cards of future past

the latest in a long line of envelopes i've received from madding at cards on cards was packed with cards featuring some players from before we knew them and some players from before they weren't really known at all.

what i mean by that is that there were several cards from 2014 bowman draft, including some black parallels that were exclusive to asia packaging. here's corey seager's top prospects insert black (or some say asia) parallel

plus those same parallels of base cards featuring grant holmes, jeff brigham, and john richy

you know seager - he's a two-time world series champion - and grant holmes just recently made it to the major leagues with the braves. brigham has, at least to me, carved out a big league career under the radar, appearing in 94 games over parts of six seasons. he's currently with the cubs after pitching for the dbacks last year. richy made it to triple-a with the phillies after being part of the chase utley trade, but didn't get any further than that. richy was the dodgers' third round pick in the 2014 draft, with holmes being their first rounder and brigham their fourth. 

that just leaves the second round, and the dodgers used that pick on alex verdugo, whose chrome prospect card

was also included in the mailing. you know verdugo, of course, as he played for the dodgers and was sent to the red sox in the mookie betts trade. he struck out to end the 2024 world series, and then played half of the 2025 season for the braves. he is currently unsigned as i understand it.

kerry included some more recent cards of someone we may eventually know - 2025 bowman jesus tillero propsect and prospect chrome inserts

he's not quite 20 years old, and has pitched in rookie league and a-ball so far. let's see what happens!

here's an actual major leaguer card of edwin rios

it's a 2020 topps chrome refractor parallel. rios showed some pop for the dodgers in 2020, hitting 17 homers plus two in the postseason. his big league run ended with the reds in 2024.

dalton rushing's big league career is just beginning, and kerry sent a 2023 bowman platinum card

of the dodgers' backup catcher. he's in a tough spot with will smith firmly entrenched, but hopefully he gets his time or is spun off and given an opportunity elsewhere.

finally, a hyeseong kim ornament insert from 2025 topps holiday

kim is another current big leaguer who should see more action in 2026 than he did last year (if he's healthy) as tommy edman will miss some time to start the season.

all in all, another great envelope full of cards from cards on cards. thanks kerry!

brian brings bowman's best betts; backgrounds boggle

try saying that title five times fast.....

after i met up with brian from highly subjective and completely arbitrary at the monthly card show, he sent a few cards my way to add to what he had already given me in person. the cards included a 2023 bowman's best mookie betts card

and a freddie freeman refractor parallel

from the same set.

i also picked up the james outman and bobby miller base cards, along with a miller refractor 

from a dime box at the card show i wrote about earlier in the week.

the backgrounds on the cards made me think of a bee hive thanks to the honeycomb pattern. i also found it odd that the background was less defined on the refractor's scan.

there were some other card backgrounds that confused me as well. brian included the james outman

and miguel vargas

cards from 2023 bowman platinum. i already had a betts card

from that set, and appreciated the others so i could see if their backgrounds were as strange as the one on mookie's card. and they are, in fact, as strange. what is that? and why do we need it on a baseball card?

the backgrounds of the cards in 2023 topps cosmic chrome

are less confusing as to content but equally confusing as to why? still, they have a place in my dodger collection and i am happy to have them.

thanks brian!