my retired number collection - plenty of twenty

this is the 19th post in a series that shares the cards i have in my retired number mini-collection. you can find the links to the previous posts down at the bottom of this post. if you're eager to learn more right now, you can check out the full list of retired numbers along with what this collection will entail over at my want list site.

without further ado, here are the people for whom number 20 has been retired:

frank robinson (retired by the orioles in 1972) 2007 upper deck sp legendary cuts

the orioles retired number 20 for frank robinson on march 10, 1972 when he was still an active player. of course, he had been traded to the dodgers about three months prior to that date, bringing an end to his six-year tenure with the o's. it was a pretty good run, as he won the triple crown in 1966, his first year in baltimore. that same year, he was voted the most valuable player in the american league (becoming the first player to win the award in each league) as well as the world series mvp as he led the orioles to a world series title over the dodgers.

overall for the orioles, robinson hit .300 and hit 179 homers with 545 rbi in his six seasons. the 2007 upper deck sp legendary cuts card i chose shows him during his playing days, but robinson also wore number 20 when he managed the orioles in the late 1980's and early 1990's. he was the last person - player or coach/manager to wear the number for the team. he was elected to the hall of fame in 1982 on his first ballot, and is enshrined as an oriole.

pie traynor (retired by the pirates in 1972) 1976 topps

there aren't too many card options other than this 1976 topps card for traynor, who played for the pirates from 1920-1937 and served as their manager from 1934-1939. he was the first pirate to wear number 20, but richie hebner holds the distinction of being the last to don it having done so in the 1971 season prior to its retirement on april 18, 1972. he spent his entire career with the pirates.

traynor hit .320 over his career and was considered by most to be the greatest third baseman in the game's history (as indicated by his inclusion in the 1976 topps all-time all-stars subset) up until brooks robinson and another guy we will cover a bit later in this post came along. he was elected to the hall of fame in 1948 on his ninth ballot.

lou brock (retired by the cardinals in 1979) 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game

brock's number 20 is front and center on his 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game card which shows him sliding into third base - hopefully on a successful stolen base attempt. the cardinals, brock's second franchise, retired his number on september 9, 1979 just three weeks in advance of his retirement as a player and just shy of a month after he joined the 3,000 hit club.

brock's claim to fame was the stolen base, and he led the national league in that category 8 different times. he retired as baseball's all-time stolen base leader and held the all-time season stolen base record until rickey henderson passed him in both categories. he was obviously the last cardinal to wear number 20, and was elected to cooperstown in 1985 on his first ballot.

mike schmidt (retired by the phillies in 1990) 1984 topps

michael jack schmidt is the guy i alluded to earlier as up for consideration for the greatest third baseman of all-time. i'm biased a bit because he comes from my prime fandom years, but the stats are undeniable: 548 home runs, three national league mvp awards, 12 time all-star, nine consecutive gold gloves (10 overall), and a world series championship and mvp award. that is quite a career. i appreciate his 1984 topps card for showcasing the number as well as giving us a good look at the last zipper jerseys in the big leagues.

fittingly, the phillies retired his number on may 26, 1990 - just about a year after he announced his retirement during the 1989 season. he was the last phillie to wear number 20, and he was elected to the national baseball hall of fame in his first year of eligibility in 1995 with 96.5% of the vote, which at the time was the fourth highest percentage ever achieved, behind tom seaver, ty cobb, and hank aaron.

frank white (retired by the royals in 1995) 1985 topps

it's fitting that i chose white's 1985 topps card for this collection because that is the year that white and the royals won their first world series title, but truth be told it was the first card of his that featured the number somewhat prominently. white spent his entire 18 year big league career in kansas city, retiring after the 1990 season with 2,006 hits and eight gold gloves to his name.

white was the mvp of the 1980 alcs, helping the royals secure their first pennant, and he retired as perhaps the second greatest royal behind george brett. he is not in the national baseball hall of fame, but his value to the franchise was shown during the 1995 season when he was enshrined in the team's hall of fame. while the team did not issue his number to anyone after he retired following the 1990 season, they waited to formally honor its retirement until may 2, 1995 presumably to coincide with the team's hall of fame induction. 

don sutton (retired by the dodgers in 1998) 1977 topps

there's no missing don sutton's number on his 1977 topps card - i love the dodgers' red jersey front numbers and hope that the uniform snafu currently going around the big leagues doesn't impact this iconic look. anyway, sutton waited until august 14, 1998 to have his numbered retired by the dodgers - that's almost 10 years to the day after his final appearance on the mound in a big league game - as they were honoring their (almost always adhered to) rule of waiting for a player or manager to be elected to the hall of fame. sutton got in in 1998 on his fifth ballot which was crazy to me as a fan.

sutton racked up 233 wins and 2,696 strikeouts in his two stints as a dodger, both best in franchise history until clayton kershaw passed him in strikeouts during the 2022 season. kershaw is only 23 wins behind sutton at this point, but has no chance in passing sutton in some other catergories in which he leads all dodger pitchers, such as starts (533), innings pitched (3,816.1), and shutouts (52). 

sutton is the reason that frank robinson didn't wear number 20 during his lone season with the dodgers (he wore 36), and even though sutton amassed the majority of those stats with the dodgers from 1966 through 1980, the club didn't hesitate to reissue his number when he left for houston following the 1980 season. candy maldonado was the first to wear it after sutton departed, although sutton later reclaimed it from phil garner in 1988 when he returned. after the dodgers released sutton late in the 1988 season, they again reissued the number to several players until darren lewis (in 1997) became the last dodger player to wear it.

frank robinson (retired by the reds in 1998) 2002 topps american pie

robinson began his career with the reds by winning the 1956 national league rookie of the year award and continued to perform at a high level through the 1965 season - his last in cincinnati. he was the 1961 national league mvp as he led the reds to the pennant that year and their first world series since 1940. the 2002 topps american pie card i chose shows him in the early 1960's with his number clearly visible.

the reds wound up trading robinson to baltimore following the 1965 season with his 324 home runs totaling the most in franchise history. he has since been passed in that category by johnny bench and joey votto, but he is still the franchise's all-time leader in slugging percentage and ops. despite his success for the franchise, the reds reissued robinson's number in 1966. it was last worn by chris stynes in 1997 before being retired on may 22, 1998.

luis gonzalez (retired by the diamondbacks in 2010) 2001 pacific private stock

it makes sense to use a 2001 card like that pacific private stock issue for gonzalez here because he cemented his place in diamondbacks lore that year. all he did was hit 57 home runs during the regular season and lead the dbacks to the national league pennant. then, in the world series, he hit a walk-off series winning single off of mariano rivera in game 7 to give the franchise their first title.

his number 20 was the first number to be retired by the franchise for one of their own players, and gonzalez was given the honor on august 7, 2010. prior to that, the diamondbacks had a "hall of fame" policy similar to the dodgers', but they relaxed that stance to honor gonzalez. jeff suppan is the only other diamondback to have worn number 20 for the team, but gonzalez was the last.

monte irvin (retired by the giants in 2010) 2004 topps all-time fan favorites

irvin's 2004 topps all-time fan favorites card gives us just a tease of his number 20, but it's the best i could find. he was 30 by the time he was brought into the major leagues by the giants in 1949 as their first black player following the sport's integration in 1947, and in 1951 he had his best season. as the giants' primary left fielder that year, he led the league in rbi with 121 and finished third in the mvp voting. he hit .458 in the world series that year, although the giants lost to the yankees. irvin helped the club return in 1954, however, and this time he and his teammates brought home the championship.

while irvin's tenure with the giants was short (he played with them from 1950 through 1955) he was a star for the newark eagles before heading to new york, and he was inducted to the hall of fame in 1973 on the merits of his full career - both in the negro leagues and the national league. and, while the giants retired his number on june 26, 2010. many giant players (and frank robinson as the team's manager) wore number 20 following irvin's time with the club, but john bowker was the last to do so, and he did so as late as a month prior to its retirement.

jorge posada (retired by the yankees in 2015) 2009 topps update & highlights

posada switched from number 20 to 22 after mike stanley was reacquired by the yankees towards the end of the 1997 season, but in 1998 he switched back and never relinquished the number again. the yankees decided to retire it in posada's honor after he retired following the 2011 season, and they kept it out of rotation until the formal retirement ceremony was held on august 22, 2015.

a member of the yankees' "core four", posada was the team's primary catcher on all four of the club's recent world series winning teams and he ranks eighth all-time among yankees in terms of games played. posada is not in the hall of fame, although if yadier molina makes it someday i would expect his candidacy to be revisited by an eras committee.

frank robinson (retired by the guardians in 2017) 2008 topps sterling

robinson didn't spend a lot of time in cleveland, but he finished his playing career there and made a mark on baseball history at the same time. he joined the club near the end of the 1974 season, and when 1975 came around, his role had been expanded to include the managerial duties - making him the first black manager in the major leagues. he made his last appearance as a player on september 16, 1976 and singled in a run in his final at bat. robinson remained the manager of the indians until a few weeks into the 1977 season when he was replaced by jeff torborg.

the indians retired his number on may 27, 2017 making rajai davis the last cleveland player to wear number 20. i was happy to find the 2008 topps sterling card shown above from his playing days in cleveland - not too many of those cards out there.

i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.

retired numbers by team (through the 18 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20

guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 455

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 85

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20

braves - 3, 6, 10

astros - 5, 7

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20

dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 72

brewers - 1, 4, 19

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16

cubs - 10, 14

royals - 5, 10, 20

padres - 6, 19

athletics - 9

angels - 11

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays - 12, 66

diamondbacks - 20

blue jays

rockies - 17

mariners - 11

nationals - 11

marlins

retired number frequency:

1 - retired by 9 teams

2 - retired by 5 teams

3 - retired by 7 teams

4 - retired by 8 teams

5 - retired by 7 teams

6 - retired by 7 teams

7 - retired by 4 teams

8 - retired by 6 teams (retired by yankees for two players)

9 - retired by 6 teams

10 - retired by 9 teams (retired by expos for two players)

11 - retired by 8 teams

12 - retired by 1 team

13 - retired by 1 team

14 - retired by 10 teams (retired by mets and dodgers for same person)

15 - retired by 2 teams

16 - retired by 4 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024)

17 - retired by 3 teams

18 - retired by 3 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024) 

19 - retired by 5 teams

20 - retired by 11 teams (retired by orioles, reds, and guardians for same person)

66 - retired by 1 team

72 - retired by 1 team

85 - retired by 1 team

455 - retired by 1 team

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 97

running total of non-hall of famers: 34

from a to z three ways

another a to z challenge! this one courtesy of the diamond king after the musical challenge put forth by the collector. for the latter, i just listed my favorite bands in the comments but figured i would do a post for this list.

i decided to limit my favorite players to those that i've been able to follow during my fandom otherwise the list would be largely populated by hall of famers. however, i'll also list players representing each letter that are favorites from the group of "oldtimers" that were retired before i started following baseball, as well as current, active favorites.

favorite a: roberto alomar. i'm not happy with this pick given alomar's recent ban from baseball, but if i am being honest, i was a big fan of his during the 1990's. i can't pretend that dave anderson or billy ashley or don aase were more deserving of my fandom.

favorite retired a: hank aaron. 

no contest, although i do think highly of rich/dick allen.

favorite current a: ronald acuna jr. i don't like to see him hit against the dodgers, but otherwise, he is fun to watch.

favorite b: don baylor. my first favorite non-dodger player, baylor gets the nod over dusty baker, george brett, johnny bench, wade boggs, and even more recent guys that i enjoyed following like jose bautista. i considered putting mookie betts here, and in a year or two, maybe he will overtake baylor.

favorite retired b: ernie banks. mr. cub was among the first hall of fame players for whom i actively pursued cards. his 1971 topps card was a favorite.

favorite current b: mookie betts. 

2020 world champion and a five tool talent.

favorite c: ron cey 

and rod carew. 

i am going to declare a tie here, and that says a lot about how i feel about rod carew.

favorite retired c: ty cobb 

over roberto clemente. another tough one. i was amazed (and still am) at ty cobb's stats, but i chose clemente as the subject of a fifth grade report in the early years of my baseball fandom. it's a toss-up.

favorite current c: miguel cabrera. i really hope he gets to 3,000 hits...

favorite d: andre dawson. the hawk! 'nuff said.

favorite retired d: al downing and don drysdale. al downing was the first former major leaguer i met who had been a dodger, and he was very nice to me. he asked me questions about little league and wished me luck. i was awestruck. and then there is big d who i can't discount as a favorite.

favorite current d: jacob degrom. he's been on my fantasy team the last few years and i expect 7 scoreless and 10+ strikeouts every time. too bad the mets don't score any runs for him.

favorite e: andre ethier over darrell evans. evans was sneaky good with some big career counting stats, but ethier played for the dodgers long enough for me to appreciate him more.

retired e: luke easter. the first 1951 topps card i owned was of easter, and it inspired me to learn more about his career. his big league tenure was hampered by injuries, but he was a great player. his first name was luscious! not lucius, but luscious! that's fantastic.

current e: eduardo escobar. former twin alert here. even though he plays for the dbacks, i like escobar thanks to his tenure with the twinkies. he was a good guy, and somewhere we have a photo with him and brian dozier.

favorite f: carlton fisk. i was confused when he changed his sox, but for a card collector he was a standout on cardboard as well as the field.

favorite retired f: jimmie foxx. little kids (like i was) dig the long ball, and foxx was the national league's answer to babe ruth. i was furiously a national league fan, and so celebrated foxx as the national league and right-handed single season home run record king when my yankee-fan neighbors would mention ruth or maris and 60/61 homers in a season.

favorite current f: freddie freeman. not much to choose from here, and freeman was a beast on my fantasy team a couple of years ago.

favorite g: steve garvey 

over vladimir guerrero and nomar garciaparra and shawn green. lots of my faves have "g" last names, but nobody is unseating the garv.

favorite retired g: lou gehrig. 

the iron horse is easily in my top 5 favorite players of all time.

favorite current g: vladimir guerrero jr. having a breakout season this year, and i am wondering if the guerrero father/son tandem will pass the bonds father and son in combined offensive categories. it will be fun to watch.

favorite h: rickey henderson over orel hershiser. 

rickey was always exciting to watch and, while i will always be thankful for 1988, rickey is the greatest of all-time.

favorite retired h: gil hodges. i think hodges should be in the hall of fame.

favorite current h: enrique hernandez. just a guy who has fun playing the game, and came up big in big moments for the dodgers.

favorite i: cesar izturis over whichever iorg brother got the game-winning hit in game 6 of the 1985 world series. there wasn't much to enjoy about the dodger teams in the early part of this century, but izturis at least won a gold glove.

favorite retired i: monte irvin. another career that was too short thanks to racism and small-minded men.

favorite current i: jonathan india. not a lot to choose from, but i really hope the angels can make a run and they will need players like india to do it.

favorite j: reggie jackson. this might seem counterintuitive, but even though reggie broke my heart in 1977, i was in awe.

favorite retired j: shoeless joe jackson. i suppose i've bought in to the idea that jackson didn't know what was going on in 1919 and that his performance shows he tried to win. 

favorite current j: kenley jansen. i have a lot of respect for jansen with what he has been through the last few seasons. he still wants the ball and has had some strong outings this season. still, time waits for no man.

favorite k: clayton kershaw over matt kemp. if kemp had been able to play his entire career with the dodgers, maybe this ranking is different.

favorite retired k: sandy koufax. 

a no-doubter.

favorite current k: clayton kershaw. 

the rare current favorite is also my all-time favorite. 

favorite l: dave lopes. 

it takes a true favorite to get me to make a t-shirt with this on it:

favorite retired l: jim lefebvre. my dad's favorite player from the post-koufax era dodgers.

favorite current l: francisco lindor. i am glad he's out of the al central for the twins' sake.

favorite m: joe mauer 

over eddie murray and paul molitor. i never got tired of watching mauer hit.

favorite retired m: willie mays. 

here's where my national league tendencies show in choosing mays over mantle.

favorite current m: adalberto mondesi. rooting for the son of a former favorite dodger of mine.

favorite n: hideo nomo. 

what a great time to have been living in southern california - 1995 and nomomania.

favorite retired n: joe nuxhall. nothing like learning about nuxhall as a 10-year old and realizing that you only have five years to break his record of being the youngest player in big league history.

favorite current n: omar narvaez. he was on my fantasy team a couple of years ago after i forgot to draft a catcher and he played well. i keep an eye on him as a result.

favorite o: al oliver. i enjoyed following his career which included a very short stint with the dodgers. definitely a hall of very good player at the least.

favorite retired o: mel ott. i saw his name a lot as a young fan thanks to the placards on the outfield fence at candlestick and so learned about his career early on.

favorite current o: shohei ohtani. it is hard not to be amazed by what ohtani is doing this year. i hope he stays healthy and plays for a long time.

favorite p: mike piazza 

over yasiel puig. puig's 2013 season is one i will never forget, but to have mike piazza on the scene after the worst season in dodger history restored hope for a lot of fans, including this one.

favorite retired p: satchel paige. i jangle when i walk sometimes.

favorite current p: joc pederson or albert pujols. 

i haven't followed joc as closely as i thought i would this year, and with pujols now on the dodgers, i think i am rooting harder for the machine.

favorite q: jamie quirk. because he was in the 1978 topps set.

favorite retired q: frank quilici. former twin player and manager is the reason i chose him here. met him once at a twins event, too.

favorite current q: cal quantrill. a canadian son of a former dodger.

favorite r: pete rose over bill russell. a tough one given my love for the infield, but rose was larger than life to me as a kid, and he signed my autograph book even though i annoyed him.

favorite retired r: jackie robinson. lots of choices here, but jackie makes me proud to be a baseball and a dodger fan.

favorite current r: hyun-jin ryu. wishing him all the success in the world in toronto dunedin buffalo.

favorite s: ryne sandberg over steve sax and reggie smith and tom seaver and ichiro and don sutton. again, lots to choose from here, and on another day i might choose sax over sandberg. it's that close.

favorite retired s: duke snider. 

i was thankful as a kid to have snider as a comeback to the other neighborhood kids (giant and yankee fans) touting mays and mantle.

favorite current s: corey seager. world series mvp!

favorite t: jim thome. amazed at how hard he hit the ball and thankful that he played for the twins where i could see him hit in person a few times.

favorite retired t: jeff torborg. caught a few no-hitters and was in the 1978 topps set with a manager card that showed him as a dodger. i don't consider it to be a dodger card, but it was cool nonetheless.

favorite current t: fernando tatis jr. so much fun to watch. he's also been on my fantasy team for the last 3 years and so what if he celebrates his home runs?

favorite u: chase utley. 

i didn't care much for him in 2008 and 2009, but i always respected his game.

favorite retired u: bob uecker. i read "catcher in the wry" at a young age and also watched "mr. belvedere", but i think i first knew uecker from miller lite commercials.

favorite current u: julio urias. not overly pleased with this one because of the domestic battery arrest, but he brought home the 2020 world series title and for that i am thankful.

favorite v: fernando valenzuela 

over robin ventura. just like 1995 and nomomania, it was a blast to be a dodger fan in 1981 and fernandomania.

favorite retired v: dazzy vance. with a name like dazzy, how could i not like this former dodger? he showed up in a book of dover reprints that i got in 1979 and i was sold.

favorite current v: joey votto. hoping that this canadian finishes strong with counting stats big enough for the hall of fame.

favorite w: dave winfield. i thought it was amazing that he went straight to the majors from college and was drafted in multiple sports. i was happy, however, that he turned in to "mr. may" in the 1981 world series.

favorite retired w: maury wills over ted williams. only because i am a dodger fan do i put wills over williams. knowing that wills held a record for stolen bases when my fandom began was huge.

favorite current w: jesse winker. he's on my fantasy team this year, so i am hoping his breakout season continues. when i went to a game in cincy a couple of years ago, i had no idea who he was. some kids near me were yelling at him while he was doing sprints before the game, and them yelling "winker" over and over had me thinking they were yelling "wanker" for some reason.

x

favorite y: steve yeager over yaz and yount. tough to beat the catcher from the team of my youth and the guy whose card is in my header.

favorite retired y: cy young. you learn about 511 career wins pretty early when you start reading about baseball history, and it's a number that stands out.

favorite current y: mike yastrzemski. i like family ties in baseball, even if this one plays for the wrong team in the nl west.

favorite z: could make a case for todd zeile or joe zdeb, whose name confounded me as a kid opening packs of 1978 topps, but this letter goes to richie zisk, for whom i was happy when his 1979 topps card came out with the all-star designation he missed in 1978.

favorite retired z: don zimmer. a former dodger, but the fact that he was still around the game when my fandom began cements his status here.

favorite current z: ryan zimmerman. not a lot to choose from, but it's nice to see that the nationals' first ever draft pick panned out nicely for them. i still miss the expos, though.

finally, i am following fuji's lead and adding my favorite bands a to z list here as well:

the alarm - wish i had seen them in concert. i still play their albums quite often, even the newer stuff that mike peters has released.

black rebel motorcycle club - love their sound and evolution over the years. i saw them live at first avenue a few years ago. stood behind the sound desk and never realized that the guy running the desk was michael been from another favorite band of mine, the call. i knew his son was in the band, but sadly didn't recognize him.

the cult - just a fun band to crank with the windows down back in the 80's. saw them live at first ave a few years ago as well, and ian astbury sounded great. somewhere i have a pick that billy duffy threw in to the crowd at the end of the show. the last mosh pit i was in, and likely ever will be in, was at that show.

the doors - started listening to them in 1987 or so and couldn't get enough for a couple of years. la woman is a fantastic album. still waiting to hear from mr. mojo risin'!

echo and the bunnymen - another band that i started listening to in the early 1980's and still listen to today. i saw them live in 2005, and even though it was just two original members remaining, ian mcculloch's voice is pretty much all they need. their newer albums hold up really well against the older stuff.

foo fighters - i was introduced to this band by a friend who was disappointed that they didn't sound more like nirvana. i only knew a couple of nirvana songs, and so was not predisposed to any expectation. i haven't bought their last couple of albums, but i still give them a listen fairly often. i saw them live in the mid-aughts with weezer and kaiser chiefs. great show and loud!

golden smog - this is a supergroup that is most often comprised of members of wilco, soul asylum, the jayhawks, and run westy run. i've seen them live three times - all good shows.

the hold steady - these guys are my current favorite active band. i've seen them and their lead singer craig finn a handful of times and it's always a positive, high energy event. i was supposed to see them at first avenue in may of 2020 but we all know how that turned out. the show is rescheduled for this fall - cant' wait!

inxs - "listen like thieves" is one of my favorite albums. i stopped listening to them as often when their popularity peaked, but not because i wasn't a fan. i was just discovering other bands. such as...

the jesus and mary chain - their first album "psychocandy" was so different that i was confused as to why i liked it so much. then their second album "darklands" came out and i was hooked. easily one of my favorite top 5 albums, there is rarely a week that goes by that i don't listen to it. i was supposed to see these guys live back in 1988 (with iggy pop!), but the show was canceled.

keane - a couple of good albums in my collection. 

lloyd cole and the commotions - late 80's/early 90's stuff, sort of like robyn hitchcock maybe? this band was part of the soundtrack to my high school years.

midnight oil - thanks to richard blade and video one, we were introduced to midnight oil well before "diesel and dust" was released. i've seen them live twice - once in 1989 and then again just three or four years ago.

nada surf - the same friend who introduced me to foo fighters got me listening to nada surf. you might be familiar with "popular" from their debut album, but my favorite album of theirs is "let go".

oasis - sure, "wonderwall" and "champagne supernova" are great songs (assuming you like oasis) from "(what's the story) morning glory", but my favorite from that album is "don't look back in anger".

perfect - this is a band founded by tommy stinson. stinson was the bassist for the replacements, and perfect was his second post-replacements group. they were active in the late 90's just before stinson took a job with guns n' roses. it took a while for me to find their album which wasn't released until well after the band broke up.

queen - not a lot of choices here, but queen has a tremendous catalog that stands up forty years on.

the replacements - it's unfair that my favorite band starts with the same letter as another top-5 band of mine - r.e.m. oh well. i listen to the replacements just about every day, from their early, post-punk releases to their last, post-alternative album. so many good songs and clever lyrics. i saw them live twice - first in 1989 and last on their farewell tour in 2014. i've seen lead singer paul westerberg live many times since moving to minnesota. a real american treasure, this band.

simple minds/the smiths - it's a tie. maybe that's not fair to r.e.m. to declare this letter a tie and not the letter "r", but these two bands were a huge part of my high school and college days. early simple minds stuff is just as good as their more popular songs, and listening to the smiths let me feel down when i wanted to feel down without making me feel lost. i never saw either band live, but did catch morrissey in concert in 1991 or 1992. 

talking heads - i was once chastised by my friends by bringing a talking heads tape to the beach instead of something more appealing to the ladies like wham!. i didn't care.

u2 - my second favorite band of all-time, and the one i've seen live most often - seven times i believe. also one of two bands of which i have a card in my collection

(the other is a custom of the replacements). my favorite album of theirs is "october", and even though i avoided "pop" when it was released, these days i celebrate their entire catalog. "the joshua tree" had a huge impact on my friends and me when it was released - such a seminal event in the music part of my life.

violent femmes - i heard the dodger organist play "blister in the sun" during a game the other day. i would have never thought that song would make it in to the mainstream. i was supposed to see them live in the early 90's but the trip didn't pan out. i did get to see them finally in the early 2000's however.

wire train - this was a band that a friend's brother turned us on to (along with some other favorite bands of mine like translator and the grapes of wrath) in the mid 80's. they were from san francisco, and "in a chamber" became the soundtrack to our weekends. 

x - it was tough to be in southern california in the 80's and not hear a lot of x being played. i have a few songs of theirs on my ipod, and guitarist john doe has put out some solo stuff that i enjoy as well.

yaz - one of my cousins gave me "upstairs at eric's" and i was blown away by alison moyet's voice.

zuzu's petals - this is a band that i knew nothing about until i moved to minnesota even though i think they were dissolved by the time i got here. lead singer laurie lindeen married paul westerberg, which is how i learned about them. their drummer, linda pitmon, married the dream syndicate's steve wynn, and i saw them perform together at a benefit concert for soul asylum's bassist in 2004.

these were a couple of fun exercises! anyone have another a to z challenge?

thirty years ago i was there. i was late, but i was there.

on april 12, 1991 a friend and i went to the dodgers' home opener. the padres were visiting chavez ravine, and it was newly acquired bob ojeda who was going to start for the dodgers with newly acquired darryl strawberry starting in right field. we were excited! it was a glorious southern california day, and thanks to my lazy friend who took forever to get ready, we were stuck on stadium way trying to get in to the parking area shortly before game time.

we were still working our way in to the stadium when former president ronald reagan delivered the first pitch, 

and we also missed the national anthem (i forget who performed it). i was bummed to have missed seeing reagan, and when i heard that there were presidential first pitch cards inlcuded in 2002 topps american pie, i sought out the reagan.

and the eisenhower

for whom i developed an affinity back in the 5th grade thanks to a writing assignment. unfortunately, topps used an image from reagan's wrigley field appearance, and not his dodger stadium one. still, there are some cards featuring photos from this game.

my friend and i made it to the left field pavilion in time to see ojeda take the mound for the top of the first. one of the batters he faced that inning was tony gywnn, who singled.  it was gwynn's only hit of the day as the dodgers lost to the pads 4-2. strawberry was 0 for 4, but we did see future hall of famer gary carter make his home debut as a dodger and there was a brief glimmer of hope in the bottom of the 9th before jeff hamilton grounded in to a force play with the bases loaded to end the game.

the following year, fleer included two insert cards in their ultra release that featured gwynn in front of the world championship banners that adorned the dodger stadium outfield wall on opening day (you can see one of the banners there behind reagan in that photo above).  the first of these cards is from the award winner set

it shows gwynn making a catch on the grass in right.  the second card comes from the gwynn commemorative series

and it shows gwynn making a different catch in front of the wall.

there were three flyouts to gwynn that day, and baseball reference notes them all to be to deep rf (or rf-cf). they were hit by mike scioscia, ojeda, and juan samuel. i can't find footage of the game online to see who hit which ball, but i am glad to have these two cards to memorialize another game that i attended on cardboard.  here's my ticket stub, by the way:

this is the fourth in a series of posts related to games that i've attended that have been featured on cardboard. there are a few more, so stay tuned!