a tale of one team

with the dodgers' postseason kicking off this weekend, i figured it was time to revisit their 2020 championship club and a couple of sets that i've purchased in the last few months. first, i had received a single card from their 2020 topps total set courtesy of brian, and that got me thinking that i should put my money where my mouth is when it comes to my appreciation of topps total sets. this one was a bit different as it was an online release that came in waves, but some kind soul was selling a dodger team set on ebay and i bit.

second, i had found a single card from the 2020 topps x ben baller 2020 world series champions set at one of the local card shops and it also got me thinking about buying a complete set of this online only release. it was pretty easy to find for a decent price so long as i didn't want the autograph card that came with each box (spoiler alert - i didn't).

so, having these sets in hand, i decided to compare the players included. there are 31 cards in the total set and 32 in the ben baller set, with 26 players in both sets. i'll show them first - total on the left, ben baller on the right.

pedro baez

austin barnes

matt beaty

cody bellinger

mookie betts

walker buehler

tony gonsolin

brusdar graterol

kiké hernandez

kenley jansen

joe kelly

clayton kershaw

adam kolarek

dustin may

jake mcgee

max muncy

joc pederson

a.j. pollock

edwin rios

corey seager

will smith

chris taylor

blake treinen

justin turner

julio urias

alex wood

of those 26, 13 are still with the team (including urias) but that includes kelly and hernandez who left and returned via trade. of those 12, only a handful are actually healthy enough to be on the postseason roster this year. i should also note that kolarek returned to the dodgers in 2023 but was traded to the mets during the season.

only two of the players who were included in just one of the sets is still with the club, and one is gavin lux who was featured in the total set

he wasn't on the world series roster back in 2020, and he won't be on the postseason roster this year as he's recovering from an acl tear suffered during spring training.

the other player still with the club is jimmy nelson

who missed 2020 but pitched in 28 games for the dodgers in 2021. he has re-signed with the dodgers each year since then, but has been injured for the duration.

the players who only appeared in one set that are no longer with the club include david price 

who sat out the 2020 season, josh sborz

who was not on the dodgers' 2020 postseason roster and is now with the rangers, ross stripling 

who was traded to the blue jays during the 2020 season and now pitches for the giants, and dylan floro

who the dodgers traded to the marlins prior to the 2021 season and was most recently released by the twins last week.

the ben baller set also included some dodger legends for some reason, including jackie robinson

who never played in los angeles. maybe he was included to represent the franchise's 1955 championship, but that could also be represented by duke snider

who is also shown as a brooklyn dodger even though he played in la through 1961.

sandy koufax 

was part of the los angeles dodgers' first three world series titles in 1959, 1963, and 1965 

and tommy lasorda 

managed the club to their next two titles in 1981 and 1988.

the biggest head scratcher is the inclusion of don sutton

i am a big fan, but he (unfortunately) never won a world series with the dodgers or anyone else. he did pitch for the team in the 1974, 1977, and 1978 fall classics (along with an appearance as a brewer in 1982) but i don't get why he is in the set instead of, say, fernando valenzuela or orel hershiser.

as you would expect from topps, the backs of the ben baller cards are fairly nondescript

that only differs in the player name and position.

the total backs aren't much better, especially when you compare the kershaw to the price

some player specific text, but it looks like topps forgot to edit the second paragraph on price's card to make this a 2020 card instead of 2019.

i haven't bit on any 2023 postseason sets yet, but i hope i have good reason to in about a month's time!

the k is for kershaw kountdown continues - regular season wrap up edition

yes, the kountdown to 3,000 strikeouts for clayton kershaw continues as he took the mound against the giants on saturday night in san francisco. he struck out 5 batters to give him 137 strikeouts for the 2023 season. those 5 giants that he k'd increased his career total to 2,944.

in honor of his performance, here are 5 cards from my collection to represent strikeouts 2,940 through 2,944.

2,940 - 2015 topps gallery of greats

2,941 - 2016 topps chrome refractor

2,942 - 2017 topps chrome prism refractor

2,943 - 2017 topps finest refractor

2,944 - 2018 topps update 2017 postseason logo manufactured patch

i figured that last card was appropriate as kershaw's next appearance will come in the nlds against the diamondbacks or brewers.

kershaw remains in 21st place on the all-time leader board, and he will remain there until he passes zack greinke. greinke, who struck out 5 tigers last tuesday and 2 yankees on the last day of the season, has a career strikeout total of 2,979. kershaw is now 35 k's behind greinke and 56 away from the 3,000 milestone. 

kershaw pitched five and a third innings against the giants in his final start of the regular season. he finishes the year with those 137 strikeouts to go along with 13 wins and a 2.46 era in 24 starts.

so now it is on to the postseason and then it will be time to find out whether or not kershaw (and greinke, for that matter) will continue his career in 2024. remember, no pitcher has ever had more than 2,855 strikeouts and not gone on to reach the 3,000 milestone, and i hope that neither kershaw nor greinke become the first. if and when kershaw makes his next regular season appearance, know that i will be back to update the kountdown soon thereafter. stay tuned!

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!