mini-collection mania!

i've been spending some time the last couple of months with my hall of famer collection, but i've not been completely ignoring other aspects of my hobbying ways.  i've accumulated quite a few cards for my many mini-collections. take a look.

here's a 1962 topps card

that features mickey mantle and willie mays.  that's not why the card is in my collection, however. no, i wanted this card because john roseboro is lurking in the background between mantle and mays, and i have a 'lurker' mini-collection.  and, for good measure, hank aaron and elston howard also make appearances.  brian at highly subjective completely arbitrary showed this card off a few months ago, and i figured it would be nice to get a copy for myself.  i actually stumbled across this one while looking for an autographed card for my aforementioned hall of famer collection. it was included as part of a lot in a poorly titled ebay auction, and i can say that i have now been paid to own this card. i was able to flip a few of the other cards in the lot for more than i paid.  that's always a nice bonus.

my dodger stadium collection has been growing as well, thanks to stadium club.  this is clayton kershaw's card from this year's stadium club release

and it shows him playing catch in the outfield at dodger stadium prior to game 5 of the 2018 world series with the budweiser clydesdales trotting behind him.

ryan braun is seen here

in the batter's box at dodger stadium during the nlcs. looks like he is getting good wood on the baseball.  i have two copies of this card - one for the dodger stadium collection, and one for the lurker collection (that's yasmani grandal behind the plate).

also from the 2018 nlcs, here's josh hader pitching in dodger stadium

it's too bad topps didn't use the dodger pitcher who was facing braun for a card - they could have had a situation similar to their 1993 set and the junior ortiz/gary gaetti cards.  here's the scene that might have been, had josh hader been pitching for the dodgers:

i think it was night owl who posted about 1982 fleer a while back, and i saw a dickie thon card in that post that was clearly sporting a photo with dodger stadium in the background. i took a quick run through my set and found a few cards that were not in my dodger stadium collection.  a quick run to sportlots, and now gene richards

along with dickie thon and a couple of his astro teammates

are in the mini-collection!

my largest mini-collection is probably my double play collection, and i was happy to add this robin yount short print from 2019 topps to it

that's a world series double play!

here's another dp card from 2019 topps

former twin eduardo nunez turning two with current twin jorge polanco sliding in.  cvs is getting some good advertising there...

...and also here on xander bogaerts' 2019 topps stadium club card

as someone who played a lot of second base, i loved this moment. the feed throw is coming in and you're about to make the transfer and pivot with a runner bearing down.  good times.  however, i would typically have my left foot on the base rather than my right foot.  i would say that bogaerts' form is odd.

i got taken out by sliding players a few times, but i don't recall ever jumping over anyone, like the guys on these next four double play cards.

didi gregorius,

ryne sandberg, and barry larkin

get good air.  if i were a willie mcgee super collector, that sandberg card would also fit in that collection.  same goes for tyler houston on the larkin card, i suppose.  speaking of former dodger tyler houston, it is a shame that he never suited up for the astros.

while those two cards only fit in one of my mini-collections, these two cards on cards pull double duty.  paul dejong and paul goldschmidt

sit in my double play and tatooine and lurker (hello austin barnes) and tatooine collections, respectively.

austin barnes also makes an appearance on pablo sandoval's 2019 topps card

so into the mini-collection it goes!  fat panda catching some air, as well!

current dodger catchers aren't the only ones making appearances on other people's 2019 cards.  here's mike scioscia on ryne sandberg's 1984 all-star insert card

this card reminds me of steve garvey's 1979 topps card quite a bit.

we saw a world series double play earlier, how about a world series tatooine card?  here's one from the greatest players insert set in 2019 topps

that may be the first fall classic tatooine card since the one that started the collection, brooks robinson's 1971 topps card.

here are a couple more tatooine cards - 2019 topps stadium club todd helton

and 2019 topps magneuris sierra

sierra was part of the marcell ozuna trade. he's only 23, and has spent the entirety of the 2019 season thus far in the minors.  i don't know that i will ever remember how to spell his first name without having to stare at his card for awhile.

remember that vintage lot that i mentioned purchasing up top? one of the other cards that was in it that i didn't flip was this 1965 topps yogi berra card

it is so close to being a final tribute card, but yogi had 9 at bats in 1965.  here's the back with most of his career stats:

while not a final tribute for that mini-collection, the berra does fit in my 1965 topps set build.  still a ways to go on that one.

here are a couple of legitimate final tribute cards, both of adrian beltre.  2019 topps stadium club

and 2019 topps museum collection

both featured beltre in their base checklist, with just his 2018 stats and/or the single line of complete career stats on the backs

at this point, i can only hope that both beltre and joe mauer (and david wright, i suppose) get the short print veteran treatment in 2019 topps update so i can have final tributes of those guys in the flagship design.

not to be ignored, my vladimir guerrero player collection gained another card this summer thanks to 2019 topps stadium club

finally, here's one card i couldn't bring home fast enough. it's not for any of my mini-collections, rather it goes in to my main team collection.  it's gil hodges!

very happy that topps is able to produce gil hodges cards again! so far, he's been in the flagship insert set seen above, plus allen & ginter and archives. oddly, he was not in heritage which would have been perfect as he was the manager of the amazin' mets in 1969 and would have fit on a baseball flashbacks type card pretty nicely.  of course, i don't have a former dodger mini-collection anymore, so i guess it doesn't really matter to me after all.

mickey mantle is in my hall of famer collection

mickey mantle retired a couple of seasons before i was born, but his name has been part of my baseball lexicon for as long as i can remember - the dodgers vs. yankees world series in the early part of my youth made sure of that, as the stories of the battling franchises from the 1950s and 1960s were regularly part of the discussion on the broadcasts.

here is the card of mickey mantle that sits in my hall of famer collection:

it's a 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys card of the mick. here's the back:

i pulled this card from a pack in 2000 and put it up for sale on ebay. i set a reserve of $300, and i think the bidding ended around $280. truthfully, i was relieved as pulling this type of card (at that time, at least) was a pretty big deal and, as a collector, i really did appreciate it and quickly decided to keep it in my collection. the card today doesn't sell for as much, and the cynic in me sees that perhaps the knit is too new to be from 1968, but i've no regrets.

as i mentioned up top, mantle was pretty much always a part of my baseball fandom. i found out about his 565-foot home run from a baseball card in the case at my local card shop, and learned about other aspects of his career from books, cards, tv segments, other collectors, and miller lite commercials. even the dodgers of my youth helped me learn about mantle. case in point, reggie smith was the first switch-hitter that i was aware of, and because of that, i learned more about mantle and his career accomplishments. when smith retired from major league baseball after the 1982 season, his 314 career home runs were good enough for second all-time among switch hitters. i thought that was impressive, but mantle's total was still 222 home runs greater! in fact, mantle retired with the third greatest career home run total in history, behind only babe ruth and willie mays.

there are some certified score and upper deck autographs of mantle out there, but i don't anticipate being able to acquire one any time soon, so relic it is. never say never, though.  

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425:

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame

willie mays is in my hall of famer collection

say hey!  willie mays is in my hall of famer collection, thanks to this card:

that's a 1997 topps willie mays reprints autograph card.  here's the back:

my dad saw mays play a few times. he even roadtripped up to candlestick a couple of times, primarily because he enjoyed driving (so do i!), and he would take highway 1 up the coast in his sports car.  i've been to candlestick once, but it was to see a 49ers game circa 2007.  i know mays from the baseball history books and the highlight reels and that terry cashman song (that also featured a shout out to steve garvey!)".

one year while on vacation, we found ourselves in a book store as we often did.  book stores, antique stores, comic book and baseball card stores were always on the agenda as we drove all over the western part of the us and canada.  anyway, i was hanging out in the sports section looking for something to read having pretty much memorized the 'handbook of baseball' book i had brought with me. i coerced my dad in to buying "willie's time" for me.  the conversation that followed between my parents led me to believe that perhaps there was a feeling that i was focusing too much on baseball, and my dad justified the purchase by saying that the book was about more than just baseball.  he was right, but i think he would have defended his purchase even if it had not been the case.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425:

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32:

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame