the hits keep coming in the steve garvey binders

we're up to sheet 55 in the steve garvey binders, and we're firmly entrenched in 2005.  have a look:

those cards are:

1. 2005 donruss greats (i think)
2. 2005 donruss greats platinum holofoil /50
3. 2005 donruss greats gold holofoil auto (print run 250)
4. 2005 donruss greats souvenirs
5. 2005 donruss greats souvenirs material bat relic
6. 2005 donruss greats souvenirs signature material bat relic/auto
7. 2005 donruss greats souvenirs signature material jersey relic/auto
8. 2005 donruss leather & lumber hitters inc. silver /200
9. 2005 donruss leather & lumber hitters inc. /2000

the reason that i am not sure about the donruss greats base card is that there is also a non-serial numbered holofoil parallel, and the scan of what i thought was the base seems to look like holofoil. i've ordered a base card from sportlots, and if they've cataloged that card correctly, i'll be able to compare the two in the next few days.

here are the backs:

donruss really went crazy with garvey cards in 2005, and the fun continues on sheet 56:

those cards are:

1. 2005 donruss leather & lumber hitters inc. bat relic /100
2. 2005 donruss leather & lumber hitters inc. jersey relic /100
3. 2005 donruss signature series signature club auto bat relic
4. 2005 donruss signature series inkredible combos (with don sutton)
5. 2005 donruss studio heritage /1000
6. 2005 donruss studio heritage die-cut /200
7. 2005 donruss studio heritage die-cut gold /50
8. 2005 donruss studio heritage jersey /250
9. 2005 donruss studio heritage bat relic /150

another combo auto with garvey's clubhouse scrapping partner, don sutton.  one studio die-cut is ok, but was there really a need for a gold die-cut parallel?  the answer is no, but i made room for it in the collection because it's got garvey's name and photo on it.

here are the backs:

sheet 57 features even more donruss parallel madness:

those cards are:

1. 2005 donruss studio portraits zenith white /70
2. 2005 donruss studio portraits red /50
3. 2005 donruss studio portraits blue black & white /40
4. 2005 donruss team heroes
5. 2005 donruss team heroes showdown blue parallel
6. 2005 donruss team heroes showdown red parallel
7. 2005 donruss team heroes showdown silver parallel /50
8. 2005 donruss throwback threads
9. 2005 donruss throwback threads century stars spectrum /100

so, there are 56 different versions of garvey cards in the studio portraits release, ranging in print runs from 5 to 70. i've got three. i'm also missing the bronze and gold showdown parallels from the team heroes set, and all four of the memorabilia cards from the throwback threads set.

here are the backs:

sheet 58 has some pretty decent jersey/patch relics: 

those cards are:

1. 2005 donruss timeless treasures milestone materials jersey relic (yellow) /10
2. 2005 donruss timeless treasures milestone materials jersey relic (brown) /10
3. 2005 donruss timeless treasures rookie year materials prime jersey relic /5
4. 2005 leaf certified materials fabric of the game stats jersey relic /25
5. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia
6. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia heroes /250
7. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia heroes swatch double spectrum prime relic /25
8. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia heroes swatch triple spectrum prime relic /15
9. 2005 playoff absolute memorabilia heroes team quads swatch single padres relic (with willie mccovey, tony gwynn, and rickey henderson) /100

the first two cards represent 20% of the milestone materials print run - i just wanted one of each color - and one of the cards happens to be the 6/10 card. yay.

here are the backs:

what i show as the back for the team quad is really the front, but garvey's side gets to be the front in the binder.  lots more cool stuff to come as 2005 continues - stay tuned...

memorial patches for the pohlads

eloise pohlad, the wife of twins' owner carl pohlad, passed away in november of 2003, and the club added memorial patches to their right sleeves for the following season in memory of her.  they were simple patches, with the first name of her signature stitched inside a color coded rectangle - one for the away grays, one for the alternate blues, and one for the home whites.  you can see the gray patch on lew ford's 2005 fleer flair card

and the blue one is visible on torii hunter's 2005 donruss timeless treasures card

both of those cards are in my memorials binder, but i haven't been able to find a card that shows the white patch.  there weren't too many baseball card photographers at the metrodome in 2004, i suppose.  here's a picture of hunter at home from the 2004 alds against the yankees that shows the white patch.

and here's a better look at all three versions of the patch

in 2009, the twins wore a very similar patch for eloise's husband carl, who passed away at the age of 93 in january.  there was only one version of his patch, however.

had there been a white version to go with the home uniforms, we would have had a card showing it, as nick punto's 2010 upper deck card

features a photo from inside the metrodome with nicky wearing the 1983 throwback home whites.  speaking of the metrodome, the patch above the 'carl' patch is the 'final season of the metrodome' patch.  even old, multi-purpose dome stadiums got the commemorative patch treatment.

here's the patch on the alternate blue jersey of joe mauer, courtesy of his 2010 bowman card

looks like joe is on tatooine there.

here's francisco liriano's 2009 topps allen & ginter national pride insert showing the patch on the home white pinstripes

the patch shows up again, this time on the away grays, on alexi casilla's 2010 topps card

on delmon young's 2010 topps card

and on justin morneau's 2010 topps opening day card

and his chrome card

which, even though it uses the same photo as the opening day card, it's cut a little tighter so the patch is a little bigger.

i've got liriano's 2010 allen & ginter card in the binder

carl pohlad was the guy who bought the twins from calvin griffith in 1984 to keep them in minnesota, but he was also the guy who almost sold the team to a north carolina group in 1997, and the guy who was willing to let the team contract in 2001.  still, he was the owner during their run to two world championships (1987 and 1991), and despite his willingness to sell or contract the team,  pohlad oversaw the run of division titles in the 2000's, with the last under his watch coming in 2006.

the construction of target field began in 2007, and although carl pohlad did not live to see it completed, a statue of him and his wife was erected in the plaza outside gate 34 - the main entrance to the stadium.

thar was gold in them thar k-marts

before there was wal-mart black or target red or toys r us purple. there was k-mart gold.  back in 2008, topps included gold-ish bordered cards in packs sold exclusively at k-mart.  i think the local k-mart here was still open then, but i didn't got there much.  i did pick up a 2008 chin-lung hu k-mart parallel insert recently, however.

it was part of an oddball-ish lot on ebay that was tailor made for a dodger collector like me.  without any big hits or big names, it sat at it's low opening price the whole time, so i got it for a song.  here's a sepia parallel of jeff kent's 2006 topps triple threads card

and another serial numbered card, this time a 2005 donruss timeless treasures eric gagne card

2005 was the last year where gagne was the guy for the dodgers in most sets.  he got hurt early on and then pitched minimally in 2006 before moving on to texas and boston in 2007.

the lot also included this black bordered 2012 topps gypsy queen jackie robinson mini

and this duke snider mini from the same set

the duke has that red gyspsy lady on the back.  trust me.

there were a couple of other cards in the lot, too.  i like finding these things that, for some reason, sellers think will create a bidding war.  keep 'em coming is all i can say.