the k is for kershaw kountdown concludes - baseball immortality unlocked edition!

clayton kershaw made his ninth appearance of the 2025 season wednesday night against the white sox at dodger stadium, just three strikeouts shy of the 3,000 mark. i am pleased to be able to post the final edition of the k is for kershaw kountdown as he recorded his 3,000th strikeout on his 100th (and last) pitch of the night in front of a hometown crowd filled with dodger faithful!

in honor of his performance and achievement, here are three cards (not seen on this blog before) from my collection to represent strikeouts number 2,998 through 3,000.

2,998 - 2021 topps museum collection single player primary pieces quad relics copper parallel #/75

this is actually the newest kershaw card in my collection, as i picked it up at one of the local card shops on monday. i had noticed it when i stopped in a couple of days prior but didn't pull the trigger. but, since the shop is close to my work, i made a pit stop to grab it because of the red patch and the comparatively low price.

2,999 - 2022 panini chronicles spectra colorgraphs auto

i bought this card at that same lcs during my weekend stop. it is the least amount of money i have paid for any kershaw autograph, and that is because the design and execution of the card is terrible. the paint pen that kershaw was given to use is too dark against the faux brick background and so the signature is difficult to see. still, it's an on card auto and the price was more than right.

3,000 - 2025 topps k-zone insert

as soon as i saw these inserts in 2025 topps series 2, i knew that this would be the card to represent strikeout number 3,000. there is a backwards k version which would have been more appropriate, but is currently cost prohibitive. still, if you scan the back of this card

the k is backwards. 

i had figured that strikeout number 3,000 would come against old friend miguel vargas the second time through the lineup. instead, kershaw struck out vargas the second time around for his first k of the night, then got lenyn sosa swinging to end the fifth and vinny capra looking to become the 20th pitcher (and fourth lefty) to reach 3,000 regular season strikeouts in a career.

the broadcast made a big deal about kershaw being the "third" pitcher to do it with one team (walter johnson and bob gibson - the first two to reach 3,000) are the others they were referencing. however, john smoltz recorded the first 3,011 strikeouts of his career with the braves before splitting his final season with the red sox and cardinals (and no, i don't consider smoltz's minor league time in the tigers' organization to have any bearing on his major league career in this regard). if kershaw does, in fact, remain a "dodger for life", then he will join johnson and gibson as the only members of the 3,000 strikeout club to have only pitched for one franchise in their career, but let's not cheat braves fans of their 3,000 strikeout guy.

as for the game itself, the first thing i noticed was how full the stadium was for the first pitch. it was packed which is rarely the case at the start of a game at dodger stadium. everyone knew what was likely going to happen, and they knew that it could happen as quickly as the first inning, even though it wound up taking six.  kershaw allowed four runs in those six innings of work, but he didn't figure in the decision as the dodgers mounted a 9th inning comeback to walk off the white sox 5-4. he walked one, and allowed nine hits - one of which was a two-run homer by austin slater. his next start should come on the road in milwaukee, and if he hadn't reached 3,000 on wednesday, i would have definitely made the trip into wisconsin to be there in person.

as it is, i am happy to have been able to see him pitch in person a couple of times, including one of the best performances of his career. what a time it has been to be a dodger fan, even though neither the franchise nor the personnel structure of the game are the same as it was when i first started following the club.

here are some more kershaw cards because it's his achievement that this post in the kountdown is all about, and these particular cards seemed appropriate.

2015 topps tribute relic

2015 topps stadium club gold foil parallel

2022 topps stadium club chrome

2023 topps heritage high numbers now & then

2023 topps stadium club red foil parallel

2023 topps stadium club sepia parallel

certainly worth a tip of the cap!

kershaw is still in 20th place on the all-time leader board, and he will remain there unless he passes john smoltz (or is himself passed). smoltz has a career strikeout total of 3,084 and so kershaw is now 84 k's behind smoltz, with exactly 3,000 for his career.

what an achievement, and what a career. thanks for kounting down with me and congratulations to clayton kershaw!

definitely some dodgers on cards for the permanent collection

here's another group of cards sent my way by madding/cards on cards, who is one of the handful of regular trade partners i have at the moment.

my favorite card from this installment is this 2021 panini donruss don sutton card

not only is it old man sutton with the glorious perm showing lots of gray, it's a season stat line parallel numbered to 91 as in his whip from 1972 (which was 0.91 but that is less than 1 so wouldn't work for card numbering). as a bonus, it's a jersey number match as it is number 20 in the print run! a perfect card for the number 1 don sutton collector on tcdb!

there was one other dodger pitcher included in the envelope, and it was yoshinobu yamamoto on his 2024 bowman card

kerry also included future dodger pitcher shohei ohtani's 2024 bowman card, and i showed that card off in a post about his 50/50 achievement.

not too long before these cards arrived, i had been perusing the 2024 panini donruss checklist and determined that the only card i was really interested in was jackie robinson's. well, kerry delivered for me without even knowing!

here's a licensed robinson card from 2024 topps

2024 marks 75 years from jackie's first all-star game appearance for what it's worth.

kerry also sent some 2024 topps chrome cards - a mookie betts base

and a freddie freeman refractor

and if he pulled any ohtanis i hope he kept them to trade in at the local card shop.

here's one more card from the envelope - a 2022 panini chronicles mookie betts card

it is a vertex card, and these days i am not sure whether or not that is a base card subset or an insert. at least with topps fusion back in the day i knew what was what. panini has me so confused.

thanks for another round of trading kerry!

chronicling another classic trade

one of the most consistent trading partners i have in the blogosphere is madding from cards on cards. we began trading in 2009, and are still sending cards back and forth here in 2024. i've even had the pleasure of meeting kerry in person a few years ago, along with some other portland based bloggers. it was a good time and i would love to do it again.

anyway, there is always some good variety when i see this particular return address and this was no different.

2023 panini chronicles pee wee reese "classics"

this is panini's retro subset within chronicles, and it is certainly my favorite. there was also a 2022 mookie betts card

from that year's version. in 2023 panini went full retro for the dodgers and only included reese, jim gilliam, and duke snider. still need the snider...

also from 2022 chronicles, here is freddie freeman

on a rookies & stars card that sort of looks like a 2023 chronicles vertex card

of michael busch. there is only so much that can be done with background designs, i guess.

there were some 2023 topps stadium club needs, including jackie robinson's card

topps cut off rachel robinson (that's her mint dress) which is too bad. this was a car that was gifted to jackie at some point (i'm too lazy to look the photo up on getty images again). i scanned the back

because the text got me thinking of who the other dodger player is to have 1,500 hits and a batting average of at least .310. i knew it wasn't reese or steve garvey (he hit .301 as a dodger), but willie davis' name came to mind. then i realized it was probably zack wheat. turns out, wheat ticks both of those boxes while davis does not.

here's clayton kershaw's triumvirates card from that same set

i completed the dodger team set last year but haven't made any progress on that front this year. jackie robinson is part of a triumvirate group with hank aaron and willie mays, so there are four dodgers to collect instead of the normal three.

2024 topps hadn't been out too long when i received these cards, but kerry managed to provide the chrome version of betts' stars of mlb insert

along with freeman's home run challenge card

and a purple holofoil parallel of freeman as well

it's numbered to 799 which may well be the number of cards i've received from kerry over the last 15 years.

thanks kerry!

these cards just fit

i don't really recall, but i am guessing at some point back in the early 1980's i separated the pieces of one of those donruss puzzles and actually put the thing together. maybe it was 1984 and i assembled the duke snider puzzle - i bought a ton of '84 donruss so this seems most probable to me. it might also explain why i don't currently own the complete snider puzzle.

typically, i don't pay much attention to those sorts of things (which are exceedingly rare these days). i just collect cards that fit in my collection, no pun intended. however, last year i decided to complete the dodger team set of stadium club triumvirate inserts. featured were clayton kershaw, mookie betts, and trea turner:

their cards fit together nicely

but not perfectly - the interface between betts and turner is off slightly. such is the danger with these sorts of things, i suppose.

i also recently sought out one (actually two) of my most wanted non-dodger cards - 1988 panini album stickers:

steve lombardozzi and frank white in some sweet double play turning action that looks even better when the stickers are laid together

these stickers are a great addition to my double play collection, and they are not the only nefarious 9 cards i have picked up in recent months (future post foreshadowing). be sure to check out my current list and let me know if you can help a blogger out - you will be rewarded!

some other cards have come in to my collection that are great fits, too - although they don't fit together like the ones above. reader derek (collectortbnl on tcdb) reached out and sent this card my way

it's a 2003 upper deck leading swatches relic card of hideo nomo from his second stint in dodger blue. it was great to see nomo have a bit of a career resurgence with the dodgers in 2002 and 2003, and it was great of derek to think of me!

i've also received a couple of pwe's from kerry at cards on cards that have taken awhile to be recognized here. sorry about that, kerry. he's been a great source of dodger goodness over the years, and the latest cards he sent continue that trend.

from 2022 panini capstone, here's a trea turner card

and a clayton kershaw deja vu insert

even though it's a padre who is in color and at the forefront of the card, this is still a dodger card to me. 

this 2023 topps big league kershaw insert

is a bit more dodger centric. i think it shows kershaw as out of this world? the betts insert from this set is the only one i've seen that makes sense because it shows betts bowling. speaking of mookie, kerry included a few of his cards, too.

2022 panini chronicles zenith

2022 topps update black gold

2023 topps big league roll call

and 2022 topps stadium club master photo boxtopper

i actually had this boxtopper in my hand at a monthly card show this past summer but put it back when the guy asked for $5. i am glad i did because kerry's envelope showed up just a few days later. it's great when things come together like that!

celebrating the spirit of giving

merry christmas!

'tis the season - and it has been the season for a while - for giving and receiving. here in the blogosphere i have been the happy recipient of cards from a number of traders and bloggers. let's take a look at some of the cards i've received....

starting off, of course, with the holiday custom card created by gavin at baseball card breakdown

gavin modified a 1991 fleer update gary carter card and added the artwork overlay showing the hall of fame catcher prepping to add the tree topper to the ol' tannenbaum. very creative and festive and a great addition to my custom card binder. thanks gavin! i'll have to see if i can find something to send your way.

a month or so earlier, i received an envelope from rod at padrographs

that's a 2004 upper deck padres davey lopes card that the former dodger and padre coach signed through the mail. i was happy to see that rod was looking for some help on a 70 years of topps project so i could send something back his way. check it out and see if you can help a blogger out!

i think everyone has noticed that tom from angels, in order has returned to active blogging thanks to a few giveaways. i wound up claiming a couple of cards from one and he included this gem in the envelope

that's a 1982 fleer stamp fernando valenzuela box "card". tom was kind enough to note what it was on the back:

now, i used to cut out "cards" from boxes all the time in the early 80s and even later, so this is definitely something that fits in my collection. thanks tom - i hope the cards i sent are still needs of yours.

nick from dime boxes also held a giveaway recently, and he offered up some dodgers that i needed, like this 1994 upper deck collector's choice orel hershiser silver signature parallel

this 1995 score rafael bournigal gold rush parallel

and this 2005 upper deck flyball eric gagne

the gagne brings me to one card remaining to complete this oddball set, and it's giovanni carrara. i've added it to my nefarious 9 list of most wanted cards, but it is such an oddball of a largely forgotten player that it may be difficult to track down.

it turned out that i already had the bournigal card, so i put the dupe in my lurkers binder thanks to the presence of italian-american superstar slugger mike piazza on the card.

the fourth card i requested was this 1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition fernando valenzuela silver signature parallel

i've recently toyed with the idea of reestablishing my post-dodger fernando pc. he has so many great cards from his time with the orioles, padres, cardinals, and phillies, including this one. for now, this card sits in my dodger stadium binder.

it wouldn't be an envelope from nick without a double play card, and this 1994 select carlos baerga card

was a new one to me.

a couple more dodgers just because - 2021 topps archives mookie betts 1963 peel off

and 2022 topps update hanser alberto gold parallel

once again, i will ask topps to identify the sets that cards come from on the backs of all of their cards like upper deck used to do and like panini does. i spent a lot of time figuring out what set that betts belonged to, thinking it was heritage. thank goodness for comc, and thank goodness for nick and his generosity. i am looking forward to continuing to swap envelopes with nick in 2023!

another thing i am looking forward to in 2023 is the next installment in thorzul's "trade me anything". this year i sent him something and he sent back these cards that i requested, all from 2022 topps update:

will smith silver pack

jose miranda silver pack grey parallel

joe ryan generation now insert

ronald acuna jr all-star game insert

the acuna is part of my near-complete set of the all-star game inserts. i only wanted the ones that used photos from the actual game, and i will show those cards off in another post.

finally, i'll show some cards from cards on cards. kerry/madding has been probably my most frequent trading partner through 2022 and i hope it continues in 2023. these images have been sitting in my scanned folder for varying lengths of time and represent a number of envelopes received.

1986 true value pedro guerrero

actually, this is a sealed "pack" and so also contains cards of steve garvey and eddie murray. i already have the garvey so i left it sealed. a great addition to the dodger collection for sure.

2021 topps allen & ginter tommy lasorda mini

it's been nice to see lasorda in ginter sets recently, but i could really go for some bill russell cards if topps wanted to recognize a different former dodger manager. i know that won't happen as russell is nowhere near as checklist worthy as lasorda, but i would rather see some former players get a shot at the checklist in lasorda's place. i know this year steve garvey finally got a base ginter card (although it's a short print) and you'll see some of those cards in a different post, but how about reggie smith or orel hershiser or in a year or two matt kemp?

i am not going to do the rest of these cards justice, but i will show them nonetheless

if there were one panini product i would like to see more of, it's the obsidian subset of chronicles. those cards, like the mookie above have been pretty sharp looking the last couple of years.

thanks to all who have and continue to trade cards with me - it is appreciated!