frankendodger sheet 78 (cards 694-702) - manny being a hero...

here's sheet number 78 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 694-702:

and the back:

these cards are:

694. 1978 topps elias sosa
695. 1980 topps reggie smith
696. 1986 topps bill russell
697. 1990 topps mike davis
698. 1988 topps brad havens
699. 2001 topps chad kreuter
700. 2009 upper deck manny ramirez
701. 1990 upper deck jim gott
702. 1992 fleer brett butler

the "no brainer" of the day:

reggie smith's 1980 topps card is one of the first cards i think of when i think of cards from that set.  i first saw this card when i pulled it from a pack in downtown los angeles after a trip to a convenience store following a day of accompanying my dad to some work related meetings.

about the cards:

elias sosa brings us the last card from the 1978 topps set to make the frankenset.  sosa was no longer a dodger in 1978, but his card from that year is a good one.

one more note about the 1980 topps reggie smith card - the facsimile autograph is pretty high up on the image, thanks to the dark background of the dugout behind him. this is another reason that i am not a fan of the autos on base cards.

i thought that topps' decision in 1986 to put the "dean" of the team on the front of the team leader cards was a good one.  of course, i was a dodger fan, and that meant that bill russell was on the front instead of pedro guerrero and orel hershiser, who would have been there had topps followed the model of their 1982, 1983, and 1984 sets.  seeing petey and orel would have been ok, too, don't get me wrong, but bill russell had never had a second card in a set before.  i would like to note that two other members of the team of my youth were featured on these cards - charlie hough

and rick rhoden

which is kind of crazy if you think about what kind of turnover there had to have been in texas and pittsburgh for these two guys to be considered the longest tenured players on the team.

i had mentioned in a post a few years ago that i had a number of duplicates of mike davis' 1990 topps card, so one of them made the frankenset.  i still don't care too much for 1990 topps, although i don't think it is my least favorite topps set ever as i had mentioned in that post, and the davis card with the blue border actually looks pretty good.  if only all the dodger cards had that border...

...dodgers shouldn't have orange borders.

brad havens and his 1988 topps card mark the first appearance in the set for the dodger reliever who had the misfortune of being released by the team during the 1988 season.  there's not a lot to say about his dodger tenure, so i will use havens' last name to ask if anyone else is sick of all of the pun related headlines at mlb.com.  it is ridiculous.  look at this recent one.

babe truth.  like i said, ridiculous. were havens pitching today (and doing something headline worthy) we would be bombarded with things like "havens a blast - dodger pitcher closese the door against the braves" or "safe havens - dodger pitcher beats out bunt attempt to prolong inning".  puns should be left for blog post titles.

next up is chad kreuter's 2001 topps card which features a photo of him on the back without a hat which makes sense after what happened that day in wrigley.

now we come to the final 'hero number' in the frankenset, 700, and manny ramirez with his 2009 upper deck card gets the call.  manny's numbers for the dodgers in 2008 certainly qualify for the hero treatment: .396/.489/.743 with 17 homers and 53 rbi in 53 games for the blue after the trade with the red sox (and pirates). he was even better in the postseason, going .500/.643/1.100 with 2 homers in the nlds against the cubs and .533/.682/1.067 with 2 more homers against the phillies in the nlcs.  i really thought after loney's grand slam in the nlds that the dodgers were going to win it all in 2008.  in fact, it was the excitement following the arrival of manny ramirez that made me want to start a blog, and the explosion of the card-centric blogs at the time sealed the deal for me.  so, blame manny for all of this if you so desire.

jim gott is back with his 1991 upper deck card this time.  gott seemed like a good guy from the photos used on his cards.  he was either pitching or smiling.

for the most part, anyway.

or doing hapkido.  so, just sometimes smiling. still seemed like a good dude.

the last card on the sheet is one of those fleer superstar special subset cards from the back end of their sets. this one is from 1992 and features the dodgers' brett butler and paul molitor of the brewers - aka 'the ignitors'.  molly was once my favorite non-dodger and i am ok with him being an honorary member of the frankenset.

cards that didn't make the cut:

1979 topps burt hooton

at number 694, 2015 topps heritage (high number) alex guerrero at number 695, 1991 donruss darryl strawberry at number 696, 1994 topps dave hansen

at number 697, 2002 upper deck 40 man terry mulholland at number 698, 1987 topps ken landreaux at number 699, 2002 upper deck 40 man steve colyer at number 700, 2009 upper deck danny ardoin

at number 701, and 2009 upper deck orlando hudson at number 702.

my favorite card on the page:

it's tough to choose between a 1978 topps dodger card, a reggie smith dodger card, and a bill russell card, but i'm a fan of the infield at heart, and a card recognizing russell for being a dodger for a long time wins out over the others.

final thoughts:

this set is into the home stretch now that we've hit the 700s.  only three more sheets to go until the end, and there are fewer and fewer sets to choose cards from.  we'll be seeing 2009 upper deck and the 1990 target set again, for sure.

frankendodger sheet 68 (cards 604-612) - don't sweat it...

here's sheet number 68 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 604-612:

and the back:

these cards are:

604. 1992 topps chris gwynn
605. 1979 topps rick monday
606. 1981 fleer steve garvey
607. 1988 topps mickey hatcher
608. 1991 bowman tom goodwin
609. 1982 topps rick sutcliffe
610. 1983 topps steve garvey
611. 1994 topps todd worrell
612. 2006 topps dodgers team

the "no brainer" of the day:

that would be steve garvey's last topps flagship card of him as a dodger.

about the cards:

chris gwynn could have been on this sheet twice instead of garvey, but i only gave him one spot. i chose sweaty chris gwynn and his 1992 topps card to start the sheet rather than use his 1989 upper deck card a couple of spots later.

rick monday was hitting .292 with 13 homers and 39 rbi heading into july of 1978 when he was voted in by the fans to start the all-star game for the national league. by the end of july, he was hitting .258 and still had 13 homers and 39 rbi. still, he was able to secure the all-star banner on his 1979 topps card thanks to his decent first half and the ballot-stuffing dodger fans.

it was pretty cool for a dodger and steve garvey fan to open packs of 1981 fleer and find out that the garv had two cards in the set.  this one was part of what would become the 'superstar special' subset in later fleer releases, and it recognizes garvey for having the most hits in the national league in 1980.  or, as fleer puts it, "most hits nl".  willie wilson also got an extra card in '81 fleer, as he led all players in hits with 230 (30 more than garvey) as well as in runs scored.

mickey hatcher was ok during the 1988 regular season, but his 1988 topps card here reminds me of his world series heroics that year.  after hitting .293 with one home run in the regular season, hatcher hit .368 with 2 home runs in 5 games against the a's.  had hershiser not been lights out in two games, i am sure that hatcher would have been the mvp of the series.

tom goodwin's 1991 bowman card features the future dodger double dipper wearing the always cool dual-ear flap helmet.  cards like this made me feel closer to the big leagues thanks to the helmets i wore while playing baseball. steve garvey even wore the dual-ear flaps a few times.

rick sutcliffe's 1982 topps card was his last as a dodger, as he had been traded to the indians in december of 1981. all he did after that was lead the american league in era in '82 and then win the cy young in '84 after being traded to the cubbies. speaking of last topps cards as a dodger, here's steve garvey's 1983 flagship card.  at least garvey got the o-pee-chee team and text variation treatment that year, while sutcliffe's 1982 opc card was too far along when the trade was made for the good canadian card makers to slap on the 'traded' text and different team affiliation.

todd worrell was still on his way back from injury when he signed with the dodgers for the 1993 season. he missed a fair chunk of the early '93 campaign which is reflected in the stats on the back of his 1994 topps card.  by 1995, worrell was back to his old self, and he set the dodger single season record for saves - a mark he broke the following year.

final card on the page is the 2006 topps dodger team card. these are your wild card winning dodgers who got swept out of the nlds by the mets, except the card uses the team photo from 2005 so jim tracy is still there instead of grady little, along with other missing players.

cards that didn't make the cut:

2014 topps clayton kershaw at number 604, 1978 topps rick rhoden

at number 605, 1991 topps jim gott at number 606, 1989 upper deck chris gwynn

at number 607, 2009 topps heritage jon garland at number 608, 1991 bowman darryl strawberry at number 609, 1984 topps steve sax at number 610, 2005 topps brad penny at number 611, and 1991 upper deck dennis cook

at number 612.

my favorite card on the page:

i like the 'bonus' 1981 fleer garvey card, and his 1983 topps card also has meaning, but my favorite here is the rick monday card due to the all-star banner.

final thoughts:

that is a lot of pink/purple for the dodgers, even if the bowman design was the same for all teams. night owl did a study and noted this pink dodger phenomenon that thankfully ended with the 1988 set. let's hope it stays that way.

frankendodger sheet 51 (cards 451-459) - that is possibly the worst baseball card photo pose...

here's sheet number 51 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 451-459:

and the back:

these cards are:

451. 1995 score jeff treadway
452. 1987 fleer bill russell
453. 1998 upper deck mike piazza
454. 1994 bowman delino deshields
455. 1988 topps shawn hillegas
456. 2006 topps turkey red rafael furcal
457. 1968 topps jim lefebvre
458. 1993 donruss kevin gross
459. 1984 donruss burt hooton

the "no brainer" of the day:

i suppose the 1987 fleer bill russell 'final tribute' card is about as close as we get to a no brainer on this page.

about the cards:

i think the 1995 score treadway would have worked better as a vertical card. at least that way, terry shumpert's head wouldn't have been cut off. bill russell's elbows might be cropped out of the photo on his 1987 fleer card, but with the angle of the image we get somewhat of a 'hero' shot on russell's final fleer card.  the shortstop of the team of my youth played in his last game in 1986, and i am pleased that two of the three major card companies (shame on you, donruss) came through with final tributes in 1987.

mike piazza had 7 cards in the 1998 upper deck set, not counting inserts.  all but one of those show piazza as a dodger, with the last having both a mets and marlins version.  so, all of the piazza cards in this set remind me of the trade that sent the strongest man in socal away.  i don't know what the 'upper echelon' foil on the front of this particular card from that set is all about, but i do appreciate the photo on the back. with all of the boring spring training photos we've been subjected to since the beginning of card creation, it's nice to see a different aspect of the dodgers' time in vero beach.

delino deshields looks a little washed out on his 1994 bowman card which makes me think of all the times that i heard vin scully refer to the 'shirtsleeves' crowd when a fielder missed a line drive.  shawn hillegas's 1988 topps card, however, makes me think of the fact that hillegas was traded to the white sox during the 1988 season, and so he missed out on, to paraphrase scully, the impossible happening.

next up is rafael furcal on a 2006 topps turkey red card.  furcal is displaying the worst pose ever used on a baseball card, in my opinion.  in the interest of full disclosure, however, there is a photo of me somewhere at my parents house wherein i am displaying the same unnatural baseball pose while standing in front of the outfield wall at dodger stadium.  ah, camera day.

speaking of poses, jim lefebvre's pose in the photo used for his 1968 topps card is different than the type of pose we usually see from infielders in that he has his glove turned the other way.  just an observation.  another observation i have is that the pitch kevin gross has thrown on his 1993 donruss cards looks like it is going to be high, but it is hard to tell for sure.

the last card of the page is a 1984 donruss burt hooton card that catches him throwing his signature knuckle-curve, along with his lean.  check out that grip!  and, is there another pitcher that leans back the way hooton used to? i can't think of anyone off the top of my head.

cards that didn't make the cut:

some of the cards that i passed up include 2015 topps clayton kershaw

at number 451, 1993 fleer bob ojeda at number 452, 1991 topps lenny harris at number 453, 1994 pinnacle pedro astacio

at number 454, 2001 topps eric karros at number 455, 1995 topps stadium club tom candiotti at number 456, 2009 upper deck dodgers leaders (chad billingsley, matt kemp, james loney) at number 457, 1999 upper deck victory mike piazza

at number 458, and 1985 donruss mike scioscia at number 459.

my favorite card on the page:

since the piazza card makes me kind of sad, i'll say that the russell card is my favorite of these nine cards.

final thoughts:

the all-star break is here, and the dodgers have been playing well as of late.  unfortunately for us dodger fans, so have the giants.  i am hoping that kershaw is able to return right after the break, and also that corey seager doesn't lose his swing by participating in the home run derby.

frankendodger sheet 20 (cards 172-180) - enough with the variety...

here's sheet number 20 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 172-180:

 and the back:

these cards are:

172. 1971 o-pee-chee duke sims
173. 2005 topps heritage jeff weaver
174. 1988 topps phil garner
175. 1989 topps john shelby
176. 2014 panini donruss carl crawford
177. 1991 topps stadium club eddie murray
178. 1980-87 sspc baseball immortals frank robinson
179. 1995 fleer update todd williams
180. 2012 topps allen & ginter's tim federowicz

the "no brainer" of the day:

the frobby card was the no brainer here.  there just aren't too many cards of him in a dodger uniform, and at number 754, his 1972 topps high-number card falls outside of the numbering for this set.

about the cards:

i've written about the sims card before over at oh my o-pee-chee, and there's not much more to say about it other than i am a big fan.  i am only a so-so fan of topps heritage and jeff weaver. i had high hopes for weaver when he came to the dodgers from the american league where he had been somewhat successful, but my hopes were dashed over the next couple of years.  the best/weirdest thing about garner's 1988 topps card is that he doesn't have his mustache.  he could have given lanny mcdonald a run for his money.

with shelby's 1989 topps card, we have successive years of the flagship back-to-back on the sheet.  that's happened a few times before.  carl crawford's 2014 donruss card (i had to double check to make sure it was from 2014 as the design is so non-descript) is a fine example of the worst an unlicensed card can be.

eddie murray had to wait a long time to make the set, but i really wanted this stadium club card in the set.  it reminds me of lucy and ethel in the chocolate factory as he has his hands full with baseballs. i can picture joey amalfitano hitting fungoes to him rapid fire off camera.  the next card is the second hall of famer on the sheet, frank robinson.  his 1973 topps card

would have made the set (on this sheet at 175) if topps hadn't airbrushed out the 'dodgers' on his uniform and labeled frank as a california angel.  that card might be my favorite near-miss dodger card ever.

i bet you were wondering when the 1995 fleer abomination would show up. well, here it is (update, actually) with todd williams representing.  williams pitched in 16 games for the dodgers in '95 but was traded to the a's towards the end of the season and so wasn't around for the team's nlds sweep at the hands of the reds.  last up is tim federowicz's 2012 a&g card.  federowicz is currently getting a shot with the cubs following kyle schwarber's injury. i thought it presumptuous that he, as a catcher, took mike piazza's number when he first came up to the bigs.

cards that didn't make the cut:

a few examples of cards that were considered but not chosen include 2015 topps update adrian gonzalez at #172 (i have a bunch of these cards, but no way the sims was losing out), 1990 leaf kirk gibson at #173, 1970 topps ted sizemore and 1992 upper deck darryl strawberry

at #174, 2013 panini hometown heroes bill buckner

at #175, 1972 topps tom haller in action (it is a dodger card, you know) and 1981 donruss steve garvey at #176, 2009 topps 206 pee wee reese at #177, 2010 bowman manny ramirez at #178, 2003 bowman heritage duke snider at #179, and 1996 upper deck collector's choice hideo nomo

at #180.

my favorite card on the page:

the duke sims team and text o-pee-chee variation is my favorite card on this page.  i wish there were more o-pee-chee variations!

final thoughts:

from here on out, there are no rules - any number can be filled by any player from any set.  however, the next sheet does feature eight new sets, along with eight new players.  i wonder who the repeat player will be?