe's flagship card is from the update set.  i would guess that we will see a few cards next year with the baby blues.  i like the variations going on here - a different position and the fact that topps guessed (wrongly) at the number uribe would wear when they airbrushed his team set card.  he wore 9 for the short time he was actually on the field.

jonathan broxton

two variations in a row!  i think the team set broxton is similar (if not the same) to his chrome card.  i don't have any 2011 topps chrome so i don't know for sure.

finally, we have dodger stadium

there is no equivalent in series 1, 2 or update.  i really like this card.  i'll write more about it in a future post.  so there you have it.  17 cards, 3 photo variations and 3 checklist variations.  topps can do better.

the postman rang thrice

i got some mail yesterday.  three baseball card related items.  the first was a 1968 topps ron hunt card that i had sent off in hopes of an autograph.  mr. hunt returned it with a request for $15 donated to his baseball school.  fair enough, but i don't think i will follow through.

the second package was from cliff at capewood's collections.  cliff sent me a nice stack of cards after i inquired about a trade.  we had done good business a while back, and the cards he sent this time were absolutely fantastic.  like this 2011 topps heritage rafael furcal

which just happens to be a short print.  i bought a couple of packs and got exactly two short prints, neither of which were dodgers.  russ mitchell is the other dodger sp.

1988 score tim crews

he's pitching in dodger stadium in what may be the twilight.  i always think of crews this time of year when teams are winding down in spring training.  as you may recall, tim and fellow indians pitcher steve olin died during spring training 1993 when tim's boat hit a dock.  bobby ojeda was injured in the accident.  crews pitched well for the dodgers in 1988 but was left off of the postseason roster.

2003 upper deck victory kaz ishii

i don't recall ishii as clutch, unless you really needed the opposing team to get a walk.  then he seemed to come through quite often.  ha.

2007 topps hit parade luis gonzalez

luis, in one of the few cards te feature him as a dodger, ranked 7th on the active career hits leaders back when this card was issued.  he fell behind biggio, bonds, julio franco (!), steve finley, omar vizquel (still ticking), griffey jr, and sheff.  number 9 on the list was ivan rodriguez who i am sure has passed gonzo by now.

here's reed johnson's only dodger card - a 2010 topps update number

i think johnson is back with the cubs after his lone year in la.  he may even start over alfonso soriano before the season is over, that's how far soriano has fallen.

here's vicente padilla on a 2011 topps walmart black card

he and jon garland are starting the year off on the wrong foot.  maybe ned can swing a deal for kevin slowey.

cliff also sent me my first non-dodger russell martin card

isn't opening day in march this year?  why did topps put april on the cards?  this photoshop job has russell in his yankee roadies playing against the padres.  someone years down the road may be very confused by this card.

there were also a couple of cards featuring a dodger teammate of martin who joined him in yankees camp this year, ronnie belliard and his 2010 topps update card

which brings us to the third piece of mail i received, which was that same belliard card back from the man himself

and he kindly scribbled on it.  i think i saw yesterday that he was released by the yankees.  that stinks, even though he underperformed last year.  we'll always have his 2009 late season performance in dodger blue to remember.

thanks cliff and ronnie, and ron hunt too for filling my mailbox yesterday!

the first of the 2010 goose joak dodger originals

i am looking forward to helping with the goose joak set again this year.  i think i will approach it a little differently, though.  i'm not concerned about the 40-man roster this year, but i will try to get every player who appears in the majors for the dodgers on a card.  i am also going to use only 2010 photos.  with all that said, here are the first two dodgers i have created - manny ramirez

and opening day starter, vincente padilla

i prefer the logo inset as opposed to a smaller photo, so that's the way i'll do it all year.  both photos are from the dodgers' opening day loss in pittsburgh and are getty images.

i also saw a cool photo (also a getty image) from opening day of mark reynolds of the diamondbacks, and had to make a card out of it

i will also be making some twins cards (with my own photos, hopefully).  should be fun.

while i'm here, i'll post the last two 2009 goose joak originals i had made from last year.  both are variants from the original versions i made for andre ethier

and james loney

i'll get the 2010 cards posted to dave's site as soon as i can figure out the flickr stuff.

a (goose joak) call for arms

not 'to arms' - it's definitely a call for arms in mannywood these days. with kuroda down, we've relied on the knuckleball of charlie haeger, and in a couple of days we'll see if vincente padilla can be a positive force on the field. the padilla start may even be a start to keep first place, perish the thought.

here are a couple more goose joak originals for the file - first, charlie haeger

all haeger has done is go 7 innings in each of his two starts. he gave up 3 runs his first start (and lost) but held the cubs scoreless in his most recent outing picking up the win. it's always nice when you can bring up a guy to fill in and he does the job. just look at the mess the twins are in right now with their pitching. none of the minor league guys are able to give the bullpen any rest.

and then there's the aforementioned padilla.i went the o-pee-chee route with him, since he has yet to make his debut with the dodgers. i remember in 1988 when the dodgers traded pedro guerrero, and the word was addition by subtraction. i hope this isn't subtraction by addition. here's hoping he wears the dodger blue well.