why not hondo?

sometimes i look through my scanned folder for fodder for a quick post.  this morning is one of those times.  there are cards in there that i have passed over countless times, not sure exactly how to squeeze a time constrained post out of them.  well, today i passed over frank howard no longer.  because frank howard deserves a post.

just like he deserved to be in the 2001 fleer focus 'roy collection' relic insert set.  and he was!

the 1960 nl rookie of the year took home the hardware over, among others, fourth place finisher ron santo.  howard was the fourth dodger to win the award.

here's a 1962 topps howard

it's tinted, as you can see when you look at this next copy of his 1962 topps card

that one is signed by the capital punisher himself, thanks to a hall of fame sports signing.  i also sent in a copy of howard's 1965 topps to that signing a couple of years ago.

i am so glad that howard got a dodger card in the 1965 set when the other players in the big trade were shown as senators.

speaking of 1965 topps, i think i might seek out some 2014 topps heritage today so i don't have to scramble for a post in a few days...

bo knows that double play cards are this collector's choice

here's a trade and double play card post for you to read while you're waiting to be seated for brunch with your mom.  happy mother's day.

bo from baseball cards come to life sent me a healthy package of double play cards a while back.  there were quite a few from 1995 upper deck collector's choice.  let's have a look.

pat kelly

kelly's dp card to card ratio may be as high as kurt stillwell's.

royce clayton

and dp combo partner robby thompson

looks like thompson got the worse of the two with david hollins' helmet in his thigh.

jose lind

stands his ground

jeff frye

elevates

and noberto martin

is flyin'.

here's luis sojo with a force out toss

but the good stuff is on the back

how he managed to turn two with his back to first base is a mystery to all.

the back is nice on kurt abbott's card, too

thanks to the dodger stadium locale, but the front is what gets it into the double play binder

1995 udcc wasn't the only card release that bo included in his package.  not by a long shot.  here's a 1995 score select carlos baerga card with a nice play at second on the front

and a dp turn on the back

this 1995 score roberto alomar

is a nice 'tattooine' shot - nothing but dirt to be seen

here's a 2000 fleer focus marlon anderson

(he who hit the fourth home run in the dodgers' 4+1 game against the padres in 2006)

and a 2001 fleer focus ray durham card

last, but not least, for this post is a 2001 fleer premium warren morris card

and that's not the half of what bo sent.  thanks bo!

cards from play at the plate!

another delinquent trade post, this one with cards courtesy of play at the plate!

first up is a 2000 upper deck sp authentic shawn green 'sp supremacy' card

one of the few shawn green dodger cards i didn't already have.  just kidding.  while i do have a lot of shawn green cards, this guy had so many during his stint in la that i am sure i have a long ways to go before i have even half of them.

2001 fleer focus joe black rookie of the year insert

i loved this insert set, simply because the dodgers have had so many roys.  joe black is one of the lesser known ones, but not lesser deserving, that's for sure.  he won the award with 15 wins and 15 saves in 1952, plus 3 starts in the world series that year (even though he started only 2 games in the regular season).

speaking of roys, here's mike piazza on a 2000 upper deck mvp 'draw your own card' card.

that's pretty cool having your art used for a baseball card.  this kid seems to have been confused though, because it looks like piazza is in the home whites with the wrigley field brick behind him.

2001 topps finest darren dreifort

a bit of a stretch with the 'finest' moniker, but dreifort did have a decent 2000 season.  i remember his august 8 game where he got the win and hit two home runs.  he is interestingly shown here wearing number 59, while he wore 37 for his entire dodger career.

1999 fleer vintage raul mondesi

mondesi had a good 1999 season for the dodgers, his last in la.  he went 30-30 for the second time and came as close to 100 rbi as he ever would in his career with 99, although his average dipped into the .250s for the first time.

1999 fleer ultra adrian beltre gold medallion edition

beltre was only 19 when he broke into the majors with the dodgers in 1998.  he was getting close to ron cey territory for me as far as fandom before he parlayed his monster 2004 season into an exile of sorts in seattle. 

there were quite a few 1998 ud3 cards, including a couple of charles johnson cards.  here's his 'fx' version

and the 'rainbow' version

i like how the inset picture of cj shows a small part of dodger stadium.  i dislike how he performed in his short tenure with the dodgers which ended with them flipping him to the mets for todd hundley.  mediocrity ensued.

thanks brian!

all the colors bleed into one

like the colors of a rainbow, so too are the dodgers of brooklyn and los angeles.

there was black and gray, golden and brown, green and white,and, next to walter alston, even red

and if you notice - there's tommy lasorda on the card, too. no doubt bleeding dodger blue.