frankendodger sheet 80 (cards 712-720) - black and white and even worse...

here's sheet number 80 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 712-720:

and the back:

[update! - i replaced card number 720 as the 1990 target dodgers were meant to be place holders. so, here's sheet number 80; front and back]

these cards are:

712. 1997 fleer mike piazza
713. 1992 topps stadium club rudy seanez
714. 1993 topps kevin gross
715. 2004 topps eric gagne
716. 2009 topps heritage orlando hudson
717. 1987 topps ed vande berg
718. 1992 fleer checklist
719. 1979 topps dodgers prospects (joe simpson/pedro guerrero/rudy law)
720. 1990 target mike sharperson 2016 topps heritage high numbers ross stripling

the "no brainer" of the day:

pedro guerrero's rookie card was a sure thing for the set, even if the photos are in black and white.

about the cards:

it feels like fleer was reaching for content when you come across a card like this mike piazza card from their 1997 flagship set at number 712, and, i suppose perhaps that is what they mean by 'encore' on the front of the card.  the back does include his minor league stats which did not appear on the back of his 'base' card, so there is that difference.  by the way, piazza has two other cards in the fleer set - both of him on the front of checklist cards.

rudy seanez means busi-nez (there i go with my mlb.com headline writing again) on his 1992 topps stadium club card.  unfortunately, seanez did not suit up for the dodgers in 1992, spending the entire season in the minors before being traded to the rockies for jody reed.  he did come back to the dodgers (twice!) and was a big part of their bullpen in 2007, pitching in 73 games that year.

kevin gross' 1993 topps card features the dodger pitcher in dodger stadium. we know that's where he is because of the old field level scoreboard in the background.  unfortunately, you can't really see the 76 sign thanks to the umpire standing in the way. murph would be upset.  i don't think the dodgers give out union oil auto scrips anymore when a player hits a home run, but there was a time when 76 was as predominant of a sponsor as farmer john and his eastern corn fed pork.

before clayton kershaw came along, eric gagne was the most recent dodger to win the cy young award. gagne's win, marked by this 2004 topps card, broke the longest drought for a dodger to win that award as it had not been won by a dodger since orel hershiser in 1988.  gagne is also the last reliever for any team to have won the award.

from game over to the o-dog, here we have another dodger who is the last to have done something. hudson, shown on his 2009 topps heritage high numbers card, was the first dodger to hit for the cycle since wes parker in 1970 (making him the first dodger to hit for the cycle in my lifetime), and he is the most recent dodger to have done so.

ed vande berg's 1987 topps card was conveniently numbered 717, so it fits nicely into the set. vande berg, whom the dodgers acquired in the steve yeager trade with seattle, was with cleveland in 1987, and o-pee-chee thankfully included him

at number 34

in their truncated set.

this next card is hands down the worst one in the set.  even the 1990 target card was a bad option for number 718. this is, of course, the 1992 fleer checklist that lists all of the dodger cards in the set, along with those of the expos, astros, and reds.  and worse yet is that the dodgers are on the back. so, i have the back of a generic checklist filling a spot in this set.  i really hope that this year's heritage high numbers puts josh reddick or some other dodger at number 718.

from a bad card to a pretty good one, we have next the 1979 topps dodger future stars card featuring pedro guerrero, rudy law, and joe simpson.  guerrero and law went on to have some success with the dodgers in the big leagues, but simpson found his calling in the announcers' booth for the braves.  this is the rookie card for all three players, although it's known best for guerrero. the only knock i have against it is the black and white photos - i don't know what the driver was for topps to go black and white here.  was it to avoid showing the garish color of the albuquerque dukes hat law is sporting?

given the presence of other minor leaguers on other teams' cards and their equally minor league looking uniforms,

that might be the case.

last card on the sheet is mike sharperson's 1990 target card, which means it was the only thing available for number 720 ross stripling's 2016 topps heritage high numbers card. reddick didn't make it at card 718, but i was able to remove a placeholder card after all.

cards that didn't make the cut:

2005 topps steve finley at number 712, 1989 upper deck rick dempsey (look ma, no gear!)

at number 713, 1992 donruss mitch webster at number 714, 2008 upper deck blake dewitt at number 715, 2009 upper deck hiroki kuroda at number 716, and 2009 upper deck andre ethier at number 717.

my favorite card on the page:

that would be kevin gross' 1993 topps card. i'd like it even better if the umpire weren't blocking the 76 sign on the scoreboard.

final thoughts:

over on the sidebar at garveyceyrusselllopes there has been, for the past two-and-a-half years, a watch of a redemption card for a 2013 topps triple threads dave stewart auto/relic waiting to be fulfilled by topps.  when topps recently moved their redemption tracker into their main website, i was given the option of requesting a replacement card rather than having to call in a request. i had been hoping against hope (most likely) that the stewart card would show him as a dodger, but since he's too busy with his day job in arizona to sign the stickers for topps, i checked the box for a different card to be sent.  earlier this week, i received this thing

and this "bonus" card

neither fits in my collection, so they are available for trade.  and, the sidebar is updated accordingly. 1001 days later.

frankendodger sheet 58 (cards 514-522) - 22% canadian...

here's sheet number 58 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 514-522:

and the back:

these cards are:

514. 1967 topps john werhas
515. 1973 o-pee-chee andy messersmith
516. 1994 topps kevin gross
517. 2002 upper deck kazuhisa ishii
518. 1988 fleer orel hershiser
519. 1971 o-pee-chee willie crawford
520. 1994 upper deck chan ho park
521. 1980 topps ken brett
522. 1972 topps dodgers team

the "no brainer" of the day:

that would be george brett's older brother's card - the only dodger card of ken brett issued during his playing days.

about the cards:

this duplicate of john werhas's 1967 topps card has a big ol' crease running across it. that's ok - it is a frankenset, after all.  the card is from the 6th series, but for some reason does not list werhas as a member of the california angels - the team to which he was traded to in may of '67.

the first of two o-pee-chee cards on the page is andy messersmith's 1973 card. if you look closely at the back,

you will see that while bill remains bill, and mike remains mike, andy translates to "andy" in french.

kevin gross is up next with his 1994 topps card. i think 1994 topps is one of their better releases of that decade. i didn't think much of it at the time, but that had a lot to do with the excessive glossiness of the cards.  i think with a couple of tweaks (the card stock and the font of the players' names), the design could be pretty solid, and i do like the backs.

kaz ishii was supposed to be a lefty hideo nomo, but wound up being more like a lefty hideki irabu.  that's probably not entirely fair, but he did walk a bunch of people.  i like this 2002 upper deck card because it showcases dodger stadium, complete with the retired number outfield wall murals (that's tommy lasorda to ishii's left), in the background.

the red, white, and blue design of 2002 upper deck is not as gaudy as that of 1988 fleer.  putting cards of orel hershiser from 1988 into the set just feels right, regardless of the card design.

now here's the second canadian card of the page - a 1971 o-pee-chee willie crawford card.  it's a little rough, but it's a dupe, and i am a fan of the yellow backs and the starburst head shot that makes these cards different from their topps counterparts.  and, in case you are wondering, willie is just willie in french - no quotations marks.

this chan ho park card is from the 'diamond debuts' subset in 1994 upper deck.  i assumed that the silhouette on the front was just a generic pitcher, but comparing the photo of park on the back to it, i now believe it is actually park. that's a level of effort that upper deck stopped aspiring to in their last few years producing baseball cards.

and now we have ken brett's 1980 topps card.  he was a good hitter, and he actually hit for himself in a game for the white sox during the 1976 season, rather than give way to a designated hitter.  the chisox also used him as a pinch-hitter a number of times.  i always thought that tommy lasorda should have used terry forster as a pinch-hitter more often, but i guess he had a couple of pinch-hitting specialists (manny mota and vic davalillo) on the roster already.  at any rate, the dodgers did not use brett as a pinch-hitter at all, although he was 3 for 11 at the plate during his time with them in 1979.

one of the things that i like about the 1972 topps dodger team card is that the photo looks like it was taken from the top of the 3rd base dugout at dodger stadium. you can see the low right field railing giving way to the bullpen in the background, and the dirt in front of the dugout in the foreground. it also looks like the visiting team is on the field and taking batting practice. it all makes for a more interesting card than the other team cards that followed with the more organized or staged photos taken in the outfield.

cards that didn't make the cut:

1983 donruss mark belanger at number 514, 1976 topps steve yeager at number 515, 1991 topps stadium club ramon martinez at number 516, 1992 bowman orel hershiser at number 517, 2003 upper deck 40 man hideo nomo at number 518. 1984 donruss dave sax

at number 519, 1994 fleer mike piazza at number 520, 1961 topps brother battery (norm and larry sherry)

at number 521, and 1961 dick farrell

at number 522.

my favorite card on the page:

the card i keep going back to here is the kaz ishii card. i just really like seeing the dodger stadium outfield pavilions and murals on cardboard, i guess.

final thoughts:

did you notice how much better topps had become at airbrushing the interlocking la logo onto hats between 1973

and 1980?

that is great progress!

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 17 (cards 145-153) - now with more southpaws...

i've updated this page since the original post ran.

here's sheet number 17 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 145-153:

and the back:

here's how the page originally looked:

these cards are:

145. 1993 pacific kevin gross
146. 2007 topps heritage delwyn young
147. 2009 bowman blake dewitt
148. 2003 bowman heritage fred mcgriff
149. 2006 topps opening day hong-chih kuo
150. 1976 topps steve garvey 2016 bowman corey seager
151. 1972 topps jim brewer
152. 1991 topps mickey hatcher
153. 1981 o-pee-chee jerry reuss

the "no brainer" of the day:

the card that probably comes closest is the jim brewer card.  i have several 1972 topps jim brewer cards for some reason, so he was an early pick to represent that set as i was piecing this project together.

about the cards:

the pacific card comes from their first foray into the bilingual card market, and is nowhere near as crazy as their designs would get later in the decade.  delwyn (not delmon) young came up to the dodgers around the same time as matt kemp and andre ethier.  his cause wasn't helped by ned picking up the likes of juan pierre, luis gonzalez, and andruw jones to patrol the outfield, and he was always the odd man out. he was dealt to the pirates in 2009.

blake dewitt was another guy who had some time with the dodgers, including a decent rookie season in 2008, but again, ned went out and picked up casey blake. dewitt was dealt to the cubs in 2010.  it wasn't ned, but dan evans who was the gm that brought in fred mcgriff for the 2003 season to replace eric karros who was going to chicago to replace (along with future dodger hee seop choi) mcgriff.  the crime dog had hit 30 homers the year before, but managed only 13 as a dodger.  i was looking forward to some cards of mcgriff in dodger blue, and this bowman heritage card was one of the first that i saw.

three of the last five cards on the sheet belong to lefty pitchers. hong-chih kuo's 2006 opening day card is interesting because he was a non-closer reliever even at that point in his career, and i was surprised that he made the opening day checklist, as that set is smaller than flagship.  the other two leftys are former dodger closer jim brewer on a 1972 topps card, and friend of the blogosphere jerry reuss on his 1981 o-pee-chee card.  brewer was done pitching by the time i started to follow the game, but reuss has provided me with some great memories including his no-hitter against the giants and his great pitching performances in the 1981 postseason against the astros and yankees.  it felt right to use a 1981 card for him.

the other two cards on the sheet are corey seager's 2016 bowman card steve garvey's 1976 topps card (which gets the hero number exemption from my lack of set/player duplication rule) and mickey hatcher's 1991 topps card.  i was pretty happy to see seager's bowman card come out as number 150.  this way, the diversity of the set is maintained, and i get seager in the set.  he looks like he will be the real deal, and i hope that he and joc pederson and julio urias and clayton kershaw and jose deleon have many successful years together with the dodgers.

cards that didn't make the cut:

there were lots of good options at number 145, including 1968 topps don drysdale, 1971 topps bill singer, and 1978 topps rick monday (the card where he's wiping the mustard away from his mouth).

other cards that wound up not making the sheet include 1980 topps and 1986 fleer bob welch cards at number 146, one of roy campanella's cards from 1994 upper deck all-time heroes at number 147, 1985 topps steve yeager or 1993 upper deck carlos hernandez at number 148, 1997 bowman joe lagarde

at number 149, 1963 topps johnny podres at number 150, 1973 topps wes parker and 2014 topps stadium club sandy koufax

at number 151, 1959 topps johnny klippstein at number 152, and 1996 topps tom candiotti at number 153.

my favorite card on the page:

i'll exclude garvey from contention and pick the kevin gross card.  it features an often used photo angle, but i never tire of seeing the visitor's bullpen fence in the background of a card.

final thoughts:

just like with the hero exemption at 100, i have rethought the exemption at 150.  with corey seager's 2016 bowman card at number 150, he has replaced the 1976 garvey there just as the 1990 bowman hubie brooks card has replaced the matt kemp card at 100.  after making those swaps, the frankenset is truly diverse through the first 20 pages.