21 number salute

newly inducted hall of famer jeff kent will have his number retired by the san francisco giants tonight. i've added his 2000 fleer ultra card to my retired number collection as a result.

kent only spent six seasons with the giants, but that was the longest single team tenure of his career. it was an impactful six years, as he won the 2000 national league mvp award and helped the club reach the world series in 2002. of course, having peak barry bonds in the same lineup helped.

with a franchise as storied as the giants', kent's relatively short stint didn't result in him sitting high on any all-time franchise leader boards, although he is tied for 10th place in home runs with 175 (same number as brandon belt). 

kent finished his career as a dodger, and there are plenty of cards to be had documenting that fact. the most recent one i have acquired is this 2007 upper deck sweet spot sweet swatch relic card

as a dodger, kent wore number 12, which was his preferred number (he wore 12 with the mets, indians, and astros in addition to the dodgers). he couldn't wear it with the giants, however, because it was being worn by his manager, dusty baker. for me, baker is still number 12, and i am guessing he will have his number retired by at least one franchise when he is elected to the hall of fame as a manager at some point in the future. 

in, at best, tangential news, i've added a couple more cards to my retired numbers collection as "header" cards. these are cards that show retired numbers in the background or celebrate number retirement ceremonies. this 1999 fleer tradition matt morris card

shows a couple of the giants' retired number placards in the background. the one that is fully visible is carl hubbell's number 11.

i also upgraded my 2022 topps stadium club chrome lars nootbaar card from base to refractor

which makes it easier to see the retired numbers behind him

this 1993 upper deck julio valera card

shows nolan ryan's number 30 that was retired by the angels in 1992, while ryan was still active.

i should probably add dave bergman's 1983 topps card to the retired number header cards, but that one is representing 1983 topps in my topps flagship year-by-year collection as it fascinated me thanks to the presence of mel ott's placard in the background - something i had just started noticing during tv broadcasts of games the year before.

whether i pick up another copy of that card or not, there are other cards to add to this collection - stay tuned!

topps overcorrected a bit

after missing out on a team break for the inaugural release of topps chrome platinum anniversary in 2021, i joined a team break of the 2022 release, and was able to complete the dodger team set a couple times over while also finding a couple of parallels for my collection. in 2024, i joined a smaller break of the 2023 product, and came away with some decent cards to kickstart my team set building effort. there was no chrome platinum anniversary set released for 2024, allowing topps to actually align the card design with the platinum anniversary of the year that it was released. 

this has always been my biggest beef with topps heritage. starting in 2001 with the 1952 design seemed misaligned to me at the beginning, and soon thereafter led to an annual annoyance around 50th anniversary buybacks that aren't really 50th anniversary buybacks. anyway, the 2025 release of chrome platinum anniversary would feature the 1955 design in a satisfying act of synchronicity, and that pleased me. however, it wasn't until the middle of 2026 that the product was released.

regardless, i was looking forward to the product, but unfortunately my team break success was pre-ohtani, and with the 2025 release, the prices for dodger slots in breaks has been way more than i was willing to pay. instead, i've been building the base team set through a steady stream of sportlots orders.

the first card to arrive was tyler glasnow's

and it was sooned joined by nine others

chan ho park's baseball card resurgence was a big part of 2025, and it's nice to see kirk gibson get some dodger cardboard time.

here are a trio of rookies from 2025

with river ryan being the odd man out as he is no longer a dodger due to the tarik skubal trade.

roki sasaki

was part of a single card order from a seller who is losing money on shipping.

most of the cards came as part of larger orders where i found a couple of dodger cards from other sets in order to maximize my shipping cost investment. these two cards - hideo nomo and blake snell

were from one such order. as was hyeseong kim's card

topps has brought orel hershiser

back to us collectors, and i appreciate that. i do wish he had more cards like this and fewer autograph only releases though. it seems he has been given the steve garvey treatment in that regard.

here's a trio of dodger legends that arrived together - jackie robinson, sandy koufax, and clayton kershaw

and here's a couple more - duke snider and mookie betts

jackie, sandy, and the duke were all in the original 1955 set, so it's nice to see them again 70 (71) years later.

i did not have adrian gonzalez

dodger cards on my 2025 or 2026 bingo card but i will accept it.

the last card i needed was ohtani's

and it was easily the most expensive with an all-in cost of just under nine bucks.

the card that i was most excited about was dusty baker's

now that he has retired from managing, i hope we see more cards of him in dodger blue. i even scanned the back

baker is my go-to on baseball reference's immaculate grid for dodger silver slugger, and i've used him for gold glover as well when garvey was already used in a different category.

that baker card, as well as this betts/robinson 1955 double header insert

would both be candidates for my favorite dodger card of the year except for the facts that this is a 2025 release (officially) and that there was a 2026 topps card of clayton kershaw to wrap up his hall of fame career.

i used ebay to add that insert above as well as the full six card 1955 world series dodger team set

the cards above, and the backs below, are shown in numerical order even though that means they are not in chronological order. you will see what i mean, as roy campanella's card starts with game 3 

no johnny podres card for game 7 which is a surprise, but pee wee reese is an acceptable substitute.

back to game 1 with jackie

duke's exploits in game 4 lead into gil hodges' in game 7

and to round out the team set, topps fit in another koufax card even though he wasn't part of the world series. again, it's something that i am a-ok with.

there are a multitude of parallels for these cards, as well as the autograph subsets. i've held myself to only picking up a couple of those. steve garvey is always a target, and so i added his base auto

with a very basic back

as well as his aqua refractor 

numbered to 150.

i've noted that a number of resellers don't understand the concept of a facsimile autograph that is part of the 1955 card design. there are so many listings for "auto" cards that are just base cards or base parallels. 

to date, the only base parallel that i have purchased is this platinum toile gold parallel of hideo nomo

it's numbered to 50 and is a nice example of the excess that has defined parallels of chrome platinum anniversary to date.

last minute update! earlier today i received these three blue prism refractor parallels

after purchasing them as a lot for about a buck apiece.

it's probably too much to ask for 2026 topps chrome platinum anniversary featuring the fantastic 1956 topps design to actually be released in 2026. hopefully topps gets things on track at some point.

golden gate, golden state

following up saturday's state-themed post with another one today. from 2024 topps allen & ginter, i have added this california insert to my collection

unlike the minnesota card, this one actually features a bridge iconic to the state. it's been a few years since i've driven (and even more since i've walked) across the golden gate bridge, but i'll get back eventually. i was in the bay area last month but drove across the bay bridge on the east side of town rather than come around the north side of the bay from where i was.

i have no other cards to show from my trip to the golden state. i perused a target card aisle but was not impressed by the selection and also stopped by a card shop on the central coast, but it no longer had dig boxes - just overpriced singles and packs/boxes. still, any trip back to california is a good one in my book and this was indeed a great one. 

allen & ginter meets minnie & paul

the dodgers visited minnesota in june for a three game series. i only made it to one game (the second of the series) which means i believe i missed a dodger game in minnesota for the first time in my lifetime. the first game featured three solo home runs (shohei ohtani and freddie freeman for the dodgers and byron buxton for the twins) and the third game saw mookie betts hit career home run number 300 in support of ohtani on the mound. as for the game i did see, it was a bit sloppy with a 30 minute delay at the start due to heavy rains earlier in the evening. the twins didn't play too well defensively, and the game devolved into a bit of a runaway for the dodgers.

there was only one topps now card created for the games, and it was all about mookie's milestone home run. i likely won't seek it out since it was from a game i did not attend, but it's a dodger card so you never know. thankfully, i have some other cards to show that are tangentially related to this topic.

i am a fan of the insert sets in topps' allen & ginter('s) releases. i may not collect them all, but there are some interesting categories and subjects. i will most definitely find some that appeal to me or have some sort of meaning - case in point, the "beachin' it" inserts from last year's issue.

here are some that have also made it into my collection...

from 2023 topps a&g's "only in..." insert set

that would be the minnie and paul sign at target field. more about it on the back:

the sign and logo are even more significant these days, with the twins' triple-a team playing in st. paul.

in 2024, topps included a 50 states insert set. here's how the land of 10,000 lakes was represented

the back is interesting to me

and i am left wondering why the inset image is not of something relative to the text, such as the paul bunyan statue in bemidji. the image shown is of the lowry bridge over the mississippi which is not the most iconic bridge in the city of minneapolis, let alone the state. curious about how that image was selected.

in 2025, topps gave us the state bird insert set. here's minnesota's

with explanatory text on the back:

i have spent many a morning hearing the call of a loon from one of minnesota's lakes.

also in 2025, ginter had an insert set focused on lighthouses. the split rock lighthouse was included

here's the back

i've been up to split rock a couple of times. it's up on the "north shore" which is the westerly side of lake superior. it's a nice drive between duluth and grand marais (and all the way up to canada), and this lighthouse gives some nice views of the lake. plus, castle danger's brewery is close by.

i've lived in minnesota for nearly 30 years, and i appreciate seeing it and its features included in these sets. i'm looking forward to 2026 allen & ginter and seeing what insert topics are included.

back to the dodgers having been in town, i'll go ahead and show this 2024 topps chrome insert of betts

since i did spend part of my summertime in the park watching him and his teammates play. i am still a dodger collector at heart, you know. or should i say, you betcha?!

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!