through with blue

in my last post, i mentioned some cards were included in my comc order that would show up in other posts. this is one of those posts.

i decided at some point while building my shopping cart grab parallels from 2013 topps update. the post yesterday showed the target red parallels i bought, and here are the four walmart blue parallels that were in the order

scott van slyke, juan uribe, brian wilson, and one of three yasiel puig cards from the set. these four cards left me five from completing the team set, and i was able to find the others pretty easily.

ronald belisario

yasiel puig

yasiel puig

hyun-jin ryu

and jose dominguez

completing the update parallel set means that i now have all of the 2013 dodgers' walmart blue parallels, as i had completed the flagship series 1 and 2 team sets a while ago. this feat goes well with my full run of the dodger emerald parallels from 2013. the 2013 flagship design offers up ample border space to fill with color, and i suppose that is one of the main reasons that i've been interested in picking up these parallels over the last 13 years.

i will probably turn a focus to the six remaining target red parallels i need from update so that i can match the target parallels to the emerald and walmart ones, as i have already completed the series 1 and 2 team set in red border form. after that, it's likely that i take a run at the gold parallels (it certainly won't be the seemingly scarce toys 'r us purple borders). 

i am 15 cards away when it comes to the gold borders, with this series 2 hanley ramirez

and this update yasiel puig

being my most recent pickups. will i get it done? probably? it helps to focus, and i am trying to do that more and more when it comes to team collecting. stay tuned!

the k is for kershaw kountdown continues - rain delay interruptus edition!

clayton kershaw made his second appearance of the 2025 season last friday night at citi field against the mets. he was coming off a rusty debut performance against the angels, and i was looking forward to seeing him make this start, presumably without any jitters that he might have been feeling in his debut. there was a significant rain delay early on, but the game resumed and was completed so i am pleased to be able to post another edition of the k is for kershaw kountdown as we track his progress to the 3,000 strikeout milestone.

kershaw pitched just two innings before the rain came, striking out one for his third k of the season. that strikeout raised his career strikeout total to 2,971. 

in honor of his performance, here is a card (technically) not seen on this blog before cards from my collection to represent strikeout number 2,971.

2,971 - 2009 upper deck spectrum red #/250

i said that this card has technically not been seen on this blog before because this particular card is actually an upgrade for me. i received the card initially from sluggo, but it was damaged by the post office during delivery. i wound up sending that card to fuji because of his affinity for leftys and his damaged card pc after i acquired this version.

kershaw's strikeout came against brandon nimmo, who was caught looking for the second out of the second inning. in his two innings of work, kershaw gave up no runs while facing the minimum six batters, with a walk erased by a double play. 

here's a non-kershaw card - it's manny ramirez's red parallel from 2009 ud spectrum

i may have purchased these two cards together. i am still missing the russell martin and greg maddux red parallels from my team set, however.

kershaw remains in 21st place on the all-time leader board, and he will remain there until he passes zack greinke. greinke has a career strikeout total of 2,979, and so kershaw is now 8 k's behind greinke and 29 away from the 3,000 milestone. 

kershaw should be back on the mound to close out the road trip in cleveland next wednesday. know that when he makes his next start, i will be back to update the kountdown soon thereafter. stay tuned!

the '90s are here

last season, the dodgers had more players wearing numbers from the 90's than in any other year. kevin kiermaier flipped his usual 39 (retired by the dodgers for roy campanella) and wore 93 during his stint with the team. here he is on a 2024 topps chrome update prism refractor

short-timer dinelson lamet wore 94 during his stint with the dodgers. he pitched in three games and was featured in 2024 topps update

his three dodger appearances plus a topps card matches fellow 90's numbered dodger onelki garcia, but is still more than zach lee and bruce brubaker.

and then there is landon knack, who wore 96 for the dodgers last season.

that is a 2024 topps chrome update aqua & blue lava lamp refractor, by the way.

not pictured are michael peterson (i was really hoping to see a dodger card of the brit) who wore 90, and joe kelly who turned to number 99 when he vacated 17 for shohei ohtani, but hasn't had any cards released with his new, higher number.

99 was first pioneered for the dodgers by manny ramirez, seen here on a 2010 bowman chrome refractor card

and was also worn by hyun-jin ryu, who is featured on this 2014 topps tribute forever young relics orange parallel

i remember it sort of being a big deal when joe beimel became the first dodger to wear a number from the 90's in 2006. these days, it's just another series of numbers.

the almost daily dodger - manny ramirez

i could not get enough of manny ramirez back in 2008 after he joined the dodgers. he absolutely raked, including hitting four home runs in the postseason while going 13 for 25 with 11 walks in the nlds and nlcs combined.

here are a couple of numbered cards of ramirez from 2009 - topps triple threads

and upper deck ballpark collection

that i've picked up sometime in the last year or so.

we can look back on what he did through a different lens these days, but i will never forget - or regret - that 2008 run. it was so much fun to follow and watch and i believe that any dodger fan who tells you differently is operating under a revisionist approach to history.

the new team titans

i've posted previously, including an april fool's day post, that i used to read comic books. i particularly read dc releases, although there were a couple of marvel runs that appealed to me. the primary title in my collection was "the new teen titans". our lcs was also a comic book shop, and so we would make weekly pilgramages to pick up comics (with bags and boards, of course) as well as back issues we were missing.

anyway, seeing the 2023 topps chrome "titans" inserts featuring clayton kershaw

and mookie betts (his is from chrome update)

got me thinking about a dodger superhero squad.

first, kudos to topps for using two different views of dodger stadium on these two cards! the betts card, especially. it looks to me like the photo was taken from inside elysian park - perhaps at the helipad. i have doubles of each of those titans cards in my dodger stadium collection.

on to the lineup!

clayton kershaw (2021 topps platinum players insert)

kershaw's most prevalent nickname, as far as i know, is "kersh". according to baseball reference, another nickname for him is "the minotaur". for this group, perhaps he is "the platinum player". or i suppose he could keep "minotaur". that works, too. although his superpower would be along the lines of throwing weapons, so maybe minotaur doesn't make sense after all. 

russell martin (2008 bowman blue parallel)

martin brings an alpha flight element to the team, because, you know, he's canadian. the captain canuck moniker is taken, however. given that he is the field general (think nightwing) here, maybe he's just "dodger" for this squad.

nomar garciaparra (2008 ud premier)

nomar is our first baseman. he unlocks his super power by proceeding through a set series of movements with his hands and feet. once he has checked and re-checked his batting gloves - look out! he's at full power! oh - he goes by "nomah".

max muncy (2019 bowman holiday)

i will take a moment to note that this is a pretty nice card that i've also added to my dodger stadium collection. i really enjoy seeing the unocal/union 76 logo on cards! anyway, muncy is, i guess, just "munce". he has super strength, but poor contact skills, so it's hit or miss as far as his ability to get the bad guy.

justin turner (2020 panini absolute unsung heroes)

what an appropriate card for the post. turner's alter ego would be "redturn". his backstory would be similar to that of jason todd/the red hood, even though i don't care for that sort of revisionist story telling.

pee wee reese (2012 panini golden age mini parallel)

obviously, his alter ego is "pee wee". he would be the guy who was a sidekick but is trying to show his worth on his own. he would also provide the comedy relief, sort of like gar/beast boy/changeling in the ntt.

manny ramirez (2010 topps opening day blue parallel)

ramirez, known as "manny" just does "manny" things. like mash.

matt kemp (2013 panini father's day team pinnacle)

known as "the bison", kemp wouldn't necessarily appropriate other cultures, but his oklahoma roots would result in some sort of native american traditions that he would apply in a shaman-esque manner.

mookie betts (2021 panini donruss livestream insert rapture parallel)

betts is fast, so he's the speed guy in this ensemble. and, mookie is as good a name as anything.

yasiel puig (2013 topps chrome)

if kemp is "the bison", then puig is the "wild horse". he would be the newcomer to the team that is prone to wanting to do things his way to the detriment of the team. he's the guy that the villain would take hostage, thanks to his overzealousness.

kenley jansen (2021 topps significant statistics)

jansen's ability is in evading attackers. they only get a 14% hard hit rate on him, so he can duke it out with most villains. nicknamed "kenleyfornia", he's also the fish out of water of the group.

there are so many possibilities. and then there are other groups that this squad could team up with in crossover fashion. what about team tomorrow?

and the z team?

i'd read those books!

not as advertised

we may well see the 2023 baseball season come to a close tonight if the rangers can win another road game. seeing corey seager continue his strong play in the postseason makes me a bit wistful for what might have been if he had decided to remain with the dodgers, especially given the diametrically opposed results for the two teams this season.

first up here is a 2011 topps heritage advertising panel that i picked up recently

with the back 

that has nothing to do with the front as you would expect from an ad panel. i show it only because it sort of fits with the title - the dodgers weren't as advertised once the postseason began.

the dodgers won the west (again), just like they did back in 2013 - a title which warranted a mural on the outfield wall that showed up on yasiel puig's 2014 topps photo variation card

before the dodgers went full advertising on the outfield wall.

i picked up a couple more variations from 2014 topps featuring hyun-jin ryu and hanley ramirez

celebrating in ways that i was hoping to see more of this year.

i was hoping to see another pennant which would have made this 2023 panini donruss duke snider card

much more relevant.

same for these 2017 topps update sandy koufax cards - heroes of autumn

and storied world series

that could have been used to draw a parallel to the performance of some other postseason participant wearing the dodger uniform.

finally, i was hoping that this 2022 topps stadium club clayton kershaw trophy hunters card

would have stood in for a different trophy that the dodgers would have hoisted.

back to "wait 'til next year" i guess. in the meantime, i can live vicariously through old friends nathan eovaldi

and corey seager.

what the heck, i may as well give the guy his due and recognize him as a ranger

he may well win his second world series mvp trophy tonight!

something about wolves and sheep and clothing

actually, the biblical reference to false prophets is not the right allusion for this post. this is more about masqueraders. you all know how much i treasure the o-pee-chee team variations, and i enjoy finding other similar type cards to add to my dodger collection.

case in point, i discovered while entering my dodger collection on tcdb that i was missing a card from my checklist of dodgers included in the 1986 true value super stars set - bill madlock's card:

once i saw that it was, in fact, a dodger card, i couldn't obtain it quickly enough. he is clearly a pirate, but also a dodger.

similarly, eric davis' 1992 topps kids card

uses the old o-pee-chee "now with" angle. eric the red dodger!

this 1994 donruss triple play delino deshields card

is decidedly more "dodger-y", thanks to the logo being front and center on the card, but it is also overwhelmingly "expo-y".

manuel barrios became a dodger thanks to the mike piazza trade, and donruss was able to get some text on his 1998 donruss card to reflect that status

barrios pitched in one game for the dodgers before he was dfa'd and claimed by the marlins. i seem to recall that interim gm tommy lasorda may have taken some heat for barrios' departure (on a procedural level) but barrios never pitched in the big leagues again, so no harm no foul.

kevin brown is all padre on the front of this 1999 upper deck ovation card

but i assure you that on the back, there is a nice looking dodgers logo. just like the one on the front of this 2007 upper deck first edition juan pierre leading off insert

fun juan pierre trivia - he played in 821 consecutive games (a streak that ended during his dodger tenure) which is in the top ten all-time, except in one of those games he appeared only as a pinch runner so i guess mlb says it doesn't count and instead he has two streaks of 386 and 434 consecutive games played. doesn't make sense to me - he played in the game so it should count.

here's one where upper deck tried to make a card more of a dodger card than it really is

that's a 1998 upper deck collector's choice starquest insert of eddie murray, who was back for his second stint in la. he is wearing an indians or orioles uniform however, although the name and number on the back have been colorized to blue.

i also include cards of "outbound" dodgers in my dodger collection such as this 1998 donruss todd zeile card

which is a perfect companion to the barrios card above.

and then there is this 2005 donrus throwback threads card of hideo nomo

who is officially listed as a tampa bay devil ray.

here's another one - a 2006 fleer flair showcase wave of the future card of cody ross

who is a dodger playing in cincinnati.

i also recently picked up this card from 2009 upper deck a piece of history for the collection

it shows manny ramirez as all dodger, while matt holliday is straddling the line between colorado rockie and oakland athletic.

there are other cards that are quite sneaky and escape my knowledge for decades before i become aware of their dodgerness, like this 1971 dell todays ted sizemore

definitely a dodger on the front

but a cardinal on the back. the dodger album features al downing as a brewer as far as the photo goes, but dick allen is shown in a dodger uniform so i just assumed that sizemore would have been shown wearing the cardinal get up. i was wrong and just happened to stumble upon an image of this item a couple of months ago.

speaking of allen, he was included in the 1971 kellogg's set

while sizemore was not. in this set, allen is still a cardinal until you turn the card over!

that's a dodger card for sure.