pedro martinez is in my hall of famer collection

i am on record as having been ok with delino deshields joining the dodgers via trade prior to the 1994 season. once jody reed made the surprising decision to leave the team, the dodgers needed a second baseman, and deshields seemed like he was breaking out at the time.  it turned out to not be a good trade, as the dodgers gave up future hall of famer pedro martinez.  here's pedro's card that sits in my hall of famer collection:

that's a 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph numbered 09/60.  here's the back:

i don't believe i saw pedro pitch for the dodgers, but i did see him with the expos.  it was his seventh career start, and second for the expos, when i saw him take the mound at dodger stadium on april 24, 1994.  he was bested in the game by the other pedro of the day - astacio. mike piazza and tim wallach both took martinez deep (wallach went yard twice in the game), although he did manage 9 strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched.  three years later, he was pedro! and won the cy young award with the expos. a move to boston meant that he was going to pitch in minnesota at some point, and i made it a priority to be there.

on august 24, 1999 i made my way to the metrodome to specifically watch pedro mow down some twins.  he did not disappoint.  pedro wound up with 15 k's in 8 innings, and at one point, struck out 7 batters in a row.  he was dominant and a joy to watch.  five years later, i went to boston to see the dodgers in their first visit to fenway since the 1916 world series, and pedro took the mound in the third game of the series.  he had only five strikeouts this time, but still pitched well and was worth the price of admission.

there are quite a few players in this collection that i could have seen play, but didn't. i am very happy that pedro martinez isn't one of them.

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

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

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

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

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

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relics

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autographs

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autographs 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autographs

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autographs

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autographs green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

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

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

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

hip hip jarrín!

when the checklist dropped for 2020 topps opening day (it wasn't until a day or two before it was supposed to hit the shelves), i was shocked to see a "ballpark profile" insert set that included, of all things, broadcasters!

no vin scully card (of course), but his dodger spanish broadcast equivalent did get a card and it is glorious

i am pretty excited to have this card in my collection!  jaime jarrín has been with the dodgers since 1959 and won the ford c. frick award in 1998 (hence the "hof/98" inscription on the card.

i first became aware of jarrín in 1981 when fernandomania was upon us and he was tabbed to be el toro's interpreter. he even found his way on to a baseball card back then

that's him in the background between fernando and gary carter on a typically strange 1982 fleer card.  these days, fernando is one of jarrín's broadcast partners. maybe we'll see him on a future 'ballpark profile' card - i sure hope topps keeps this as an annual insert going forward!

turning on a dime

dimebox nick, who has a thing for cards showing the double play turn just as much as i do, sent me a great trade package recently. it was, as one would expect, heavy with twin killing cards, such as these 2020 topps dansby swanson

and fernando tatis jr

specimens. 

seeing the tatis jr card reminded me that topps featured him on a factory set exclusive card last year while turning two, and i finally went and added a copy to my collection

shenanigans for sure on the part of topps, but at least they didn't reuse the "exclusive" photo in 2020 flagship.

back to the cards that nick sent, here are some more double plays that were new to my collection

the 2014 topps rickie weeks walmart blue parallel is especially nice.  the other card here that stands out to me is the 1994 score jeff kent gold rush parallel. you can't see it very well, but the player sliding in is dodger eric davis, and the play is taking place in dodger stadium. that means that the card fits in my lurker, dodger stadium, and double play mini-collections. davis is also wearing the tim crews memorial patch, so it could conceivably fit in that one, too! very happy that nick turned me on to that card.

here's another card nick sent that crosses mini-collection boundaries:

that's a 1996 donruss jose oquendo card. i already had one for my dp collection, so this one goes in to the lurker collection (hello, mitch webster). i could use another for my dodger stadium collection, too.

nick also included a healthy dose of dodgers, including kiké!

his 2020 topps heritage card is a bit more subdued than his flagship card, that's for sure.

2019 topps chrome update will smith

helping me complete a team set!

2018 topps fire kenley jansen flamethrowers insert

solar flare action!

2017 topps andrew toles 1987 insert

not sure what is happening with andrew toles these days, but i hope he's doing alright.

1977 dover classic reprints 1914 cracker jack zach wheat

i had the dover reprint booklets as a kid in 1978, and i remember being fascinated by the old card designs and at the same time disappointed at the lack of dodgers included in the reprints.

2003 topps kanebo brian jordan (back)

such a cool card! 

nick and i also share an affection for vladimir guerrero cards, and he sent me a bunch of new ones for my collection:

including a kanebo and some other offbeat releases.

thanks as always nick! it's a pleasure to trade with you!