heroes, legends, greats, and fan favorites in the steve garvey binders

sheet 41 of the steve garvey binders takes us from world series heroes in 2002 to donruss legends in 2003.  have a look.

those cards are:

1. 2002 upper deck world series heroes classic world series moments (with catfish hunter relic)
2. 2002 upper deck world series heroes classic world series moments (with thurman munson relic)
3. 2002 upper deck world series heroes classic world series moments gray relic (with dave winfield)
4. 2002 upper deck world series heroes classic world series moments white relic (with dave winfield)
5. 2003 donruss classics legend
6. 2003 donruss classics legend timeless tributes
7. 2003 donruss classics legend significant signatures auto
8. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer
9. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto (black ink)

more relic color variants, and now we'll see some signature variants as well.  the nine cards on that page feature only two different photos of the garv.

here are the backs:

sheet 42 also contains 9 cards with only two different photos:

those cards are:

1. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto (blue ink)
2. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto notations (81 ws)
3. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto century notations (6)
4. 2003 donruss signature series legends of summer auto century notations (81 ws)
5. 2003 donruss team heroes
6. 2003 donruss team heroes glossy
7. 2003 donruss team heroes chicago collection
8. 2003 donruss team heroes master set
9. 2003 donruss team heroes statline

here are the backs:

while the second card on the sheet is numbered to 75, the century notation cards are numbered to 100, and donruss obviously had garvey go back and add different notations to his sticker sheets in order to produce planned notation variants.  why they varied the print run and type of cards with the same notation (81 ws) is beyond me, but at least the variations are documented.  there are also notations of his mvp year and one other i think.

sheet 43 brings the padres back to the collection:

those cards are:

1. 2003 donruss team heroes auto
2. 2003 fleer flair greats
3. 2003 fleer flair greats home team
4. 2003 fleer flair greats home team cuts relic
5. 2003 padres carl's jr.
6. 2003 playoff prestige signature impressions auto
7. 2003 topps all-time fan favorites
8. 2003 topps all-time fan favorites refractor
9. 2003 topps all-time fan favorites auto

a couple of notes worth making - the flair greats home team card was from a kind of extension to the regular flair greats set.  the dodgers, along with the giants and a couple of other teams had a few of these extra cards.  also, i recall the all-time fan favorite card being referenced in beckett's review of the product as one of the cards that misses the mark.  a photo of garvey from 1980 on the 1973 design does look odd, i will agree.

here are the backs:

good to see the carl's jr happy star on the back of the middle card.  western bacon cheeseburgers were a staple of my college days in socal.  i also find it interesting that the cartoon from garvey's original 1973 topps card was kept for the atff set,  still factual, but given the drama surrounding his relationship with cyndy, topps could have opted for something else since they had to update the stats on the back anyway.

plenty more garvey goodness to come - stay tuned...

a memorial patch for mike darr

mike darr was 25 years old, when he died in a high-speed rollover crash on february 15, 2002.  he was in arizona where the padres were about to open spring training.  darr had been the pads' opening day center fielder in 2001, and i would imagine that the team was hoping for him to be a big part of the 2002 squad.

in his memory, the padres wore a '26' patch on their right sleeves during the 2002 season.  you can see it on ryan klesko's 2003 upper deck 40 man card.

there were two other passenger's in darr's vehicle when the accident occurred - a friend who also died, and teammate ben howard who survived.  howard was the only one wearing a seatbelt.  as a result, i find howard's 2003 donruss team heroes card to be pretty powerful.

it also looks like the patch was worn on the left sleeve, perhaps in spring training?

all three cards are in my memorial patch binder.

don't drive drunk, kids.

no more freebies

duke snider was one of the first through the mail attempts i made when i started in earnest about a year ago.  he signed two cards for me very quickly and he did it for free!  that was surprising to me as he is a hall of famer, a brooklyn dodger, and an icon of the 1950's, so there has to be a great demand for his autograph.  of course, he was in some trouble a while back for not claiming earnings from card shows on his tax returns, so maybe he was gun shy about taking money through the mail.

anyway, i followed up my success with the silver fox with another request last summer.  he once again obliged, first on my 2003 fleer flair greats ballpark heroes card

and then on this 2003 donruss team heroes card

both cards use the same pose.

i was recently toying with the idea of sending a third request to the duke (2010 topps ebbets field card and a vintage card) when i noticed a spate of 'rts' at sports card forum.  mixed in were a couple of successes (with donations) although sending a fee didn't necessarily guarantee success.  i'm not sure if i will make another attempt (if i do, i will gladly pay) but i am happy to have been lucky enough to have the two successes regardless.

thanks duke!

eric karros, team hero?

back in 2003, donruss anointed eric karros a 'team hero'. they used the term loosely, as they also included such dodger stalwarts as victor alvarez and tyler houston in the set. anyway, now that karros' career has had time to settle, i figured i would take a closer look.

of the dodgers' string of rookies of the year in the 1990s, karros was my least favorite. piazza was stronger and more explosive, mondesi more athletic and exciting, nomo was more dominant and mysterious, and even hollandsworth had an 'aw shucks' kind of charm about him. karros just plodded along, hitting home runs and not being in any way flashy.

while his most famous home run came as a cub (the 3-run shot that denied roger clemens his 300th career victory at wrigley), in his 12 years with the dodgers karros hit a los angeles franchise record 270 home runs. more than cey. more than garvey. more than piazza. those 270 home runs are also good for 3rd on the all-time franchise leader board, where he is also 10th in games played, 8th in total bases, 8th in doubles (ahead of hodges!), 6th in rbi, and 1st in sacrifice flies - ha! ok, he's also the la dodger leader in strikeouts (3rd all-time) and 4th all-time in gidp - one ahead of garvey, in fact.

obviously, karros stands among others i easily consider to be 'team heroes' in terms of longevity and production, so i guess the shoe fits. still, i would have preferred him going to the fish instead of piazza, or to toronto instead of mondesi.