today is not that day

today was supposed to be the start of the 2022 regular season - it says so right on this 2022 topps opening day trea turner blue parallel card:

alas, we have to wait a few more days.

you know the rule - can't have the parallel without the base, so here's the regular turner card:

i believe the card features a photo of turner from a game in philadelphia due to the environmentally irresponsible sherwin-williams advertisement behind his glove. pretty sure that ad is up in citizens bank park.

there is no doubt about the stadium wherein this card's photo comes from:

that's an albert pujols bomb squad insert showing uncle albert going yard at dodger stadium. i can't have enough dodger cards of pujols. send them all to me!

the other opening day card i made the effort to purchase is this triple play insert

when i first saw these at cardboard connection, i obviously and immediately thought of the iconic 1980-81 topps basketball set. that design used the topps 1978 baseball team fonts which obviously isn't included here, although there is a nod to the 2008 topps set in the logo placement at the top of each player image. i was surprised to see that the card really is perforated, in case you want to create mini cards.

i continue to be thankful that the dodgers don't have an official mascot even though that means they are never included in the mascot insert set that is part of every opening day release. and i am also thankful for sportlots, otherwise i wouldn't have any opening day cards. although, i still have a few days to find some on the shelf before the real opening day arrives.

so. much. chrome.

a while back, i turned my attention to older topps chrome dodger team sets which first hit the scene 26 years ago. adding dodger chrome refractors to my collection has been a go-to for me in recent years when i would fill out sportlots orders, but i realized that i was falling short with team base set completion for the early years of chrome. 

over the last few months, i've made good progress with this effort, so let's see where things stand with dodger base chrome team sets in my collection today.

1996 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

1997 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

1998 topps chrome 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: incomplete

i still need the adrian beltre multi-player rookie card - it's one of my most wanted cards! i did complete the rest of the set during the last few months, with these cards coming in to my collection:

todd hollandsworth

ramon martinez

raul mondesi

mike piazza

and a mike piazza/ken griffey jr interleague preview card

in addition to the base cards, topps also included chrome versions of some flagship inserts in their 1998 release, including refractors. i am missing most of these, but i do have the base and refractor

of paul konerko's rookie class insert.

1999 topps chrome 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

for the first time, topps issued a full parallel chrome set of their traded set in 1999.

1999 topps chrome traded

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

this team set completion came about just within the last few months. there were only three dodgers in the 1999 traded set, and i needed all three - luke prokopec, steve colyer, and bubba crosby:

pretty boring team set there.

2000 topps chrome 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

2000 topps chrome traded

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

while i've completed both base team sets, there are still inserts. the most recent card i've obtained from either of these releases is this 2000 "own the game" kevin brown insert

i like this card because it shows the contraband sandy koufax heroes patch that he wore on his jersey during the 1999 season.

2001 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

2001 topps chrome traded 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

the flagship team set had 28 cards, and the chrome version had 24. this was one set that i still needed a couple of cards from, and so i went to work. here's one of the cards i needed.

that doesn't look very chrome-y at all! that's because it's the back of a kevin brown card 

that i needed. brown and pedro were league leaders in 2000 in era.  the last card i needed to complete the set was chan ho park's:

as for the traded set, this mike piazza card

was a need. it is not an insert but rather a rookie traded reprint that was part of the regular set. proof that 2020 topps update wasn't the first of these sets to have nonsensical filler. that piazza, coupled with this irvin guzman card

completed the team set for me.

2002 topps chrome

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

2002 topps chrome traded 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

i was only in need of some traded chrome cards, so i went and added jesse orosco

and steve garvey (!)

to get it completed. there are a bunch of garvey needs when it comes to my dodger collection because i feed the garvey collection first, but i was surprised that this was one of them.

2003 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

2003 topps chrome traded

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

for this set, i've also completed the refractor parallels for the non-traded dodgers. finding a reasonably priced rickey henderson refractor is going to be a challenge.

2004 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

2004 topps chrome traded 

checklist: full parallel team set of flagship

status: complete

2004 was another team set that i had some holes to fill, and i added adrian beltre

and fred mcgriff

to complete the non-traded set, and then picked up a jose lima card

to finish the traded set.

2005 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

2005 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: incomplete

i am missing the jose valentin card from the update set. it's next in line for my nefarious 9 list of most wanted cards.

2006 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

there was no update chrome set in 2006, but topps did include some players who would have been in such a set as box toppers to the regular update & highlights release. there are several dodgers on the checklist, but i only have one - chad billingsley:

i would like to collect them all, but i don't consider this to be a typical traded or update chrome set.

2007 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

beginning with 2004 chrome, topps included autographed cards as part of the set. there were no dodgers, however, until 2007. for a long time, the only card i needed to complete the team set was delwyn young's card - #337 in the set. i found one for a few bucks late last year:

some of you may recall that i completed the blue refractor parallel team set for this release, which thankfully did not include an autograph card.  as in 2006, there were some chrome inserts in 2007 topps update, but since they only exist in refractor form and are inserts, i do not consider them at the same level as "normal" traded chrome sets.

2008 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

just like 2007, 2008 chrome included a dodger auto in the base set. and, just like 2007, my set was completed once i added this chin-lung hu card

for the third year in a row, there was no update chrome set, but like 2007, there were rookie chrome refractors included in boxes of update & highlights although they were no longer serial numbered. i don't have either the cory wade or the clayton kershaw card, unfortunately.

2009 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

there were rookie autograph cards included in the 2009 chrome set again (and for the last time), but no dodgers. same story as previous years here with update as far as rookie chrome refractors existing only as inserts to the regular update set. there were two dodgers included on that checklist, and i have them both (xavier paul and jamie hoffmann)

2010 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

this was a pretty straight forward year for topps chrome. rookie autographs were parallels to non-auto cards in the base set, and the rookie chrome refractors were a thing again in regular update. i don't have any of the three "update" dodgers - jon blink, john ely, and kenley jansen.

2011 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

topps seems to have done away with the rookie chrome refractor inserts in update this year. 

2012 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete except for photo variation

2012 was the first year that i gave up trying to complete the topps regular team sets for flagship and traded/update, including variations. my collection of these complete team sets runs from 1954 through 2012 flagship, but when update came along, topps included those super short prints of the former red sox players, and to this day i only have the josh beckett card. similarly, topps introduced photo variations in to the chrome set for the first time.

there are 20 variations, falling at a ratio of 1:3 cases. cases! super short print for sure, and so i don't believe i will ever have the matt kemp variation that would complete the set. so, my team set is complete in my mind.

2013 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete except for most photo variations

2013 topps chrome update 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: incomplete 

2013 topps chrome had more super short prints, of which i only have matt kemp's, which is my most recent chrome purchase. even nine years later, i had to pay a fair amount to obtain it. i will show that card in a post in a couple of weeks.

topps reinstated the update chrome set through the debut of the "megabox". the big card was yasiel puig's chrome rookie:

but i still need hyun-jin ryu's rookie as well as brian wilson's card to complete this team set.

2014 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete except for photo variations

2014 topps chrome update 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete

same story here regarding photo variations - they exist in ssp form for both puig and ryu - but i do have the complete set otherwise, including the one dodger included in the update set (erisbel arruebarrena).

2015 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2015 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

in 2015, photo variations were included but only in refractor versions, so even though i don't have joc pederson's card, i don't have to worry about it to consider my non-refractor set complete!

2016 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2016 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: incomplete

refractor photo variations are back in 2016, with kenta maeda and clayton kershaw included in the checklist. they aren't super short printed, but i still need them both. still, as refractors, i don't care too much. in update i am missing julio urias and ross stripling cards.

2017 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2017 topps chrome update 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

same story as 2015 here. both sets are complete. for the record there is a clayton kershaw image variation refractor, but that is not the only refractor i am missing.

2018 topps 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2018 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

again, the only photo variations are issued only in refractor form. i have the alex verdugo but not the kershaw.

2019 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2019 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

and again, the only photo variations are issued only in refractor form. for the dodgers, there is only a kershaw card, which i do not own.

2020 topps chrome

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2020 topps chrome update

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2020 topps chrome took me a little while to complete thanks to the dodger rookies. i eventually received a gavin lux card in trade, and then picked up this dustin may card

to complete my set sometime after he underwent tommy john surgery. for the record, there are photo variation refractors included in this release for cody bellinger and lux, plus a ssp variation of jackie robinson. i don't own any of those.

as for 2020 topps chrome update, david price's card

completed my set sometime late last year.

2021 topps chrome 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: complete 

2021 topps chrome update 

checklist: partial team set compared to flagship

status: incomplete 

i completed my 2021 topps chrome dodger set earlier this year with this corey seager card

but i haven't even tried to find any dodgers from the update set. it wasn't issued until january of 2022 so i am not too far behind. 

so i am sitting in pretty good shape with the non-refractor sets - i just have a few to complete (ignoring the variations in 2012, 2013, and 2014). as i mentioned up top, i will often add refractors to my collection and i'll finish up this monster post with a few that i've picked up over the last few months.

2002 topps chrome jeff shaw gold refractor

in 2002, the base refractors were "gold" refractors

2004 topps chrome cezar izturis black refractor

unlike in previous years, the black refractors weren't serial numbered in 2004

2005 topps chrome milton bradley black refractor

they were serial numbered in 2005 (to 225), though.

2006 topps chrome nomar garciaparra refractor

shiny, photoshopped nomar.

2014 topps chrome erisbel arruebarrena refractor

i probably should have ended on the nomar high note. 

so much chrome!

jim bunning is in my hall of famer collection

i mentioned the possibility of it happening in my post about andruw jones and his hall of fame candidacy and i actually decided to do it. i've added jim bunning to my hall of famer collection, with this card as his entry:

that's a 2002 topps finest finest moments autograph card. here's the back:

the back tells the full story - bunning's second career no-hitter was a perfect game, and not only was it the first in the national league, it was the first regular season perfecto since 1922. of course, don larsen threw a perfect game in the 1956 world series for the yankees against the dodgers.

speaking of the dodgers, that's the reason bunning is in this collection. i noted in that andruw jones post that with wilhelm being added to the collection, bunning was the only hall of famer who had appeared with the dodgers in the modern era that wasn't a part of my collection. i don't have any real connection to him other than a custom (action image variation!) that i made and a ttm success from the then senator from kentucky. still, my collection feels a little more complete with bunning's card in it.

bad trades never die

i was looking through some vintage dodger dupes recently, and i stopped when i got to the 1965

and 1966 

topps cards of well traveled reliever bob miller.  not only does miller look like he aged several years between the times that those photos were taken, i also noticed on the back of each card, topps mentions that the dodgers acquired miller for two players. here's the back of his 1965 card:

and here's the back of his 1966 card:

it is true that the dodgers gave up two players, but i found it interesting that topps repeated that fact on cards that were issued two and three years after the deal was done. of course, they also mention miller's 74 appearances in 1964 on both cards. i also find it interesting that the 1966 card mentions saves in the cartoon even though they weren't an official stat until 1969. curious.  anyway, these are the two guys that the dodgers sent to the mets for miller:

larry burright

and tim harkness

both played for the mets in 1963 and 1964, but did not appear in the majors after that. harkness had more success than burright, but he was traded to the reds after the 1964 season for bobby klaus. klaus was later traded away for dick stuart, and in 1966, stuart was released by the mets and signed by the dodgers for whom miller was still playing.

this all means that the two players the dodgers gave up to acquire miller were no longer major leaguers when topps put that information on the backs of the two cards up top. you might be relieved to know that the two-for-one trade was not mentioned on the back of miller's 1967 topps card, although his 1964 appearances were referenced in one of the cartoons on that card - incorrectly as 71 instead of 74. regardless, at least topps was finally able to come up with some new copy for the guy.

not far (or wide) enough

topps asks the question "how far?" on this checklist card in their 2022 flagship set

it's a pretty fun card as far as checklists go. i don't recognize the guy between vladimir guerrero jr and fernando tatis jr, but he doesn't seem to be as invested in the home run derby as much as the other two are. i also think it's weird that topps captioned the photo as "tatis and vlad react..." when it would make more sense to say "vlad and tatis react..." based on their positioning in the photo. ah well we know that topps isn't concerned with identifying players on these cards based on the other checklist vladdy jr appears on with wander franco that includes neither of their names.

back to the question posed by topps, however. when you look at the original photograph that was used for the card

you can see that it is whit merrifield whose cap is strangely cut in half on the card, but to his right sat none other than ken griffey jr. we could have had three juniors on the card if the crop had been a bit wider. opportunity lost!

are you an optimist or a cynic?

i received this 2003 fleer platinum new to me chin-feng chen card

from night owl in the last batch of cards he sent my way. i think it might be a short print, even. regardless, it shows what i at first believed to be a defensive miscue which is a rarity on cardboard. 

when i first looked at the card, i thought that chen had attempted to short hop the ball missed and it hit off of his arm and is seen ricocheting away. i looked at it again as i was putting it in my 2003 dodger binder and thought that maybe the ball was still on its way down and that he has a chance to make the catch. i would guess that what i saw the second time around is correct as there is no disturbance of the grass shown, which would seem to indicate that the ball hasn't hit the ground yet.

i guess i was just trending negative when i first saw the card which is strange because receiving cards in the mail is always a good thing!

more thoughts on 2022 flagship (so far)

well, it's almost the end of march and the only baseball cards i've seen on a big box retailer shelf is 2022 topps flagship. and it was only hanger packs at that. i bought a couple and then ordered a blaster from target's online store.  the first card i am going to show came from a sportlots order, however.

the stars of mlb inserts seem to be the most prolific. this one is clayton kershaw

who is still a star but not an ace. it's been a long time since i've been able to witness a career arc like kershaw's contained to just one team. i hope he signs with the dodgers again after this season is over, but we will see how things go. he's still my favorite dodger and i will be keeping an eye out for a card to add to my mini-collection of favorite dodgers through the years.

i did add a card to another mini-collection with this shohei ohtani card:

ohtani's card represents the 2022 flagship set in my flagship representative collection. i need a catchier name for that.

speaking of ohtani, i found this checklist card and found it interesting

there are a few things going on. it's a photo taken at target field which is quite photogenic and shows up on a lot of cards these days, thanks in large parts to the camera well on the home plate side of the visitor dugout. if you see a card of a player in the on deck circle wearing away grays, it's a good bet the photo comes from target field.

there are also the big advertisements - ford and jack daniel's. reminds me of the days of the big brut and marlboro ads in yankee stadium and candlestick, respectively, showing up on cards.  finally, there is kenta maeda's t-shirt which is one that he had made for his teammates showing willians astudillo in a sumo wrestler caricature. 

maybe someday fanatics will do a proper insert set of team/fan t-shirts and not give them the photo variation treatment like topps did. i still have never picked up the max muncy "go get it out of the ocean" t-shirt card. i'll have to do that someday.

speaking of variations, it was nice to see this travis d'arnaud card

as his regular card. it's a card that features a photo from jackie robinson day (note the patch on his right sleeve), but it's not a variation. this happened last year in gypsy queen with andrew mccutchen's card even though there was a specific variation theme in gypsy queen for cards featuring images from jackie robinson day. oh well, this card does not go in to my "42" mini-collection because we can't see the 42 on the jersey. still, it gives me some hope that we might see a real 42 jersey on a regular old base card someday. there aren't too many of those around.

i found a 6-4 stars insert:

as a fan of the double play turn at second base, i was hoping for some double play action on these cards. i was disappointed.

some other dodger gets included david price

corey seager

a trea turner league leader card

and julio urias

i also found a 1987 insert of jackie robinson

that uses a less frequently seen image. i don't care for the superimposed or poorly colorized background, however. i assume the bright colors behind jackie are vendors? at first glance i thought it was the phillie phanatic but the color is a bit too flourescent.

i also found a fernando tatis jr. 1987 insert

that is going to represent tatis as my favorite non-dodger for 2022 in my favorite non-dodger through the years mini-collection. i assumed that this photo was of a walk-off home run given the a's catcher's reaction, but it was just a 3rd inning dong.

here's a die-cut mike trout insert

for some reason.

i did not find the wander franco rookie card, but i did get an insert of his

at first i thought this was the blue parallel and was excited about my riches that i would receive from someone out there, but alas, it is just the regular version of the insert.

bring on series 2 and let's see who sits at card #350!