double nickels

there was a big deal made on social media (and even in some mainstream outlets) after the dodgers signed shohei ohtani and it was revealed that he gifted joe kelly's wife with a new car after she let it be known that ohtani could have number 17 - joe kelly's number. it's something that comes up a lot these days with veterans moving around - the claiming of "their" number for some price - but it doesn't always happen.

case in point, when the dodgers acquired albert pujols in 2021, he did not seek out his number 5 from corey seager. instead, he added another 5 and wore 55. here's his 2021 bowman heritage card showing the double digit number:

before pujols, it was russell martin who wore the number, although it wasn't always visible on his cards. here are a couple of parallels of martin's 2011 topps card - cognac

and walmart black

that don't show 55 but are cool, nonetheless. before he was called up, as in spring training, martin wore number 70 (among at least one other number) as seen on his 2005 topps update & highlights gold parallel

however, when he debuted in the big leagues, he was given 55.

for the dodgers, that number is mostly associated with orel hershiser. this 1986 topps sticker of the bulldog (and mike young)

doesn't show his number, but i am featuring it because it is a former "most wanted" card of mine. it completes the team set for me, which is nice (please be sure to check my current list of most wanted cards and see if you can help me out - you will be rewarded!).

here's number 55

on his 1987 fleer card

according to baseball reference, hershiser only wore number 53 (in honor of don drysdale) when he went to the giants (shawn estes already had 55), but this 1998 pinnacle plus card

shows him wearing 56. must be spring training or something, but it's best not to dwell too long on hershiser pitching for the giants.

anyway, it's 55 days until the dodgers and padres kick off the 2024 mlb season in south korea. that's less than 8 weeks!

in other news, 2023 topps stadium club is out, and i can't wait to receive the boxes i ordered. the thurman munson card is fantastic!!!!!

welcome to the hotel show in minnesota

i am pretty sure that the last time i went to a card show in a hotel i was a kid. it was actually what turned out to be the first national convention which was held near lax as i recall in 1980. the second national i went to, in 1991, was at the anaheim convention center, so i don't think i've been to a hotel show since. i've been to shows in other convention centers, malls, retail spaces, baseball stadiums, church gymansiums, warehouses, and even a national guard armory. no more hotels, though. until last friday.

that, by the way, is a 2022 panini the national card of clayton kershaw - a card that was available at last year's national convention that was held at the atlantic city convention center and not a hotel.

anyway, i found that card at a hotel card show last friday. it was a card i was very happy to find, as i received a parallel of it (yes, there are parallels) from a trading partner, and the back mentions clayton kershaw's flirtation with a perfect game in his 2022 season debut against the twins - a game that i attended.

as for the show, it was organized by a promoter who i do not believe was involved in the older semi-annual shows that used to take place at the earle brown center, and it was held at the hyatt regency hotel in downtown minneapolis. i was able to sneak away to attend on friday afternoon, and as soon as i walked in to the show space, i figured it would probably be my last hotel show. it was just too much.

i realized that because i am not working on any vintage sets at the moment, nor am i looking for the hottest rookies in any sport, most of the offerings were not geared towards me. i did a quick quarter lap and stopped at the first dime box i found. 

this dealer had dime, fifty cent, and dollar boxes, and i made it through all except the dollar boxes before i had to leave for a work call. i pulled 46 cards from the dime boxes and 49 from the fifty cent boxes. he told me that the fifty cent box would be considered a 3 for a dollar box, and i only had to pay  $20 for those 95 cards.

the haul included my first look at 2021 bowman heritage and 2022 bowman heritage

clayton beeter was traded to the yankees for joey gallo, so there is some synchronicity in that pairing.

i added a few dodgers from each set, plus a 2022 dylan carlson card

which shows dodger stadium seating in the background.

this dealer's boxes also introduced me to something called 2022 panini capstone

and there were also plenty of cards from late 2022 chrome-y releases like allen & ginter chrome, chrome sonic, and stadium club chrome

yes, that buehler in the middle is from chrome sonic and not regular ol' chrome. the andre jackson stadium club chrome card at least features a different photo than his normal stadium club card. however, brandon crawford's chrome card

is the same. still a nice double play card though!

and here's another dime box double play, courtesy of 2021 topps holiday

at the last show i attended, i bought a basketball card for my memorials collection, and i did the same here with this 2022-23 panini player of the day card of kat

he's sporting the league-wide patch for bill russell.

more pulls from these boxes included a modern card of don drysdale

a blue parallel of clayton kershaw

a metallic snowflake parallel of walker buehler

and a sampling of shiny 2022 topps chrome offerings

there we have chrome ben baller, cosmic chrome, chrome sapphire edition, and chrome update represented.

i found another joey gallo dodger card in one of the boxes, along with a silver portrait mookie betts and an a&g x mini of cody bellinger

the gallo card is from wave 5 of the 2022 topps 206 set, and is actually a piedmont back parallel. tcdb lists gallo as a yankee in the set, but i am happy to have one more card of him documenting his short time in dodger blue.

a couple more from this initial dig include a vladimir guerrero card

from 2021 topps pro debut and this jackie robinson card from 2022 topps x aaron judge

there were plenty of other nice cards for my collection, as well as the collections of some others.

after my call was done, i returned and did a full lap of the room. i only recognized one dealer from a local show, and i had just dug through their wares a couple of weeks ago so i kept going. i stopped at a nearby table where the dealer had more bargain boxes laid out.

he was offering some cards at 12 for $1, 5 for $1, and discounted "as marked". they were sorted by team, which is always super helpful.  i wound up with 36 cards from the 12 for a buck box, 46 from the 5 for a buck box, plus another 7 cards that were marked anywhere from $1 to $3 each. i got a bit of a break and paid $20.

i dug through more than just the dodgers, and found some cards for my mini-collections, including a pink wave refractor from 2022 topps chrome update

and a card showing "the catch" 

from 2020 topps heritage. i collect any and all cards that show the catch.

also going in my name/number on the back collection is this 2018 topps stadium club ryan zimmerman card

it shows zim after he hit a go-ahead home run in game two of the nlds against the cubs.  had the photo been more widely cropped, we might have been treated to a davey lopes sighting!

who was serving as the team's first base coach back then.

here's a card i found of lopes' dodger teammate don sutton

from 2015 panini cooperstown. i was very happy to find it for less than a dime.

i was also surprised to find a couple of cards from 2004 topps tribute hall of fame edition in the box. here's duke snider:

and here's snider's 2019 topps tribute card

which was also in the box, although it was in the 5 for $1 box and not the 12 for $1 box like the '04 tribute card.

these next three were marked at $1 each - a 2020 bowman's best cody bellinger refractor

a 2020 topps stadium club chrome clayton kershaw

and a 2017 topps gold label framed autograph card of andrew toles

this 2017 topps chrome rookie autograph of toles

was marked at $2. toles' story is a sad one, and i hope he is making progress in his work towards coping with his mental illness diagnoses.

dee gordon makes an appearance thanks to this 2011 topps update throwback manupatch

marked at $2, and i added another manupatch - this one of mookie betts

from 2021 topps - which was marked at $3.

by this time, it was obvious that i was only going to be looking for bargain boxes, but they seemed to be in relatively short supply compared to all of the glass cases on tables, and padded briefcases toted by many attendees.  i found one box showing cards at 5 for $1 and grabbed 5 including a 1998 fleer flair paul konerko need

and i followed that up with another 6 cards from another table for a total of $2. those cards inluded another minor league vladdy card

this one from 2022 topps heritage minor leagues.

i also paid just about "full price" for another 36 cards from a different dealer's five for $1 box - i got one free by paying $7. however, i could consider that my freebie was this 2013 topps nl stars clayton kershaw card

that i had been watching on ebay. i missed these factory sets in 2013 and will now turn my attention to the matt kemp and adrian gonzalez cards from the set.

my favorite find in these boxes, however, was this 2015 topps gypsy queen duke snider short print

wonderful.

i ended my afternoon back where i began, with the first dealer i visited. i returned to dig through his dollar boxes, and wound up with 27 cards that i obtained for $25. there was plenty of sapphire

like these from 2021 bowman chrome, 2022 bowman chrome, and 2022 topps chrome, and more shiny stuff from 2021 topps chrome ben baller

2022 topps chrome sonic

and 2022 topps stadium club chrome

i really did enjoy digging through all of these boxes, so maybe it is a "never say never" situation when it comes to hotel shows in the future.

bonus content!:

i heard some chatter at one of the tables about a release date being set for 2023 topps heritage which was good to hear. when i got home, i checked cardboard connection and saw this image

among the card examples. i can't wait!