42 for everyone

jackie robinson day is this weekend, and it will be great to see every team celebrating his legacy by wearing number 42. i've been busy the last year adding more cards to my 42 collection and my jackie robinson collection in general. let's have a look!

i will start with this 2008 topps stadium club ceremonial cuts photographer's proof gold parallel

it doesn't feature a jersey or anything like that, but rather some bunting from yankee stadium. it's a nice card design for what it is, i think. this, of course, goes in the dodger collection and not the 42 collection.

same goes for this 2019 topps gypsy queen clayton kershaw jackie robinson day variation

with the patches that are worn on the hat and sleeve now, i've seen more cards in base releases that would qualify for this collection except for the fact that the jersey number isn't visible. as a result, i don't put those cards in the collection.  as a reminder, the 42 collection is comprised of cards featuring players wearing jackie's number from 1997 on, but only those who didn't normally wear 42 like mo vaughn or mariano rivera. thanks to nick at dime boxes for sharing a list of 42 cards that included some i was not aware of.

1998 metallic impressions ken griffey jr 5 card set #5

and 1998 upper deck collector's choice ken griffey jr checklist

griffey is the person who started the wearing of 42 on april 15 to honor jackie. i wasn't aware of the metallic impressions card until about a year ago, but i knew about the upper deck card in 1998. it was great of upper deck to capture the moment on a collector's choice card in real time, and that card is a cornerstone of the collection. so, i decided to pick up the checklist that shows that card for the collection, too.

then i had to get another copy of the checklist because it's also a dodger card

2010 topps mariners franchise history - ken griffey jr and ichiro

not quite as obvious, but griffey donned 42 with his mariner teammates, including ichiro, during his second stint in seattle

2010 topps chrome bryan anderson

rookie card 42!

2011 topps attax yadier molina

looks like the photographers were out in force at busch for jackie robinson day!

2011 topps factory set limited edition albert pujols

see what i mean?

2015 topps matt carpenter first home run insert

seriously!

however, one team may give the cards a run for their money when it comes to 42 cards...

2008 upper deck rich harden

2008 upper deck first edition rich harden

2008 upper deck documentary rich harden

2009 upper deck icons matt holliday icons insert, red parallel

2009 upper deck x matt holliday - base and die cut parallel

2009 upper deck signature stars brett anderson

2009 upper deck ultimate collection brett anderson

2010 upper deck brett anderson

2009 upper deck sp authentic jack cust gold parallel

2010 upper deck jack cust portraits

2012 topps yoenis cespedes photo variation

that's a lot of athletics! i have the base version of the sp authentic cust card on my most wanted list because i need more a's cards showing 42 apparently.

now let's take a look at some non-cardinals, non-a's cards

2009 topps update & highlights cesar izturis base and gold parallel

that may be josh hamilton sliding in. whomever it is, i'm thankful for them because they are the only reason this is a 42 card

2010 topps update ike davis

with topps doing the rookie debut cards to double the number of rookie cards, it's a nice thing when that debut happens on april 15.

2010 topps update jeff keppinger

2010 upper deck ian kinsler biography insert

even though it was an insert set, biography was a better executed version of 2008's documentary disaster, although it didn't cover every game the way documentary did. as a result, we got a card featuring a game on jackie robinson day that shows adam jones wearing 42 even though the card is about ian kinsler. it's a great quirky card for sure.

2016 panini diamond kings andy pettitte expressionists insert

2016 topps update alejandro de aza

2018 panini donruss nolan arenado variation

i don't think this is a jackie robinson day variation in the same way that gypsy queen does it, but just a coincidental photo variation

2020 topps now eric sogard

it's nice to see topps now worthy highlights happening on jackie robinson day

because then we get cards with potentially lots of 42s on them, like this eric sogard card from 2020.

2021 panini prizm kyle cody - base, purple prizm, green wave prizm

and teal wave

this was one that i stumbled on when i, for some reason, bought a big lot of panini cards. i wound up adding a couple of the parallels seen above to what was included in that haul.

2022 topps now jackie robinson day

for the record, the players shown on this cards are andrew mccutchen, omar narvaez, mookie betts, and anthony rizzo. i kind of like the anonymity factor applied to the card - i think that's a big part of the point of jackie robinson day. i also like how catchers like narvaez get the number shown even though they are wearing equipment. 

2022 topps now turn back the clock

not a photo from the 4/15/97 game but close. that's butch huskey at the plate for the mets. huskey wore 42 all the time, and tom prince is behind the plate for the dodgers wearing his regular number 15. the universal wearing of 42 didn't start until 2009, although some players chose to wear the number in 2007 and 2008.

the latest addition to the 42 collection is yasmani grandal's 2023 topps card. i showed his base card in an earlier post, but here's a gold parallel

that i picked up at the february card show.

i am looking forward to seeing all of the 42s on saturday and maybe some on cardboard as well!