frankendodger sheet 66 (cards 586-594) - get your kicks...

here's sheet number 66 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 586-594:

and the back:

these cards are:

586. 1978 topps ed goodson
587. 1994 topps stadium club dave hansen
588. 2012 topps mark ellis
589. 1995 topps pedro astacio
590. 1993 donruss lenny harris
591. 1992 bowman jamie mcandrew
592. 1986 donruss franklin stubbs
593. 1974 topps steve yeager
594. 2013 topps carl crawford

the "no brainer" of the day:

i wanted to get a card from 1992 bowman into the set, seeing as how it was such a big deal. i ignored it at the time, but did go back and complete my dodger team set a few years ago.  i recall buying a pack at a card store in orange county around 1996 - the only pack i ever bought - for a high price, hoping for a piazza rookie. i got a charles johnson gold foil card, which at the time wasn't too bad. still didn't pay for the pack.  anyway, jamie mcandrew's card was not a no brainer, but the set it represents was, so that will have to do for this sheet.

about the cards:

i suppose ed goodson's 1978 topps card could have been the no brainer.  i have a history with it, trying to find an autographed copy for my modest 1978 topps dodger autograph project. i am still pretty happy about finding one and buying it before anyone else jumped on it.

it must have been a hot day in vero beach when they took the photo for dave hansen's 1994 stadium club card - there aren't too many folks in the seats.

mark ellis' 2012 topps card features some bad photoshopping of his uniform. he's a rockie (or maybe still an athletic) in the original photo.

i bought a lot of 1995 topps. maybe it was because of the strike and i needed a baseball fix. it wasn't because of the design - i didn't get the frayed edges of the photos or the font used for player names.  anyway, this pedro astacio card is the first '95 topps card in the set which says a lot about how much i don't care for it.

lenny harris is turning two on his 1993 donruss card against the braves. that is obviously david justice sliding in. it could be a play from the 5th inning of the september 7, 1992 game between the clubs - harris was at second when sid bream hit a ball to short with justice on first. the 6-4-3 double play was successful.

jamie mcandrew did not pitch for the dodgers in the big leagues.  shortly after his 1992 bowman card was released, he was taken by the colorado rockies in the 1993 expansion draft. the rockies later traded him to the brewers, and he made it to the bigs with milwaukee in 1995.

there's not much to say about franklin stubbs' 1986 donruss card, or steve yeager's 1974 topps card for that matter. we've seen plenty of cards from these sets and of these players in the set already.  yeager's card, however, has a couple of things going for it - a cartoon (steve enjoys art), and a couple of interesting facts about his experience in a game played on august 8, 1972. the card says that yeager had an extra-inning record 22 putouts in that game, and that he also had a record 24 chances in the same game. it was a 19 inning affair against the reds, and dodger pitchers struck out 22 batters accounting for yeager's putouts, and he caught two runners stealing, giving him 2 assists and 24 chances.  this game was the sixth game of yeager's big league career, and he had caught complete games in the dodgers' previous five contests. yeager caught all 19 innings of this game, and started the next day, too, although he only made it to the 7th inning.

last card on the sheet is carl crawford's 2013 topps card, which, like the ellis earlier, features some obvious photoshopping.

cards that didn't make the cut:

1996 upper deck collector's choice mike blowers

at number 586, 1984 donruss bill russell at number 587, 1989 score mario soto

at number 588, 1993 topps carlos hernandez at number 589, 1991 topps eddie murray at number 590, 1991 bowman bob ojeda at number 591, 1985 donruss ken howell at number 592, 2003 upper deck masao kida at number 593, and 1975 sspc checklist (carl erskine, ralph branca, and pee wee reese)

at number 594.

my favorite card on the page:

the goodson card has some meaning to me, but i like the hansen card the best out of this group.

final thoughts:

sheet 66 makes me think of historic route 66 and yasiel puig (and, i suppose, mario lemieux).  i've driven parts of route 66 over the years, but never made the full run from chicago to santa monica.  i have gotten some kicks, mostly in 2013, from watching yasiel puig play, but i am more and more resigned to the fact that he won't recapture that dynamic anytime soon. with the hamstring injuries and trade rumors swirling, i don't know whether puig finishes out the season as a dodger, let alone on an active roster.  we may know more later today...

frankendodger sheet 44 (cards 388-396) - night owl's favorite card makes the cut...

here's sheet number 44 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 388-396:

and the back:

these cards are:

388. 1998 donruss paul konerko
389. 1998 pacific online gary sheffield
390. 1975 topps ron cey
391. 2008 upper deck first edition blake dewitt
392. 2010 topps carlos monasterios
393. 1995 fleer ultra pedro astacio
394. 1989 topps orel hershiser
395. 1990 fleer alfredo griffin
396. 1998 upper deck collector's choice todd zeile

the "no brainer" of the day:

that would be the pacific online sheffield checklist.  i have foregone all of the other dodger cards in the online set because i knew i had doubles of this card and it is so "pacific". i like the big dodger logo right in the center of this card, too.

about the cards:

paul konerko makes his first (and only) appearance in the set via a card from 1998 donruss. spirit of the game was originally an insert set, but at some point donruss made it a subset of the regular set. konerko took his spirit to cincinnati at the 1998 all-star break before settling in with the white sox for a very productive career.

gary sheffield got front billing (and deservedly so) for the dodger team checklist in the 1998 pacific online set.  this was a great set, with 29 dodgers represented, including short-timers like thomas howard, matt luke, tom prince, and trenidad hubbard.  i never did check out any of the links when they were active - i wonder what they looked like.

next up is night owl's favorite card - the 1975 topps ron cey.  he has discussed the fantastic-ness of this card many times, so i won't try to tell you anything more about it. instead, i'll reiterate my opinion that the pants blake dewitt is wearing on his 2008 upper deck first edition card are the worst baseball pants of all time. i think they look terrible, and i am not a crabby old fart.  carlos monasterios is also wearing bad baseball pants on his 2010 topps card.  i prefer his 2010 bowman card

but it isn't numbered 392.

pedro astacio gets the call to represent 1995 fleer ultra, which is about two years before i would say the set actually became anything special.  my favorite thing about astacio is they way he used to wiggle his arm as it hung from his side while he was checking the signs.   i also "threw" a no-hitter with him on the old tony larussa baseball game for pc in the late 1990's.

there were a lot of orel hershiser cards issued in 1989, and this topps all-star card is one of them. hershiser was the nl rhp in the subset, and kirk gibson was the pinch hitter, as opposed to the dh for the american league. i thought that was a nice touch by topps.

alfredo griffin's 1990 fleer set is, like the rest of the set in my opinion, forgettable. griffin had a much better year in 1989 than he had in 1988 at the plate, but the ring is the thing, and by that account 1988 was a much better season.

last card of this page is the 1998 collector's choice todd zeile.  zeile looks like he might be boning his bat (that's something players did back in the day, with mark grace apparently preferring a cow femur).  i like most of all the fact that this card displays the jackie robinson patch that the dodgers wore in 1997, although it is not my favorite card to do so.

cards that didn't make the cut:

those that tried and failed include 2011 topps kenley jansen (with a lurking davey lopes as the phillies' first base coach)

at number 388, 1960 topps maury wills (luis swipes base)

at number 389, 1972 topps willie davis at number 390, 1973 topps lee lacy at number 391, 1996 topps stadium club tom candiotti at number 392, 1998 upper deck collector's choice jose vizcaino at number 393, 1992 bowman dave anderson at number 394, 1990 score willie randolph at number 395, and 1997 upper deck greg gagne (with future dodger rickey henderson!)

at number 396.

my favorite card on the page:

the red background on the todd zeile card, along with the jackie robinson patch, puts this one on top for me.  you know i like that card if i passed on the gagne card to get it in the set.

final thoughts:

seeing the gagne card reminds me that i wanted to get rickey into the set, but did not do so.  i took another look at his dodger cards, and i think i've found a spot for him.  i actually have 4 or 5 cards to replace, and i'll update all of the posts accordingly.