2009 upper deck sp legendary cuts pack rip

looking for some allen & ginter yesterday, but it had not yet arrived at the local quasi-card shop. i settled for some singles and a pack of legendary cuts, only because i was determined to buy a pack of something. i was pleasantly surprised.

tim raines bat card, numbered 29/125i'm glad it's 'tim' and not 'rock'. those expos uniforms were really something.

max scherzer.

purple for the nl west.

jacoby ellsbury.

meh.

johan santana.

a former post-2000 twin.

manny ramirez. yay.

vladimir guerrero.

just angels. why not at least put 'la angels of anaheim'?

anyway, a pretty good pack even if it was overpriced. if anyone wants/needs the scherzer and/or the ellsbury, let me know.

1978 topps richie zisk - the card that should have been!

i have a thing for justice. not the kids' clothing store, but justice in the 'meanwhile, at the hall of justice' way. that's why, after reading about richie zisk being denied the all-star designation on his 1978 topps card, i was spurred to act.

in 1977, the american league all-star game starters were:

jim palmer, carlton fisk, rod carew, willie randolph, rick burleson, george brett, carl yastrzemski, reggie jackson, and richie zisk. at the time, zisk was in the midst of his only season with the white sox. after the 1977 season, he signed a free agent deal with the rangers, and topps airbrushed all the southside goodness off of his 1978 card.the problem is, they even took away his all-star shield! the shield is one of my favorite things about the 1978 set, which as you may know is my favorite set. now, this is not the first time an all star starter has changed teams, but in the two instances i can think of (bobby murcer and jim wynn), topps didn't take away the all-star designation on the card. murcer even changed leagues, and was still listed as an american league all-star as a giant!

so, here is richie zisk's justice. the 1978 topps card that should have been.

i didn't go the extra mile and put him back on the white sox - maybe steve will give that a shot.

here's to you, richie zisk!

jerry grote through the mail success!

i received this 1978 topps card signed by jerry grote a little over a month after i mailed it to him.jerry spent most of 1977 with the mets (hence the bad airbrush hat job here) but was traded to the dodgers just in time to make the postseason roster. while with the dodgers, he played in 18 games, including a little third base, and he made an appearance in both the nlcs and the world series. jerry stayed with the dodgers for the 1978 season, appearing in 41 games - again with a little third base thrown in. grote didn't play in 1979 or 1980, but he signed with the royals prior to the 1981 season. when they released him in september of that year, the dodgers brought him back. it is worth noting that the final complete game that he caught was a 2-0 shutout for the royals - it was also his last game as a royal. back in dodger stadium, jerry made the final 2 appearances of his career with the dodgers.

jerry has a website with all the information i needed to send a ttm request. he does charge $10, but that's ok with me.

this is the 10th piece in my modest 1978 topps dodgers autograph project. here's the tally:

team card
dusty baker
glenn burke
ron cey - through the mail success!
vic davalillo - ebay success!
terry forster
mike garman - through the mail success!
steve garvey
ed goodson
jerry grote - through the mail success!
burt hooton
charlie hough
tommy john
lee lacy - through the mail success!
tom lasorda
dave lopes
ted martinez
manny mota - through the mail success!
rick monday
johnny oates - ebay success!
doug rau - through the mail success!
lance rautzhan - through the mail success!
rick rhoden
bill russell - through the mail success!
reggie smith
elias sosa
don sutton
steve yeager
nlcs (davey lopes)

10/29 = 34%

thanks jerry!

things really are bigger in texas

never mind that this card came from kansas, home of texas rangers cards. it's still big. it's a 1993 upper deck eric karros 5-year anniversary card.

measures about 3x5. it was one of many great cards i received in return for a bunch of rangers i sent. here are some more of my return:

2009 upper deck goudey vladimir guerrero

i like these cards, even if they show vlad swinging as a lefty, in pinstripes, and standing in a puddle of what may well be urine.

1984 topps dusty baker. johnnie b. just keeps on ticking.

1989 fleer jeff hamilton. i like to think that hamilton keeps tony larussa awake at night. meaning that larussa can't believe he lost a world series to a team that featured jeff hamilton as its third baseman.

1993 topps gold michael moore rookie card. also cliff floyd. moore was the dodgers' 1st round pick in the 1992 draft. he spent the next 14 years in the minors, including 3 at aaa, but never made it to the big leagues. not for lack of trying, though. meanwhile, cliff floyd's career was seriously derailed by a bad wrist injury early on.

1987 topps franklin stubbs. stubbs' 1986 season made greg brock expendable. eventually, stubbs would supplant brock in milwaukee as well. franklin hit .294 in the 1988 world series. good times.

2007 upper deck luis gonzalez. gonzo may well be my least favorite dodger. i disliked greg brock, but that was only because he had the misfortune of taking over for steve garvey. it wasn't really about brock. gonzo, on the other hand...

finally, a post-2000 twin. justin morneau on a 2008 topps updates & highlights card. raise your hand if you have already forgotten that josh hamilton didn't win the home run derby.

thanks spiff!

today, i consider myself, pretty darn lucky

70 years ago today, the iron horse gave his famous speech in yankee stadium.

gehrig is probably my favorite non-dodger of all time. even though he was a yankee, i can't find any fault with him. although i may not know as much about gehrig if it weren't for his 'bad break', in between bursts of fireworks this evening i'll think of him and realize that i, too, have 'an awful lot to live for.'

rick monday saves the flag - the card that should have been!

it was back in april of 1976 that rick monday, playing center field for the visiting chicago cubs, rescued an american flag from a couple of would-be flag burners on the field at dodger stadium.

topps missed a great opportunity to comemmorate the occasion the following year, in my opinion. i mean, they could celebrate chewing gum in 1976, why not this? so, here is my 'card that should have been' - the 1977 topps turn back the clock rick monday. i did it as a 'turn back the clock' because 1977 topps had 'record breakers' rather than 'season highlights'. i suppose monday set a record for most on-field flag burning attempts foiled, career. in all seriousness, i salute rick monday. you can read more about the events of that day here.

here's to you mo! have a happy and safe 4th of july everyone!

welcome back, mr. ramirez

don't let us down!