blue backs for not many greenbacks

 i recently completed my 1951 topps dodger team set by picking up the two blue backs

i was missing. they were the cards of bruce edwards

and billy cox

it is a great feeling to complete a vintage team set like this, and i will likely never complete another vintage topps dodger set as i am only missing cards from 1952 and 1953. i suppose 1953 is possible, but 1952 is almost certainly out of the question with all of those high numbers. i will be content with my jackie robinson card and maybe just try to complete the low number team set.

i was able to get these cards for "free", as i used a $25 ebay coupon and ebay bucks to cover the costs, and i owe a big thanks to josh at royals and randoms for alerting me to the possibility of the ebay coupon, and to night owl for reminding me that i should be paying attention to these needs of mine.

coincidentally, josh also sent some cards my way recently.  at the top of the package was this 1993 fleer flair pedro martinez card

that i had requested during a giveaway that josh was hosting. quite a lot of the package was heavy on these cards:

mlb showdown!

these cards spanned several years, and are great as they include some lesser known or infrequently featured players like gregg olson:

that card is from 2000, and features the 1989 american league rookie of the year in dodger blue. olson pitched (poorly) for the dodgers in 2000 and 2001, and i believe that this card is the only cardboard evidence of his tenure in los angeles outside of dodger team sga sets like keebler and police issues.

here's a 2001 mlb showdown card of another dodger reliever not often seen in dodger blue

mike fetters and his signature stare were featured on the dodger pitching staff in 2000 and part of 2001. i think he has one other dodger card outside of those aforementioned sga sets.

better known dodger relievers were also represented, thanks to this 2005 strategy card featuring eric gagne

the strategy cards are cool because they sometimes feature obscure players. that is not the case with this one from 2001 that shows kevin brown "airing it out"

but there is this one from 2003 that shows dave roberts being overmatched

as well as this one (also from 2003) that shows a bunch of dodgers on the mound.

i spy kaz ishii, mark grudzielanek, cesar izturis, paul loduca, and pitching coach jim colborn on that card. great to see the coach represented!

speaking of which, josh also included a few cards from the dodgers' 1999 police set. one of those cards was of the coaching staff!

jim tracy, manny mota, and john shelby up front, with glenn hoffman, rick down, davey johnson, rick dempsey, and charlie hough behind them.  it would turn out that there are three dodger managers featured on this card - former manager hoffman, future manager tracy, and then-current manager johnson.  davey also got a card of his own in the set:

johnson's tenure was pretty forgettable, and may be best remembered for the white hats and blue jerseys that the dodgers broke out a few times. it was sacrilegious to me at the time.  the last card i will show from the package received from josh is this jacob brumfield card from the police set.

i am fairly certain that this is brumfield's only dodger card, and i am happy to have it. he appeared in a total of 18 games as a dodger after being signed by the club on march 5, 1999. he was claimed on waivers by the blue jays two months later, so kudos to the folks who put this set together for documenting brumfield's short tenure within such a small window of time!

thanks again josh for the cards and the tip!

two card bloggers walk into a card show....

for the second time, brian from hcsa and i met up at the monthly local card show.  we chatted for a bit and exchanged cards and other baseball related items - twins for dodgers - but only one of us brought a 1941 double play card for the other.

brian reached into the way-back machine and handed over this john wyatt card

that pre-dates all but three cards in my collection.

brian also finished off my dodger team set of 1951 topps red backs with this preacher roe card

and he hit one of my nefarious 9 needs with this 2014 topps high tek fernando valenzuela card

there were some other nice want list needs in the cards brian handed over, too, but i always appreciate a nefarious 9 hit.

here's a nice die cut jackie robinson card from 2015 topps stadium club

and a piece of joc pederson's bat from 2016 panini donruss

i didn't know much about charlie culberson until he hit the division clinching walk-off homer to end vin scully's final home game. brian gave me this 2016 topps heritage high number card of culberson

and i can't help but think that culberson has already had his defining baseball moment.

brian also included a tommy lasorda book in the stuff he gave me, and i plan to read it soon.  i recently finished reading 'lords of the realm' by john helyar which details the history of baseball from the owners' perspective.  it was great, and made me think less of the owners and bud selig than i had in the past.  the book ends with the 1994 strike, so it doesn't address steroids or realignment or the latest round of expansion, but i don't think there were any redeeming efforts by the owners during that time that might have painted them in a better light.  anyway, i would recommend the book to any of you reading this.

thanks for the trade brian - too bad we couldn't meet up at twins fest, but i'm sure i'll see you around!