the almost daily dodger - jose offerman

before dave roberts and after maury wills, jose offerman wore number 30 for the dodgers. of course, there were lots of other guys between wills and roberts, like derrel thomas and wilton guerrero. thomas, in fact, was the first dodger player to wear the number after wills, which leads me to think maybe the dodgers were thinking that wills had a shot at the hall of fame. anyway, i am getting way off topic.

i've added a couple of offerman parallels to my collection, and they've sat in my scanned folder just waiting for one of these "almost daily dodger posts" so here we go.

1994 upper deck collector's choice silver signature parallel

this is one of the craziest baseball cards out there in terms of three stooges scenarios. offerman, jody reed, and a met meet at second base. chaos ensues. nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

1992 leaf black gold parallel

this was the second to last card i needed for my team set, and i think i added ramon martinez to one of the orders sitting in my sportlots box at the moment. i like that offerman is shown bunting for a hit, as he was supposed to always be trying to put the ball on the ground. it was quite possibly a disservice to him and his career when he hit a home run off of dennis martinez in his first big league at bat, although he did put together some pretty decent offensive seasons in terms of batting average.

both cards give a glimpse of the number 30, which may well wind up retired by the franchise if roberts keeps his job and the dodgers win at least one more championship. maybe then they will pull a dual retirement and include wills, just like the cubs did with greg maddux and fergie jenkins.

checking out some art

i enjoy abstract expressionism as an art form. it's not all i like, but i have prints of works by klee, kandinsky, pollock, and rothko in the house. i don't care too much for artwork that is a literal representation of things, although i can appreciate a nice portrait or landscape.

you can probably guess that i wasn't a big fan of the art cards that upper deck included in their early sets on the team checklists (no offense, vernon wells!), and even the diamond king cards that i first saw in 1982 were not as interesting to me as cards with actual photos.

then, in 1994, i was pleasantly surprised by the bold and colorful checklists upper deck included in their collector's choice release. i was recently going through some old player collections and saw mike piazza's card for the first time in awhile.

i remember when i first saw this card and was hit pretty hard by the bold colors and the abrupt shading. it's not necessarily abstract or expressionist in the "traditional" sense, but i think it can be seen that way. even if it can't, i can still enjoy it. these cards were one of the reasons that i completed this set back in the mid-90's.

i found a few more of these checklist cards as i continued to rifle through the boxes, and i decided that i would binder up all the cards as a complete subset. of course, when i went to find a nolan ryan card, all i had was the silver signature parallel

it turned out i was missing a couple others, so i put in a sportlots order and now i have the complete subset all together in a binder with other subsets.

that's a pretty good representation of the majors in 1993, although greg maddux probably deserved to be included. can't go wrong with two griffeys though. or a john kruk art piece, for that matter. out of all of these, david justice's card might be my favorite. i am glad i was looking at those piazza dupes and was reminded of this 30 year old set! zoinks!

celebrating the spirit of giving

merry christmas!

'tis the season - and it has been the season for a while - for giving and receiving. here in the blogosphere i have been the happy recipient of cards from a number of traders and bloggers. let's take a look at some of the cards i've received....

starting off, of course, with the holiday custom card created by gavin at baseball card breakdown

gavin modified a 1991 fleer update gary carter card and added the artwork overlay showing the hall of fame catcher prepping to add the tree topper to the ol' tannenbaum. very creative and festive and a great addition to my custom card binder. thanks gavin! i'll have to see if i can find something to send your way.

a month or so earlier, i received an envelope from rod at padrographs

that's a 2004 upper deck padres davey lopes card that the former dodger and padre coach signed through the mail. i was happy to see that rod was looking for some help on a 70 years of topps project so i could send something back his way. check it out and see if you can help a blogger out!

i think everyone has noticed that tom from angels, in order has returned to active blogging thanks to a few giveaways. i wound up claiming a couple of cards from one and he included this gem in the envelope

that's a 1982 fleer stamp fernando valenzuela box "card". tom was kind enough to note what it was on the back:

now, i used to cut out "cards" from boxes all the time in the early 80s and even later, so this is definitely something that fits in my collection. thanks tom - i hope the cards i sent are still needs of yours.

nick from dime boxes also held a giveaway recently, and he offered up some dodgers that i needed, like this 1994 upper deck collector's choice orel hershiser silver signature parallel

this 1995 score rafael bournigal gold rush parallel

and this 2005 upper deck flyball eric gagne

the gagne brings me to one card remaining to complete this oddball set, and it's giovanni carrara. i've added it to my nefarious 9 list of most wanted cards, but it is such an oddball of a largely forgotten player that it may be difficult to track down.

it turned out that i already had the bournigal card, so i put the dupe in my lurkers binder thanks to the presence of italian-american superstar slugger mike piazza on the card.

the fourth card i requested was this 1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition fernando valenzuela silver signature parallel

i've recently toyed with the idea of reestablishing my post-dodger fernando pc. he has so many great cards from his time with the orioles, padres, cardinals, and phillies, including this one. for now, this card sits in my dodger stadium binder.

it wouldn't be an envelope from nick without a double play card, and this 1994 select carlos baerga card

was a new one to me.

a couple more dodgers just because - 2021 topps archives mookie betts 1963 peel off

and 2022 topps update hanser alberto gold parallel

once again, i will ask topps to identify the sets that cards come from on the backs of all of their cards like upper deck used to do and like panini does. i spent a lot of time figuring out what set that betts belonged to, thinking it was heritage. thank goodness for comc, and thank goodness for nick and his generosity. i am looking forward to continuing to swap envelopes with nick in 2023!

another thing i am looking forward to in 2023 is the next installment in thorzul's "trade me anything". this year i sent him something and he sent back these cards that i requested, all from 2022 topps update:

will smith silver pack

jose miranda silver pack grey parallel

joe ryan generation now insert

ronald acuna jr all-star game insert

the acuna is part of my near-complete set of the all-star game inserts. i only wanted the ones that used photos from the actual game, and i will show those cards off in another post.

finally, i'll show some cards from cards on cards. kerry/madding has been probably my most frequent trading partner through 2022 and i hope it continues in 2023. these images have been sitting in my scanned folder for varying lengths of time and represent a number of envelopes received.

1986 true value pedro guerrero

actually, this is a sealed "pack" and so also contains cards of steve garvey and eddie murray. i already have the garvey so i left it sealed. a great addition to the dodger collection for sure.

2021 topps allen & ginter tommy lasorda mini

it's been nice to see lasorda in ginter sets recently, but i could really go for some bill russell cards if topps wanted to recognize a different former dodger manager. i know that won't happen as russell is nowhere near as checklist worthy as lasorda, but i would rather see some former players get a shot at the checklist in lasorda's place. i know this year steve garvey finally got a base ginter card (although it's a short print) and you'll see some of those cards in a different post, but how about reggie smith or orel hershiser or in a year or two matt kemp?

i am not going to do the rest of these cards justice, but i will show them nonetheless

if there were one panini product i would like to see more of, it's the obsidian subset of chronicles. those cards, like the mookie above have been pretty sharp looking the last couple of years.

thanks to all who have and continue to trade cards with me - it is appreciated! 

bonds. barry bonds.

i haven't seen the latest james bond movie. i guess i've become used to new movies being available for streaming right away and haven't made the effort to get out to an actual movie theater. i hear good things, but am not sure that i will see it on the big screen.

i have, however, added a few cards of another bonds - barry - to some of my mini-collections over the last several months. let's start with this 2001 topps fusion card

that features bonds in front of a dodger stadium wall mural. i believe the mural says "dodgers shock yanks" in reference to the 1963 world series. remember, 2000 was the year that the murals celebrated the greatest moments in dodger stadium history.

this 1994 upper deck collector's choice card

goes in the tatooine mini-collection, while this 1993 upper deck card

featuring bonds and teammates matt williams and will clark goes in my "names/numbers on the back" mini-collection. 

i also added this 1996 upper deck sp card

and this 1999 topps stars card

to that collection. i have another post with a bunch more of these cards that will feature a better explanation of it, including the origins of the mini-collection. i've mentioned it a bunch of times on the blogs but haven't really given it its due. stay tuned.

bonds also showed up on other players' cards a few times, and i've added some of those cards to my lurkers collection. cases in point - 1991 score rookies and traded tim teufel

with teufel's arm looking almost as awkward as joel youngblood's on a card of another tim.

1993 score mickey morandini highlight

where bonds was the third out in moranidini's unassisted triple play

1996 ud collector's choice cal ripken jr collection

showing off his popularity in the all-star voting which was second only to ripken in 1995

2000 topps barry larkin

a card that is only barry, barry good, as the giant player sliding in is not, in fact, barry bonds (thanks laurens)!

and last but not least, 1999 upper deck mo vaughn

my what large pectoral muscles you have, mr. bonds!

my favorite cards of the year - 1994 edition

i recently introduced my mini collection focusing on my favorite cards from each year that i've been a collector. the basic gist is that i wanted to create a space for the cards that i most appreciated having in my collection in the year that they were released. these were cards that i acquired in the year that they were issued, and that i considered to be my favorites at the time. i have disallowed (most) cards that are already in other mini collections in order to avoid having a mini collection consisting of more steve garvey, double plays, and dodger stadium cards.

for this post, i'm breaking that rule and allowing a card that is also featured in my dodger stadium collection. first, let me say that i bought a lot of cards in 1994 - mostly topps and upper deck. this was really the first year that i bought upper deck cards with a passion, and i absolutely loved their flagship and collector's choice issues as you will soon see. 

favorite non-dodger card: upper deck ken griffey jr

the kid at the wall in yankee stadium makes for a great shot. how many highlights had i seen by the time i found this card of junior making highlight plays in the outfield? a large number, i am sure, and this card reminds me of all of them. of course, this card came out before griffey broke his wrist making a catch at the wall which puts a damper on things a bit.  still, like i said above, i really liked this set, and it featured a bunch of great cards. i didn't mind the "phantom zone" inset photo, and i quickly completed the set through pack purchases.

favorite dodger card: collector's choice eric karros

there were a lot of dodger cards that i liked in 1994, and some from that year that i don't recall if i actually obtained in 1994 or shortly thereafter. still, when i first saw this karros come out of a pack that year, i was enamored. i already have this card in my dodger collection and my dodger stadium collection, but it was so far hands down my favorite card that year that i am including it here, too.

at one time, i considered having an awards mini-collection because of this card and the 1982 fleer phillies finest card, but decided against it. you can see that karros is holding his rookie of the year award and he is also sporting the tim crews memorial patch, which further qualifies the card for another mini-collection of mine. however, i have a different karros card to rep the crews patch. 

upper deck did very well in my opinion with their 1994 releases!

next up, 2009. stay tuned...

saturday morning quarterboxing

a couple of fridays ago, i stopped in at a mall card show.  there were very few dealers set up when i was there (it was still early), but with an impending blizzard, i figured even fewer would have shown.  i left without buying anything, as i didn't feel like digging through boxes of modern base cards advertised as $1/each.  eight days later, i was at a different show (this one was in a church gymnasium) where i recognized some of the same sellers from the mall.  my goal had been to dig through some bargain boxes, but even the show's host - one of the regular dealers with some vintage bargain bins - seemed to have left lower priced stuff back at his shop.

i did find one quarter box along the outside row of dealers, and took 3 dodger cards from 2017 topps gallery and corey seager's 2017 topps chrome update/mega box card with me for a buck.  i began perusing the tables of wares in the middle of the gym when i walked past a table where the dealer pointed to a small, unorganized box and said "a dollar each", as if that were a good thing when one of the cards visible was a 1989 donruss kirk gibson diamond king. i was ready to be disappointed.

then i found the guy with the multiple quarter boxes.  current and retired stars, sorted by name in a couple, plus three boxes of nothing but hall of famers, and another of parallels and inserts.  the hall of famer boxes were legitimate (meaning that they weren't just filled with bruce sutter and barry larkin cards) with oddballs and early '80s topps and greats of the game type sets, while the insert box had just about everything aside from game used or autographs.

i dealt with other buyers crowding in and managed to pull 100 cards from these boxes.  i wound up with a number of dodger cards that i needed, plus some stuff to send in future trades, and maybe a card or two to flip.  here are some of the highlights:

2011 topps heritage jackie robinson story short print

this was one of the first cards i came across, and it drew me in.  a jackie sp for a quarter is a good deal, even if it had been the one of him as a baby.

1980-87 sspc baseball immortals jackie robinson

another jackie that i needed.  there were quite a few oddballs in these boxes, and i found a few of the dodgers that i needed from this set.

1996 upper deck collector's choice mike piazza you crash the game

it's cool seeing piazza cards in hall of famer boxes these days.  this particular card was a loser as far as the promotion went - piazza was 8 for 14 over the three game set in houston, but did not homer.

1994 upper deck collector's choice mike piazza checklist gold signature parallel

i found a couple of gold signature parallels in the boxes, and while this in no way satisfies the craving for a certified piazza auto that i am searching for, i couldn't pass it up.

1994 o-pee-chee ozzie smith

a new-to-me double play card featuring the wizard! oh my o-pee-chee!

1994 ted williams ty cobb

there is nothing really special about this card, but i added it to my stack in order to further investigate what appears to be a black armband on cobb's left sleeve.  the image is colorized, so i wasn't sure if it truly was an armband or a heavy shadow.  upon further inspection, i think it is an armband, and so would be the one worn in 1920 in honor of ray chapman.  according to the hall of fame's website, that would be the only armband cobb wore.  so, the card is interesting, but it won't replace the other cobb card that i have in my memorials collection.

1994 topps gold dan pasqua

some of you may recall that the pasqua card did not appear in the base flagship set in '94.  it was included in the gold parallel set in place of a checklist.

2013 panini cooperstown wade boggs color

another short print.

2003 topps retired signature don sutton

topps retired signature singles for a quarter? yes, please!

2007 fleer mike cameron mini die-cut gold

2007 fleer was the last of the brand.  upper deck discontinued the fleer name after that, and i suppose i didn't really miss it.  a mini parallel set with a die-cut rounded corner is not that exciting, but these gold parallels are pretty rare.  i don't know the print run on them, but it has got to be low.  i pulled one of a scrubby marlin a few years ago in a repack, and was able to flip it for the price of a blaster.  maybe there is a mike cameron super collector out there that really wants this card!

there were lots of other cards that i could show and write about, but i'll do just one more.

1960 leaf duke snider

i assumed that this was a reprint when i set it aside, and i am still not sure.  i couldn't find any information about an official reprint set, and it looks just like the roger craig that i have in my collection already, so... could a 1960 leaf duke snider card have been secured for a quarter?