king for a day

sometimes it seems like it is easier to find scarce parallels than ones with a larger print run. case in point, i had not seen this card

available for purchase for 15 years or so. it's a 2005 donruss diamond kings framed blue parallel of steve garvey, and it is numbered to 100

it was a bit of an outlier in that i had the other /100 and even the /50 parallels from this release, but not this one. anyway, i have it now and it is catalogued in tcdb. i mentioned recently that my dodger collection (as it stands as of last thursday) is entered into tcdb now. i have also entered my player collections which are comprised mainly of dodgers from the 1978 topps set that went on to play for other teams.

i plan to start entering my mini collections so figured that now is a good time to take a snapshot of my collection.

from a team standpoint, here's where things sit:

no real surprises there. the padres are mostly due to steve garvey cards, and the expos and angels are largely vladimir guerrero (my one non-dodger pc). don sutton also contributes to the angels, with ron cey, davey lopes, and dusty baker helping populate the cubs.

those los angeles dodger cards, including this 1992 leaf mike scioscia black gold parallel,

put me in the top spot 

but i recognize my hold there is tenuous at best.  for the brooklyn dodgers, i am in the 2nd spot

and will never get any higher than that even as i add cards like this 1993 upper deck all-time heroes card featuring joe black

there just won't be enough jackie robinson cards to get me to first place, and that's ok. a dodger collection totaling over 27,500 unique cards is pretty good!

as for the players, i decided to look at my top 25

i know, that's 26 people, but with vladimir guerrero not being a dodger, i went this route to get the top 25 dodgers. plus, it allows me to show where the penguin sits in my collection! 

1. steve garvey - i rank 1st overall on tcdb in terms of garvey cards. 

obviously, this is my main pc. my collection includes dodger and non-dodger cards, which are just padres cards plus a few michigan state cards. i keep my garvey cards separated from my dodger collection, with duplicates going to the team binders. of course, tcdb makes no distinction between the two.

2. clayton kershaw - i rank 4th

and i would expect night owl to pass me at some point. these cards are all dodgers except for a couple team usa cards - assuming tcdb catalogs them as such - and all of my kershaws are in my dodger team binders.

3. mike piazza - my piazza cards only get me to 21st on tcdb. here's one of my piazza cards

a 1995 upper deck sp special edition card. there are some cards in my collection that i consider to be dodger piazza cards that tcdb lists as marlin or met cards, but my take governs! all of these piazza cards are part of my team collection.

4. vladimir guerrero - i have fallen to 9th place among tcdb collectors when it comes to vladdy cards.

that's a 2022 topps throwback thursday card i picked up earlier this year. it's nice to see vladdy appearing in current card sets, but my ambition to seek them out is pretty low.

5. shawn green - i am 3rd on tcdb, and my collection only includes dodger cards, like this 2000 topps tek card

green has been both my favorite non-dodger and my favorite dodger. however, i limit my pc to his dodger cards which are actually part of my team binders.

6. matt kemp - i was surprised to see that i ranked first in matt kemp cards on tcdb

even though it's not by much. again, these are all dodger cards that are part of my dodger collection.

7. hideo nomo - i come in 2nd on tcdb in terms of nomo cards, right behind night owl.

i would love to add more cards if they looked like that 1997 pacific crown collection gold crown die-cut card. easily my favorite nomo card that i have added in the last few years. i am a bit surprised he hasn't shown up in any recent card releases, but i am sure there are reasons.

8. eric karros - my dodger karros cards get me to 3rd place on tcdb

karros is the guy who shows up high on my list solely because he had a ton of cards made. i don't know that i have ever actively sought out a karros card other than to complete a team set. although i guess i did add that 2000 topps chrome allegiance insert to a card order earlier this year out of convenience.

9. cody bellinger - as with karros, i am 3rd on tcdb with bellinger cards. that will likely change, assuming others continue to add his cards even though he is no longer a dodger. i have decided not to take that route. here's his 2017 topps holiday card:

i will always remember his 2017 and 2019 seasons fondly.

10, jackie robinson - rounding out my top 10 is jackie, whose cards are exclusively brooklyn dodger cards, like this one

from 2022 topps allen & ginter x. my jackie cards are good enough to slot in at 3rd overall on tcdb.

11. raul mondesi - from one roy to another, i will assume that my mondesi dodger card total will eventually top the 400 mark. 

that 1999 topps gold label class 2 card is gorgeous, and got me one card closer to 400 a few months ago.  right now, i am 2nd on tcdb in terms of mondesi-ness (behind night owl).

12. fernando valenzuela - my valenzuela collection, which includes his non-dodger cards, ranks 2nd on tcdb. i recently showed off the bulk of my post-dodger fernando collection here.

13. duke snider - i rank 2nd on tcdb with my snider cards, which are only dodger cards. here's his 2022 topps pristine card

which was once one of my nefarious 9 most wanted cards as it was all that was standing between me and the complete team set.

14. adrian beltre - my collection of beltre dodger cards, including this 1998 bowman's best card

are good for 9th overall on tcdb. considering how many ranger cards he has, that surprised me a bit although maybe there aren't too many ranger team collectors.

15. orel hershiser - the bulldog is a popular player with a number of cards from his time between dodger tenures. my dodger only collection of hershiser cards is good enough for 6th on the site. i haven't added a new hershiser card for a long time, so here's an oldie but a goodie

from 1998 fleer sports illustrated world series fever

16. don sutton - my sutton collection spans his entire career, since he started it as a dodger, and it lands me at 1st place overall on tcdb

i proudly add cards of sutton to my collection showing him from his dodger days, like this 2013 panini cooperstown colgan chips card

as well as his foray in to enemy territory as an astro

brewer

athletic and angel

those cards are his 1981 all-star game program insert, 1984 topps nestle, and 1988 panini stickers issues. sutton has been keeping up appearances in current sets, so i will continue adding to my total in the future.

17. sandy koufax - my koufax cards, which are all dodger cards except for one card that is a cincinnati bearcat card, put me in 2nd place on tcdb. here's one of my newest koufax additions

that's his 2016 topps archives short print card. he had a regular card in the base set, but topps decided to short print him, too.

18. kevin brown - brown played for a lot of teams, and even though my cards are almost all dodgers (there are a few that tcdb considers to be yankee cards), i still rank 4th among collectors on the site.

there is no mistaking that 2003 topps chrome gold refractor parallel - it is a dodger card through and through - and it helped me get brown over the 300 threshold at some point.

19. corey seager - seager will be next to cross the 300 card mark. i was surprised to find that i am in 1st place in terms of seager cards, with this 2017 topps update photo variation card

being one of my fairly recent acquisitions, but i expect my rank to fall now that seager is getting a bunch of non-dodger cards as a ranger. my affinity for his cards stopped once he signed with texas.

20. andre ethier - i am in 2nd place behind night owl for ethier cards. even though he was a longtime dodger (and only appeared in the majors as a dodger), he probably won't get any attention in future card sets. there are still plenty to chase, however, and this 2012 topps heritage chrome card

just arrived in my collection a couple of weeks ago.

21. ramon martinez - i sit in 4th place on tcdb with my cards of pedro's older brother, and my newest addition just showed up the other day from night owl!

it's a 1992 classic update blue/red travel card, with a nicely cropped photo to boot!

22. davey lopes - it took a while to get to the next member of the infield, but that has a lot to do with the era in which lopes played and had cards produced bearing his likeness. i am ranked 1st overall

due to the fact that i collect his athletics, cubs, astros, and coach cards!

those three are phillies photocards from 2008 and 2010 (two versions). only two are listed on tcdb, however.  of course, my first choice for lopes cards are dodger cards, but those are few and far between these days.

23. russell martin - i almost feel like i should add martin to my list of players for whom i collection post-dodger cards because he has so many great looking cards as a pirate, yankee, and blue jay. as it is, i've limited myself to dodger cards (plus the occasional team canada cards), and that puts me in 2nd place on tcdb.

his 2006 bowman originals card, with the huge rookie card logo, reminds me that if it hadn't been for nomar joining the dodgers, martin may well have been my favorite dodger that year.

24. mookie betts - my 242 betts cards (all dodgers) are good enough for 24th place on tcdb. this is his 2022 topps international trading card day card

betts will continue to climb on this list as he will be a dodger for a long time yet, and will keep getting cards produced. i am a-ok with that!

24. gary sheffield - sheffield and betts are tied at 242 cards each, but i only rank 52nd among others with sheffield in their collections. i recently sought out his 2000 skybox card

as it has the 1999 jackie robinson heroes patch fairly visible. and i wanted to get closer to completing the team set, too.

26. ron cey - the third baseman from the team of my youth is represented in my collection by all of his cards regardless of team. this approach gets me to 1st on the site

ahead of night owl. i know that night owl doesn't have the fervor that i do for cey's post-dodger cards so it is very likely that he owns more dodger cards of the penguin than i do.

so, most of my player collections don't crack the top 26 - only garvey, vlad, sutton, lopes, and cey made it. as a reminder, these player collections are primarily of dodgers from the 1977/78 squad who went on to play for other teams after leaving the dodgers. i did want to see where the others fall, and here's a summary:

34. dusty baker - i have 173 unique baker cards logged in tcdb, and that puts me at 1st place on the site!

those 173 cards include his coaching and managerial career which has been getting some attention lately. here's a 2021 topps chrome platinum anniversary aqua wave refractor parallel

his coaching career is a sneaky way for the giants to infiltrate my collection as this 1988 mothers cookies card

attests. the only baker cards i don't collect are braves cards, since he was with them prior to being a dodger.

39. tommy lasorda - lasorda is not too far behind baker, and my 168 cards have me in 1st place somewhat comfortably

the only non-dodger cards lasorda has are team usa cards, and i include those in my collection. here's one of the newest lasorda cards in my collection

it's a 2004 upper deck sp authentic all-star memories insert. the card references the 1982 all-star game which was played in montreal, but the photo comes from the midsummer classic played in seattle in 2001. that was the game that lasorda (who was retired by then) coached third base and got knocked over by vladimir guerrero's wayward bat.

41. bill russell - russell is not too far behind lasorda, and i am also 1st on the site for his cards

these are almost all dodger cards - there are a couple of tampa bay devil ray minor league cards - and the next one i want to find is a 2023 topps heritage buyback.

63. steve yeager - i am just shy of 100 unique yeager cards but still in 1st place on tcdb

my yeagers include his mariner cards plus a couple of oddballs from the movie "major league". it's been a while since i've found a new yeager card for my collection, but i keep my eye out.

78. reggie smith - i don't collect smith's red sox or cardinal cards, but my dodger and giant (both san francisco and yomiuri) and team usa cards of him are good enough to fall in 1st place on tcdb

which is a huge surprise to me. i would love to see some new reggie cards!

115. rick monday - the last of my baseball player collections is not really much of one. all of my rick monday cards are in my dodger collection except for one, and that one is not listed on tcdb. the 55 cards i have marked on the site rank me 3rd overall which is not too bad for someone who doesn't collect his athletics or cub cards.  the one non-dodger card of his that i have in my pc is a padres magazine card from his short stint as a padres announcer.

so, next up for me is to enter my mini-collections and then my "keeper" sets, which are my complete topps sets from 1957, 1965, and sets from 1970 through 1979, plus some random (mostly "legends" sets from fleer, upper deck, and topps) sets from the late 1990s and early 2000s. i am undecided about keeping my topps, fleer, donruss, and upper deck sets from 1980 through 2009 as of right now. and then there are my non-baseball player collections of wayne gretzky, luc robitaille, and mark brunell. i've still got a lot of cataloging to do, but it's fun to see where things stack up - at least for a moment in time!