ay karim-ba!

i've picked up a few auto/game used dodger lots lately, and they all seem to have one thing in common:  karim garcia autos.  here are just a couple of the former dodger prospect.

this one is from 1995 classic 5 sport

and this one comes from 1996 best

but wait, that's not all. nick from dime boxes sent me a package recently, and wouldn't you know it - karim garcia made an appearance.  not once, mind you, with this 1996 topps stadium club card

but twice, thanks to this 1997 score select parallel

garcia debuted in 1995 as a 19-year old for the dodgers, and went 2 for 3 in his first big league start.  he wound up getting only 20 at bats that year, and just one in 1996, as the dodgers had todd hollandsworth higher on the depth chart.  in 1997, he got a little more playing time (and not just in september), but was selected by the diamondbacks in the expansion draft, and away he went.  garcia wound up playing for 7 teams over his 10-year career, which included two stints with the indians.  garcia made it to the postseason once, but his 2003 yankees lost to hollandsworth's marlins in the world series that year.

nick also sent a very nice 2001 topps archives card of roy campanella

now if only i had a copy of the real thing...

here are a few more goodies - 1994 pacific tom candiotti

with the knuckleballer showing good pee-wee baseball pitching form.

joe thurston was another dodger prospect who wound up bouncing around a bit

i hadn't seen that 2003 upper deck honor roll card, so i was happy to receive it.  thurston spent time with the astros, phillies, and twins organizations this year.  i have a soft spot for dodger second base prospects, so i hope he is able to hang on somewhere.

speaking of prospects, here's a prospective superstar.  at least according to upper deck

that's ricardo rodriguez on a 2001 ud pros and prospects card.  the dodgers wound up trading rodriguez to the indians in 2002 for paul shuey.  he debuted in the big leagues that year and pitched into the 2007 season, although his last major league appearance was in 2005 for the rangers.

finally, there were some 1987 leaf cards, like this one of mike scioscia

and two saxy steve sax cards

it's a good thing nick included the other leaf cards, otherwise i would have mistaken the diamond king for the donruss version.

thanks for another great trade nick!

local boy makes good

hey didja hear?  former dodger robin ventura will be the white sox's manager next season.  i was pretty surprised to hear the news as were a lot of folks since he has been largely out of baseball since he retired a few years ago, but i was also happy since he's a guy whose career i have been following since high school.  his high school days, not mine.  that's why his 2004 topps card is in the blog header, too.

you see, he and i are from the same neck of the woods.  just like jim lonborg and roy howell and pat kelly (the blue jays prospect from the late '70's) and bryn smith.  having played baseball year-round growing up and hoping to have had what it takes to make it in the big leagues, i've always felt a kinship to those players who hail from my hometown that have, in fact, "made it".  ventura was a favorite of mine, primarily because he came along after i had outgrown my dream of taking the field for the dodgers someday.

i've mentioned lonborg and howell and smith before.  since then, i've had smith sign a few more cards for me, like his 1989 topps card

and his 1989 upper deck card

that photo may or may not be from a visit to dodger stadium.  there is no doubt about his 1990 upper deck card

love the baby blues

there was also this guy who made it to the majors from the central coast 

in fact, i played little league with his son. 

ventura won't be the first major league manager to hail from santa maria.  this guy is from the central coast, too

although i don't recall hearing much about him while i was growing up and he was coaching and managing in the majors. 

here's another guy who grew up in the santa maria valley

we played high school ball together.  last season, simas was a coach for the dodgers' minor league team in ogden.  i, sadly, was not. simas attempted a comeback with the dodgers a few years ago but his elbow was not cooperative.  that was as close as i have been to personally knowing a dodger player.  almost.

brad dandridge, who i believe is some relation to ray dandridge, was in the dodgers' minor league system in the mid 1990's.  here's his 1996 best card from his time with the dodgers' aa team in san antonio

he also grew up in my hometown and we played against each other in babe ruth and high school ball.  during the spring of 1995, i turned on my tv to watch a dodger spring training game, and there he was behind the plate.  unfortunately, this was during the strike so he would have been labeled as a 'scab' had he advanced to the majors.  i don't know if that impeded his progress or not, but he wound up only getting as high as aaa in 1996 and 1998.  and that's as close as he got.

good luck, robin.  i'll be watching.