there's a new favorite in town

hey! the 2026 baseball season is upon us!

clayton kershaw's retirement brought an end to his run as my favorite active dodger. that means i needed to pick a new one for 2026, and it was a pretty easy decision. my new favorite active dodger is mookie betts.

there are a few reasons i chose betts, but it basically boils down to the fact that i really enjoy watching him play the game. as you can imagine, i have a number of his cards in my scanned/not posted folder, so here are a few:

2021 topps 582 montgomery

standard portrait and basic card design from a set that nobody really needed or asked for.

2023 topps favorite son insert

betts is the best player to come out of tennessee in the history of the game. his war surpasses hall of famer todd helton, and all other natives of that state. dodger fans might recall that jim gilliam is also from nashville, which seems fitting as he was also highly skilled at multiple positions.

2023 topps allen & ginter short print

betts had two cards in the 2023 ginter set for some reason. this is the one numbered in the 300-series.

2025 topps gameday drip insert

he cleans up pretty well, and still wears that plastic bat and ball necklace he got from a young fan several years ago when dressed to the nines.

2024 topps 2023 silver slugger winner manufactured relic

this card is not as thick nor as heavy as the manurelics had been in the past. likely because it was just inserted in packs rather than included as a bonus card to blaster packaging.

as for the card that represents betts in my favorite dodger collection, i didn't have a lot of choices at this point so i went with his 2026 topps flagship card of which i had a couple extras.

with the changing of the guard, i was thinking about kershaw and my fandom. i would say that he is firmly on my "mount rushmore" of favorite dodgers of all-time. this gives me an excuse to post more cards, like his 2021 topps yellow parallel

joining kersh in that quad of dodger greats is steve garvey, seen here on a 2021 panini donruss orange holo parallel

those are my two favorite dodgers of my lifetime. the third player on this list is sandy koufax, whose 2020 topps allen & ginter silver portrait parallel is shown below

including koufax is a nod to my dad and his fandom, but i would think most dodger fans in general consider koufax one of the four greatest dodgers of all-time.

the final player in the foursome is jackie robinson. this is his 2021 topps gallery printer proof parallel

it may sound dumb, but i am really proud to be a dodger fan because of jackie robinson. 

one thing with betts becoming my favorite dodger is his autograph. i have signed cards of each of my favorite dodgers through the years (and favorite non-dodgers, too - post forthcoming). i do not, as of yet, have an autographed card of betts. i did re-acquire a rookie card of his (i sold the couple of base rookies i had found in packs back in 2014). this time, i found a 2014 topps update gold parallel of his rookie debut card

it's not in the best shape, but that's why i was able to acquire it for a really low price. here's the back

i'll keep my eye out for an autographed card to add, but prices are pretty ridiculous even as he has begun signing a significant number of cards for topps in the last couple of years.

i'm looking forward to the season and following betts as he chases his fifth world series title!

something to look forward to

i was all set for this post to be a nod to blue jays fans and collectors with what they could expect to see in 2026 and beyond from topps until all of the strange and "you might never see that again" plays from games 6 and 7 of the 2025 world series transpired. so, now this post is about cards that i and other dodger fans and collectors can look forward to.

2025 topps chrome world series champions refractor

there are 16 cards in this insert set, but this is the one i wanted most. limited to 50 and, as a result, wildly priced on the secondary market, i had to act fast to buy this one that was undervalued by the seller. here's the back:

these cards were "new" this year and limiting them to 50 copies sucks. i would have loved to be able to complete a set, but there is just no way.

it is possible that topps returns postseason cards to the flaghip set in 2026. i think the last time they did that was 2021 - here's one of the world series highlights cards from that set (it's a yellow parallel)

topps has stayed true to the heritage sets, so there will be singular cards for the world series and the league championship series in the 1977 design next year, most likely.

blue jay fans can look forward to cards like these title clash inserts from 2024 topps dynamic duals

that feature al and nl champs. a shohei ohtani and vladimir guerrero card would be pretty nice.

of course, world series champions are an easy go-to for topps when coming up with inserts, like they did back in 2009 with their flagship and update sets. this one features duke snider

who won a pair of rings with the dodgers.

2014 topps update included another ring focused insert set

this commemorative ring card isn't anything that topps seems to be doing these days, but maybe they bring these back? 

the rings are certainly gaudier these days and would provide some interesting fodder.

traditionally, there have been world series champion relics in flagship each year, although i don't think they were included in 2025 topps. the first year i remember seeing these was back in 2004 and i think they were in update. i pulled a dave roberts relic card which was pretty cool. today, they are less interesting but sort of hard to come by. i added this 2021 topps walker buehler example

earlier this year. it's numbered to 99 which i think is the highest print run of these things. here's the back:

nowhere near as interesting as the johnny podres fake ring card.

this year, perhaps in lieu of relic cards, topps introduced world series champion autographs. i was sure to pick up buehler's

because of his series ending role. here's the back:

the only other two i have are justin wrobleski and tony gonsolin

the buehler and gonsolin are numbered, but the wrobleski is not. i couldn't find any info on non-numbered cards for some reason. the backs are the same as buehler's

these are sticker autos but still pretty pricey. the wrobleski and gonsolin cards were outliers that the sellers put buy it now values between $20 and $30.

and then there are the cards in the future where a world series title is referenced. i picked up this 2025 leaf metal inscription autograph of 1981 world series champion steve garvey

in part because the inscription is "81 ws champs", but also because it's numbered 6/10

garvey also showed up in 2023 topps update with another world series themed commemorative insert set

this is the gold parallel that i tracked down a few months ago. garvey is the guy who gets the most mileage out of that 1981 title, although it would be nice to see some others like ron cey, steve yeager, pedro guerrero, or fernando valenzuela on cards like these.

at least it's nice to see the commissioner's trophy on a card that is sort of easy to find. topps has taken to reserving it in 2025 for semi-rare parallels like a bunch of dodger golden mirror cards. case in point, here's edgardo henriquez's golden mirror parallel

i had to wait for quite a while for one of these - featuring any player - showed up with a decent enough price. here's the back:

henriquez pitched in 3 games for the dodgers in the 2024 regular season, and then 3 more in the postseason, although none of those were in the world series. this year, he pitched in a couple of world series games. i might target his 2026 golden mirror card to keep the set going.

i am hoping that 2026 brings more cards like these, but that they are easier to find. give me a stadium club base card showing clayton kershaw with the trophy like we had in 2021 rather than the golden mirror card we got this year, for example. to the champs go the spoils and i can't wait to add more world series themed cards to my dodger collection in the future!

the almost daily dodger - chone figgins

today is usually the day that i post something about game 1 of the 1988 world series, but instead i have another almost daily dodger post. enjoy the change, or use the links to peruse past years posts if you like.

chone figgins is one of a few players that are angels to me despite having played for the dodgers. here he is on a target red border parallel from 2014 topps update

wearing bill russell's number, figgins was appearing in his fifth game as a dodger on april 8, 2014, with each appearance coming as a pinch hitter. for the third time in those appearances, he drew a walk with this one being a 10th inning lead off pass courtesy of tiger pitcher joba chamberlain. a couple of batters later, carl crawford doubled and figgins came home with the winning run.

the card shows a couple of dodgers of note in the background. i am pretty sure that's clayton kershaw running towards home in the pullover, but there is no doubt about aj ellis in the catcher gear or manager don mattingly hanging out behind the dugout railing.

 here's a bonus target red border card from 2014 topps of juan uribe - a former "almost daily dodger" subject

this card shows uribe as he scores from first base on a double by tim fedorowicz on june 11, 2013. he was the insurance run in a 5-3 dodger win over the dbacks that night.

the almost daily dodger - yasiel puig

yasiel puig was in the news the other day for being involved in a brawl during a venezuelan league game. i didn't watch the video or digest really any information in the article - i just saw the headline and moved on. that's a far cry from the attention i paid to puig when he was tearing up the national league during the 2013 season.

his hot play continued into the 2014 season, and he earned an all-star berth that was the subject of this 2014 topps update red hot foil parallel

puig is shown during the home run derby, in which he failed to hit a home run. 

i wonder if the pandemic spelled the end of puig's major league career. he didn't play too badly in 2019 while splitting time between cincinnati and cleveland. however, he was unsigned when spring training rolled around and then when things were starting to ramp up in the summer, his reported deal with the braves fell through after puig tested positive for covid-19. after that there were a couple of scandals involving claims of assault and illegal gambling and now it is unlikely he will ever return to the big leagues.

k is for kershaw

on the last day of the 2022 season, the photo tile accompanying the all-time career strikeout leader page at baseball reference looked like this:

the day after the last day of the 2022 season, it looked like this:

so long, cy young - clayton kershaw is now 24th all-time in career strikeouts with 2,807.

at this point, i would say it's safe to assume that both justin verlander and max scherzer will pass phil niekro and greg maddux in 2023, and they may well get past walter johnson and the 3500 k mark if they pitch beyond this year. and, with kershaw returning for 2023, he should pass mike mussina, mickey lolich, and jim bunning. greinke is back, but kershaw may pass him as well given the low strikeout rate greinke showed last year. i hope both of those guys stick it out to reach 3,000 strikeouts, but we will have to see. for almost all of my life, jim bunning was the guy i knew as the pitcher who had the most strikeouts without getting to the 3,000 milestone, but now it looks like it could well be either greinke or kershaw. 

kershaw remains my favorite dodger, and will be until he no longer wears their uniform. i have a habit of adding his cards to my collection every chance i get, and so i have many cards that have arrived over the last year that i haven't shown off before. there are a lot!

this 2011 topps target hanger pack exclusive 

is one of my favorite cards i've picked up in the last year. these are fairly tough to find at this point and i was happy to see one pop up with a decent price.

this is the 2011 topps lineage venezuelan variation

as you may be able to discern from the card back.

here's a 2015 panini black friday panini collection card

that conveniently rounded out my last comc order

this 2021 panini donruss holo red

was sent courtesy of the diamond king

and now for an obscene amount of kershaw cards with or without comment:

2008 bowman draft picks & prospects gold parallel

2009 bowman chrome

2010 bowman chrome refractor

2010 topps walmart black

2014 topps update all-star stitches

2015 topps black parallel

2016 topps mlb debut

2018 topps archives snapshots black & white

2018 topps heritage new age performers

2018 topps high tek - three different patterns!

2018 topps on demand postseason

2019 panini prizm red prizm

2019 topps chrome pink refractor

2020 topps factory set gold star parallel

2020 topps heritage photo variation

2020 topps heritage clubhouse collection

2020 topps on demand black and white

2020 topps opening day blue and red parallels

2021 panini chronicles america's pastime

2021 topps chrome refractor/pink refractor/sepia refractor

2021 topps royal blue

2021 topps factory set gold star

2021 topps factory set foil board

2021 topps factory set gold star (base)

2021 topps project 70

2021 topps triple threads aqua marine

2022 topps 1987 and 1987 silver pack

2022 topps chrome refractor

2022 topps factory set gold star

2022 topps holiday

2022 topps holiday ornament

2022 topps opening day

2022 topps pristine

2022 topps throwback thursday 1967-68 hockey design

2022 topps tribute

2022 topps update royal blue

ok now for some non-licensed stuff

and even more non-licensed stuff:

how about some minis and other non-standard sized cards:

so many parallels to chase!

multi-player cards count, too!

now for some solo landscape parallels

this is a 2016 topps throwback thursday card

as is this one:

both use designs from the 1950s - 1955 bowman and 1958 topps tv westerns.

i went for even more tbt cards:

and now for some inserts/parallels using older topps designs that are not throwback thursday cards:

whew.

that's 123 cards of kersh that were new to me last year. and, i still have quite a few in my scanned folder that i will hold off on sharing for now even though i am tempted to add 70 more so that the number of cards in this post matches the number of strikeouts kershaw needs to get to 3,000. 

instead, however, i will show just one more card. it's my latest kershaw card purchase, although i don't have it in hand yet. 

it's a 2020 topps clearly authentic autographed card, numbered to 30. this is my 12th certified kershaw auto and immediately one of my favorites. can't wait to see it in person once comc clears their queue!

after entering all of my kershaw cards at tcdb, my total stands at 1,117 unique which is good enough to place 5th among collectors on the site - at least as of last weekend when i last checked. i have a few more on the way (including the clearly authentic card above), so maybe i will get to 4th place for a spell. and, maybe someday, i will get to the point where i have one of his cards for every two of his career strikeouts - and i hope that means that i need at least 1,500 cards.

it's great to know that kershaw should already be in camp, and the dodgers' non-world baseball classic participating pitchers and catchers report tomorrow! rejoice!