three little birds

i have a saved ebay search for autographed and numbered cards from 2004 upper deck legends - the timeless teams set. i have no illusions of ever completing anything other than the base set i've already assembled, but i will add one of the parallels now and again if the price is right.

a few months ago, i was able to pick up one of the legendary combo triple signatures that featured three pitchers from the 1970 world champion baltimore orioles - jim palmer, mike cuellar, and pete richert

of course, those three could also be representing the 1969 or 1971 american league champs.  all three were featured in the set with cards from the 1969 and 1970 subsets.  this is the first non-dodger triple auto in my collection, and i followed it up by picking up another dodger one

here you get the bonus of seeing the back of the card which features 1988 world series champions kirk gibson, mickey hatcher, and mike scioscia. this card is near and dear to me, as these three guys accounted for all five rbi in game 1 of the 1988 world series. once again, i will take this opportunity to remind people that i was in the stands that night and did not leave early!  

here are some cards from a game i attended 32 years ago tonight

shortly before i closed up shop at garvey cey russell lopes, i shared some photos that my dad and i took at dodger stadium 32 years ago tonight. we had the great fortune of being in attendance at game 1 of the 1988 world series bearing witness to kirk gibson's pinch-hit home run, and for a couple of years, those photos and my ticket stub, along with the vhs recording my mom had made of the game at home, were the only physical reminders of what we had seen.

1989 was the year that i collected cards the least, only buying one box of topps cards that year. of course, topps didn't bother to recognize the 1988 world series in that set, and i think it was another year or two before i saw the upper deck and fleer and o-pee-chee cards that had been issued that year.  then, in 1995, more cards were made featuring kirk gibson's famous home run, and the upper deck sp championship card from that year was my most wanted card until late in 1999 when i found out about ebay and finally obtained one for my collection.

anyway, since then, there have been a huge number of cards that feature photos from that particular game. i, of course, am trying to obtain them all in duplicate or triplicate (or more) as the case may be for this and other mini-collections, and my dodger collection, too.

here's a list of the cards i am aware of that feature photos from that game, and they are not all of gibson.  cards that i have in this mini-collection are shown below, although i do have most of the others (except for the numbered parallels) in my dodger collection.

1989 fleer world series #1 mickey hatcher

1989 fleer world series #3 jose canseco

1989 fleer world series #5 dennis eckersley/kirk gibson

1989 fleer world series glossy #1 mickey hatcher

1989 fleer world series glossy #3 jose canseco

1989 fleer world series glossy #5 dennis eckersley/kirk gibson

1989 o-pee-chee #382 kirk gibson

1989 topps woolworth #24 kirk gibson

1989 upper deck #662 kirk gibson

1989 upper deck #666 kirk gibson

1995 upper deck sp championship series classic performances #cp3 kirk gibson

1995 upper deck sp championship series classic performances die-cut #cp3 kirk gibson

1998 fleer sports illustrated world series fever #29 kirk gibson

i appreciate the fact that a different photo was used on the back of the card

1999 upper deck century legends memorable shots #hr3 kirk gibson

2001 topps #382 kirk gibson

2001 topps gold #382 kirk gibson /2001

2001 topps home team advantage #382 kirk gibson

2001 topps chrome #307 kirk gibson

2001 topps chrome refractor #307 kirk gibson
2002 topps american pie #8 kirk gibson

2002 topps tribute #88 kirk gibson

2002 topps tribute memorable materials #mem-kg kirk gibson
2002 topps tribute memorable materials blue #mem-kg kirk gibson /88
2003 topps tribute #141 kirk gibson

2003 topps tribute gold #141 kirk gibson
2003 topps tribute world series signature relics #ssa-kg kirk gibson
2003 topps tribute world series memorable match-ups relics #mmr-eg dennis eckersley/kirk gibson /88
2004 topps world series stitches relics #ssr-kg kirk gibson
2004 topps world series highlights #ws-kg kirk gibson

2004 upper deck legends timeless teams #278 kirk gibson

2004 upper deck legends timeless teams bronze #278 kirk gibson /50
2004 upper deck legends timeless teams gold #278 kirk gibson /5
2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph #278 kirk gibson
2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph gold #278 kirk gibson /5
2005 fleer classic clippings official box score #5 kirk gibson /1988

2005 fleer classic clippings official box score gold #5 kirk gibson 
2005 topps etopps classic events #ce9 kirk gibson
2005 upper deck classics classic moments #cm-kg kirk gibson /1999

2005 upper deck classics classic moments materials #cm-kg kirk gibson
2005 upper deck classics classic moments autograph #cm-kg kirk gibson
2006 topps etopps event series #kigi kirk gibson
2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts memorable moments swatch #mm-kg kirk gibson /225
2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts memorable moments autograph #mm-kg kirk gibson /25
2007 upper deck masterpieces #6 kirk gibson

2007 upper deck masterpieces artist proof #6 kirk gibson
2007 upper deck masterpieces glossy #6 kirk gibson
2007 upper deck masterpieces windsor green #6 kirk gibson
2007 upper deck masterpieces green linen #6 kirk gibson
2007 upper deck masterpieces serious black #6 kirk gibson /99
2007 upper deck masterpieces black linen #6 kirk gibson /99
2007 upper deck masterpieces deep blue linen #6 kirk gibson /75
2007 upper deck masterpieces pinot red #6 kirk gibson /75
2007 upper deck masterpieces blue steel #6 kirk gibson /50
2007 upper deck masterpieces rusted #6 kirk gibson /50
2007 upper deck masterpieces ionised #6 kirk gibson /50
2009 upper deck goudey #104 kirk gibson

2009 upper deck goudey mini #104 kirk gibson

2013 panini cooperstown #65 vin scully (back)

2013 panini hometown heroes curtain calls #cc10 kirk gibson

2013 panini hometown heroes curtain calls gold border #cc10 kirk gibson
2020 topps decades' best 1980s #db-57 dodgers

2020 topps decades' best 1980s blue #db-57 dodgers

2020 topps decades' best 1980s green #db-57 dodgers

2020 topps decades' best 1980s black #db-57 dodgers /299

2020 topps decades' best 1980s gold #db-57 dodgers /50

2020 topps decades' best 1980s red #db-57 dodgers /10

2020 topps decades' best 1980s platinum #db-57 dodgers /1

2020 topps decades' best 1980s chrome #db-57 dodgers

that is a lot of the impossible happening! it's good to see some variety in the photos used, especially with the 2020 topps decades' best card. this is one event i will never tire of seeing commemorated on cardboard.

updating the topps dodger autograph project once again, 60 years apart

the last time i updated my topps dodger autograph project (obtain a card from each flagship release signed by a dodger - ideally for free), i noted that i had sent out a 1955 ed roebuck card in hopes of replacing one of the last two cards in the project that i paid for.  well, the 85-year old member of the dodgers' first world series championship team did not disappoint.

as promised, this card replaces fellow '55 rookie don zimmer's card in the project, with zimmer now taking roebuck's spot representing the 1963 topps set.

another update to the project is warranted after receiving this 2015 topps juan uribe card

the day after roebuck's appeared in my mailbox.  those cards were issued 60 years apart, but are linked in a number of ways, including this project i suppose.

i also received a return from chris hatcher just the other day, which fills the 2017 topps spot in the project

getting 2017 out of the way with my first request of the year is nice, and a change of pace from the past two seasons. it's too bad that there's no chance of replacing the 1951 topps card on the list below, but here's hoping one of the 2016 flagship cards i've sent out finds its way back to me (come on, zach lee!).

update (9/22/17) - zach lee delivered!

awesome!

and here's one more update (10/28/18) - mike morgan signed and returned a 1991 topps

 and this card

that means that the 1989 topps traded set is now represented in the project!

another update (11/2/18) - kyle farmer signed and returned his 2018 topps card.

now to see about update...

updating again (2/24/19) - ross stripling signed and returned his 2019 topps card.

here's the updated tally of the project:

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - charlie thompson

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased) ed roebuck

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck don zimmer

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

1975 topps - ron cey

1975 topps mini - joe ferguson

1976 topps - bill russell
1976 topps traded - dusty baker
1977 topps - steve garvey
1978 topps - dave lopes
1979 topps - charlie hough
1980 topps - jerry reuss
1981 topps - doug rau
1981 topps traded - ken landreaux
1982 topps - dave goltz
1982 topps traded - jose morales
1983 topps - ron roenicke
1983 topps traded - rafael landestoy
1984 topps - fernando valenzuela
1984 topps traded - mike vail
1985 topps - burt hooton
1985 topps traded - mariano duncan
1986 topps - enos cabell
1986 topps traded - franklin stubbs
1987 topps - steve sax
1987 topps traded - matt young
1988 topps - len matuszek
1988 topps traded - jay howell
1989 topps - mickey hatcher
1989 topps traded - mike morgan
1990 topps - kal daniels
1990 topps traded - juan samuel
1991 topps - tim belcher
1992 topps - roger mcdowell
1993 topps - dave hansen
1993 topps traded - tim wallach
1994 topps - jody reed
1995 topps - chris gwynn
1996 topps - todd hollandsworth
1997 topps - brett butler
1998 topps - greg gagne
1999 topps - jose vizcaino
2000 topps - jeff shaw
2001 topps - chan ho park
2002 topps - andy ashby
2002 topps traded - joel hanrahan
2003 topps - jim tracy
2003 topps traded - ron coomer
2004 topps - edwin jackson
2004 topps traded - milton bradley
2005 topps - chad billingsley
2005 topps update & highlights - jason phillips
2006 topps - bill mueller
2006 topps update & highlights - mark hendrickson
2007 topps - james loney
2007 topps update & highlights - andy laroche
2008 topps - delwyn young
2008 topps update & highlights - casey blake
2009 topps - matt kemp
2009 topps update & highlights - brad ausmus
2010 topps - juan pierre
2010 topps update & highlights - ronnie belliard
2011 topps - hong-chih kuo
2011 topps update & highlights - matt guerrier
2012 topps - nathan eovaldi
2012 topps update & highlights - matt treanor
2013 topps - randy choate
2013 topps update - clayton kershaw
2014 topps - ricky nolasco
2014 topps update - scott van slyke
2015 topps - juan uribe
2015 topps update - brett anderson
2016 topps - zach lee
2016 topps update - mike bolsinger
2017 topps - chris hatcher
2018 topps - kyle farmer
2019 topps - ross stripling

as always, thanks to these players who sign through the mail, and thanks to the lost collector for the idea.