when a dodger card isn't fully a dodger card

sometimes, team collectors can miss out on cards that they may otherwise choose to add to their collection.  for example, this 1992 topps kids eddie murray card

shows him as a dodger, but then again - he is 'now with the mets!'.  is it a dodger card or a met card?  i consider it to be a non-dodger dodger card. so there.

here are some others that fit that bill (and fit into my collection as a result):

1993 donruss rudy seanez

a dodger up until the expansion draft

2000 pacific crown collection raul mondesi

pacific almost fooled me, using a photo of rauuuuuuul in the blue dodger alt jersey

2000 skybox dominion raul mondesi

obviously a dodger in all but team name on the card

2004 upper deck first pitch brian jordan

a while back i took a good look at the flagship version of this card. then i came across the first pitch version

and then there is this 2014 topps stickers joe mauer sticker

mauer is wearing the saint paul saints throwback in a game against the brewers in 2013 (i was at that game, by the way).  the saints uniform he is wearing comes from the time when they were a dodger affiliate.  in fact, there are some pictures hanging in one of the target field restaurants recognizing both the saints and the minneapolis millers (a giants' affiliate) as part of the twin cities' baseball fabric.  the photo for the saints features roy campanella rounding third being congratulated by walt alston.  pretty cool.  the millers photo features some guy named willie mays.  anyway, the mauer sticker is not a dodger card, but a cool item that i pulled from a pack and sent off to 2x3 heroes - i think.

if i haven't, i will - i've got quite a few packages ready to be sent out to folks, including baseball cards come to life, night owl, off hiatus, too many verlanders, bob walk the plank, and probably a couple of others.  you can always check my trade tracker on the right to see if i am aware that i owe you cards - let me know if i do and you don't see your name!

dodgers for indians

the dodgers have made a few trades with the indians that i can recall off the top of my head.  they acquired pedro guerrero from cleveland, sent rick sutcliffe and jack perconte to the tribe for jorge orta, traded franklin gutierrez for milton bradley, and shipped carlos santana off for casey blake.  well, several months ago, i made my first trade with indian fan baseball dad.  it's taken me a long time to get to this trade post, but i finally made it.

the most unusual card in the return package was this 1993 topps commanders of the hill tom candiotti card

the candy man pitched for the indians (twice), but signed with the dodgers as a free agent after a short stint in toronto.  according to baseballcardpedia, these cards were available on military bases and were sold with the purchase of a fountain drink.  that explains the coca-cola logo on the back.  very cool - i had not seen these before.

i had seen these before - 1982 donruss burt hooton

and 1983 donruss terry forster

but it is always nice to get cards featuring two pitchers from the team of my youth!

1995 fleer rudy seanez

not quite 6 years of blogging, and i had not shown a 1995 fleer card until just now.  not sure if that is good or bad.

1999 topps stars adrian beltre - one star

and two stars

good thing topps stopped at four stars, otherwise you'd be in beltre's nose

2002 upper deck prospect premieres james loney

the dodgers' first round pick in 2002 still hasn't turned those doubles into home runs (11 doubles/1 home run so far in 2014), but he hit a huge home run for the dodgers in the 2008 nlds.

2005 leaf steve finley

finley also hit a memorable grand slam for the dodgers - his walk-off job won the nl west title for the dodgers in 2004

2009 upper deck x manny ramirez x5 insert

2008 seems like so long ago, but manny absolutely destroyed the competition after joining the dodgers.

2014 topps hanley ramirez target red parallel

believe it or not, this was the first 2014 topps card i owned.  that's how long it's been since this trade.  thanks baseball dad!

rudy!

[this is the twentythird 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, and dioner navarro.]

you might argue that rudy seanez is really a dodger 'triple dipper'.  you might be right.  but, i am making the rules about these posts, and i am only considering players who have appeared in a big league game as a dodger before leaving the organization and then returning.  that's why guys like denny lewallyn and joe moeller qualify (even though they didn't appear in a game for the other team they were acquired by in between terms with the dodgers) and guys like ted lilly and ron coomer don't count.

seanez, who was acquired from the indians by the dodgers in 1991 in exchange for mike christopher and dennis cook, didn't appear in the bigs for la until 1994.  by then, he had spent time in the rockies' and padres' systems including some time in the majors with the pads.  in fact, seanez was the guy the dodgers sent to the rockies in 1992 for jody reed.

seanez spent 2 seasons in the majors with the dodgers, going 2-4 with 3 saves in 54 innings of work over the 1994 and 1995 seasons.  here's his 1995 topps traded card

seanez spent 1996 in albuquerque with the dodgers' aaa team, and then became a free agent at the end of the season.  he signed with the mets, who traded him to the royals in may of 1997 before he appeared in a game for them.  he didn't pitch for kansas city in the bigs, either.  he finally landed with the braves for the 1998 season, and put together his best years there.  he went 12-6 with 7 saves and a 3.30 era in 125 games for bobby cox from 1998 through 2000 (plus a month of 2001 when he became a braves' double dipper).
fast forward to 2006 and seanez is in boston as evidenced by his 2006 upper deck card

seanez had also pitched for boston in 2003.  in between, he spent time in the cubs organization, and then pitched in the majors for the royals, marlins and padres (for the second time).  the red sox released seanez in august of 2006 and the padres brought him in for a third time (a padres' triple dip!).  as a result, seanez was on the mound in the bottom of the 10th in the 4+1 game and walked kenny lofton before giving up the walk-off homer to nomar.  thanks rudy!

in gratitude, the dodgers brought seanez back to chavez ravine after the '06 season.  he spent 2007 in dodger blue, and was one of their most reliable relievers.  he posted a 6-3 record with one save and a 3.79 era in 73 games.  he was rewarded with a card in upper deck's 2008 set

he re-signed as a free agent in early 2008, but was cut by the dodgers in spring training.  seanez quickly signed with the phillies, and pitched for them during their run to the nl east title.  unfortunately, he was not on the postseason roster.  i am guessing he still got a ring, though.

seasnez finished his big league career with the angels in 2009, although he didn't appear in a game for them.  let's recap - that's a 17 season career in which he appeared in a game for 9 teams and was part of 13 organizations, including multiple stints with the dodgers, royals, braves, padres, and red sox.  and he wasn't even a lefty!

here's to you rudy seanez!