i guess i missed the dog days of summer

it's state fair time in minnesota, which means food on a stick and hot and muggy weather. these are not the "dog days of summer" however, as that refers to a period from late july to mid august when the sun is in alignment with the sirius constellation. i did not know that. anyway, i have a card with a dog on it to show off:

that is a 2010 natural balance promo with tillman, the world's fastest skateboarding dog! it's in my collection because tillman is sharing space with steve garvey, who signed this copy. here's the back:

after topps 86'd the bark in the park card(s) from 2018 big league, i've been missing canines on cards. this one works nicely. i didn't know anything about the card or the pet food advertised (that would be 

natural balance pet food founded by dick van patten aka mr. bradford!) until i saw the card offered for sale on ebay several months ago.  i then learned that mrmopar posted about it seven years ago.  there is lots of good background info on the promotional events held during the 2010 season here including a photo that shows stacks of the promo cards waiting to be signed by the garv. quite a unique item for the pc!

take me out to the ballparks

i've never been a season ticket holder in baseball, although i have been part of a season ticket group with some friends for both the mighty ducks of anaheim (during their inaugural season) and the minnesota wild (ditto) of the nhl.  however, i did have a co-worker who was a long-time twins season ticket holder, and i bought in to his group a couple of times in the late 1990's and early 2000's. even without season tickets, i made my way to the ballpark a fair amount of times each season. or so i thought.

i went back and looked and was surprised to find that i only attended two games in 2017, two in 2018, and three in 2019. interestingly enough, both games in 2017 were at new-to-me stadiums, as were two of the three in 2019. i assure you, i am not tired of target field. things just get busy and i didn't make much time to get to the local ballpark those years (although i did see three games there during this timeframe). 

anyway, this is going to be a post to document my visits to those three new-to-me stadiums, along with the cards i have in my collection representing them.

on july 31, 2017, i went to a game at the oakland-alameda county coliseum (aka a bunch of other names over the years). they were facing the giants that night, which was great because the crowd was in to the game from the get go. unfortunately, we were a little frazzled from our drive up the coast and i didn't really take any photos. i have this 2019 topps card in my collection

and this digital ticket stub

to remember the game by.

the other new stadium i attended in 2017 was nationals park, which i first wrote about here.

in 2019, i was in cincinnati for work in early april and walked over to great american ballpark to see the marlins take on the reds. here's the card representing that stadium in my collection:

i like the fact that this card was issued the same year that i visited the stadium. for some reason, the a's ticket is still in my digital wallet, but the nationals ticket was not when i went looking for it a couple of years ago. by that time, the reds stub was degraded into this:

at least it's something. i took a bunch of photos that evening, including this crappy one of the pete rose statue out in front of the ballpark:

matt kemp was playing, but yasiel puig (remember him?) was suspended.  kemp wound up hitting his only home run as a red that night, which was cool to witness. i splurged on a good seat, and had a great view of kemp doing his pregame stretches

here's the first pitch from luis castillo:

you can see pete rose's retired number 14 at the very left edge of the photo. i realized after the game that i had failed to get a photo of the full run of retired numbers, unfortunately.

here's kemp after his third inning single

and this one is from after he went yard

i was too busy standing and applauding to take photos of the actual event. the reds won 14-0, and it was such an offensive barrage - they hit five homers as a team that night - that i was certain there would be a topps now card offered the next day. unfortunately, there was not.

the other new stadium i took in during the 2019 season was chase field in phoenix. i scheduled a stop-over on my way back from the west coast to catch the diamondbacks at home. they played the phillies that night, and i was thankful for the closed roof given the heat. i met daniel from it's like having my own card shop after the game - always fun to meet a fellow blogger. i also have a 2019 topps card in my collection for this stadium:

and i have the same ticket stub issue, too:

as for photos, i have a few.  here's the first pitch from merrill kelly:

and here are the retired numbers hanging out in right field:

you can also see them on the topps card above if you look really hard. i put a dupe of that stadium card in my 42 collection as a result. the two numbers the dbacks have retired are for luis gonzalez and randy johnson, by the way.  

here's a photo from bryce harper's at bat in the first inning

he came oh so close to hitting a homer in that at bat.

i found it funny that they ran a "beat la" ad during the game to promote an upcoming series against the dodgers

i didn't realize that the dbacks also did races during the game, but they do. they use retired player monstrosities like the a's:

here we have mark grace, gonzalez, and matt williams (i think) trying not to fall over.  the big unit is also one of the players represented, and he later walked through the stands behind me:

i've now seen these sorts of races in milwaukee (the original - with sausages!), minnesota (they use minnesota wildlife - including a mosquito and the target dog), washington dc (former presidents), oakland (former players), and arizona (former players). do any other stadiums do these sorts of things?

finally, i wasn't wearing a dodger hat, but the mascot gave me what i felt was the stinkeye anyway:

i am thankful that the dodgers are one of the very few teams to not have a mascot. i don't even know what sort of creature a dodger mascot would be if they were to ever decide to go that route. maybe some sort of larry king and mary hart caricatures?

i am always excited to get to a new-to-me stadium, and i'm now down to nine stadiums that i have yet to see a major league game in. i had hoped to get to a couple in 2020, but that obviously didn't happen. fortunately, fans are back in stadiums now, and i am planning to cross at least one of those nine ballparks off my list yet this year. stay tuned!

random thoughts with johnny bench on a bench

it's been over 11 years since i first posted about this card 

and i still find it amusing. and ponderous.

i came across it again recently, and it got me thinking about some other literal name interpretations that have or could have been; things that bench might have pondered while sitting on that bench. such as:

it's great that johnny podres pitched for the padres, 

but why didn't jim brewer 

ever pitch for the brewers?

how cool is it that ted cox 

came up with the red sox?

why was jose cardenal a cardinal

when they were referred to on baseball cards as "cards"?

why didn't tyler houston 

ever play for the astros?

how is it that rocky gale has played for two teams in the nl west, but neither of them has been the rockies?

why isn't ranger suarez 

on the rangers?

and why is robbie ray pitching in the al east for the blue jays 

instead of the rays?

ponderous.

my favorite cards of the year - 1990 edition

i recently introduced my mini collection focusing on my favorite cards from each year that i've been a collector. the basic gist is that i wanted to create a space for the cards that i most appreciated having in my collection in the year that they were released. these were cards that i acquired in the year that they were issued, and that i considered to be my favorites at the time. i have disallowed (most) cards that are already in other mini collections in order to avoid having a mini collection consisting of more steve garvey, double plays, and dodger stadium cards.

1990 may have been the year that i've purchased the fewest cards. i know for certain that i bought a box of topps from a card shop in santa barbara. i also received a complete score set from my dad that year, which he purchased because local boy robin ventura was included in the set, as well as the topps traded set. i didn't even take the shrink wrap off of the score set. other than that, i would be surprised if i bought more than a dozen packs that year. as such, the cards i considered to be my favorites that year came from a limited stockpile.

favorite non-dodger card: topps ken griffey jr.

 

griffey is just over a year older than i am. i followed his exploits during his rookie year of 1989, although i didn't pick up any of his cards other than the topps traded rookie which came in the set that i annually received from my dad. i had purchased a "s" mariners hat in the spring of 1988, and figured i now looked pretty smart to have done so before griffey debuted. anyway, i was happy to see his rookie card in one of the packs i opened. it wasn't until sometime later that i realized that donruss, fleer, and something called upper deck had all issued cards of him in their 1989 flagship sets, meaning that his first non-xrc topps card was really a second year card by all standards. still, i was happy to have this card of the kid in my collection.

favorite dodger card: topps sandy koufax 

like i said up top, i didn't see a lot of cards in 1990. the dodger cards were pretty uninspiring, aside from tommy lasorda's card which is also in my dodger stadium mini-collection and therefore ineligible for this collection according to the whimsical enforcement of my rules. however, seeing a 1965 topps card included in the set, and having it be sandy koufax's, was a positive.

up next, 2012. stay tuned!

tribute-iful

aside from 1978 and maybe 1981, i think 2001 was the year that blew my mind the most when it came to collecting. discovering cards existed in 1978 was obviously the seminal moment in my collecting experience, and having three manufacturers make full sized sets in 1981 was a game changer. however, the sets that were released in 2001 seemed to align with my collecting sensibilities like no other year.

my appetite for retired players appearing in sets had been whetted by upper deck's 1999 century legends offering, and fleer's 2001 greats of the game set, separated now from sports illustrated, was an instant favorite. add to that the inaugural topps heritage, tribute, and archives (yes, topps did three archives sets in the 1990's - 1953, 1954, and brooklyn dodgers - but i am considering those to be different from the set issued in 2001) sets, plus upper deck legends, upper deck vintage, upper deck's ud decade 1970's, and the explosion of game-used cards in sets like leaf's certified materials, and my head was spinning. i am sure i spent more money on those products than i had ever spent on cards before, and i have completed most of those sets that i mentioned (still working on heritage!). still, my favorite set of the bunch was the very first topps tribute set.

that set focused on retired numbers, and subsequent years had themes like hall of famers, perennial all-stars, milestone moments, and the like. i haven't paid a lot of attention to tribute in recent years, but still add some cards to my collection if the opportunity and mood align.  this year, however, i was on the hunt for some tribute cards, as steve garvey was included on the autograph portion of the checklist.

his cards came in base (/199) form

as well as blue (/150):

green (/99):

purple (/50):

and orange (/25):

there is also red (/10) which i haven't acquired. yet.

i did score the black 1/1 version though

so i will try my hardest to complete the print run with that missing red parallel and possibly a printing plate.

i was disappointed that garvey wasn't included in the 2001 version of tribute even though his number is retired by the padres, but these cards are so fantastic looking that i might just forgive topps for that oversight.

joe mauer is in my hall of famer collection

i am continuing to feature some of the remaining members in my hall of famer collection who aren't inducted (yet), but who i think are deserving. here's joe mauer and the card that represents him in my hall of famer collection:

that's a 2020 topps archives signature series 2015 topps triple threads buyback autograph, numbered 1/1. here's the back:

so far, most of the players i've featured that aren't members of the hall of fame are ineligible (joe jackson, pete rose) or eligible but not enshrined due to association with performance enhancing drugs (barry bonds, roger clemens, rafael palmeiro). joe mauer is a different case. he won't be eligible for election until 2024, but his candidacy will be only dependent on the evaluation of his accomplishments as a major leaguer.

mauer won three batting titles as a catcher. he was the first (and is still the only) american league catcher to wear that crown, and he was the first catcher to do so since ernie lombardi in 1942. aside from mauer and lombardi (who won two batting titles), only bubbles hargrave and buster posey have won even one title while catching. i believe that his .328 career batting average as a catcher is the highest at that position all-time.

i had the privilige of seeing mauer play in person many, many times - more times than any other player in my hall of famer collection, in fact. it began with his major league debut on april 5, 2004 and ended with a game near the end of his career on august 1, 2018. in between, i saw him play in person about three dozen times if not more, and hundreds of times on tv. his at bats, especially early in his career, were can't miss parts of any twins telecast even though he often took a first strike down the middle. watching him spray balls around the park reminded me a bit of fellow twin legend rod carew, but mauer seemed to hit the ball harder. ultimately, he became known more as an opposite field hitter, and teams shifted to counteract that tendency. still, he retired with a .306 batting average, so he still got his hits.

aside from his debut (you can read more about that here) and the last time i saw him in person (he hit his final career triple that day), a few games stand out to me that i was able to witness, including a 3-game series against the dodgers in 2006. i went to all 3 games, and had tickets a few rows up from the dodger dugout. mauer put on a clinic, going 11 for 13 in the series with a double, a triple, a walk, and six rbi. there were at least two standing ovations as i recall. it felt a bit like a coming out party as he raised his average to .392 after that late-june series en route to his first batting title.

another game that stands out to me was one that i traveled with a friend and our sons to kansas city to see. it was july 26, 2010 and zack greinke was pitching for the royals. no matter - the twins hit for the cycle in the top of the first inning, highlighted by a danny valencia grand slam, but also including a mauer rbi single. mauer (the reigning american league mvp) wound up 5 for 5 in the game, with a double, a home run, three runs scored and seven rbi. he had a shot at a sixth hit, but manager ron gardenhire sent a pinch-hitter up to the plate for mauer in the eighth inning. i texted that same friend that i traveled with for that game during the last weekend of the 2018 season, wondering if we should head to target field just in case mauer hung up his spikes after the season. we ultimately decided not to, and so missed out on one last opportunity to see him play.

one of my connections made during my travel baseball coaching days was a guy who worked for the twins and had some good stories about mauer and his athletic ability - not just in baseball but football (he had a scholarship to play quarterback at florida state that he turned down) and basketball as well. i was able to meet mauer in person a few times at various events and was able to chat with him a bit on a couple of those occasions. in fact, somewhere i have a photo taken with him after one of glen perkins' charity runs. he always seemed approachable and friendly, and it was great to see him play his entire career as a twin.

i fully expect mauer to be enshrined in cooperstown, although it might not be in his first year of eligibility. he's definitely a hall of famer in my book.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

lou gehrig - 2010 topps tribute relic 96/99

rogers hornsby - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

jimmie foxx - 2013 topps tribute retired remnants relic 91/99

mel ott - 2011 topps tribute quad relic 15/99

paul waner - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

hank greenberg - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

zack wheat - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic 

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

roy campanella - 2001 topps tribute relic

stan musial - 2002 topps team topps legends autograph

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

ralph kiner - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

ernie banks - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

eddie mathews - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

juan marichal - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

brooks robinson - 2001 topps golden anniversary great autograph

don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

lou brock - 2018 topps archives signature series 1989 buyback 53/61

willie mccovey - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 46/50

ray dandridge - 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts a place in history cut autograph 31/43

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

billy williams - 2013 topps museum collection autograph 054/199

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

johnny bench - 2019 topps definitive collection legendary autograph 09/25

red schoendienst - 2012 panini cooperstown signatures 038/549

carl yastrzemski - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

joe morgan - 2001 upper deck hall of famers cooperstown collection signature jersey

jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

rod carew - 2004 topps retired signature autograph

fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

hal newhouser - 1993 front row premium all-time greats autograph

tom seaver - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 44/50

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

nellie fox - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

larry doby - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

george brett - 2001 topps finest finest moments autograph

nolan ryan - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

robin yount - 2001 upper deck ultimate collection ultimate signatures 112/150

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

kirby puckett - 1998 upper deck retro sign of the times autograph

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

wade boggs - 2005 upper deck baseball heroes autograph red parallel 30/49

ryne sandberg - 2016 topps five star autographs gold parallel 17/50

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

tony gwynn - 1997 donruss signature series millennium marks autograph 0702/1000

cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75

goose gossage - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rickey henderson - 2016 topps tribute certified foundations of greatness autograph 49/50

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

roberto alomar - 2015 topps high tek pattern 1 grass/waves gold rainbow autograph 50/50

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

ron santo - 2004 topps retired signature autograph

tom glavine - 2019 topps tribute autograph 18/90

greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15

frank thomas - 2019 topps tier one autographs 42/70

craig biggio - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 019/333

randy johnson - 2019 topps tek high tek autograph

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph

mike piazza - 2014 topps five star autograph 35/50

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

vladimir guerrero - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

chipper jones - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 11/60

jim thome - 2020 topps archives signature series 2012 topps mini 1/1

jack morris - 2004 donruss timelines recollection collection 1986 buyback autograph 23/45

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

edgar martinez - 2017 topps tribute walk off autograph 17/50

ted simmons - 2013 panini golden age historic signatures

larry walker - 1997 donruss signature series authentic signature

joe jackson* - 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts sp legendary debut bat card

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph

 

rafael palmeiro* - 2016 topps tribute rightful recognition autograph 98/99

alex rodriguez* - 1998 upper deck sp authentic chirography autograph

david ortiz* - 2017 topps clearly authentic autograph 02/25

adrian beltre* - 2019 topps tier one talent autograph 56/70

ichiro* - 2019 topps museum collection archival autograph 02/25

joe mauer* - 2020 topps archives signature series 2015 topps triple threads buyback autograph 1/1

*not currently in the hall of fame

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.