a moment for jerry grote

i want to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of jerry grote.  because he was a member of the 1978 topps dodgers, i was automatically a fan of his.

as i did with vic davalillo a few months ago, here's a look at grote's career in topps cards thanks to my evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers collection:

grote was famously left on the cutting room floor by topps in 1977, and he didn't receive a card when he returned to the majors in 1981. i, of course, made customs for him to fill in the blanks as i did for other members of the 1978 topps dodgers. the 1977 topps test card showed grote as a met, but i showed him as a dodger in 1977

as a royal in a 1981 topps traded style card

and back as a dodger in 1982 for a final tribute

however, my favorite custom i made featuring the veteran catcher was this 1979 topps 1978 nlcs card

grote was on deck when bill russell singled to drive home ron cey and secure the pennant for the dodgers in game 4 of the 1978 nlcs, and so he was there to greet the penguin as he scored. pure joy.

grote will be best remembered as a met, as he helped the mets to two pennants and the 1969 world series title in addition to being a part of the dodgers' back-to-back pennant winning teams in the late 70's. to me, he is number 9. when i go through numbers, i associate 9 with grote because i was a dodger fan in 1978 and because gordie howe didn't play baseball.

with grote's death yesterday, seven members of the 1978 topps dodgers have now passed away, and it is a reminder that time waits for no man. rest in peace number 9!

a moment for vic davalillo, players from my youth, and the new dodger dh

i read last wednesday that vic davalillo passed away, and it made me pause.

thanks to his incredible, rally starting, two-out bunt in the 9th inning of game 3 of the 1977 nlcs and his inclusion in the 1978 topps set as a dodger, i got to know davalillo at the very beginning of my fandom and collecting days. he didn't play a lot, but he was a dodger and there was cardboard evidence of that fact, so he was respected and celebrated in my collection.

i have all of davalillo's major manufacturer cards (issued in the us, anyway), as his entire topps flagship run 

is encapsulated in my "evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers" mini-collection, and his 1981 fleer offering

is in my dodger collection. there are one or two venezuelan releases that i wouldn't mind adding to the collection, but i haven't ever made it a priority.

davalillo is the sixth member of the 1978 topps dodgers to pass away. preceding him were glenn burke (1995), johnny oates (2004), lance rautzhan (2016), tom lasorda (2021), and don sutton (2021). time marches on, but it is still a bit of a thing to see these players whose cardboard i coveted back then pass away.

shifting to another way of looking at the 1978 topps set, i get excited when i can complete the immaculate grid using only players who appeared in that set. it is always my goal to use as many as i can, and there was a two day stretch last week where i was able to do so:

with davalillo getting center square in saturday's grid! as of now, that second one has a score of 8, which would be my second lowest ever.

finally, i would be remiss if i didn't mention the 700 million dollar man, shohei ohtani. i feel for angel fans who will now see ohtani suit up for the dodgers, but not enough to not be excited about ohtani joining the dodgers. here are some 2018 topps update cards i have of ohtani

with the last one being the most valuable, i guess, since it's a rainbow foil parallel. the dodgers still need pitching for the 2024 season (ohtani can't help them there), but it's a good start to a longer term benefit. i suppose my team break costs for 2024 just went up. way up.

repack recap

i was super surprised to find a repack hanging in a walgreen's a couple of months ago. actually, there were two, but i only bought one.  here's a post from the lost collector about an identical repack, and i share all of the observations he made about the ambiguity of the contents based on the new packaging.

now on to the cards, presented here in the order in which they were found!

first card was a 2020 topps jesse winker card

i almost wish i were a reds collector in 2020 just to have a bunch of cards showing all the different uniforms they wore during the 2019 season.

a couple of vintage 1968 topps senators

and then on to the mish-mash

big glasses on ernie camacho, and a nice ripken from 1994 topps. i think the 1994 topps set should have been a full horizontal set - i think the design works a lot better that way.

more junk

although one is a dodger

a hit!

i was surprised to see this card in the box. it's from 2019 panini national treasures. not sure when springer wore green (maybe in spring training on st. pat's?) but it is what it is.

more junk

it's interesting to note that the 1987 topps mohoric and davis are from the same set, yet the wood grain on the laminate design is way different. i know the burlap in 1968 topps varies, but i thought that was between different series, not cards from the same series.

more junk

although rickey!

more junk

greg brock hot repack!

the sealed pack inside was from 2021 topps opening day. here's what it yielded:

an ohtani, a parallel, and an insert. it could have been worse.

just last weekend, i saw about six or seven of these at the same walgreens and passed. i did see a different type of repack at the front counter though. it was four sealed packs plus a random bonus card. the images on the box showed cards from topps online releases like brooklyn or montgomery and the living set.  i bought one and it had two packs of 2019 topps series 1 (found a dodger stadium brandon crawford card), 

a pack of 2020 topps heritage, and a pack of 2018 topps series 2. the bonus card was a 2019 topps allen & ginter tim raines card, which i guess is a short print. probably not going to go for a repack again anytime soon!

350 is a magic number - splitting 8s

a few weeks ago i noted that i was pondering the idea of adding a number type mini-collection to my collection. of the options i considered - 190, 272, 350, or none at all. thanks to all who weighed in with their thoughts! as i mentioned in the post, i had already decided what i wanted to do, and that was to go with 350. so, here is what i am up against:

topps flagship #350 type collection

1957 topps eddie miksis       
1958 topps ken boyer           
1959 topps ernie banks  

1960 topps mickey mantle      
1961 topps ernie banks
1962 topps frank robinson  
1963 topps bob purkey         
1964 topps willie mccovey  
1965 topps mickey mantle  
1966 topps mel stottlemyre
1967 topps joe torre             
1968 topps hoyt wilhelm     
1969 topps richie allen         
1970 topps roberto clemente            
1971 topps billy williams      
1972 topps frank howard    
1973 topps tom seaver        
1974 topps bob gibson         
1975 topps bobby murcer   
1976 topps lefty grove         
1977 topps larry dierker       
1978 topps steve garvey      
1979 topps garry templeton              
1980 topps  george hendrick               
1981 topps j.r. richard          
1982 topps thad bosley        
1983 topps robin yount        
1984 topps george foster    
1985 topps wade boggs       
1986 topps jack clark            
1987 topps keith hernandez               
1988 topps will clark             
1989 topps andy van slyke  
1990 topps bret saberhagen              
1991 topps glenn davis        
1992 topps gregg olson        
1993 topps joe carter           
1994 topps jim abbott          
1995 topps barry larkin        
1996 topps jay payton          
1997 topps kenny lofton      
1998 topps chuck carr          
1999 topps larry walker       
2000 topps jose cruz jr.        
2001 topps bruce bochy      
2002 topps oakland athletics             
2003 topps post season highlight     
2004 topps mark prior|kerry wood 
2005 topps albert pujols|larry walker            
2006 topps joe nathan                         
2007 topps chase utley        
2008 topps mark teixeira     
2009 topps dustin pedroia  
2010 topps prince fielder|ryan braun            
2011 topps francisco liriano
2012 topps evan longoria    
2013 topps albert pujols      
2014 topps carlos gonzalez 
2015 topps yasiel puig          
2016 topps kris bryant          
2017 topps david ortiz          
2018 topps clayton kershaw

2019 topps nick markakis    
2020 topps pete alonso       

2021 topps d.j. lemahieu

thanks to my duplicates, ebay, and sportlots, i am already just about there with these cards. i think i'll post cards from the same year of each decade, and since steve garvey's 1978 card is the first card i knew of at number 350, we will start with the 8s.

1958 topps #350

ken boyer kicks us off. he had a fairly pedestrian season in 1957 prior to this card being issued, but was more productive in 1958. he'd go on to win the nl mvp in 1964, and he had some other seasons which were worthy of mvp consideration. i don't think topps had embraced the hero number concept fully in 1958. sure, mickey mantle got card 150, but the big gun - ted williams - was still at card number 1. 

1968 topps #350

hoyt wilhelm, as the card back states, was a full-time reliever when this card was issued. his last start, in fact, came in 1963 although i would say he was really only a starting pitcher during one season and that was 1959 when he led the league in era. he also led the league in era in his rookie year of 1952. his sparkling era for the white sox in 1967 might have led the team, but he didn't pitch enough innings to qualify for the league title. instead, teammate joe horlen claimed the title with a 2.06 era. wilhelm didn't win any major awards during his career, but he is in the hall of fame.

1978 topps #350 

steve garvey was the 1974 national league mvp and helped the dodgers win the pennant in 1977. he was hugely popular when this card was issued, and would continue to start at first base for the nl in the all-star game for three more seasons before being supplanted. he was second in the 1978 mvp voting to dave parker.

1988 topps #350

will clark followed up his 1986 rookie campaign with a solid season in 1987. he was fifth in the mvp voting that year, and finished 5th again in 1988. in 1989, he would lead the giants to the pennant and finish second in the mvp vote.

1998 topps #350

chuck carr is one of the more confounding members of the 350 type collection. topps adhered to hero numbers in series 1 - mike piazza was card 100 and randy johnson was card 150 - and started strong in series 2 with roger clemens at card 300. carr, however, seems to have been assigned 350 randomly. in fact, this card is a 'final tribute' as he didn't play in the big leagues after 1997.

2008 topps #350

mark teixiera didn't quite make it a year in atlanta as he was acquired on july 31, 2007 and was traded away to the angels on july 29, 2008. he did, however, play in 157 games for the braves across those two seasons, and he put up solid numbers. splitting the 2007 season across leagues probably prevented him from getting any mvp votes that year, although he did garner some in 2008 even though he was only with the angels for a couple of months.

2018 topps #350

clayton kershaw had won an mvp and three cy young awards when this card was issued. he finished second in the 2017 cy young voting, done in by max scherzer. kershaw had more wins and a better era than scherzer, but scherzer pitched 25 more innings and struck out 66 more batters. i'm ok with that result, although i still disagree with jake arrieta getting the 2016 cy young over zack greinke. at any rate, kershaw helped the dodgers reach the world series in 2017 - their first trip since 1988 - and they were a kenley jansen mistake in game 2 away from winning the title (although other factors played in...).

i was going to track a few things in an effort to find any consistency with number 350, but you can already tell that there is none. oh well, i will still track these categories:

number of reigning mvps: 0

number of reigning cy young winners: 0

number of reigning world series champions: 0

number of reigning pennant winners: 2 (steve garvey, clayton kershaw)

number of reigning league leaders: 1 (clayton kershaw - wins, era)

number of repeat players: 0

number of dodgers: 2 (steve garvey, clayton kershaw)

frequency of teams: dodgers (2), cardinals, white sox, giants, astros, braves

i think this will be fun - stay tuned!

from my dad's collection to mine

a long time ago, i gave my dad a 1966 topps jim lefebvre card for father's day. i was a relatively new collector, and i found the card in my local card and comic shop's box of 1966 cards. i had asked my dad who his favorite player had been, and he said lefebvre. knowing that the dodger infielder won the 1965 rookie of the year award, i figured i would look for a 1966 card. anyway, that gesture, combined with my passion for collecting, encouraged my dad to begin a collection of his own and started us on a path of opening packs and boxes together each spring, and heading to a few card shows (including a national convention) over the subsequent years.

a couple of years ago, he formally gifted me his collection. i am not ashamed to say that i broke it up and used some of the cards to further my 1965 topps set build and a couple of mini collections, and i sold and traded some of the cards as well. there are some cards, however, that i used to create a new mini collection - cards from my dad - that features three of the pitchers that he collected:

1. sandy koufax

those nine cards, spanning from 1958 through 1966 fit nicely on a single page. my dad pretty much drew the line at the 1957 topps set (he only had one or two cards from years prior), so i am pretty sure he never owned a 1955 koufax rookie or his 1956 second year card. he did have a 1957 card of koufax, but he gave that to me several years ago when i was still working on my 1957 topps dodger team set. i have since upgraded it for the team set with this one

and moved my dad's old koufax card in to my '57 complete set build.

the 1958 card looks like it had been on display in a card shop window before my dad rescued it for his collection. he helped me understand that condition doesn't need to be king if all you are doing is trying to have fun with a hobby.

2. don drysdale

that is a complete career run of big d's topps flagship solo cards, including the 1957 rookie. i heard lots of references growing up to koufax and drysdale from my dad. he saw each of them pitch in person, and to be honest i am not sure which of them he favored. 

3. nolan ryan

my dad saw ryan pitch in person as a met once, which i am jealous of. i had the chance to see him pitch against the angels in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but never took advantage. what's worse is that ryan was dominant in his two starts at the big a in 1989 that took place while i was doing something probably much less exciting about 20 miles away.  anyway, i really am fond of this collection. i have no idea what my dad paid for his 1968 ryan rookie, but i do remember looking at it with a sense of awe when he added it to his collection back in the early 80's.  the last box of cards i recall opening together was 1990 topps, and that was pretty much the end of his collecting days. so, after he handed these cards over, i mined my own defunct player collection of ryan and added the 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994 cards. i find it very serendipitous that the result is 27 cards that fit squarely in three pages, and i think it is fitting that the collection is a combination of our efforts.

i am really happy to have these cards and plan to keep them together like this in my collection. i also have a 1966 topps jim lefebvre card in my 'meaningful and just because' mini collection. just look what it spawned!

i haven't seen my dad in person for 20 months, but we have plans to meet up in july. i am definitely looking forward to it! happy father's day tomorrow to all for whom it holds meaning!

i'm a customer

i really haven't created too many custom cards in the last few years, but it was definitely something i enjoyed doing in my early blogging years. completing the dodgers 1978 topps set was probably my favorite effort in the custom card creating realm, although there were some steve garvey cards and a few others that i am proud of as well. the real highlight was seeing a couple of my creations make it to a bigger stage - the espn 30 for 30 on glenn burke featured my 1980 topps creation, and cbs showed a gerry hannahs card i created during their final four coverage one year.  i've also seen a couple of articles online use my card images. of course, it is frustrating to see some of these cards being sold online by jackasses. i know i am not the only one - the late bob lemke and gio have many more creations that are being sold by these people.

anyway, i went and bought some actual printed copies of custom cards recently - not knockoffs by frank and his laserprinter. the first one to show is from gummy arts, and it features a 1979 topps rookie star style card for everybody's favorite mess of a band, the replacements

the back is blank, except for the 'gummy arts' stamp

i became a fan of the band when i first heard 'pleased to meet me' in 1987. it came out around the same time as u2's 'the joshua tree', and both were in heavy rotation in my car and walkman (yes, it was the era of the walkman, and my friends and i would listen to cassette tapes on our van rides to and from our baseball games in the spring of '87). the collector recently posted about his favorite bands from a to z, and in my comment response, i had these guys representing the letter 'r'. i am also a big fan of r.e.m., but the replacements win out.  i saw the mats (short for 'placemats' which is short for 'replacements') live in southern california in 1989, and then again in one of their last shows in 2014 at a minor league baseball stadium in st. paul. in between, i saw frontman paul westerberg live a handful of times here in the twin cities. i am happy to have this card in my "meaningful and just because" mini-collection to represent one of my favorite bands. the title of this post, by the way, is a nod to both custom card making, my purchasing of the custom cards of others, and a song by the replacements.

i also added another card from gummy arts, this 1977 topps-ish glenn burke card

it references the high-five that burke shared with dusty baker which is largely recognized as the first high-five in sports. i never did create a 1977 burke card of my own - just the aforementioned 1980 "final tribute".

here are some other gummy arts cards that i found online. i don't have hard copies of these, unfortunately.

now here are a couple of cards that i won from cards that never were

he printed out copies of the 1968 topps proofs that were never put in to production of tom seaver and bob gibson. both of the hall of famers were captured goofing off for the photographer as southpaws. this might be the happiest you will see gibson on a card, in fact. these cards are available, along with more of his creations through his website.

next up are some cards that i bought from mark at i draw baseball cards. i first saw this card for sale on ebay

that's mark's take on my favorite card of all time - the 1978 topps steve garvey card. knowing that i would much rather purchase the card from the source, i sought out mark's website and saw that the card was part of a set of his interpretation of 10 cards from the 1970's. the checklist is on the back of each card:

i thought the other cards were great, so i bought the whole set. here's a look at the other nine cards

not sure i would have put ron leflore back in prison, but i do like that he was included in the set. there was a separate checklist included that noted my set is number 62/100

as of a week or so ago, there were still some sets available, along with his eighties set. these are definitely worth checking out in my opinion.  mark also signed the back of another card sized item

which was a black and white printout of a dave parker item

this reminded me of another custom that collecting cutch posted a while back regarding the custom baseball card/comic book art print mashups that daniel horine creates at pop fly shop. by the time i saw cc's post, i was too late to buy one of horine's steve garvey creations, but i figured i'd show it here regardless:

cool stuff.  i've seen some other garvey custom items offered for sale online that look to be professionally done. this is something called a "banty red"

and is supposedly a brooklyn dodgers variation according to the listing, and was the 2nd copy offered for sale to date. no word from the seller if he plans to limit the print run though.  here's the back:

someone (not me) paid $97 for that card.

this is another banty red creation

it sold for over $115.

here's another one that's been a mainstay on ebay for a while. this one is called a "monarch corona diamond collection" card

it is based on a 1963 fleer design, and features the garv in an oft-used photo from his big ten days. here's the back:

these are more reasonably priced, but i have no desire to purchase any even though they are better than a lot of the customs i see for sale. no, i am satisfied with the garveys i have created; however, if gio from when topps had (base)balls were to print and sell his garveys, i'd be in. i did buy his 1978 topps custom booklet a couple years back which featured a bunch of cards that should have been.  here's one of gio's steve garvey cards that i really like:

for the record, i also like garvey's actual 1979 topps card, but this would have worked for me, too.