42 for everyone

no surprises today, as i am posting some of the jackie robinson cards that i've added to my collection over the last few months, starting with this 2016 topps mlb debut insert

celebrating that event that occurred 77 years ago today!

2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts when it was a game insert /550

2006 upper deck all-time legends insert

2014 topps triple threads

2015 topps 1st home run gold parallel insert

four of a kind there. i am happy to report that the rest of the cards in this post have unique photos, starting with 2017 topps stadium club black foil parallel

topps' acceptance of black and white photos (for some releases, anyway) has opened the door for some "new" images of jackie to be used. some, like this one in stadium club, works really well. sometimes topps goes for colorization of black & white photos and comes up short as we've seen in another stadium club release where they colored the number on the back of his jersey red instead of blue.

2021 topps 70 years of topps inserts - base

and chrome

the chrome version is really more of a foil, i think. it's interesting to me how difficult it was to find these two cards at a low price, but i managed it.

2022 topps stadium club chrome

i believe that someone, somewhere, figured out what jackie is doing with that paper, but i can't find the post. one of the headlines above where he is holding the pencil says "contest deadlines" so maybe it's some sort of entry form and not the ponies!

2018 topps gallery hall of fame gallery insert

not a bad painting of jackie on that card

2023 topps archives 1979 comics insert

unbelievable here that the "inside baseball" inset shows the date of jackie's debut as april 15, 1945. yes, the text is correct below, but then why was the text above allowed to remain? i mean it looks like someone tried to add some red to the uniform number on the front of his jersey, so why couldn't they have corrected the text? it just boggles my mind at how poorly topps does sometimes.

in other news, the dodgers have issued a comic book about jackie robinson in the past. i think it was in 1997. i used to have one - maybe i still do!

2023 topps 1988 all-star insert

at some point i wonder if topps will leave jackie out of these insert sets. 

2024 topps grand gamers insert

this one finished my team set

2023 panini chronicles - pinnacle

i don't really chase any panini products, but i had wanted this particular card for a while. it's simple, but the design and black and white photo creates a pretty appealing card in my opinion. you almost don't miss the absence of the "b" on his hat.

today all players will wear jackie's number, just like carlos correa here on a 2018 topps salute insert

i haven't picked up any other 42 cards lately, but i'll be checking out topps now releases tomorrow to see what's available.

finally, i want to once again share the story of how i first learned of the meaning of jackie robinson's debut. i was listening to a dodger broadcast with my dad in the late 1970's and one of the announcers (vin scully, jerry doggett, or ross porter) mentioned the fact that jackie broke the color barrier and became the first black player allowed to play major league baseball. i asked my dad if that were true, and to further clarify, asked if there were really a time when dusty baker wouldn't have been able to play in the major leagues. it blew my mind when he said yes.

i wonder if there is a young fan out there that is thinking the same thing today, but about mookie betts

42 really is for everyone.

i was in colorado 11 years ago, but missed what i really wanted to see

sometime in early 2006, i made plans to meet up with my dad and some friends in denver over a june weekend, choosing that particular weekend because the dodgers were going to be in town, too.  as it turned out, i was riding high on the matt kemp bandwagon when my plane landed in the mile high city, as kemp had made his big league debut about two weeks earlier, and was hitting well over .300 in his young career.  i was looking forward to seeing what he might do in his first visit to coors field.

the first game we went to was friday night, june 9th.  kemp didn't play in that game, unfortunately, as grady little went with an outfield of andre ethier, kenny lofton, and jd drew.  brad penny pitched well, going 8.1 innings, and nomar garciaparra hit a pair of doubles as the dodgers won 3-0.  the win put them into first place, which was nice, but i had wanted to see kemp hit some dingers!

we returned the next night for another game, and this time, kemp was in the starting lineup playing left field.  he had an rbi single in the first and an rbi double in the third, but that was the end of his cycle chase that day as he was held hitless in each of his last three at bats.  this game was more of what i had expected at coors, with the final score being 12-9 in the rockies' favor.

sunday, my dad and i visited some relatives and headed to the airport instead of the ballpark.  it's too bad, because on that day (june 11th), kemp hit two home runs as the dodgers won the game 6-5.  telling that story is a long way to go to get to this card that i recently acquired - a 2008 upper deck baseball heroes purple patch card numbered to 5

that commemorates kemp's first multi-homer game which came in the only game of the series against the rockies that i did not attend.  it figures.  later that month, the dodgers visited minnesota and i attended all three games of that series, and then a couple of days after that, i was out in southern california and got to see kemp again, this time in anaheim against the angels.  unfortunately, he didn't homer in any of those games, either.  i did finally get to see a matt kemp home run in person in 2011, thankfully, when the dodgers returned to minnesota and played in target field for the first time on june 27.

these days, kemp is playing for the braves, and he is doing very well so far this year.  he had a three-homer game against the brewers earlier this season, and is hitting for high average.  i still look for new-to-me dodger cards of his from time-to-time, and you know i could not pass up this 2014 topps triple threads red number patch card

i like the red number very much.

i haven't been to a game yet this year (i was supposed to go to a twins game a couple of weeks ago, but work got in the way), but i do have my eye on a weekend series in washington dc in september when the dodgers visit the nationals.  i wonder how many homers i will see cody bellinger hit that weekend...