cards as i see them: now let's relive october

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

now let's relive october

i wasn't really looking forward to the nlds once it was determined that the dodgers would be playing the padres. however, they prevailed and after they won the pennant, i decided i would pick up a couple of the topps now cards documenting their success.

this is the card from the nlds victory

and what really sold me on the idea of buying this card was the back

it features a view of dodger stadium that you don't often see on cards - looking out from the dodger dugout. you also get a glimpse of some coaches which is nice, too.

the pennant clinching card is similar

even down to the back

of course, i bought two of each so i could throw one of each in my dodger stadium collection.

speaking of the nlcs, i at some point over the summer added a second 2024 topps heritage buyback of the dodgers' nlcs champion card from the 1974 series for my dodger collection

and at the same time picked up a second 1974 mvp buyback for the same reason

i'm still missing steve garvey's solo buyback card though.

now back to this october. i mentioned at one point that i was at lax when the dodgers won the world series. about an hour after the final out, i was on a plane headed out of the country. a day or so later, i bought the topps now 15-card team set (seen in last week's post) and decided to go ahead and pick up the dodger cards from the world series. so, let's relive the dodger victory!

game 1

865 - mookie betts/shohei ohtani

you know topps was jonesing to get ohtani on as many cards as possible. here, betts has hit a sacrifice fly to score ohtani and tie the game 2-2 in the bottom of the 8th inning.

866 - freddie freeman

freddie freeman's walk-off grand slam to end game 1 was such an epic moment. when i decided to go back and buy these cards, the only ones of these available were selling for $50 and up. i chose to wait for the cards to get into the hands of the buyers and hope that some would sell their excess copies for cheap. there was a one or two week window where that was the case and i took advantage. here's the back:

i can see kirk gibson and orel hershiser and steve sax and mickey hatcher in this image. speaking of gibby...

kgff - kirk gibson/freddie freeman

this card was, i guess, a special card created by topps and not part of the sequential numbering. i bought two so i could put one in my "games i've attended in person" collection thanks to the inclusion of gibson's 1988 game 1 homer.

game 2

867 - teoscar hernandez

hernandez's two-run homer in the bottom of the third broke a 1-1 tie and put the dodgers ahead for good.

868 - freddie freeman

freeman followed hernandez with a home run of his own, making it the fourth consecutive world series game in which he had homered. this card was the one that cost me the most. i paid $14.99.

869 - yoshinobu yamamoto

yamamoto threw 6.1 innings and gave up just a solo home run to giancarlo stanton. he retired the next 11 batters in a row after allowing that dinger.

game 3

870 - freddie freeman

another game, another dinger for freeman. this was a two-run job in the top of the first that gave the dodgers a lead that they would not relinquish.

871 - teoscar hernandez

hernandez threw out a lumbering stanton at the plate to preserve the dodgers' 3-0 lead in the fourth inning.

872 - walker buehler

how great was it to see buehler pitch well in the world series. he walked the yankees' first batter of the night, but allowed only three more base runners in his five innings of work. dave roberts actually took a pitcher out at the right time for a change, before the yankee lineup faced buehler for a third time.

game 4

873 - freddie freeman

for the second night in a row, freeman hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to give the dodgers a lead. it was also his sixth consecutive world series game with a home run. that turned out to be the dodgers' lone highlight in this game. i had already forgotten that the dodgers' starter for the game was ben casparius making his first big league start and seventh major league appearance. maybe he will get some cardboard love in 2025.

game 5

880 - freddie freeman

there were no topps now cards produced showing the atrocious yankee defense in the fifth inning of this game, but this card shows freeman driving in unearned runs two and three to give him 12 rbi in the series.

881 - teoscar hernandez

hernandez followed freeman's single with a two-run double to tie the game at 5.

882 - mookie betts

the yankees retook the lead, but gavin lux (not given a card) and mookie betts hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to give the dodgers the lead in the top of the 8th.

883 - blake treinen

treinen was tremendous in this game. he got the last out of the sixth inning after brusdar graterol walked three yankees. then he finished the seventh and eighth innings to set up the save for an unlikely hero. speaking of dodger heroes, i bought two of these treinen cards so i could put one in my memorials collection as this is the best card i've seen so far in terms of showing the patch the dodgers wore for fernando valenzuela during the world series.

884 - walker buehler

i wasn't sure what to make of buehler's gladiator pose in real time but he started celebrating soon enough. it's corny but i was really happy for him to have that moment after the injuries he has dealt with. the dodgers were in a bit of a darren dreifort situation again with buehler's free agency, but they didn't bite this time. i would have gambled on buehler for sure, especially seeing that he signed just a 1-year deal with the red sox.