parrallelapalooza

well it's the end of the year and i've made some progress in clearing out my scanned folder through the "almost daily dodger" series of posts and other random ramblings throughout the year. several months ago, i started dumping scans of parallels into this draft, and i figure new year's eve is as good a time as any to hit publish.

enjoy a year end celebration of a variety of parallels!

steve finley's 2005 fleer ultra card is one of my favorite dodger cards of all time. about a year ago i picked up the gold medallion parallel

and the platinum medallion parallel

viva fernando!

these next two are parallels of an insert from 2000 pacific revolution

holo silver and holo gold parallels, to be exact.

the gold borders from 2002 topps aren't the most obvious when they are scanned

but you can tell in hand.

refractor parallels of cards from 2010 topps 206

are a bit strange because of the old-timey design, but they are still shiny.

here are a bunch of random parallels from 2011 through 2018

sluggo sent me a bunch of alex wood cards a year or so ago in one of our trades. and, i suppose technically the allen & ginter x card isn't a parallel since it's a base card of that set, but that set is a parallel of the regular allen & ginter set, so...

in 2015, topps issued three versions of these 1st home run inserts, and this is yasiel puig's gold version

and then in series 2 there was a white version, too. but not one of the series 1 versions. weird.

blackless cards used to be a mistake, but in 2018 topps gypsy queen

they were done on purpose

here's a more recent gold parallel

that parallel seems basic compared to some of the ones that panini came up with in recent years. this is a 2020 panini prizm cosmic haze parallel

and it's just one of literally dozens of parallels available of that card.

in 2020, topps introduced royal blue parallels. this one is from 2021 topps

and in 2022 they introduced ray wave refractors.

that cody bellinger card is from the 2022 topps chrome sonic set which thankfully was a one and done. now topps puts these refractors in regular chrome releases.

yellow parallels used to be a retail exclusive thing, but i don't think this 2024 topps card

was part of any walgreens exclusive

the aqua parallels from 2024, like this freddie freeman card,

were exclusive to fanatics packs.

finally, topps has continued with "holiday" themed parallels since debuting them in 2023 update. i suppose this is a way to support the huge print runs of base cards. here's a 2024 topps series 1 "base" holiday parallel

and a series 2 "base" holiday parallel

as well. 

i am sure 2025 will bring more of the same, but bring it on. happy new year!

bet your bottom dollar

i am really looking forward to tomorrow. one day closer to the weekend, sure, but it's also going to be the season debut of clayton kershaw.

the future hall of famer is back from his offseason shoulder surgery and subsequent rehab and will be on the bump against the giants. my expectations are tempered, but i am hoping that he doesn't suffer any setbacks and is able to pitch for the remainder of the season on a regular basis.

kershaw is just 56 strikeouts away from 3,000 and if he stays healthy over the next 10 weeks, he has a real shot at achieving the milestone this season. of course, that depends on his stuff. anyway, here are 17 kershaw cards to share in honor of his 17th season kicking off tomorrow.

2024 topps grand gamers

2024 topps superstar blueprints

2020 topps choice black parallel /299

2016 topps chrome sepia refractor

2017 topps triple threads

2019 bowman's best

2019 topps allen & ginter x

2020 bowman platinum

2013 panini hometown heroes zip code parallel

2015 topps tribute

2017 bowman chrome

2019 panini prizm blue prizm parallel

2020 panini prizm stargazing white wave prizm parallel

2021 panini donruss photo variation holo pink parallel

2022 panini capstone summit

2023 topps favorite sons black parallel /299

2024 topps silver pack chrome 1989 35th anniversary

once he gets on the mound, the "k is for kershaw kountdown" will continue! stay tuned!

k is for kershaw. and kountdown.

after his start against the padres on cinco de mayo, clayton kershaw was tied with jim bunning on the all-time strikeout leaderboard with 2,855 k's. that is significant to me because bunning has always been the guy to me who got closest to 3,000 strikeouts without reaching the milestone. every non-active pitcher who has tied bunning has gone on to get to 3k. now, with both zack greinke and clayton kershaw working between bunning and 3,000 i am waiting to see if bunning will once again become the top man south of 3,000.

i have mentioned it many times before that, as a young fan, 3,000 was a number that i fixated on - both for hits and strikeouts. i remember watching the dodgers and padres on tv late in the 1978 season as gaylord perry became just the third man to strike out 3,000 batters in a career, joining walter johnson and bob gibson. within the next few seasons, several more pitchers that i followed in earnest joined the club, including steve carlton, nolan ryan, tom seaver, fergie jenkins, bert blyleven, and don sutton.

kershaw is another pitcher that i follow quite earnestly, and he pitched on wednesday against the brewers. he got the win and recorded 8 strikeouts, giving him 2,863 for his career.  now that he is past bunning, i am going to start counting down the 145 strikeouts he needs to get to 3,000. so, here are 8 clayton kershaw cards to celebrate strikeouts 2,856 - 2,863:

2,856 - 2013 bowman hometown parallel

2,857 - 2016 topps gold parallel

2,858 and 2,859 - 2019 panini donruss franchise features base and bronze parallel

2,860 - 2020 panini prizm red white & blue prizm

2,861 - 2020 topps on demand 3d

2,862 - 2021 panini donruss optic lime green prizm

2,863 - 2022 topps gallery

to summarize, kershaw is now in sole possession of 21st place all-time in strikeouts, and stands 137 k's short of 3,000. he trails zack greinke by 46 strikeouts, and is a decent bet to overtake him by season's end.

kershaw's next start looks like it will be on tuesday against minnesota. if that is the case, i am hoping for a big number as the last time he faced the twins, he struck out 13. i'll be sure to continue the kountdown regardless of how many he k's, as i have a lot of kershaw cards at the ready. stay tuned!