frankendodger sheet 69 (cards 613-621) - bat flip!...

here's sheet number 69 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 613-621:

and the back:

these cards are:

613. 2015 topps josh beckett
614. 2003 topps kevin brown
615. 1969 topps len gabrielson
616. 1994 donruss dave hansen
617. 1986 donruss bill madlock
618. 1994 score raul mondesi
619. 1992 pinnacle brett butler
620. 1977 topps don sutton
621. 1975 sspc mickey vernon

the "no brainer" of the day:

given the lack of manager cards in topps' flagship series, the beckett card featuring don mattingly was an easy choice for the set.

about the cards:

josh beckett's 2015 stadium club card features the better photo, but i still like his flagship series 2 card for the mattingly appearance and for the fact that topps recognized beckett's no-hitter even though it came in his final season and he didn't get a regular final tribute card in the set (this card is a checklist).

the 2003 topps kevin brown card doesn't use the typical side view of a pitcher in their delivery, but the best part about this card (aside from the blue border that made 2003 topps a great set for dodger fans) is the inset photo of brown with a batting helmet on.  i was never kevin brown's biggest fan, but i did watch him warm up in the bullpen a few times, and also saw him throw on the side before a couple of games, and i will not forget the sound of the ball hitting the catchers' mitt. dude threw hard.

len gabrielson brings us the last 1960's card of the set. his 1969 topps card notes that he led the dodgers with 10 home runs in 1968. those 10 homers were a career high for gabrielson, who followed up that performance with just one home run in 1969.

dave hansen's 1994 donruss card actually shows him in the field, which is nice. hansen had played 108 games at third in 1992, but that number was down to just 18 in 1993 and then just 7 in 1994 as his career as a pinch-hitting specialist took off.

the best thing about bill madlock's 1986 donruss card is pinky tuscadero in the background above the dodger logo. i have no idea who that really is or what they are doing on the field.

1994 score gave us this raul mondesi card with the disgusted bat flip. i am guessing that the umpire who made the bad third strike call is either joe west, angel hernandez, or eric gregg.

the 1992 pinnacle brett butler card is pretty cool in that it dissects the bunt process. i know of a few major leaguers that could use a bunting tutorial, with byron buxton being at the top of the list.

don sutton is not suttoning on his 1977 topps card, but that's ok.  instead, he's striking the go-to full windup, hands behind head pose.

last card is the 1975 sspc mickey vernon card. vernon never played for the dodgers, but he was on walt alston's coaching staff as the team's hitting coach in 1975. vernon had begun his coaching career with the pirates in 1960 (he was their first base coach), but was activated in september of that year as the pirates were headed to a pennant and world series championship - vernon was manny mota before manny mota!

cards that didn't make the cut:

bill madlock at number 617 may be the only non-target set option at number 617, but i had these cards to consider at the other spots: 1990 score jose vizcaino at number 613, 1991 bowman eddie murray at number 614, 2013 topps mark ellis

at number 615, 1972 topps joe ferguson

at number 616, 1993 bowman raul mondesi at number 618, 2008 topps heritage blake dewitt at number 619, 1974 topps al downing at number 620, and 1973 topps joe ferguson

at number 621,

my favorite card on the page:

if you've been following along with this blog, you probably know that a coach card is going to beat out most others.  i like the beckett and the butler and the mondesi, but the vernon card is my favorite of the bunch.

final thoughts:

i know that the 1975 sspc set is really a 1976 set (kind of like 2012 panini prizm which came out in 2013). i refer to it as 1975 because of the copyright date, but i think most call it 1976 because of the release date (which was delayed due to legal issues if i recall correctly).

frankendodger sheet 27 (cards 235 - 243) - why not world champions?...

here's sheet number 27 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 235-243:

and the back:

these cards are:

235. 2009 topps chad billingsley
236. 1982 donruss robert castillo
237. 2008 topps update manny ramirez
238. 1966 topps dodger team
239. 1973 topps pete richert
240. 2015 topps stadium club josh beckett
241. 2013 topps gypsy queen chris capuano (framed white parallel)
242. 1984 o-pee-chee greg brock
243. 1979 o-pee-chee reggie smith

the "no brainer" of the day:

the manny ramirez card from 2008 topps update was perhaps the card i've most highly anticipated since the first steve garvey relic card was finally made.  card companies started putting relics in packs in 1997, but it took them until 2001 to make one of the garv.  with manny's hot start to his dodger career, i couldn't wait to get an official card of him in dodger blue.  as a result, his card was not going to be held out of this set.

about the cards:

that 2009 topps chad billingsley card comes from a time when i was pretty excited about the dodgers and bills.  the dodgers had made it to the nlcs for the first time since 1988 the previous season, and bills was coming off of a 16-win season in which he pitched 200+ innings and had 200+ strikeouts. he started the 2009 season well, and was 9-4 at the break, but faltered in the second half.  three years later, in august of 2012, i was at the game in which he was injured.  he made only two more appearances as a dodger, both in 2013, before missing all of 2014 and moving on to the phillies last year.

bobby castillo's 1982 donruss card confused me. it's got a great shot of castillo in dodger stadium, but he is referred to as "robert" on the front.  while fleer used "robert" on both their 1981 and 1982 cards of the dodger reliever, he was correctly referred to as "bobby" on the front of his 1981 donruss card (topps used "bobby" in 1979 and every year that he had a topps card thereafter) but for some reason donruss changed things up. i had never heard vin scully or jerry doggett or ross porter refer to him as robert, so i didn't understand why the change was made.  donruss eventually went back to "bobby" in 1984.

as i mentioned above, i was anxiously awaiting the 2008 topps update manny ramirez card, and wasn't disappointed.  i was, however, disappointed that upper deck scrapped their plans for an update set, even after releasing a mock-up of the manny card.

while bills and manny and the others couldn't get the dodgers to the world series in 2008, the 1965 dodgers won it all.  their 1966 topps team card only gave them props for being the national league champions, however.  i am not sure why they weren't listed as world series champions.  pete richert had been with the dodgers in 1963 when they won the world series (he didn't pitch in the series that year), but was traded away prior to the 1965 season in the claude osteen deal.  he was on his second term with the dodgers when the 1973 card was issued, but they traded him away again prior to the 1974 season and another world series berth.  luckily for richert, he spent some time with the orioles in between his dodger stints and won a ring with the o's in 1970.

josh beckett was the mvp of the 2003 world series, but that's not relevant.  his 2015 topps stadium club card is relevant because it is the only card on the sheet that doesn't have white borders.  more importantly, it serves as a final tribute for the hurler, and it also features a photo from the celebration of his no-hitter thrown on may 25, 2014 against the phillies.

the chris capuano card is another one of the three parallels that made the set (there has been a walmart black andruw jones card shown already, with another walmart parallel yet to come). i had a double of his white framed retail exclusive card, but not his base card. go figure.

the sheet finishes up with a pair of o-pee-chee cards - greg brock from 1984 and reggie smith from 1979.  neither are variations, but the bright cardstock, french on the back, and especially the logo on the 1979 card bring variety to the set nonetheless.

cards that didn't make the cut:

some of the cards that were considered but omitted include 2010 topps national chicle jackie robinson

at number 235, 1986 o-pee-chee jerry reuss at number 236, 2011 topps gypsy queen roy campanella at number 237, 1961 topps jim gilliam at number 238, 1974 topps bill russell

at number 239, 2011 topps andre ethier at number 240, 2001 upper deck vintage dodger team at number 241, 1995 topps stadium club brett butler

at number 242, and 1980 o-pee-chee rick monday at number 243.

my favorite card on the page:

as much as i like manny's card and o-pee-chee in general, that josh beckett card is my favorite on this sheet.

final thoughts:

i suppose the silver lining to the 1966 topps card not listing the dodgers as world champions is that topps remained consistent and did not list the giants as champs on their 2015 topps heritage team card either. whomever wins the title in 2018 should get a team card (similar to the 1970 mets card) hailing them as world champions in 2019 heritage.