blue backs for not many greenbacks

 i recently completed my 1951 topps dodger team set by picking up the two blue backs

i was missing. they were the cards of bruce edwards

and billy cox

it is a great feeling to complete a vintage team set like this, and i will likely never complete another vintage topps dodger set as i am only missing cards from 1952 and 1953. i suppose 1953 is possible, but 1952 is almost certainly out of the question with all of those high numbers. i will be content with my jackie robinson card and maybe just try to complete the low number team set.

i was able to get these cards for "free", as i used a $25 ebay coupon and ebay bucks to cover the costs, and i owe a big thanks to josh at royals and randoms for alerting me to the possibility of the ebay coupon, and to night owl for reminding me that i should be paying attention to these needs of mine.

coincidentally, josh also sent some cards my way recently.  at the top of the package was this 1993 fleer flair pedro martinez card

that i had requested during a giveaway that josh was hosting. quite a lot of the package was heavy on these cards:

mlb showdown!

these cards spanned several years, and are great as they include some lesser known or infrequently featured players like gregg olson:

that card is from 2000, and features the 1989 american league rookie of the year in dodger blue. olson pitched (poorly) for the dodgers in 2000 and 2001, and i believe that this card is the only cardboard evidence of his tenure in los angeles outside of dodger team sga sets like keebler and police issues.

here's a 2001 mlb showdown card of another dodger reliever not often seen in dodger blue

mike fetters and his signature stare were featured on the dodger pitching staff in 2000 and part of 2001. i think he has one other dodger card outside of those aforementioned sga sets.

better known dodger relievers were also represented, thanks to this 2005 strategy card featuring eric gagne

the strategy cards are cool because they sometimes feature obscure players. that is not the case with this one from 2001 that shows kevin brown "airing it out"

but there is this one from 2003 that shows dave roberts being overmatched

as well as this one (also from 2003) that shows a bunch of dodgers on the mound.

i spy kaz ishii, mark grudzielanek, cesar izturis, paul loduca, and pitching coach jim colborn on that card. great to see the coach represented!

speaking of which, josh also included a few cards from the dodgers' 1999 police set. one of those cards was of the coaching staff!

jim tracy, manny mota, and john shelby up front, with glenn hoffman, rick down, davey johnson, rick dempsey, and charlie hough behind them.  it would turn out that there are three dodger managers featured on this card - former manager hoffman, future manager tracy, and then-current manager johnson.  davey also got a card of his own in the set:

johnson's tenure was pretty forgettable, and may be best remembered for the white hats and blue jerseys that the dodgers broke out a few times. it was sacrilegious to me at the time.  the last card i will show from the package received from josh is this jacob brumfield card from the police set.

i am fairly certain that this is brumfield's only dodger card, and i am happy to have it. he appeared in a total of 18 games as a dodger after being signed by the club on march 5, 1999. he was claimed on waivers by the blue jays two months later, so kudos to the folks who put this set together for documenting brumfield's short tenure within such a small window of time!

thanks again josh for the cards and the tip!