the '90s are here

last season, the dodgers had more players wearing numbers from the 90's than in any other year. kevin kiermaier flipped his usual 39 (retired by the dodgers for roy campanella) and wore 93 during his stint with the team. here he is on a 2024 topps chrome update prism refractor

short-timer dinelson lamet wore 94 during his stint with the dodgers. he pitched in three games and was featured in 2024 topps update

his three dodger appearances plus a topps card matches fellow 90's numbered dodger onelki garcia, but is still more than zach lee and bruce brubaker.

and then there is landon knack, who wore 96 for the dodgers last season.

that is a 2024 topps chrome update aqua & blue lava lamp refractor, by the way.

not pictured are michael peterson (i was really hoping to see a dodger card of the brit) who wore 90, and joe kelly who turned to number 99 when he vacated 17 for shohei ohtani, but hasn't had any cards released with his new, higher number.

99 was first pioneered for the dodgers by manny ramirez, seen here on a 2010 bowman chrome refractor card

and was also worn by hyun-jin ryu, who is featured on this 2014 topps tribute forever young relics orange parallel

i remember it sort of being a big deal when joe beimel became the first dodger to wear a number from the 90's in 2006. these days, it's just another series of numbers.

a double dipping i did not expect to see

here is a card of matt kemp from 2014.

and here is a card of matt kemp from 2015.

kemp was my favorite player during his dodger tenure.  i was disappointed when he was traded to the padres, and i kept track of his performance even though we both moved on.  things bottomed out for kemp last season in atlanta with a negative war, and it seemed that he was destined for a dh job in oakland or tampa bay.

so, i was as surprised as anyone when the dodgers re-acquired kemp in a salary swap with the braves.  they tried to flip him and found no takers.  to kemp's credit, he saw the writing on the wall and did what he could to earn a roster spot.  now, thanks to his resurgence, i get to root for him in dodger blue and acquire cards like this 2018 topps gypsy queen issue.

kemp is the reigning nl player of the week, and is currently leading the league with a .344 average to go along with a 1.7 war.  he's on track for his highest war since 2011 - the year he posted an 8.0 war and finished second in the mvp voting to ryan braun.  as fate would have it, braun's name was thrown about as a possible dodger acquisition in the last year or so, but he's hitting .229 and playing at replacement level for the brew crew right now which makes the return of matt kemp all the more enjoyable.

here's to many more matt kemp dodger cards, hopefully with gaudy stats on the back!

quality is job one

matt at bob walk the plank sent fewer cards than usual as part of our most recent swap.  his note mentioned "quality over quantity", and he nailed the quality with one card in particular

that is a 2014 topps tribute jackie robinson relic card (the sepia version) and it is very nice.

this is the second jackie relic i've received as part of a trade (here's the other), and it doesn't get old.

thanks matt! i've loaded up for another round of trading, and i hope you'll see some quality in what i send!