turning on a dime

dimebox nick, who has a thing for cards showing the double play turn just as much as i do, sent me a great trade package recently. it was, as one would expect, heavy with twin killing cards, such as these 2020 topps dansby swanson

and fernando tatis jr

specimens. 

seeing the tatis jr card reminded me that topps featured him on a factory set exclusive card last year while turning two, and i finally went and added a copy to my collection

shenanigans for sure on the part of topps, but at least they didn't reuse the "exclusive" photo in 2020 flagship.

back to the cards that nick sent, here are some more double plays that were new to my collection

the 2014 topps rickie weeks walmart blue parallel is especially nice.  the other card here that stands out to me is the 1994 score jeff kent gold rush parallel. you can't see it very well, but the player sliding in is dodger eric davis, and the play is taking place in dodger stadium. that means that the card fits in my lurker, dodger stadium, and double play mini-collections. davis is also wearing the tim crews memorial patch, so it could conceivably fit in that one, too! very happy that nick turned me on to that card.

here's another card nick sent that crosses mini-collection boundaries:

that's a 1996 donruss jose oquendo card. i already had one for my dp collection, so this one goes in to the lurker collection (hello, mitch webster). i could use another for my dodger stadium collection, too.

nick also included a healthy dose of dodgers, including kiké!

his 2020 topps heritage card is a bit more subdued than his flagship card, that's for sure.

2019 topps chrome update will smith

helping me complete a team set!

2018 topps fire kenley jansen flamethrowers insert

solar flare action!

2017 topps andrew toles 1987 insert

not sure what is happening with andrew toles these days, but i hope he's doing alright.

1977 dover classic reprints 1914 cracker jack zach wheat

i had the dover reprint booklets as a kid in 1978, and i remember being fascinated by the old card designs and at the same time disappointed at the lack of dodgers included in the reprints.

2003 topps kanebo brian jordan (back)

such a cool card! 

nick and i also share an affection for vladimir guerrero cards, and he sent me a bunch of new ones for my collection:

including a kanebo and some other offbeat releases.

thanks as always nick! it's a pleasure to trade with you!

highly fresh and completely mojo!

the cards you are about to see came to me by trade from brian at highly subjective and completely arbitrary. they have already been lapped by the in person trade we completed at a card show a couple of months ago, but the cards were too good to be ignored.

the note brian included with the package mentioned that he had got his dodger-pulling mojo back, and he wasn't kidding.  case in point, this 2019 topps chrome update will smith xfractor autograph

all of a sudden, the dodgers have some depth in the catcher prospect pipeline. here's hoping that they choose wisely when dealing from this perceived strength to bolster other aspects of the roster.

next up is a 1995 mother's cookies dodgers raul mondesi card

i had requested this card after brian posted a bunch of mondesi cards a while back. i have the team set in my dodger collection, but this card makes a great addition to the dodger stadium binder.  around the same time that this card came out, phil nevin was making his big league debut with the astros. i recall that he received a lot of flak prior to that for wearing these oakley shades as a collegiate player. it's true! rauuuuuul doesn't care. he's the guy who once sat down along the right field line rather than go all the way back to the dugout for the bottom of an inning. i guess he knew he wasn't going to bat.

transogram time!

i had the cody bellinger card from 2018 topps heritage, but not the seager. this one us actually from the heritage high numbers release.

more from 2019 topps chrome update!

koufax has a few different cards in the 150 years greatest moments/players/seasons set. i personally don't like the way topps spread this set around the different sets. in my mind, it should have stayed with flagship and update only. for example, don sutton's card is only available in signed versions through the clearly authentic release. on the other hand, i'm not trying to collect all of these, so whatever.

more koufax, along with clayton kershaw and jackie robinson

thanks to the faces of the franchise insert. i'll assume that this is the base version and not a red parallel. i missed noticing some of the color parallels of 2019 topps inserts earlier in the year, which prompts the question of why make them if folks don't recognize them?  this card brings to mind the "mt. rushmore" debates that were prevalent in sports media a couple of years ago. these three dodgers are solid candidates and appropriate franchise representatives. one could argue that tommy lasorda belongs as well.

this 2019 topps heritage high number david freese card

is the only card in my collection featuring the 2011 world series hero as a dodger. i was disappointed that he chose to retire because he hit really well as a dodger - .328 in the regular season and .400 in the postseason across 2018 and 2019.

last but not least, brian hooked me up with some mini-collection needs. this 2019 topps heritage whit merrifield card

is the dupe i needed to put in my tatooine collection (the only copy i had previously is in my double play collection), while this 1995 score pat meares card

fills a previously unknown double play need. i'll have to keep an eye out for another copy to add to the tatooine collection.

thanks brian!  keep up the dodger pulling mojo!