2002 has a good run in the steve garvey binders

sheets 36-40 of the steve garvey binders, like sheet 35 and most of sheet 34 before them, consist of nothing but cards from 2002.  there are lots of inserts and parallels and just good ol' garvey goodness.  have a look.

here's sheet 36:

those cards are:

1. 2002 fleer greats of the game
2. 2002 fleer greats of the game unredeemed autograph redemption card
3. 2002 fleer greats of the game certified auto
4. 2002 leaf clubhouse signatures (bronze)
5. 2002 leaf clubhouse signatures (silver)
6. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic
7. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (debut year) with patch
8. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (debut year)
9. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (position)

true story: when i redeemed one of my 2002 fleer greats of the game autograph redemption cards (back then you had to mail them in), fleer sent back two copies of the certified auto card.  i picked up another redemption card later on and kept it to restore balance to the universe.

i am missing the gold version (numbered to 25) of the leaf clubhouse signatures card, but i have two versions of the leaf certified debut year relic, because one has a patch piece and the other doesn't.  i am weird like that when it comes to garvey relics as we have seen before and will see again later.

here are the backs:

i didn't mention that the debut year relics are numbered to 69 (garvey debuted in 1969), but i don't know why the position relic is numbered to 45.  seems random.

the fabric of the game parade continues on sheet 37:

those cards are:

1. 2002 leaf certified fabric of the game relic (jersey number)
2. 2002 topps archives
3. 2002 topps archives certified auto
4. 2002 topps archives relic
5. 2002 topps archives reserve
6. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (gold)
7. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (platinum)
8. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1974 mvp relic (titanium)
9. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (gold)

the jersey number relic is a fairly new addition to my steve garvey collection (it's numbered to 6), and the archives certified auto was pulled from a pack by yours truly.  that was some good karma coming to fruition that day.

i appreciate the gold label cards, as the first three use the photo from garvey's 1978 topps card with his 1974 topps card there in the background. the next three (two of which are on the next sheet) use his 1971 topps card photo with the 1978 card in the background.

here are the backs:

not much variation to the backs of the cards on this sheet.

as i mentioned, the mlb awards ceremony bat relics continue on sheet 38:

those cards are:

1. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (platinum)
2. 2002 topps gold label mlb awards ceremony 1978 all-star mvp relic (titanium)
3. 2002 topps traded who would have thought
4. 2002 topps traded who would have thought (gold)
5. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought
6. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought (refractor)
7. 2002 topps chrome traded who would have thought (black refractor)
8. 2002 topps tribute
9. 2002 topps tribute lasting impressions parallel

i was pretty excited to see that garvey was included in the 'who would have thought' subset in the 2002 topps traded set, but i was even happier that he was on the checklist for 2002 topps tribute after being left out of the inaugural 2001 release (even though his number was one of just two retired by the padres at the time).

here are the backs:

the lasting impressions parallel is numbered to 87, which was garvey's last season in the big leagues.

topps tribute spills over onto sheet 39:

those cards are:

1. 2002 topps tribute first impressions parallel
2. 2002 topps tribute matching marks dual relic with gil hodges
3. 2002 upper deck piece of history
4. 2002 upper deck piece of history mvp club insert
5. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes insert
6. 2002 upper deck piece of history mvp club relic
7. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes relic
8. 2002 upper deck piece of history tape measure heroes relic (with pinstripe)
9. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts

nice to see garvey and gil hodges on a card together. they are on that particular card because both drove in over 1250 runs in their respective careers. garvey got just past 1300, while hodges topped out at 1274.  here we see my need for relic variations again, but the next sheet is even worse.

here are the backs:

it's worth noting that, on this sheet and the next, there are 16 cards produced by upper deck from 4 different sets that use only six different photos (counting the backs).

sheet 40 is chock full of relics:

those cards are:

1. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts relic (bat)
2. 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts relic (jersey)
3. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics
4. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (bat)
5. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (cream jersey)
6. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (cream/dirty jersey)
7. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (white jersey)
8. 2002 upper deck sweet spot classics relic (brown jersey)
9. 2002 upper deck world series heroes

in 2002, i actually called upper deck to find out how many different jerseys they used for garvey's sweet spot classics relics because it sure looked to me like there were three. they confirmed the use of a cream or off-white jersey which must have been from the minors unless the pads home whites were actually an off-white.  whatever. i was most happy that they used a photo of garvey from the 1978 world series with the jim gilliam memorial patch.

here are the backs:

and we aren't done with 2002 just yet.  stay tuned.

more non-dodger dodger cards

it's weird that i consider a card a dodger card if it includes the dodger team name on it, regardless of whether the player is wearing the dodger uniform or not. for me, this goes back to o-pee-chee cards from the 1979 set, which were the first ones i encountered that forced me to make this sort of determination.  no one was going to tell me that the 1979 opc andy messersmith wasn't a dodger card.  later on in my collecting endeavors, i saw that cards from the 1960's often showed players in outdated uniforms, and my approach to these cards was confirmed by official team checklists created by other collectors.

more recently, i've been paying more attention to the opposite types of cards - cards with dodger players in uniform, but with a different team affiliation.  like this 2000 pacific paramount raul mondesi card

that's dodger blue that he's wearing, but the card says that he is a blue jay now.

other examples in my collection include a few gary sheffield cards.  here are his 2002 fleer platinum,

2001 fleer premium,

2002 leaf (complete with 'traded to' text)

and his 2002 upper deck authentics (which also has the 'traded to') text

cards.

kevin brown has a ton of dodger cards - the benefit of being the best pitcher on some pretty non-descript dodger teams, but his 2004 upper deck diamond collection all-star lineup card

is actually a yankee card

adrian beltre famously left the dodgers after leading the league in home runs in 2004.  the result were some non-dodger dodger cards in 2005 fleer classic clippings

and 2005 fleer national pastime

these are things that i didn't really think twice about, but when topps issued this 2006 card of jose valentin

i was surprised.  i don't recall a card like this in the flagship set since the 1979 bump wills fiasco.  before that, there were the 1974 glenn beckert and jerry morales cards, and to a lesser extent, the 1973 topps bill north card.  i only wish that topps had done the reverse with nomar garciaparra's card in the 2006 flagship set.

here's a 2007 upper deck greg maddux card

on which the words say 'padres' but the photo says 'dodgers'.

the most unusual example of these cards may well be this 1995 score summit antonio osuna card

except that it's an error.  osuna did not pitch for the tigers, nor was he ever a part of the tiger organization.  weird.  let's cleanse the palette with an actual dodger card from the same set

that's better.

i doubt that we'll see any of these any time soon with just one manufacturer licensed to produce cards that feature actual team names.  still, as that 2006 valentin card shows, topps may yet surprise me once again.

angel-ic double play turns

former dodger angel berroa knew how to turn two.  in fact, you can follow the progress of his career with cards featuring the double play turn.  to start, here is a 2002 leaf card of the 2003 american league rookie of the year

in 2004, berroa got this card in the skybox limited edition set

of which there was a retail/non die-cut version

he was still turning two after that, as seen on this 2005 fleer platinum card

as well as his 2005 topps

and 2005 topps chrome cards

2006 came around, and fleer gave us what i believe to be a dp turn in the making

as well as an indisputable dp turn on his fleer ultra card

in 2007, topps gave us this card

which shows berroa toeing the second base bag while in the act of throwing - that's a double play turn.  now berroa only played 9 games in the big leagues in 2007, so there aren't many cards for him in 2008.  this is unfortunate, because what few cards there are of berroa from that year feature him as a dodger.  also unfortunate is that none show him in the act of turning two.

in fact, it wasn't until the 2009 topps update & highlight set was released that we were treated to another berroa double play card

and that would be the last one, too, as berroa's career ended in 2009.

i do have a few other angel double play cards to show, however.  from the california angels, here are damion easley

and rex hudler

on 1995 pacific and 1995 score cards, respectively.  hudler gets another nod thanks to his 1995 score gold rush parallel.

it's too bad that angel berroa never played for the angels in the same way that it's too bad that jose and ozzie canseco never played for the twins.  yes, twins stan and stu cliburn both played for the angels, but that doesn't really have anything to do with this post.

the lou boudreau memorial patch

hall of famer lou boudreau was the indians' shortstop from 1939 through 1950, winning the american league mvp award in 1948.  he was also their manager from 1942 (at age 24!) through 1950, leading the tribe to their most recent world championship in 1948.

after boudreau passed away in august of 2001, the team added a memorial patch with his number 5 to their sleeves.  it is visible on this 2002 leaf game used bat card of another al mvp, juan gonzalez

by the way, the rangers logo on the card is not an error - gonzalez returned to texas for the 2002 season.

as for boudreau, he was fired as the team's manager after the 1950 season and joined the red sox as a player for the 1951 campaign.  he took over the manager position for boston in 1952 and later managed the 1955-57 kansas city a's and the 1960 chicago cubs, for whom he ultimately served as a broadcaster for over 20 years.

when in doubt, turn two

i didn't have anything in the hopper for today's post(s), so why not show some new-to-the-blog double play cards?  

2004 upper deck bo hart

the best part of hart's card may not be the turn or the st louis skyline, but rather the fact that jim edmonds (i think that's edmonds) is assuming that the double play will be completed at first.

2004 upper deck alex rodriguez

throwbacks!

2004 upper deck ray durham

that's a nice card.

2003 bowman draft prospects jose reyes

which means there is also a 2003 bowman chrome draft prospects jose reyes card

2003 topps bazooka wilson betemit

2002 upper deck victory update brandon phillips

that card features a photo we have seen before

2002 upper deck ballpark idols omar vizquel

2002 leaf alex rodriguez

no throwbacks

2002 fleer ultra ricky gutierrez gold medallion edition

2002 fleer triple crown cristian guzman

and 2001 fleer ultra carlos febles

someday i will run out of double play cards to show.  until then, they do a nice job of filling in between more thoughtful posts.

culling dodgers from capewood's collection, part one

a while back i worked out a trade with cliff at capewood's collections. i sent him a bunch of astros and phillies, and he sent me a ton of mid 2000's dodgers. between 2003 and 2006 i didn't buy too much stuff. i would pick up a pack here and there, and dig through the bargain bin at the local shop once in a while for dodgers. so, a lot of these cards were new to me which was awesome. in fact, i'm still digesting the box cliff sent. here are a few of the goodies.

2004 upper deck legendary cuts tommy lasorda. while i enjoy this card, i am sure cliff hated pulling it. just as i would dislike pulling a bill virdon or danny ozark card.

2004 donruss team heroes joe thurston.

i had high hopes for thurston, but he kind of fizzled. he spent 2006 with the phillies and was playing well for the cardinals at the beginning of this season.

2004 playoff absolute memorabilia don sutton.

i love the fact that this card has the big '2004' on the front. sure, the absolute logo also has the date, but the foil sometimes makes it hard to read. when sorting cards by year it's tough sometimes to know by the copyright date on the back, so this kind of thing helps. thanks playoff!

next up, a joel hanrahan trifecta

2002 topps traded

2002 topps traded chrome

2002 topps traded gold

hanrahan has had a tough go with the nationals this year, but at least he's playing in the bigs. most of the guys from this set haven't been so lucky.

2002 leaf shawn green.

what do this card and romaine lettuce have in common? they're both leafy greens. ha! check out the dodger stadium outfield wall in the background. that's pee wee's retired number! these days it would be an adelphia sign or something like that.

next, a bunch of 2006 fleer cards that have me thinking about those sweet o-pee-chee variations.

tim hamulack.

danys baez.

bill mueller.
rafael furcal.
turning two! with pokey reese and eddie mathews!

2005 upper deck classics don drysdale.

big d looks pissed. i bet this pitch was a high and tight fastball.

let's end this installment with the penguin and his card from the same set.

thanks cliff!

round 2 coming up tomorrow!