double play cardboard from mets cardboard

it was pretty clear to me that justin at mets cardboard did his homework while putting together his return trade package. there were dodgers and a set need and double play cards.  every dp card he sent was one that i did not already have.  coincidence? perhaps, but unlikely. it was good to see so many new turns at second base.  here are the rest of them (i showed some last sunday)

1992 action packed bobby richardson

old-time yankee twin killing of a twin

1993 donruss geronimo pena (back)

justin gave up the lurking met (dick schofield) on the back

1993 topps stadium club white sox joey cora

kind of a ho-hum double play turn. it looks like the runner/slider is just lying there.

1994 sportflics luis lopez

lenticular double play action!

1994 upper deck collector's choice chris gomez silver signature parallel

and 1994 upper deck collector's choice tony phillips silver signature parallel

those would both fit in my tatooine collection, too.

1997 pinnacle walt weiss

and here i thought i had all of the weiss double play cards

in addition to that pena card above, justin did a good job in checking card backs.  here's a 1997 upper deck collector's choice mark grudzielanek all-star insert (back)

1977 upper deck collector's choice edgar renteria (back)

1998 upper deck mike lansing (back)

and 1998 upper deck neifi perez (back)

which also has the same double play turn (just a bit earlier in the pivot) on the front

but back to the backs - here's a 1998 upper deck collector's choice jose valentin (back)

and a 1998 upper deck collector's choice mark grudzielanek (back)

with a nice dodger stadium backdrop and an unknown dodger rolling around at the g-man's feet.

thanks again justin! great trade!

the minnie minoso memorial patch

adam laroche is sporting the memorial patch worn by the white sox for minnie minoso on this 2015 topps stadium club card

following minoso's death at the age of either 89 or 92 in march of this year, the chisox added the patch with minoso's retired number 9 to their jerseys.  minoso had played for the white sox from 1951-1957, and again from 1960-1961, and then again in 1964.  and again in 1976 and 1980.  over those 12 seasons, minoso hit .304 as a member of the white sox with over 1500 hits.  he was a favorite of the fans and owner bill veeck, who had signed minoso for the indians while he was that team's owner, and then traded for him a couple of years later after buying the white sox.

the last two appearances, in 1976 and 1980, were part of a plan by veeck to allow minoso to play professionally in his fourth and fifth decades.  minoso had debuted with the cleveland indians in 1949, and so had played in the 40's, 50's, and 60's during his prime years.  as a 50-year old in 1976, minoso was used as a designated hitter, going 1 for 8 with a single and becoming the third-oldest player to hit safely in a game.  in 1980, minoso was used twice as a pinch-hitter, and was 0 for 2 in those at bats.  minoso wanted to appear in a game in 1990, but major league baseball denied the 64-year old's request.

minoso did get to appear in a game during the 1990's, however, as veeck's son mike - a co-owner of the independent league saint paul saints - gave him an at bat in 1993.  then, in 2003, minoso led off for the saints and drew a walk before being lifted for a pinch runner who was probably at least 50 years younger than the 77-ish minoso.  i was actually at that game as fate would have it - it was also a saints hat giveaway night with green hats provided by general mills brand lucky charms.  good times.

baseball cards that travelled from bo in single file to hide their numbers

there are many things that i like about this 1993 donruss tony fernandez card

first of all, it was sent to me by bo from baseball cards come to life in a trade package, which is great.  second, it features the o-pee-chee-esque 'traded' text with a mets logo on what would otherwise be a padre card.  third, there is a double play turn on the back.  and fourth, there is only dirt in the image, so it's a tatooine card.  bo sent a number of those cards for my mini collection.  here's another, also from 1993 donruss, featuring the tigers' phil clark

here are some more.

1993 score select royce clayton

1993 upper deck scott brosius

1993 upper deck craig grebeck

1993 upper deck jose vizcaino

1994 pinnacle kirt manwaring

1994 score bob zupcic

1994 upper deck dave hollins (back)

1994 upper deck collector's choice brian hunter

1994 upper deck collector's choice scott livingstone

1994 upper deck collector's choice dave magadan

1995 donruss junior felix

thanks bo.  these are the cards i was looking for.

i am running out of tatooine references from the star wars movies for these types of posts.

more double play knowledge from bo

the double play turns were many in the package i received recently from bo, he of baseball cards come to life.  here are some more that were new to my collection:

1991 topps stadium club tony phillips

bonus appearance by the cobra

1991 leaf scott leius gold bonus

also featuring a brewer, but not dave parker. more like mike felder.

1993 pinnacle craig grebeck

i am assuming here that there is only one reason why grebeck would be airborne, and that is to turn two.

1993 topps stadium club william suero

with paul sorrento doing his best to break things up, but to no avail - suero made the turn and threw sandy alomar out at first on april 26, 1992.

here's the back of suero's card

which is his first topps issued card, because the front shows up on the back.

1993 upper deck jeff frye

not sure how i did not already have this one in the binder.

1994 score gary disarcina

with a hrbek sighting

and 1994 score rey sanchez

featuring a high kick from tom pagnozzi

1994 upper deck doug strange

featuring the double play turn on the front of the card, and 1994 upper deck ozzie guillen

with the turn on the back

1996 donruss pat listach

featuring a brewer turning two rather than trying to break it up

and, finally, two cards featuring the double play turning mainstay, brent gates.  first up is his 1996 topps stadium club card

followed by a 1995 fleer flair card

two has been turned.  thanks again, bo!

finally, the derek jeter and paul konerko final tribute post

as many of you know, one of my mini collections is 'final tribute' cards for players whom i consider to be significant for one reason or another.  these are cards issued in the year immediately after the player's retirement, and (more often than not) include the player's complete career stats on the back.

in 2015, there were two cards that i was anticipating for this collection - derek jeter

and paul konerko

i added both to my collection a while back.

i have to say that i prefer jeter's card, although konerko's features a pose worthy of a final tribute. i just think cropping the card to include the fans and their signs was unnecessary.

here are the full career stats for jeter

no doubt hall of fame worthy stuff there, even though he never won an mvp award during the regular season.

konerko's stats

are not as impressive as jeter's.  although he is 42nd all-time in home runs, konerko's jaws score has him down in the ryan klesko/tino martinez/lee may realm, so it is unlikely that the hall will be calling for the one time dodger.  still, i look at konerko's career and wonder what might have been had tommy lasorda not traded him to the reds for jeff shaw.  eric karros remained as the dodger first baseman through the 2002 season, but perhaps he would have been moved sooner had konerko been allowed to develop in la.  we would also have likely avoided the fred mcgriff and hee-seop choi experiments (much to jim tracy's delight, i would imagine), but we also might have missed the resurgence of nomar and the emergence of james loney.  i am reminded, however, that konerko has a world series ring while the dodger teams he left behind do not, so it's probably best not to play the 'what if' game.

a new type collection?

i am not completely sure that i am going to add another mini collection, but i do know that i enjoy most cards that show players' names and numbers on their back.  it's fairly subjective - not as cut and dried as say, my dodger stadium in the background collection - as i don't like every card that features a players name/number on the back.  anyway, here are some cards that would definitely make the cut in my 'nob' collection. if i were to officially add it, that is.  

1999 topps gallery vladimir guerrero

1994 topps stadium club rickey henderson rainbow foil parallel

1998 topps paul molitor

1995 topps stadium club sandy alomar jr best seat in the house insert

2009 upper deck derek jeter

2011 topps marquee stan musial

so, the bulk of the cards would be like those above - action shots, and usually at the plate.  sometimes there are non-action shots that fit the bill as well.

1999 upper deck karim garcia

2012 topps kyle blanks

there are also those cards that meet the letter of the law regarding the collection, but just don't resonate with me for some reason.  here are two examples

2010 topps alex rios

2011 topps update jered weaver

luckily, that rios card fits in my tatooine mini collection, and i may make a spot for the weaver in my lurker collection, thanks to former dodger alfredo griffin hanging out in the background.

i think what i like about these cards is that they use images that are similar to what i see as a fan when i go to a game.  watching on tv, we get different camera angles that focus on the action from the front.  or, perhaps they are just cards featuring good action (for the most part) photography.