sarge pricing was not bad at all

i have on ongoing trading partner in sluggo, and every six months or so we exchange boxes of dodger cards for brave cards. as such i am always on the hunt for braves inserts, parallels, and hits at shows to add to the outgoing trade stack.

i came across this 2018 topps archives gary matthews fan favorites autograph card

just after i sent my most recent package to kevin. matthews, aka sarge, has an interesting signature to say the least. anyway, the price was good and when i looked more closely at the card i will admit i thought about keeping it. in a job well done by topps, matthews is shown with the 1979 topps design in a photo from the 1979 season when the braves wore a black armband for team executive bill lucas. i already had a matthews card representing the armband in my collection, however, so the auto will be on its way to sluggo next time i package up some cards. 

my return package from kevin is on its way, but i realized i have been slow to share the goodies from his most recent mailings. i'll try to do that over the next few weeks to do it justice, but in the meantime here are a couple of cards i've received:

2016 bowman inception corey seager auto-relic

and 2018 topps archives signature series joc pederson auto

solid stuff all around. thanks kevin!

the almost daily dodger - jose offerman

before dave roberts and after maury wills, jose offerman wore number 30 for the dodgers. of course, there were lots of other guys between wills and roberts, like derrel thomas and wilton guerrero. thomas, in fact, was the first dodger player to wear the number after wills, which leads me to think maybe the dodgers were thinking that wills had a shot at the hall of fame. anyway, i am getting way off topic.

i've added a couple of offerman parallels to my collection, and they've sat in my scanned folder just waiting for one of these "almost daily dodger posts" so here we go.

1994 upper deck collector's choice silver signature parallel

this is one of the craziest baseball cards out there in terms of three stooges scenarios. offerman, jody reed, and a met meet at second base. chaos ensues. nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

1992 leaf black gold parallel

this was the second to last card i needed for my team set, and i think i added ramon martinez to one of the orders sitting in my sportlots box at the moment. i like that offerman is shown bunting for a hit, as he was supposed to always be trying to put the ball on the ground. it was quite possibly a disservice to him and his career when he hit a home run off of dennis martinez in his first big league at bat, although he did put together some pretty decent offensive seasons in terms of batting average.

both cards give a glimpse of the number 30, which may well wind up retired by the franchise if roberts keeps his job and the dodgers win at least one more championship. maybe then they will pull a dual retirement and include wills, just like the cubs did with greg maddux and fergie jenkins.

color me back

when i posted the 2023 panini donruss duke snider cards the other day, i was reminded about another recent case where i had a parallel in hand well before i landed the base card. the card i am referring to is eric gagne's 2006 topps bazooka card, which i had in gold chunk parallel form

months before i picked up the base version. i actually added the base to my most wanted list, and wound up with two copies so i could put one in my names/numbers on the back collection. i was a fan of the no names on the backs of jerseys in the early 2000's, by the way.

putting this card away with the others, i noticed that topps took the time to color match the backs. here's derek lowe's gold chunk card

and the back

definitely a gold parallel all around.

here's hong-chih kuo's blue parallel

which is also blue all over the back

now here's gagne's base card with white borders

but a gray back

so close!

send in the crowd

space is at a premium on gary sheffield's 1998 upper deck ud3 card

which is actually the third of three different sheffield cards in the base set.

the photo used comes from camera day, which featured a pregame opportunity to get on the field at dodger stadium and take photos of players as they wandered by. i've been to this event a couple of times, although i don't believe it is still a thing.

it's nice to see matt luke, the kttv microphone, and the handheld tv camera in addition to the pavilion roof and the throngs of dodger fans. and speaking of throngs of people, i have found myself in texas this weekend and will be hitting up a card show. i am hoping to find lots of dodger cards in the bargain bins!

my retired number collection - 29

this is the 29th post in a series that shares the cards i have in my retired number mini-collection. you can find the links to the previous posts down at the bottom of this post. if you're eager to learn more right now, you can check out the full list of retired numbers along with what this collection will entail over at my want list site.

without further ado, here are the three people for whom number 29 has been retired:

rod carew (retired by the angels in 1986) 1983 topps

following the 1978 season, reigning back-to-back american league batting champ rod carew was dealt to the angels for, among others, future dodgers ken landreaux and brad havens. he spent seven seasons with the club, hitting .314 during that time and remaining a popular and high performing player, as his six all-star nods as an angel attest. he had three top-five finishes in the american league batting title race while playing in anaheim, and hit as high as .331 in 1980. even though carew was the american league's starter at first base in the 1983 and 1984 all-star games, his 1983 topps all-star subset card which serves as carew's angel card in this collection was the last one he received, with eddie murray getting the cardboard in both 1984 and 1985.

while with the angels, carew passed the 3,000 hit milestone and cemented his place in cooperstown and, i think, effectively ending his time with the angels. with that milestone out of the way near the end of the 1985 season, the angels were able to enjoy the attention that comes with a chase for 3,000 hits and still let him walk as a free agent at the end of the season, which they did. even though carew last played in 1985, he had hoped to continue playing but had no takers after becoming a free agent and so ultimately formally retired during the 1986 season.  as an aside, i recall hoping the dodgers would sign him, but they were committed to greg brock at the time.

just like in minnesota, carew was the last angel to wear number 29, and the angels formally retired the number on august 12, 1986 (per this upi article) shortly after his formal retirement announcement. this was largely seen as a pr move by the angels, but carew did have a good relationship with the owner, gene autry. autry at the time was the only other person for whom the angels had retired a number, making carew the first player to be so honored.

rod carew (retired by the twins in 1987) 1979 topps

carew was a twin for the first 12 years of his career, and he was an all-star in each of those seasons. he was the 1967 american league rookie of the year, and a seven time league batting champion. he hit .388 for the twins in 1977, which was the highest average among eligible batters since ted williams hit .406 in 1941. as a result of his performance that season, carew was named the league's most valuable player.

carew's tenure with the twins ended after the 1978 season (when he hit .333 to claim his sixth batting title) due to a rift in his relationship with club owner calvin griffith who had given an offensive and bigoted speech during the offseason which in turn prompted carew's request for a trade. even though carew was not a twin for as long as players like harmon killebrew (who was the only twin to have his number retired before carew) or joe mauer, he is the top position player on the franchise's all-time war leader board.  he also ranks highly in most offensive categories among non-washington senator players.

the twins retired carew's number on july 19, 1987, although they had kept it out of circulation since his departure after the 1978 season meaning he was fittingly the last twin to wear the number. his 1979 topps card is one of my favorite carew cards (behind only the 1978 topps and 1978 o-pee-chee cards), so i am happy to include it in this collection to represent carew's greatness with the twins.

john smoltz (retired by the braves in 2012) 1993 upper deck sp

smoltz spent all but one year (the last) of his 21 year career with the braves, piling up 210 wins, 154 saves, and 3011 strikeouts for atlanta. he won the 1996 national league cy young award as a starter, and later finished third in the cy young voting in 2002 in his first full year as a closer. smoltz spent two more years as the braves' closer before returning to starting, and wound up leading the league in wins and starts in 2006.

smoltz was the 1992 nlcs mvp, and pitched well in the 1992, 1996 and 1991 world series fot the braves. he was a member of the 1995 world championship team, although his pitching line in that series was not the best. overall, smoltz is the franchise's all-time leader in strikeouts. he is fourth in wins, second in saves, and fourth in war for pitchers (behind hall of famers kid nichols, warren spahn, and phil niekro).

the braves retired smoltz's number on june 8, 2012 as part of his induction into the franchise's hall of fame. three years later, in 2015, smoltz was voted into the national baseball hall of fame. he was the last brave to wear the number, which is shown almost in its entirety on his 1993 upper deck sp card.

adrian beltre (retired by the rangers in 2019) 2012 topps

beltre spent the last 8 years of his career with the rangers, earning three gold gloves and three silver sluggers in that time. he retired as the franchise's third best player in terms of war, which is an indication of his overall value on the field for a club that has had some solid long term players during the course of its history.

beltre retired following the 2018 season, and the rangers retired his number on june 8, 2019 so as to be able to hold the ceremony in globe life stadium where beltre spent his time with the club. he was the last ranger to wear 29, and i think the 2012 topps card above is a good one for this collection. beltre will be inducted into the hall of fame this summer as a first ballot inductee.

i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.

retired numbers by team (through the 29 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 42

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 42

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 42

guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 42, 455

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 26, 27, 42

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20, 42

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 23, 24, 42, 85

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 24, 42

braves - 3, 6, 10, 21, 25, 42

astros - 5, 7, 24, 25, 42

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18, 24, 42

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22, 42

dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20, 24, 42

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, 28, 42

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 42, 72

brewers - 1, 4, 19, 42

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16, 23, 42

cubs - 10, 14, 23, 26, 42

royals - 5, 10, 20, 42

padres - 6, 19, 42

athletics - 9, 24, 27, 42

angels - 11, 26, 42

expos - 8, 10, 42

rangers - 7, 10, 26, 42

major league baseball - 42

rays - 12, 42, 66

diamondbacks - 20, 42

blue jays - 42

rockies - 17, 42

mariners - 11, 24, 42

nationals - 11, 42

marlins - 42

retired number frequency:

1 - retired by 9 teams

2 - retired by 5 teams

3 - retired by 7 teams

4 - retired by 8 teams

5 - retired by 7 teams

6 - retired by 7 teams

7 - retired by 4 teams

8 - retired by 6 teams (retired by yankees for two players)

9 - retired by 6 teams

10 - retired by 9 teams (retired by expos for two players)

11 - retired by 8 teams

12 - retired by 1 team

13 - retired by 1 team

14 - retired by 10 teams (retired by mets and dodgers for same person)

15 - retired by 2 teams

16 - retired by 4 teams

17 - retired by 3 teams

18 - retired by 3 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024) 

19 - retired by 5 teams

20 - retired by 11 teams (retired by orioles, reds, and guardians for same person)

21 - retired by 4 teams

22 - retired by 2 teams

23 - retired by 4 teams

24 - retired by 8 teams (retired by giants and mets for same person)

25 - retired by 4 teams

26 - retired by 4 teams

27 - retired by 3 teams

28 - retired by 1 team

29 - retired by 4 teams (retired by twins and angels for same person)

42 - retired by 30 teams (retired by cardinals and yankees for individuals in addition to jackie robinson)

66 - retired by 1 team

72 - retired by 1 team

85 - retired by 1 team

455 - retired by 1 team

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 122

running total of non-hall of famers: 44

the almost daily dodger - todd hollandsworth

i recently added a 1995 select certified todd hollandsworth card to a sportlots order. it was the last card i needed to complete my dodger team set, and it looks like this:

that is actually the second 1995 select certified todd hollandsworth that the seller sent to me, because the first one looked like this:

i am not sure how you even put that one in the envelope. for 20 cents maybe i didn't need to ask for a refund (i didn't realize that the guy had another card, which makes me wonder even more why he pulled and sent the messed up card instead of the good one in the first place), but what i got at first wasn't close to acceptable filler material, even for a mid 1990's throwaway team set.

to the seller's credit, he spent more making it right than he needed to, as he could have just refunded me rather than slap another stamp on an envelope and send a second card out. 

trevor hoffman is in my hall of famer collection

i failed to get a post up this past weekend about the semi-annual show i went to recently at the st. paul rivercentre, but i will share today that i picked up an autograph card of trevor hofffman at the show to add him to my hall of famer collection:

that is a 2024 topps chrome black base autograph card. here is the back:

no bells or whistles on this puppy, that's for sure.

i had looked at hoffman autos in the past, but never pulled the trigger. i got this one from a seller who had it in a dollar (unless marked) box. the sticker on the back said $5 but i wound up with $40 worth of cards that he charged me $35 for, so you might say this was a freebee.

at the time of hoffman's retirement following the 2010 season, he was baseball's all-time leader in saves with 601 to his credit. mariano rivera passed him the following year, but he is still number 2 on the all-time list with kenley jansen the closest active pitcher to him, and he is 176 saves as of may 1, 2024 behind.

hoffman spent the vast majority of his career with the padres, and that is how i wanted him to be represented in this collection. he also pitched for the marlins to start his career and the brewers to end it, and for a while it seemed like the new hoffman autos hitting the secondary market were late career brewers cards. 

the main reason i was only going to go with a padres card is that i saw trevor hoffman pitch in person just twice. the first time was september 16, 1998 and the dodgers were playing the padres in san diego. heading into the 9th, the padres had a seven run lead, so it was definitely not a spot where i expected to hear hell's bells and see hoffman. the dodgers rallied, however, to close the gap to four runs, and with two on and two out, hoffman was summoned from the bullpen. he struck out jim eisenreich to end the game and earn career save number 156. i also saw him pick up a more traditional save on may 27, 2002 against the rockies (and their trio of todds - helton, zeile, and hollandsworth) in san diego when he set down terry shumpert, juan pierre, and juan uribe in order in the top of the 9th to complete the pads' 8-5 victory.  

hoffman made it into the hall of fame in 2018, his third year on the ballot. as a reminder, you can see hoffman and the other members of my hall of famer collection here!