the k is for kershaw kountdown - seeing reds

yes, the kountdown to 3,000 strikeouts for clayton kershaw continues as he pitched against the reds on thursday. he struck out 9 batters to give him 93 strikeouts on the season. those 9 reds that he k'd increased his career total to 2,900.

in honor of his performance, here are 9 cards to represent strikouts 2,892 through 2,900.

2,892 - 2014 bowman platinum gold 

2,893 - 2015 panni prizm red baseball prizm

2,894 - 2016 bowman's best refractor

2,895 - 2017 topps galler artist proof

2,896 - 2018 topps legends in the making blue 

2,897 - 2019 topps inception

2,898 - 2020 topps holiday

2,899 - 2021 topps gold label class 1 black

2,900 - 2022 topps update all-star game black

kershaw remains in 21st place on the all-time leader board, and will remain there until he passes zack greinke, who struck out 3 earlier in the week to increase his strikeout total to 2,932. kershaw is now 32 k's behind greinke and an even 100 behind the 3,000 milestone. 

kershaw's start against the reds was his second straight start with 9 strikeouts, and included seven scoreless innings to boot! he got phenom elly de la cruz twice, showing that the reds' prospect is human after all.

it would seem that kershaw's next start would come this week against the white sox. regardless of when he makes his next start, i will be back to update the kountdown soon thereafter. stay tuned!

the k is for kershaw kountdown continues!

yes, the kountdown to 3,000 strikeouts for clayton kershaw continues (previous post here) as he pitched against the twins on tuesday. he struck out 7 batters to give him 63 strikeouts on the season. those 7 twins that he k'd increased his career total to 2,870.

in honor of his performance, here are 7 cards to represent strikouts 2,864 through 2,870.

2,864 - 2012 topps tribute

2,865 - 2014 bowman platinum blue sapphire

2,866 - 2015 topps update gold

2,867 - 2016 topps chrome black refractor

2,868 - 2017 topps gallery heritage

2, 869 - 2018 topps gold label class 3

2,870 - 2018 topps heritage high numbers transogram

i was happy to be in la on tuesday, and made the last minute decision to buy a single ticket and head to the ravine to see kershaw pitch. it was only the second time i've seen him pitch in person, and although he didn't have his best stuff, his 7 strikeouts came in only 4 innings of work. in total, i've seen 20 of kershaw's career strikeouts in person and have enjoyed witnessing each one of them!

kershaw remains in 21st place on the all-time leader board, and will remain there until he passes zack greinke, who struck out 5 earlier in the week to increase his strikeout total to 2,914. kershaw is now 44 k's behind greinke and 130 behind the 3,000 milestone. kershaw is scheduled to make his next start on sunday against the cardinals, and he has said he plans to do so even though his mother passed away a few days before his start against the twins and there was some speculation that he would go on a longer bereavement leave after that start. regardless of when he makes his next start, i will be back to update the kountdown soon thereafter. stay tuned!

they came in 2 by 2 from 2 x 3 heroes

some other folks took the title 'return of the jedi', so i'm going in a different direction to show some cards that jedi jeff from 2x3 heroes sent my way recently.  there were a few pairs that go great together, such as these 2017 topps stadium club sandy koufax gold and black foil parallels:

and these black and gold 2017 topps allen & ginter justin turner mini parallels:

and these 2017 topps gallery corey seager artist proof paralle and base card:

that's a nice trio of duos!

there were other cards, too, including a big lot of some 2008 upper deck goudey and 2017 topps heritage high numbers that i had requested in one of his giveaways a while back.  there were more dodgers, as well.

here's a blank back from 2018 panini donruss:

you can't tell, but i assure you that on the front of the card is cody bellinger's 1984 design card from the set. in fact, it's the photo variation version of his 1984 design card. so that means that this card is a photo variation and a blank back variation at the same time. that's some panini hijinks right there!

one more card - it's a 1990 topps ray searage card!

i've got to believe that this is the first time this card has been shown on a blog, right?

thanks jeff!