the bournigal supremacy

rafael bournigal was the victim of the changing expectations from the shortstop position.  his 1995 topps stadium club card

is fantastic, but good cardboard doesn't keep you in the big leagues.  bournigal was a good field/no hit shortstop which would have been ok prior to the 1990's when guys like cal ripken jr and barry larkin were winning mvp awards based on big offensive numbers. the dodgers had jose offerman at shortstop in the early 1990's when bournigal was ready to play in the bigs, and they apparently enjoyed e-fferman's slightly better offense over bournigal's better defense.

here's a 1993 fleer ultra bournigal card

and a 1993 score bournigal card

both of which carry a 'rookie' designation.  bournigal's topps card from 1993 had no such distinction, but there was a gold parallel version

which is nice.

bournigal was a september call-up in both 1992 and 1993, but saw more playing time during the summer of 1994. he appeared in 40 games that year and made only 3 errors compared to offerman who made 11 errors in 72 games.  dodger fans were rewarded with the nice stadium club shown up top in 1995.  here is that card again, with bournigal catching what i imagine to be a line drive with the dodger stadium bleachers in the background.

topps also liked the image, as they used it on one of the 1996 topps pre-production cards, although they cropped it slightly more tightly

here's the back of the pre-production card

which was somewhat elusive. the cards weren't in the 1995 factory set that i bought, which is where the pre-production cards had been in 1994, so i had to go the online marketplace route.  i think i finally found one on ebay, although it could have been comc.  in case you are wondering, there was no 1996 topps rafael bournigal card as he spent the entire 1995 season in the minor leagues, splitting time between the dodger and expo organizations (he was traded to montreal in june).

anyway, i recently sent some cards to bournigal through the mail, and he was kind enough to sign and return them to me.

1995 topps

1995 upper deck

1995 upper deck collector's choice

weird to see him without the goggles

and 1993 topps

looks like he got some sharpie on the table...

with bournigal's dodger career complete, he went on to resurface with the a's from 1996-1998, and then spent the 1999 season with the mariners.  pacific gave us one more card of bournigal in their 2000 pacific crown collection set, and it features a nice double play turn

the dodgers didn't really embrace the new shortstop prototype until they brought hanley ramirez on board, and that will continue with corey seager in a year or two. even when seager is hitting 20+ homers every year, i'll still have a soft spot for guys like bournigal and cesar izturis who can field like nobody's business.

specifically pacific

i received a box of cards in the mail on monday that featured a large number of pacific cards, courtesy of the patp dude.  as i prepare for a post, i am clearing my scanned folder of pacific cards that were not a part of that package.  now then, enjoy some cards that span the pacific trading card company's existence.

1990 pacific legends johnny podres

such humble beginnings.

1993 pacific mike sharperson

starting in 1993, pacific took a slant towards the latino market.  in spanish, 'baseball' translates to 'beisbol', although 'base' translates to 'base'.

1993 pacific darryl strawberry

no, jardinero is outfielder, not underachiever

1994 pacific pedro astacio

in 1994, pacific added the crown to their cards, and the idea of the 'crown collection'.  it wasn't until later that they had a specific set called 'crown collection', so i just call this 1994 pacific

1994 pacific rafael bournigal

they even had their own version of the rookie cup.  sorry, novato cup

1994 pacific pedro martinez

petey is sporting the tim crews memorial patch

1994 pacific brett butler

while butler is showing the don drysdale/roy campanella memorial patch.  which reminds me, i need to do a specific memorials post for that one.

1994 pacific jim gott

wrigley field was a popular source of photos for pacific it would seem.

1994 pacific raul mondesi

mondesi was the novato of the year in 1994.  you can see both of the memorial patches on his card.

1994 pacific darryl strawberry

must be opening day in dodger stadium - there was really no other reason for the dodgers to break out the bunting in the early 90's

1994 pacific tim wallach

back in wrigley - with a lurking mike piazza on deck

unfortunately i didn't have any crazy pacific parallels to post here, but here's a 2000 pacific crown royale shaw green feature attractions insert

pretty tame by 2000 pacific standards.  i maintain that 2000 pacific invincible is one of the greatest releases in history.

anyway, i'll be showing off a bunch of pacific cards that brian sent in the not too distant future. i won't just limit it to dodgers, either.

double plays front to back

1995 upper deck is a good set for some double play turns.  for example, here's a spring training shot of delino deshields

not completely certain, but the dodgers had a guy named ryan henderson in their minor league system during the mid 1990's.  he never made it to the bigs, so that might be his only non-minor league issued card.  if that's him.

on to some major league action - here's royce clayton

jeff frye

pat listach

kevin stocker

and walt weiss

there are double play turns on the backs of some 1995 upper deck cards, too, like the one of rafael bournigal

this is the back of his 'electric diamond' parallel

bournigal also has a card showing the double play turn in the 1994 score rookie/traded set

it's lenticularly spectacular!

back to 1995 upper deck backs - here's mike lansing

and his 'electric diamond' parallel

barry larkin

geronimo pena

looks like upper deck used a photo from 1993 there.  pena is about to get a crotch full of butler.

here's bip roberts

robby thompson

and john valentin

seeing eric davis sliding in wearing a tigers' uniform reminds me of how tough he was.  he had some bad seasons with the dodgers and tigers from 1992-94.  he sat out all of 1995, but the reds brought him back to the majors in 1996 and he went on to have several more productive seasons.

now back to valentin.  he also had a checklist card in the 1995 upper deck set, which i believe shows him at second base making the pivot on a double play.  judge for yourself.

the card highlights valentin's unassisted triple play against the mariners on july 8, 1994.  of course, on that play, valentin caught a line drive, stepped on second base for a force out, and then tagged a guy out.  there was no relay throw.  plus, it happened at fenway, so he wouldn't have been wearing his away grays.  upper deck didn't even try.

let's see if score did any better with a different triple play.  in their 1993 set, they featured a highlight card for mickey morandini's 1992 unassisted triple play.

on september 20, 1992, morandini caught a line drive, and like valentin, he stepped on second for a force out and then tagged the runner advancing from first base.  that runner was barry bonds.  so kudos to score for showing the actual play, even if it's not a traditional turn at second base.

don't worry - we're not done with those yet.

carl crawford cards delivers - in person

i met up with paul from carl crawford cards on sunday.  it was the first time i had met a fellow blogger, although i've had a couple of close calls with matt from heartbreaking cards, as well as the droidtrader.  plus, i could have sworn i saw dayf one time at hartsfield international.  anyway, paul was in town and i alerted him to a card show in the northwest twin cities metro.

i had never been to this particular show - it's one of two monthly show locations - so i didn't know what to expect.  well, i was pretty apologetic to paul because it blew.  first of all, it was sunday, and i guess the second day of the shows are always pretty light.  plus, the weather was phenomenal and won't be that nice again until may (if we're lucky), so i suppose some of the other dealers were out enjoying themselves.  there were only about 5 or 6 tables set up with a store that i did not know existed also in the strip mall vestibule.

this post, however, is not about the show but about meeting paul.  he reminded me to be thankful for even having a show, let alone two a month.  and he's right - the other show in town is really pretty good by any measure, and had i been at this show on saturday, i would have been able to feast on the vintage bargain bins - at least according to the pre-show email that one of the dealers sends out.

i didn't leave empty handed, however, as paul had brought some boys in blue with him, including pretty much a complete team set from 1995 upper deck collector's choice.  here we have garey ingram and roy rauuuuuuuuul mondesi, plus all-star mike piazza and a cartoon piazza.  rafael bournigal gets a card, and delino and wallach, offerman and a swinging tom candiotti.

there's also sliding brett butler (not bunting, for a change), oh henry!, billy ashley, darren dreifort, ramon martinez and pedro astacio.

that's just a hershiser and a karros away from the complete set.

there was also a 1995 upper deck sp card of ramon

and a shiny/reflective 1996 score select certified card of hideo nomo

very cool.  thanks for taking the time, paul!

another 73 down

thanks to don who found an amos otis for me

that's a classic '73 right there with what looks to be a brewers catcher (but likely not ellie rodriguez) in the foreground.  don also sent some parallel dodgers, like this 1995 score gold rush card of rafael bournigal

who is awkwardly high-fiving a lurking mike piazza.  i can imagine the staff as they assembled the checklist:

'we need another dodger in the set'
'how about piazza?'
'he already has a couple of cards'
'well find a player who has a photo that includes the italian-american superstar slugger, even if it's a no-hit, all-field backup shortstop'
'bournigal gets a card!'

here is one of mike piazza's cards from the set

i could do without his eyes featured so prominently.

score wasn't the only company doing some weird stuff to their parallels in 1995.  here's a 1995 topps ismael valdes cyber stats card

i think topps figured ismael would have gone 3-2 if the full 1994 season had been played, and he would have suffered blisters on his fingers on three separate occasions.  you dodger fans know what i'm talking about.

i predict the-riot! on a 2010 topps update gold card

which is markedly different from the 2011 topps update cognac cards

that particular ethier card is really just a checklist.  it's interesting that topps included no further text elaborating on what it meant by 'ethier streaks through april'.  who knows what future generations will think.

back to gold - here's darryl strawberry's 1992 topps gold card

i never get tired of that card.  so cool.

finally, in a nod to sesame street, don included a card that was not like the others.  it's a 1991 swell baseball greats card of ralph branca

thanks don! hope you enjoy your 73's i sent in return.