frankendodger sheet 77 (cards 685-693) - goodbye to vintage...

here's sheet number 77 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 685-693:

and the back:

these cards are:

685. 1970 topps tom haller
686. 1993 topps stadium club tim wallach
687. 2005 topps adam laroche
688. 1991 upper deck stan javier
689. 1992 upper deck chris gwynn
690. 1991 topps orel hershiser
691. 1998 upper deck bobby bonilla
692. 1993 upper deck todd worrell
693. 1981 topps steve howe

the "no brainer" of the day:

that would be the 1992 upper deck chris gwynn card, with the rare double play turn attempt at third base.

about the cards:

the best thing about the 1970 topps tom haller card is not fact that it actually features haller in a dodger uniform, nor that he has a look on his face that balances tolerance and annoyance for and with the photographer.  it's what is happening in the background with the two players over his left shoulder.

are they playing pepper? perhaps, but the fact that the guy with the bat is using his glove as home plate, just like we did as kids, is awesome.

i chose the 1993 topps stadium club tim wallach card for this spot over a steve garvey card from 1972 due to the fact that i didn't have a spare of the garvey card.  it's his high numbered second year card that is the most expensive to obtain.  garvey has had a good run in this frankenset, but i'm still a little bummed that he's not in this spot, too.

andy laroche's 2005 topps card is the next one up. laroche was a 39th round draft pick of the dodgers in 2003, so i suppose it's not a surprise that he had a short career.  i had hoped that he would bring stability to the hot corner for the dodgers, but he was traded to pittsburgh as part of the three-team manny ramirez/jason bay deal in 2008.

now we have stan javier's 1991 upper deck card right next to chris gwynn's 1992 upper deck card so we can see the design evolution. there's not much of a connection there, as upper deck finished their run around the bases in 1991 and went to something different in '92.  i was drawn in by the floating team logo within the picture on the 1992 cards, perhaps because i liked the 1991 topps set that had done something similar with the logo (although with a ribbon behind it) as evidenced by the 1991 topps orel hershiser card that finishes off this row.

i almost made it through the frankenset without a bobby bonilla card, but relented and put this 1998 upper deck card in at number 691.  bobby bo played for the dodgers in the last half of the 1998 season following the mike piazza trade, and i was pleased when they did not retain him for the 1999 season.

todd worrell's 1993 upper deck card features more foliage than we are used to seeing on a baseball card - both on front and back, but steve howe's 1981 topps card puts things back in a stadium where they belong.  i really liked the '81 topps design with the hats, and i have to believe that it influenced don and russ to go with the ball and glove designs for their product in the two years that followed.

cards that didn't make the cut:

1990 donruss ramon martinez at number 685, 1972 topps steve garvey

at number 686, 1992 upper deck tim crews at number 687, 1998 upper deck gary sheffield

at number 688, 1992 bowman pedro astacio at number 689, 1991 upper deck jim gott at number 690, 2002 upper deck 40 man andy ashby at number 691, 1992 donruss alfredo griffin at number 692, and 1971 topps jose pena

at number 693.

my favorite card on the page:

given the absence of the 1972 topps garvey on the page, it's a bit of a toss up.  still, i really do like the gwynn card, so it take the honors for today.

final thoughts:

it's a topic that has been thrown around the blogosphere for a long time - what is vintage? to me, vintage was always 1970 and prior, although i now see 1971 and 1972 as vintage, too.  the 1970 thing is based on when i was born. the 1970 topps set came out before i entered this world, so it's vintage. i am not. yet.  in 1984 i really began to take an interest in the 1971 set beyond the dodgers (i had a few cards, including a reggie jackson that i bought at the very first card show i attended), and an appreciation for the 1972 set followed soon thereafter. i was never really excited by the 1973 set until just a few years ago, so that's why i cut the vintage tag off with 1972.  at any rate, there was an opportunity to have the three 1970's vintage (to me) sets represented on this sheet, and only tom haller's 1970 topps card made it.  however, if a certain lawyer in new mexico wants to send me a fifth 1972 topps steve garvey card (i currently have one in the garvey collection, one in the dodger team collection, one signed in the garvey collection, and one in the 1972 topps set binder) for that 1993 stadium club tim wallach card, then the '72 garv would be the last vintage card in this set.

frankendodger sheet 57 (cards 505-513) - dodger stadium makes the checklist...

here's sheet number 57 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 505-513:

and the back:

these cards are:

505. 1974 topps bill buckner
506. 1986 topps bill russell
507. 1989 score brian holton
508. 1978 topps johnny oates
509. 1987 topps enos cabell
510. 1980 topps ron cey
511. 1981 donruss steve howe
512. 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee dodger stadium/dodgers checklist
513. 1992 upper deck mike morgan

the "no brainer" of the day:

there are only a few cards of dodger stadium in mainstream sets, and i knew i wanted this so-called o-pee-chee card of it in the set.

about the cards:

billy buck leads things off with his 1974 topps card. note that he is listed as a first baseman on the card.  that didn't last long, as steve garvey established himself as the team's first baseman, with buckner moving out to left field.

another bill - this time russell - fills the next spot in the set.  russell is relaxing in the dugout on his 1986 topps card, which makes sense as the dean of the dodgers started only 43 games in what would be his final season.  that total did include, however, his first (and only) career start at third base.

i like brian holton's 1989 score card because it features a glimpse of the old field level scoreboard in dodger stadium in the background. i am thankful that score's production schedule didn't afford them time to pull or modify holton's card following the december 1988 trade that sent him to the orioles.

johnny oates makes his debut in the set, which is understandable since he has only a few (three, i think) dodger cards to his name.  because he has this 1978 topps card showing him as a dodger, however, he may as well have been a dodger for life as far as i am concerned because i think of him as a dodger first.  in fact, oates joined tommy john as being members of the 1977 and 1978 dodgers who lost to the yankees in the world series only to join the yankees and lose to the dodgers in 1981.

are you aware the the enos cabell card here is only the second 1987 topps card in the frankenset so far? here we are in the 500's, and there has only been one other - tom lasorda's card at number 493 - and i am considering switching that card out with a 1985 topps orel hershiser rookie.  that doesn't have anything to do with enos, who was one of the long number of third basemen that al campanis and fred claire and dan evans brought into town between ron cey and adrian beltre.

speaking of cey, here he is on his 1980 topps card.  cey, like von joshua, dusty baker, and steve garvey, was featured in the batting cage on his card from topps in this set. that kind of repetition makes for somewhat boring pages in my topps dodger team set binder.  still, having this card on the same sheet as buckner's 1974 topps card shows how similar the designs are to one another.

and, speaking of similar designs, here is a 1981 donruss card positioned just below a 1978 topps card.  steve howe got cards from all three companies in 1981 after being left off of the dodger future stars card by topps in 1980 which was a great disappointment to many young fans in southern california.  later, it was howe himself who became a great disappointment to many young fans in southern california.

dodger stadium is on display on this 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee card, and it's a beautiful thing.  the stadium got a new address this year, when elysian park avenue was renamed vin scully avenue. it is the third oldest major league baseball stadium, and i hope it stays that way for a long time to come.

last card on the page is mike morgan's 1992 upper deck card with the increasingly rare (and soon to be extinct?) pitcher on the basepaths photo. i have resigned myself to the fact that the dh is coming to the national league sooner rather than later.

cards that didn't make the cut:

various levels of consideration were given to 1994 fleer pedro astacio at number 505, 1961 topps willie davis at number 506, 1993 topps tom lasorda (with hal mcrae) at number 507, 1959 topps art fowler

 at number 508, 1988 fleer tim belcher

at number 509, 1982 topps fernando valenzuela

at number 510, 1995 score tom candiotti at number 511, 1981 topps gary thomasson at number 512, and 1989 topps jesse orosco at number 513.

my favorite card on the page:

we have two members of the infield on this page, along with a 1978 topps dodger and a card of dodger stadium, but i think my favorite card here is the 1981 donruss steve howe.  1981 was the first time i saw a steve howe card (and his donruss card was the first one that i pulled from a pack), and adding the 1980 nl rookie of the year to my collection was a big deal.  so, this card wins on sentimental value.

final thoughts:

why hasn't topps ever put stadium cards in the flagship set? it's not a subset that would work every year, but not even once?  i suppose it has to do with giving up 30 spots on the checklist, but there could have been one year back in the day where we were given a stadium photo rather than a team photo on the team checklist.  still, i do have a few dodger stadium cards, including ones from the topps dodger factory team sets a few years ago.