Wednesday, February 8, 2017

i'm still looking for cards that feature dodger stadium in the background

one of my mini collections is cards that feature dodger stadium.  it was easy to find these sorts of cards in the mid-1980's as donruss and fleer had quite a few in their sets. when upper deck came along, they had a bunch since they were based in southern california.  topps has had more in recent years than ever before, thanks to using getty images.

at any rate, it's always nice to find an oddball type card that fits in any mini collection, especially this one.  that's why i was so pleased to find a card from the 2013 panini beach boys set when i searched for 'dodger stadium' on a whim at comc
this card was part of the package i had shipped on black friday, but the card had been purchased well before that.  it's not the best photo as far as dodger stadium is concerned (that's the left field pavilion behind al jardine, with the right field pavilion partially visible behind brian wilson).  the sorry fact that panini had to remove the logos from the jerseys and hats worn by the beach boys is offset by the fact that manager don mattingly is visible and recognizable between jardine and bruce johnston.  i've never seen the beach boys, but i have seen two concerts at dodger stadium (eric clapton/elton john and u2).  as far as national anthems go, i know i saw debbie gibson at dodger stadium (game 1 of the 1988 world series) and kenny rogers at the metrodome on opening day one year, but that's about all i remember.

here's another oddball sort of card, a 1992 upper deck fanfest lou brock card
brock is rounding second in the photo on this card.  it's not a common photo angle for cards which is one reason why i like it so much.  the low railing is an easy way to identify dodger stadium on cards.

next is a 1992 fleer dennis martinez record setter card
i don't know that he set a record, but he did throw a perfect game in dodger stadium against the dodgers in 1991.  his catcher, ron hassey, did make history however, becoming the first guy to catch two perfect games (he had also caught len barker's in 1981).  i didn't go to the ravine that weekend, but i remember it pretty well as i listened to the friday night game between the expos and dodgers.  in that game, mark gardner no-hit the dodgers for nine innings, but the expos couldn't score off of orel hershiser, kevin gross, or jay howell as the dodgers allowed only two hits themselves, and it went to extras. gardner wound up giving up two hits in the 10th, and the dodgers won the game.  two days later, martinez threw his perfecto.  it was a bizarre weekend, as the dodger pitchers allowed no earned runs (the only two runs the expos scored were the two unearned runs in defense of martinez's perfect game), but they were lucky to not have been no-hit twice in the same weekend.

here's one of my favorite dodger stadium cards, a 1998 pacific crown collection wally joyner card
that features another rare angle, as well as a lunging mike piazza.  i picked up this second copy of the card for my lurker mini collection.

not all cards that feature dodger stadium in the background make the binder, as sometimes there is not enough of the stadium or i just don't think it is up to snuff.  this 2004 bowman hideo nomo makes the binder, but just barely.
it's there only because it is one of the few cards that shows the 'infield' mural on the outfield wall, although it is almost impossible to see.  here's a photo of dave roberts crashing into davey lopes that better illustrates the mural
i have a 2004 fleer ultra card of preston wilson in my steve garvey collection because it shows the garvey part of the mural pretty well.  i was also happy to find this 2004 fleer tradition dodger team set darren dreifort card
that shows the mural much better than the nomo card.  it was also part of the black friday comc package.  now i just have to decide whether this goes in the 2004 dodger binder, the dodger stadium binder, or the steve garvey collection.

7 comments:

  1. I was at that game with the Beach Boys. It was Opening Day and they put on a pregame concert. dang I forget the year. If I have my years straight, Vin Scully missed that game with a cold.
    I remember a chill ran through the stadium when they announced Vinny was missing his first Opening Day in forever. It was the first time we all felt Vinny was mortal.

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  2. I'm always looking for cards from other teams with Dodger Stadium to send to you. They're tough to find.
    I'll send you a bunch of Dodgers cards and hope those are new for you.

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    1. it's appreciated. all dodgers are welcome here!

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  3. Man - if I could only be so fortunate as to take in a Beach Boys concert and a baseball game with one ticket, I could die a happy man. Very cool discovery!

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    1. i think the twins do something similar with postgame concerts (but not with acts like the beach boys), but i could be mistaken. i did see a short set from martin zellar of the gear daddies before a twins alcs game in 2002 (add zellar to the list of national anthem singers i have seen)

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  4. Lot's of great action shots on these Dodger Stadium cards. I'm especially fond of the Joyner and Beach Boys cards.

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    1. the joyner is great - would be even better with a different card design.

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