this shouldn't be left unacknowledged

last thursday was national left handers day which is a day usually celebrated by night owl, who sent me some cards back in february. the scans have languished long enough; it's time to share.

first up, of course, is a lefty.

that's a 2022 topps rainbow foil parallel, and this is a 2019 panini donruss optic mvp insert

which is fitting for the 2014 national league mvp.

next up is a "hybrid" lefty - freddie freeman throws right but bats left, and this is a 2023 topps update black gold insert

freeman showed up again with his 2022 topps gallery card, and he was paired with full fledged righty andre jackson

jackson's 2022 topps gold label class 1 black parallel

was also included.

from 2022 panini donruss, here are a couple of rightys - walker buehler and mookie betts

the betts card is the holo red parallel, and not the "red" parallel which is actually red and white striped (and numbered).

righty betts is also represented by his 2022 topps stadium club trophy hunters insert

and he has had good success in hunting trophies indeed.

more rightys - 2021 panini chronicles albert pujols

2022 topps stadium club justin turner red foil parallel

2023 panini donruss andy pages holo orange parallel

2024 topps archives teoscar hernandez black foil parallel

and, to show that pitchers can have parallel fun as well, here's a 2017 topps gypsy queen jose de leon parallel

those are all parallels of base cards, but inserts get the parallel treatment as well. this is a 2022 topps fire trea turner en fuego gold minted parallel

and i'll end the haul from night owl with a "base" 2022 panini mosaic max muncy straight fire insert

muncy, obviously, bats left.

now, while night owl didn't send me the next card, he was responsible for it getting added to my collection

that's a 1992 topps pre-production tommy lasorda gold card. that lasorda card is among my favorite dodger cards of all time, thanks to the skipper jogging with gary carter, kevin gross, john candelaria, orel hershiser, and bobby ojeda. anyway, here's the back:

i did not know of this card's existence until night owl posted about it. apparently, there is another variation with an oval on the back instead of the diamond. i won't be chasing that, but i did add a second version of the card to my collection so that i could put one in my dodger stadium mini-collection.

here's the actual gold parallel as it was eventually put out by topps

and there was also a "winner" version available by mail-in

while the actual cards added the "manager" box above the "dodgers" box, the biggest difference from pre-production to production was the back

gone is the text and the larger photo of dodger stadium, and in are the stats and a smaller photo. a;so added to the final version are tommy's vitals - height, weight, and handedness. in case you weren't aware, he was a lefty.

meanwhile, i tracked down some other cards on my own of another certain lefty

that may look like a 1994 topps fernando valenzuela card, but it's actually the bilingual or spanish parallel

sort of an o-pee-chee card for mexico.

finally, here's a full-on spanish card of el toro - a 1997 pacific crown collection latinos of the major leagues insert

the back shows him at the plate, which is always nice to see

thanks to greg, kershaw, tommy, fernando, and ned flanders for celebrating leftys. and additional thanks to greg for the cards!

four for four twenty

here's a 1981 donruss tommy lasorda card

that has something in common with these next four cards - 2019 topps heritage kenley jansen (this is the chrome parallel)

2020 topps mookie betts

2021 topps chrome platinum anniversary joe kelly (this is the refractor parallel)

and 2022 topps austin barnes

those four cards represent a four year run in which topps had assigned a dodger card to number 420 in one of their sets

i took note of it in 2021 when i saw the checklist for platinum anniversary. alas, there was no continuation of this in 2023, but i couldn't help but wonder if it were an intentional thing, similar to what upper deck did with number 666 in their early days.

not that it's a bad thing - 420 is a number associated with cannabis use, thanks to some california teens in the 1970s and i pass no judgement. it was just conspicuous to me that topps put a dodger in that spot four years running.

speaking of four years running, if cody bellinger (seen here on a 2022 topps allen & ginter chrome mini)

homers today, he will have hit a home run on 4/20 in four consecutive seasons. bellinger, as you might know, has a few 420 themed memes out there.

i almost forgot to mention - the donruss lasorda card up top is the first dodger card that i am aware of to slot at number 420 in a major set. these days, the dodgers have a 1 in 30 chance of being there in just a handful of sets each year. i took a quick look and found that no other team had more than two consecutive seasons at 420 in a topps set. donruss put the a's at 420 three years in a row in their flagship set in the mid-1980s, and the rangers were at 420 three years in a row in major pacific releases. it makes some sense to me as it has to be easier to set a checklist by starting with the previous year's, but maybe, just maybe, there were some shenanigans afoot.

don't point fingers at me; i didn't cut up this card

i would tell you to avert your eyes, but it's too late now. 

several months ago i added this 2008 tristar signa cuts to my collection

i have a weird fixation with these things, and i couldn't pass up this destruction of a 1983 topps tom lasorda card, supposedly signed by the man himself.

what's interesting to me is that i never noticed before that tommy was mic'd up in the photo used for this card. i am sure that you are aware that there are many recordings out there of the dodger skipper speaking his mind, but i don't think i am aware of any that exist from 1982. i am guessing this was in spring training, but who knows.

it's a nice addition to my collection which boasts a few lasorda autographs, including this relatively recent arrival

that one comes from 2024 panini boys of summer. here's the back:

that signature looks more legit than the one on the tristar card. not sure how (or if) tristar bothers to authenticate, but i would think it would be tough. i didn't pay too much so i'm not too concerned.

another managerial pickup from last year sometime was this 2024 topps heritage dusty baker chrome purple refractor parallel

with baker retired, it was up to ron washington to represent the first ring of tommy lasorda's managerial tree. now that wash is no longer managing, there aren't any direct ties to lasorda in mlb's managerial ranks. lasorda's successor, bill russell, was the dodger manager for the first couple of games of alex cora's career, so the red sox manager is the closest to lasorda in that regard. i will also note that jim tracy's tree is alive and well with dave roberts at the helm of the dodgers. i'd be interested to hear roberts discuss tracy's style and influence.

when topps didn't, gio does

it's been a while since i made a custom card - a couple of years, i think - but i remember enough from my time churning them out that i can say the motivation for making them (customs of the non-art variety) stems from missed opportunities by those who made the real cards. someone was left off of a checklist? make a custom. didn't care for the photo the "real one" used? make a custom. significant event not covered by a highlight or record breaker card? make a custom. rookie not given a card? make a custom. player switched teams and the "wrong" team was represented in a set? make a custom. veteran fan favorite not given a proper send off? make a custom.

those were the reasons i and many others made and make custom cards, and there is none better in the game than gio from when topps had (base)balls. gio takes his creations a step further than most and produces physical, professionally printed sets that are fun to collect.

back in october of 2024, he dropped his "series 18" set that covered all six of the reasons for making customs that i gave above, with fantastic results. let's have a look.

1970 topps bert blyleven

bert made his big league debut in 1970, so could have been included in a later series. he was 19!

1971 topps larry doby and jon matlack

topps hadn't produced stand alone coach cards since the 1950's, but they've had at least one recently in the topps now universe. a doby expos card would have been sweet. as for matlack, he debuted in 1971 and, unlike blyleven, was included as part of a late series release. that card, however, was a three-player rookie card (with old friend ted martinez), so gio gave him his own solo rookie card.

1972 topps rusty staub traded

le grand orange was traded from the expos to the mets on april 5, 1972. that was later than the transactions involving steve carlton, joe morgan, and frank robinson, but still plenty of time for topps to include a traded card in the late series. they chose not to. 

1973 topps sadaharu oh

this is just a straight up "fantasy" card of the japanese legend. oh and the yomiuri giants won their 9th straight title in 1973.

1974 topps graig nettles

gio makes an improvement upon nettles' actual 1974 topps card

1975 topps steve blass and felipe alou

both blass and alou finished their major league careers in april of 1974 and so didn't make the 1975 topps checklist. gio gives them both a proper final tribute send off. i believe the blass is the second 1975 card he's made for blass. as for alou, his brother matty also played his last game in 1974 and was also denied a card. gio corrected that omission as well.

1976 topps red sox combo card

combo cards didn't really make it into the 1970's at topps. they were big in the 60's and have rebounded in the 2000's. having a card of the three red sox stud outfielders is great, similar to the card gio made for the dodgers' 30 home run quartet. i don't think he's tackled the legendary dodger infield yet though!

1977 topps frank robinson and gene tenace

both robinson and tenace were included in the 1977 topps set, but robinson was just a small part of the indians' team card and really deserved a final tribute to salute the end of his playing days in 1976. as for tenace, he received an airbrushed card from topps (and o-pee-chee) in 1977 following his signing with the padres in the offseason. one last look at tenace as an oakland athletic is welcomed!

1978 topps paul molitor and bob horner

a solo rookie card for molitor, who appeared in the set on a 4-in-1 card, and a "missing" rookie card for bob horner. in horner's case, there were no late series or traded or update sets issued in 1978, so it's more of a fantasy card. horner was drafted by the braves on june 6, 1978 and debuted in the big leagues less than two weeks later, going on to be named the national league's rookie of the year. 

gio was kind enough to include two copies of the molitor and horner cards for my 1978 topps master set.

1979 topps tom lasorda and billy martin

freddie patek wasn't the only all-star left without a banner in the 1979 topps set, as the managers of the 1978 midsummer classic were pretty much ignored. lasorda was present on the dodger team card, but martin was no longer the skipper of the yankees when the 1978 season ended so he wasn't in the set at all. i would welcome a return of solo manager cards to topps flagship, along with stadium cards.

here's the bonus card in the set - a 1973 kellogg's willie mays card

complete with stats on the back!

what a fantastic set!

then, last july, gio issued his 1980s career cappers set featuring retired greats who should have been better treated by topps at the end of their careers.

1980 topps jim hunter and lou brock

hunter was shut out in 1980, and brock only got half of a highlight card.

1981 topps willie horton and willie mccovey

horton's big league career ended in 1980, but he played in the pirates' organization for the next two seasons. in fact, his only real 1981 card is a tcma minor league card with the portland beavers, as for mccovey, he at least got a card from fleer in 1981 but nothing from topps or donruss.

1983 topps willie stargell

it's a willie parade! stargell was included in the donruss and fleer sets in '83, but not topps. topps didn't include wilver in their 2018 1983 anniversary insert sets, either.

1984 topps jim kaat, carl yastrzemski, gaylord perry, and johnny bench

three of these four were included on the iconic (yet disappointing) 1984 topps highlight card as retiring legends, but kitty kaat was nowhere to be found in '84 - not even in fleer or donruss. bench and yaz got 1984 all-star design cards from topps in 2019, but not regular cards that would have had their career stats on the back. kaat and perry were omitted altogether.

1985 topps amos otis and jim palmer

there were no cards of either otis or palmer in 1985. seeing otis in topps' 2020 1985 anniversary set would have been a miracle, but i was hoping to see palmer. no dice.

1987 topps george foster, cesar cedeno, and tony perez

the only 1987 card of any of these three stars was perez's 1987 fleer card. none of them were featured by topps in 2017 or 2022, either. it would be nice to see some foster and cedeno cards these days.

1988 topps phil niekro, reggie jackson, and steve garvey

all three of these players were given cards by score in 1988, and reggie also had a fleer card. niekro actually appeared in 1988 topps, but on a highlight card with his brother, joe, and as an indian. he finished his career as a brave, so gio's card is appreciated. 

like me, gio is a proponent of steve garvey as a hall of famer, and per my request, gio added an extra garvey card to my order for my collection. here's the back of garvey's 1988 topps career capper:

i've created a stat back for my version of garvey's card that should have been, with a front that was created by punk rock paint.

1989 topps don sutton, graig nettles, and steve carlton

once again, score to the rescue in 1989, at least by way of cards for sutton and nettles. there were no cards of carlton to be had aside from his baseball talk card (that shows him as a cardinal). sutton at least had a box bottom card, but that's not the same as a final tribute. of the three, a missing nettles card is the biggest head scratcher since he was on the expos roster the entire season. by the way, gio and i used the same photo of old man sutton for our 1989 cards. 

the bonus card in this set was a 1981 topps saduharo oh card

most recntly, gio announced the sale of his 1976 topps "power roll" dice game set. this is a masterpiece. the set includes 25 cards in the 1976 topps style, a pair of six sided dice, two mini pencils, a "wthballs" pinback button, and two pieces of bazooka gum. he went all out, for sure, and the cherry on top is that most of the cards feature verifiable 1976 season action shots, thanks to the presence of the various bicentennial patches on the players' sleeves.

my set took an adventure across the united states before arriving, but it's here and it is glorious. of course, gio added an extra steve garvey card

for my collection which is always appreciated. here's the back of garvey's card:

snake eyes for a garvey home run!

if you like custom cards or just miss the players of the 1970s, i strongly encourage you to check out gio's work.