four for four twenty

here's a 1981 donruss tommy lasorda card

that has something in common with these next four cards - 2019 topps heritage kenley jansen (this is the chrome parallel)

2020 topps mookie betts

2021 topps chrome platinum anniversary joe kelly (this is the refractor parallel)

and 2022 topps austin barnes

those four cards represent a four year run in which topps had assigned a dodger card to number 420 in one of their sets

i took note of it in 2021 when i saw the checklist for platinum anniversary. alas, there was no continuation of this in 2023, but i couldn't help but wonder if it were an intentional thing, similar to what upper deck did with number 666 in their early days.

not that it's a bad thing - 420 is a number associated with cannabis use, thanks to some california teens in the 1970s and i pass no judgement. it was just conspicuous to me that topps put a dodger in that spot four years running.

speaking of four years running, if cody bellinger (seen here on a 2022 topps allen & ginter chrome mini)

homers today, he will have hit a home run on 4/20 in four consecutive seasons. bellinger, as you might know, has a few 420 themed memes out there.

i almost forgot to mention - the donruss lasorda card up top is the first dodger card that i am aware of to slot at number 420 in a major set. these days, the dodgers have a 1 in 30 chance of being there in just a handful of sets each year. i took a quick look and found that no other team had more than two consecutive seasons at 420 in a topps set. donruss put the a's at 420 three years in a row in their flagship set in the mid-1980s, and the rangers were at 420 three years in a row in major pacific releases. it makes some sense to me as it has to be easier to set a checklist by starting with the previous year's, but maybe, just maybe, there were some shenanigans afoot.

new teams, who dis?

pitchers and catchers were to report to dodger camp last thursday. that is always a time to look forward to as baseball fans, as it is a sign that a new season is upon us. this year, there are some old faces in new places, like kenley jansen

who will go for 500 saves (he only needs 24 more) with the tigers. that's a 2021 topps green foil parallel, if you were wondering.

this is a 2022 topps update orange foil parallel of dustin may

which looks red when scanned and would be fitting, as he signed with the cardinals after finishing last season with the red sox.

kirby yates, shown on a 2025 topps series 2 holiday "base" parallel,

will now toil for the angels, and i hope their fan base is ready. seriously though, i hope yates is able to bounce back from what was a tough year for him.

he's not a pitcher, but old friend gavin lux (seen here on a 2020 topps choice black parallel insert numbered to 299)

was traded by the reds after one season to the rays

i recently added a 2016 topps update kenta maeda card

to my "name/number on the back" collection. the former dodger/twin/tiger has left major league baseball to return to japan in 2026, signing with npb's rakuten eagles.

in addition to those fellows, there are some free agents who have yet to sign....

walker buehler, seen here on a 2024 topps rainbow foil parallel

split last season between the red sox and the phillies. i've seen his name mentioned in rumors related to the phillies and padres. i'd like to see buehler back with the dodgers, but i don't think that will happen. 

[edit - shortly after this post went live, it was announced that buehler signed a minor league deal with the padres] 

another former dodger that i wouldn't mind to see return is max scherzer

i scanned his 2021 topps future stars club card with trea turner's and decided not to separate them even though turner has no place in this post. scherzer, on the other hand, is a free agent after pitching for the american league champion blue jays last year.

tony gonsolin, whose 2024 topps heritage white border parallel

i added to my collection a while back, hasn't signed anywhere, either. he was dfa'd by the dodgers and went unclaimed in november, resulting in him choosing free agency. he is going to miss most of 2026 as i understand it, so i wouldn't think he would be signed until later this year as his recovery from surgery continues.

michael kopech

with his 2024 topps chrome update refractor cards is also still a free agent. when healthy, he is a dominant bullpen arm so i figure he will sign somewhere soon, but most likely not with the dodgers.

the dodgers did re-sign evan phillips last week

but i'll go ahead and show his 2024 topps rainbow foil parallel anyway. he was moved to the 60-day injured list, which opened up a spot for the dodgers to re-sign kiké hernandez! the fan favorite returns, and i will mark the occasion by showing three of his 2025 topps parallels

those are the series 2 holiday "base", rainbow foil, and sandglitter parallels. the club also extended max muncy's contract, which allows me to show this 2021 panini mosaic blue camo prizm parallel

this post has gone off the rails from what i had initially intended it to be, so i will try to get back on track by noting that anthony banda (not pictured) is now a twin, and austin barnes (also not pictured) signed a minor league deal with the mets.

i was a bit surprised to read that chris taylor 

was re-signed by the angels (that's a 2023 topps orange foil parallel). he was injured for the latter half of last season, but hadn't done much with the halos prior to that. i'm happy for him, as i will always appreciate the big hits and catch that he had for the dodgers in the postseason.

cody bellinger returned to the yankees, so he's not in a new team situation either, but i have a bunch of his cards in my scanned/unposted folder, so here's a 2020 topps mini 1985 insert

of the 2019 national league mvp

as for the dodgers and new faces, they made a couple of big splashes in free agency over the winter, and are welcoming edwin diaz

and kyle tucker

to the fold. they've traded in their blue pinstripes for ice white jerseys. and, late last week, they inked keston hiura

to a minor league deal. zot! 

i'm looking forward to the new season and new cards.

diamond priority

keeping with my renewed focus on team set completion, i spent some time earlier this year revisiting a set that sat unfinished for 14 years. back in 2011, topps issued some new parallels to their flagship set to celebrate their diamond anniversary, and the diamond parallels were pretty sharp in my opinion. 

as of the first of the year, i was only missing those parallels of the "legends" variations - in the case of the dodgers, that meant the typical brooklyn era hall of famers and one los angeles dodger goat. without further ado, these are the parallels that completed my 2011 topps (series 1, 2, and update) diamond anniversary parallel team set:

jackie robinson

roy campanella

duke snider

sandy koufax

and pee wee reese

koufax also had a legends variation in update, but i had the diamond parallel already.

with that set out of the way, i also decided to complete the cognac parallels. 

pee wee reese

and jackie robinson

were two of the bigger cards i needed, but i also went and tracked down some lesser remembered dodgers like vicente padilla

cards like his are sometimes tougher to find than the big names, but in this case i didn't have much difficulty at all. here are the other cards i needed to complete the team set:

hong-chih kuo

chad billingsley

casey blake

ivan dejesus jr

kenley jansen

and sandy koufax

in this instance, i also needed koufax's card from update

pov when the mailman delivers a card i need to complete a team parallel set!

i am not sure if i will work to complete any of the current slate of parallels in team set form, but i have enjoyed knocking out some of these from the 2010's, so who know.

some things were not so different five years ago

after having a saved search for a couple of months, i purchased a 2019 topps dodgers factory team set to complete my run from 2006 - 2024 (no sets in 2021). after receiving it, i sort of recalled why i didn't bother picking it up in real time - the cards are all the same save for the logo placement on some of them. let's take a look anyway, shall we?

here's the back of clayton kershaw's card

with the changed numbering and set affiliation.

flagship is on the left, team set on the right.

ld-1 clayton kershaw

complete with the open fly.

ld-2 cody bellinger

ld-3 walker buehler

ld-4 justin turner

ld-5 pedro baez

ld-6 max muncy

ld-7 corey seager

ld-8 enrique hernandez

ld-9 rich hill

ld-10 ross stripling

ld-11 kenta maeda

ld-12 joc pederson

ld-13 chris taylor

ld-14 julio urias

ld-15 david freese

ld-16 kenley jansen

ld-17 austin barnes

some decent photo choices by topps, but i would have liked some variety between the two sets. i think i remember why i didn't bother with this set in 2019.

if you are interested, here's the running list of these posts. 2016 and 2018 are still partial set posts, and i doubt that i will ever go back and complete them. remember that there was no team set issued in 2021. otherwise, click and enjoy!

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

2017
2018

2020

2022

2023

2024