frankendodger sheet 72 (cards 640-648) - silver sluggers and a silver fox...

here's sheet number 72 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 640-648:

and the back:

these cards are:

640. 1994 topps darryl strawberry
641. 1979 topps bobby castillo
642. 1992 topps tim crews
643. 1974 topps dodgers team
644. 1980 topps charlie hough
645. 1991 topps juan samuel
646. 2011 topps matt kemp/andre ethier
647. 2001 upper deck victory shawn green
648. 1984 donruss duke snider

the "no brainer" of the day:

the 1984 donruss duke snider card was a no brainer for me. that was the first card of a retired dodger that i pulled from a mainstream pack. i was pretty excited as a dodger fan that the silver fox was the puzzle in 1984, and it certainly contributed to me buying more packs of donruss that year.

about the cards:

it's hard for me to recall darryl strawberry having dodger cards as late as 1994, since it seems like he played for them for such a short time. of course, strawberry didn't play for the dodgers in 1994, and this '94 topps card is one of the last to feature him in dodger blue. 1994 was the year that darryl went awol at the end of spring training and shortly thereafter enrolled at the betty ford center. the dodgers released him early in the season, and he wound up signing with the giants.  blech.  you will note that the 1994 topps card features a photo of strawberry from the 1993 season (a season in which he hit just .140 in 32 games). we know it is from 1993 because the tim crews memorial patch is visible.

the 1979 topps bobby castillo card was one that i was looking forward to - not as much as the 1979 topps bob welch card, but there was still some anticipation on my part. during the 1978 season, i would listen to dodger games while sitting at the dining room table with my dad as he caught up on paperwork. the little transistor radio would sit between us, and vin scully, jerry doggett, and ross porter would spin their tales while the dodgers advanced to a second consecutive national league pennant. i would sometimes look at my 1978 topps cards while listening, and when castillo came into the game, i had no card to look at.  with bill north and joe ferguson, i had cards but they showed those guys as an athletic and an astro.  still, i had cards. for castillo (and welch and rudy law), i had nothing. as you will see below, my feelings about this card are strong enough for it to bump a 1978 topps card out of the frankenset!

i mentioned the tim crews memorial patch showing on the strawberry card, and now here is the man himself on a 1992 topps card.  crews left the dodgers after the 1992 season and joined the indians. it was during spring training in 1993 that he died (along with teammate steve olin) in a boating accident, prompting the dodgers and indians to wear memorial patches.

the 1974 topps dodger team card features, as do most dodger team cards from 1971 on (1972 being the only exception i can think of), a photo of the team in dodger stadium. they chose a more nondescript part of the stadium as the background (that's the first base side of the stadium behind them) rather than the pavilions.  for what it's worth, steve garvey is in the second row between lee lacy and joe ferguson.

charlie hough is on that team card, too. he's in the back row next to don sutton, and here he is as well on his 1980 topps card. this was the last topps card to feature hough as a dodger as he had his contract purchased by the rangers in july of 1980.  i was disappointed as the team of my youth was starting to disassemble - first rick rhoden before the 1980 season, and then hough during it.  after the season, don sutton would move on, too, and it's a good thing the dodgers won it all in 1981 otherwise i would have really lost it when davey lopes was traded away following that postseason.

with lopes gone, steve sax took over and was even my favorite dodger after steve garvey left for san diego prior to the 1983 season.  after sax left for the yankees following the 1988 postseason, the dodgers struggled (and still struggle) to find a long-term solution at second base. one guy they brought in for a while was juan samuel, seen here on his 1991 topps card.  sammy came over from the mets in a deal that cost the dodgers mike marshall and alejandro pena, which was not necessarily a lot depending upon how you felt about pena.  even though he was not the dynamic player he had been with the phillies early in his career, samuel was pretty reliable in his two full seasons with the dodgers, and he was part of the dodger contingent at the 1991 all-star game.

in 2009, both matt kemp and andre ethier were named recipients of the silver slugger award, and the photo of them receiving the awards at the start of the 2010 season made its way to this 2011 topps card.  the dodgers have had more pitchers win the silver slugger than any other position (if you separate out the outfielders) with fernando valenzuela, tim leary, orel hershiser, and zack greinke each taking home the hardware as dodgers. by my count, the other dodgers to win the silver slugger are dusty baker, pedro guerrero, steve sax, kirk gibson, eddie murray, mike piazza, eric karros, adrian beltre, jeff kent, russell martin, and adrian gonzalez.

not on that list is shawn green, who appears here on a 2001 upper deck victory card. during green's best offensive years, he lost out to barry bonds, sammy sosa, luis gonzalez (in his anomaly of a year in 2001), and vladimir guerrero.

last card on this sheet is the 1984 donruss duke snider card. in 1982, following a ruling favoring topps, donruss switched from gum to puzzle pieces as the accompaniment to their cards in packs.  that first year, the puzzle was of babe ruth, and in 1983, it was mickey mantle. donruss chose snider for the puzzle in 1984, and they included a card showing the complete puzzle image in the card set for the first time.  just another reason that 1984 donruss is my favorite donruss set.

cards that didn't make the cut:

1993 donruss tom goodwin at number 640, 1978 topps doug rau (thanks to bobby castillo's 1979 topps card)

at number 641, 1984 donruss dave anderson at number 642, 2014 topps alex guerrero

at number 643, 1979 topps manny mota at number 644, 2013 topps luis cruz at number 645, 1993 bowman mike piazza at number 646, 2002 topps total odalis perez at number 647, and 1989 donruss orel hershiser

at number 648.

my favorite card on the page:

as much as i like seeing dodgers get awards on cards, the duke snider card is my favorite here.

final thoughts:

as far as i have been able to gather, since moving to los angeles, the dodgers have worn some sort of memorial independently from the rest of the league 8 times.  this includes a combined memorial patch for roy campanella and don drysdale who passed away within a few days of each other in 1993, but not a patch worn for a front office employee during a tour of japan.  this list includes a presidential candidate (bobby kennedy in 1968), the wife of an active player (ken mcmullen in 1974), two active coaches (jim gilliam in 1978 and don mcmahon in 1987), and an active former player in tim crews.  the rest have been players for whom the dodgers have retired a number - campanella and drysdale, pee wee reese in 1999, and duke snider in 2011.  the dodgers did not wear a memorial following the death of jackie robinson - most likely because he passed away in october of 1972, and not during or close to the start of a baseball season.  earlier that year, the mets wore an armband for gil hodges, but not the dodgers.

as many of you know, i have a mini collection of cards featuring memorial patches and armbands, and so i think about this stuff.  i wonder for whom the dodgers will wear patches for in the future.  given what seems to be their current criteria, sandy koufax, don sutton, and tom lasorda would be on the list, as would vin scully given his hall of fame status.  walter o'malley didn't receive a patch as many other owners have in recent years, so i'm not sure whether peter o'malley would at this point.  i was a bit confused about the dodgers not wearing some sort of memorial for willie davis after he died, as he is still high on many los angeles dodger statistical leader boards, so what about don newcombe, manny mota, and maury wills? they've been a part of the dodger family for decades but are not in the hall of fame.  similarly, will the padres (who have retired his number) and not the dodgers wear something when steve garvey passes?  it's kind of a downer subject, but the connection to the past is a bigger part of the game for me the older i get.

frankendodger sheet 65 (cards 577-585) - the dodgers' first rated rookie...

here's sheet number 65 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 577-585:

and the back:

these cards are:

577. 1982 topps rick monday
578. 1991 upper deck mike morgan
579. 1983 donruss greg brock
580. 1968 topps bob bailey
581. 1985 donruss orel hershiser
582. 1989 topps mike marshall
583. 1992 score stan javier
584. 1996 upper deck collector's choice brett butler
585. 2010 upper deck clayton kershaw/matt kemp

the "no brainer" of the day:

that would be the hershiser card.

about the cards:

i remember opening packs of topps cards in 1982 hoping for a rick monday card highlighting his nlcs home run.  i was disappointed as this was the only card topps made of monday that year.  for whatever reason, topps took 1979 and 1980 off when it came to postseason cards, brought them back in 1981, and then dropped them from the checklist until, what - 1997?  i made my own 1982 topps nlcs monday card (two of them, actually),

along with other cards for the 1981 world series.

upper deck showed mike morgan on the basepaths in 1992, and the year prior, they had him ready for some bp.  he seems to be an odd choice for these sorts of cards as he hit .098 as a dodger, but they are better than another generic pitching motion card.  i do, however, appreciate the generic pitching motion photo on the back as it also includes part of the old field level scoreboard from dodger stadium.

one of the best things about the 1984 donruss set (my favorite donruss set, by the way) was the introduction of rated rookies. sid fernandez was a dodger in that set, and was included in the rated rookie subset that immediately followed the diamond kings subset at the beginning of the set, complete with the special banner on the front of the card.  however, donruss introduced the rated rookie concept in 1983, with greg brock being a part of those players chosen.  however, donruss decided to make the rated rookie designation known only on the back of the cards, so it didn't really capture the same level of interest.  still, brock is the dodgers' first rated rookie.

i like bob bailey's 1968 topps card a lot.  it has to do with the colors and the composition of the card (and the fact that bailey, who was acquired by the dodgers prior to the 1967 season in the maury wills deal, is not hatless). the burlap design works well with the dodger blue, the blue sky, the red circle, and the pop of red and white from the florida state flag in the upper left corner. throw in some green from the palm tree, and you've got a winner of a card.  i am curious to see how 2017 heritage plays out.

we already saw the leaf version of orel hershiser's rookie card, and now here is the donruss issue.  i found a double of the topps rookie, and i may go back and put it in the set (sorry 1987 topps tom lasorda), but then again, i may not.

mike marshall's 1989 topps card reminds me that i had too high of expectations for him coming out of the minors. the stats on the back show that he never drove in over 100 runs or hit over .300 with the dodgers despite some massive numbers in the pcl.

stan javier, seen here on his 1992 score card, was the guy the dodgers got from the a's in exchange for willie randolph back in 1990. he stayed with the club into their terrible 1992 season until he was traded to the phillies.

speaking of being traded, brett butler was dealt back to the dodgers by the mets after spending just part of the 1995 season in queens. when he returned, however, his number 22 was being worn by chad fonville, so butler went with 12 as seen on his 1996 collector's choice card. at some point, fonville switched to 3, and butler took 22 back, but i don't know if the photo on the back of the card (with butler sporting the 22 turtleneck and helmet) are from before or after his stint with the ny metropolitans.

last card on the sheet is from upper deck's 2010 swan song, and it features the duo of clayton kershaw and matt kemp - with visible logos! it's another team checklist card in the vein of topps sets circa 1982-1984.

cards that didn't make the cut:

1986 topps jerry reuss

at number 577, 1972 topps billy grabarkewitz at number 578, 1996 upper deck collector's choice greg gagne at number 579, 1991 upper deck jose vizcaino at number 580, 1988 topps tito landrum

at number 581, 1989 donruss ricky horton at number 582, 1983 topps terry forster

at number 583, 1976 topps stan wall at number 584, and 1990 topps kal daniels at number 585.

my favorite card on the page:

bob bailey edges out orel hershiser for the honor.

final thoughts:

thanks to the smaller set sizes and relative scarcity of cards from higher numbered series, the bailey card is the last of the 1968 set to make the frankenset, and the penultimate 1960's card, period.  it's not all junk wax era from here on out, but there are far fewer sets to choose from in these lofty numbers.

frankendodger sheet 50 (cards 442-450) - a nice crop of cards...

here's sheet number 50 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 442-450:

and the back:

these cards are:

442. 1993 leaf carlos hernandez
443. 1996 upper deck collector's choice wilton guerrero
444. 1982 topps terry forster
445. 1990 upper deck fernando valenzuela
446. 1970 topps billy grabarkewitz
447. 2001 topps eric gagne
448. 1993 score john candelaria
449. 2005 topps chrome brad penny
450. 2013 topps heritage walmart blue border matt kemp

the "no brainer" of the day:

it may not be a no brainer, but the 1990 upper deck valenzuela card is the closest thing this page has got.

about the cards:

one thing that i've noticed with most of the cards on this page is the cropping of the photo. that's what i will focus my commentary on, starting with the 1993 leaf carlos hernandez card.  hernandez himself is relegated to the bottom half of his card, but that is so that we can see the full body of the umpire emphatically calling the runner out at the plate.  too often the umpire is cut off mid torso and just becomes background noise. here, the ump is part of the story that the card is telling.  i like it.

the 1996 collector's choice wilton guerrero card doesn't have much of a photo, thanks to the patriotic background, but there is enough to appreciate the folks at upper deck for leaving in the base (presumably second) that guerrero is stepping on, as well as cropping the image so that his right hand is still in the frame.

topps can and has manipulated facsimile autos, so it seems unlikely that the 1982 terry forster card was laid out specifically to accommodate a stacked auto. i appreciate the action photo and full body shot though.

upper deck maximized the photo of fernando valenzuela at the bat on his 1990 card without losing any body parts (except for his right foot behind the logo) or the bat. i like the way his left foot looks to be aligned with the border.

there are other things to discuss regarding billy grabarkewitz's 1970 topps card than the cropping (which leaves something to be desired) like the fact that his name is too long to fit with this design, and the image used looks like it could be used in an austin powers skit. danny ozark walked into the shot at exactly the wrong time.

eric gagne's 2001 topps card features a photo cropped so that the baseball is visible. i generally like these sorts of images.

john candelaria's 1993 score card also does a good job of giving us a full view of him in delivery mode. i remember candelaria as a slinger, and the way his arm is positioned certainly seems to imply that his delivery is less than three-quarters.  i don't remember brad penny that way, but on his 2005 topps chrome card he doesn't seem to have his right arm positioned to throw from over the top unless he pulls a rick sutcliffe type move.  when i tried to pitch like sutcliffe, it felt like my arm couldn't catch up with my body so i typically was closer to what terry forster is doing with the elbow up.  if you'll recall, 2004 topps really went after the full body shots, and 2005 topps had a few as well, such as the image used for penny's flagship and chrome cards. i appreciate the fact that it is more tightly cropped than many of the 2004 cards.

last up is the walmart blue parallel of matt kemp's 2013 topps heritage card. it was easier for me to find a double of this insert than the regular high number base. this is the last insert of the frankenset, i believe. topps did well, i think, with the 2013 heritage set. kemp's head barging into the header is consistent

with the original 1964 set.

cards that didn't make the cut:

some of the cards that tried but failed to make this page include 1973 topps dick dietz

at number 442, 1998 topps dennis reyes at number 443, 1987 fleer ken landreaux at number 444, 1967 topps don sutton

at number 445, 1996 score delino deshields at number 446, 2001 fleer platinum shawn green at number 447, 1977 topps ellie rodriguez at number 448, 1997 topps chad curtis at number 449, and 1993 topps darryl strawberry at number 450.

my favorite card on the page:

the 1990 upper deck fernando valenzuela wins. it may well be my second favorite fernando card from his playing days, right behind his 1991 topps card.

final thoughts:

mentioning forster's facsimile signature above got me thinking. i hope topps is done putting these things on cards (other than heritage and archives which pay homage to past sets). i believe 2008 was the last time they showed up in flagship.  let's keep it that way, as they often get in the way or are totally undecipherable.

frankendodger sheet 36 (cards 316-324) - mccourt makes the set...

here's sheet number 36 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 316-324:

and the back:

these cards are:

316. 2001 topps archives jackie robinson
317. 1993 score select carlos hernandez
318. 1979 topps bob welch
319. 2013 topps allen & ginter's matt kemp
320. 1995 upper deck mike piazza
321. 1960 topps ron fairly
322. 1977 topps bill russell
323. 2010 topps jim thome
324. 1959 topps don demeter

the "no brainer" of the day:

there are some pretty key cards here, but i wanted to get a version of jackie's 1952 topps card into the set, so that one is the biggest no brainer of the bunch.

about the cards:

first things first - the 2001 archives jackie robinson card is numbered 312 on the back, but i have it at number 316.  that's because 312 was jackie's card number in the original 1952 topps set (the first of the high numbers).  you have to look really closely at the fine print on the back

to see that the card is numbered 316 out of 450 in the archives set.  jackie's original '52 topps card

is one of the highlights of my collection, and i am happy to have it represented in the frankenset.

the back of carlos hernandez's 1993 select card anoints him as the "heir apparent to mike scioscia" in the dodger catching lexicon, but unfortunately for carlos, there was another.  thankfully for us dodger fans, there was a bob welch card in 1979 to collect after the rookie struck out reggie jackson to end game 2 of the 1978 world series. that put the dodgers up 2 games to 0, but it would be the last dodger highlight of the season.  there is no mention of welch's world series experience on the back of the card, which was disappointing to me when i pulled my first copy of this card from a pack.  still, two years later, i was still able to use the "he struck out reggie" to pry welch cards away from the yankee fan across the street.

matt kemp's 2013 a&g card is here to remind me that he was once my favorite dodger, and the guy that i hoped would break eric karros's franchise home run record.  of course, i thought that the next guy on the sheet would have been the one to set the franchise home run record.  mike piazza is, of course, the catcher that blocked carlos hernandez from fulfilling the prophecy noted on the back of the select card earlier on the page.  i like his 1995 upper deck card because it focuses on piazza the catcher (at least on the front) instead of giving us another card of him standing at the plate.  both kemp and piazza (and steve garvey) wound up in san diego playing for the padres.  hopefully that trend doesn't continue.

ron fairly's 1960 topps card is cool because of the big ol' rookie cup/trophy.  1960 was the first year that topps had the rookie cup in their set, and i am still a bit upset that they took a few years off from putting the cup on cards - most notably 1974 when davey lopes would have had one and from 1982-1984 when fernando, saxy, and greg brock would have all been rocking the cup.

bill russell's 1977 topps card balances out the kemp and piazza cards in that it reminds me that it is (or at least was) possible for a player to stay with one club for a lengthy career.  of course, russell was unceremoniously dismissed by the team as its manager, and wound up wearing a tampa bay devil rays uniform as a coach and minor league manager.

jim thome's 2010 topps card was another card that i highly anticipated.  i was worried that topps would leave thome out until series 2 by when they would have photoshopped him into his twins uniform.  well, i got a thome dodger card in series one that i am pretty sure includes former dodger owner frank mccourt just to the right of thome's shinguard. thome was an odd pickup for the dodgers, as he was only available for pinch-hitting duty, but the dodgers are no strangers to carrying pinch-hitting specialists once the rosters expand.  the dodgers are the only team for which thome played that he did not hit a home run. for the record, his 2010 season in minnesota, the first year of target field, was fantastic. he was a huge fan favorite and had some big hits for the club.

lastly, we have don demeter's 1959 topps card.  not yellow like most of the other dodger cards in the set, this card is a welcome sight in my team binder even if the image shows demeter not acting natural, and is the same one that topps used for his 1958 card.

cards that didn't make the cut:

i passed over a few cards when putting this sheet together such as 1995 pinnacle raul mondesi at number 316, 2015 topps clayton kershaw at number 317, 1980 topps jerry reuss

at number 318, 2002 fleer tradition marquis grissom at number 319, 1996 score hideo nomo at number 320, 1997 topps eric karros

at number 321, 1972 topps jose pena at number 322, 1958 topps elmer valo

at number 323, and 1973 topps al downing at number 324.

my favorite card on the page:

oh the joy of having a bob welch card in 1979! it is easily my favorite card on the page.

final thoughts:

i am so glad that we aren't hearing anything about either of the mccourts these days.

frankendodger sheet 30 (cards 262-270) - grady and pedro reunited...

here's sheet number 30 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 262-270:

 and the back:

these cards are:

262. 1959 topps hitter's foes (johnny podres, clem labine, don drysdale)
263. 2013 topps ted lilly
264. 1994 donruss henry rodriguez
265. 1972 topps wes parker
266. 2008 topps allen & ginter's matt kemp
267. 2007 topps grady little
268. 1994 topps pedro martinez
269. 2003 donruss team heroes don drysdale
270. 1966 topps claude osteen

the "no brainer" of the day:

grady little's card is the no brainer for this sheet.  i wanted to get each dodger manager from alston through roberts in the set, and this is little's only card with a number less than 727 (his 2006 upper deck card is number 1106).

about the cards:

the first combo card of the set leads things off. topps had four "foes" cards beginning with "world series batting foes" in 1958, this "hitter's foes" card in 1959, and "friendly foes" in both 1963 and 1964.  none of the three pitchers on the card finished above .500 in 1958, but the back of the card smartly notes that they "were determined to lift the dodgers back into the first division" in 1959, and so they did - all the way to a world series championship.

ted lilly's 2013 topps card is a beaut.  it features a photo from about the same vantage point as the one on pedro martinez's 1994 topps card featured later on the sheet, but the foliage at the back of the visitor bullpen creates a different background.  henry rodriguez's 1994 donruss card may be the least interesting card on the page, but it serves as a reminder that the expos got a couple of good years out of him after being a part-time player with the dodgers.

the 1972 topps wes parker card is not as nice as his 1973 topps card, but it gives us a good look at the dodger jersey's of the day. i am glad that when the dodgers brought piping back to their unis several years ago, they did not include the shoulder piping.  2008 a&g remains the only set of that line that i have completed, although i did complete the 2009 national pride insert set.  kemp's card from the '08 set, while nothing special, is as good as any to represent (except maybe russell martin's).

and now we get to the 2007 topps grady little card, which is followed by the aforementioned pedro card from 1994.  it was fate that brought them together so we can relive the decision by little to leave pedro in game 7 of the 2003 alcs after throwing 120 pitches and allowing a couple of hits in the eighth inning.  that decision cost little his job (pedro gave up a couple more hits to allow the yankees to tie the game, and they won the pennant on aaron boone's 11th inning home run), but also paved the way for terry francona to take over, so i don't think red sox fans should be too upset about it.

another black and white modern day drysdale card - this one from a 2003 donruss release as opposed to the 2002 donruss originals card we saw earlier in the set - and claude osteen's 1966 topps card close out the sheet.  the osteen card is a good example of the slanted world that topps' photo editors live in.

cards that didn't make the cut:

had i not had a double of the 1959 hitter's foes card, i probably would have gone with the 2008 topps heritage hitter's foes (chad billingsley, derek lowe, brad penny) at number 262.  other cards considered but not chosen include 1993 donruss triple play roger mcdowell

at number 263, 1990 upper deck kirk gibson

at number 264, 1992 upper deck eddie murray at number 265, 1969 topps rookie stars (tom hutton and alan foster) at number 266, 1974 topps andy messersmith at number 267, 2000 topps orel hershiser

at number 268, 1975 topps doug rau at number 269, and 1994 topps finest delino deshields at number 270.

my favorite card on the page:

i am a fan of ted lilly's 2013 topps card (i completed the rainbow, in fact), so it should be no surprise that it is my favorite card on this sheet.

final thoughts:

don drysdale shows up twice on this sheet - by name, as opposed to walter alston who was visible on the 1964 world series card and had his own card on sheet 16.  this is the first time this has happened in the set.  i mostly tried to avoid it unless circumstances dictated (circumstances being i liked the cards that caused this to happen too much to omit them), and it will happen again.

frankendodger sheet 24 (cards 208-216) - maintaining garvey's streak...

here's sheet number 24 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 208-216:

and the back:

these cards are:

208. 2002 topps marquis grissom
209. 2007 topps jonathan broxton
210. 1983 donruss bill russell
211. 2015 topps archives kenley jansen
212. 2002 donruss originals don drysdale
213. 1973 topps steve garvey
214. 2010 topps matt kemp
215. 1984 donruss pat zachry
216. 1991 topps archives ultimate 1953 jim hughes

the "no brainer" of the day:

as much as i like the 2010 topps kemp card, i knew from the get-go that the drysdale card was going to be in this set.

about the cards:

another day, another garvey card. and, a second straight day seeing matt kemp, too.  plus, only two card manufacturers represented.  i haven't really been tracking that, but i'm pretty sure that we haven't had a sheet yet that consists of only one manufacturer.  anyway, marquis grissom leads off the sheet with 2002 topps and those gold borders. i doubt we will see gold borders on a base set ever again thanks to the rise of the gold parallel - even though topps made gold parallels of these gold bordered base cards.  black borders are always an option, and topps went back to them in 2007 as seen on the broxton card. that was the year i returned to my set making ways (i had been buying factory sets plus two boxes of flagship from 1994 until then), but then topps issued a factory set with five new dodger cards and i bought a factory set after all.

bill russell's 1983 donruss card is not my favorite russell card from that year (the fleer card is also in this set - on the next sheet, in fact), and it's too bad his 1983 topps card isn't number 210 because then it would precede kenley jansen's 2015 archives card that uses the 1983 topps design.  that's ok, because we have two cards with the 1984 donruss design on the sheet, starting with don drysdale's 2002 donruss originals card. beginning with some of the sets of the late 90's (fleer si greats, upper deck century legends), i was all-in for sets that featured former players.  especially sets like topps archives and all-time fan favorites and donruss originals that used older card designs for those players.  however, my favorite part of the originals release was the "what if?" cards that showed players on donruss designs that might have existed if they were making cards from 1978 to 1980.  unfortunately for me, only duke snider was included among those cards, and that was only thanks to his 1980 hall of fame induction.  no garvey for me!

garvey does show up (on the fourth sheet in a row) with his 1973 topps card.  i've written about this card before - how, with wes parker showing up, it is a 'passing the torch' kind of card like the tony perez/eric davis card from 1986 topps.  kemp's 2010 topps card is reminiscent of ken griffey jr's great 1994 upper deck card,

although the card design kind of takes away (just a little bit) from the greatness of the kemp card.

pat zachry fills the frame of his 1984 donruss card (notice there's a bit more purple in the dodger design than donruss used in 2002), and he's got the 25th los angeles dodger anniversary patch well displayed. finishing off the sheet is a card featuring a player (jim hughes) from when the dodgers were still in brooklyn, and thanks to the 1991 topps archives set we get to see the 1953 topps design in the frankenset.

cards that didn't make the cut:

i originally had a 2009 upper deck goodwin champions don newcombe card

slotted in at number 208, but then i realized that it is a short print and i didn't have a double of that card. meanwhile, i had about 10 extra grissom cards. c'est la vie.  other cards falling short for one reason or another include 1993 donruss mike piazza (rated rookie!) at number 209, 1963 topps sandy koufax (as if i had a double of that card, too) at number 210, 2009 upper deck greg maddux

at number 211, 1960 topps walt alston at number 212, 1982 topps dave stewart

at number 213, 1991 fleer eddie murray at number 214, 2012 topps archives brett butler (another short print) at number 215, and 1969 topps don sutton at number 216.

my favorite card on the page:

it's no griffey, but i do like that kemp card.

final thoughts:

seeing the jim hughes reprint here got me thinking about the topps sets (1952-1956) that featured cards too big to fit into the 9-page sheets.  i know i have cards featuring reprints or cards that never were from the 1952, 1953, and 1954 sets, but i am not sure off hand if there are 1955 and/or 1956 cards in here.  i know i considered some from the 1995 topps archives brooklyn dodgers set, but not sure if any made the final cut. i hope that some did...

frankendodger sheet 23 (cards 199-207) - all decades reporting for duty...

here's sheet number 23 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 199-207:

and the back:

these cards are:

199. 1977 o-pee-chee ron cey
200. 1964 topps sandy koufax
201. 1982 donruss steve yeager
202. 2014 topps chrome matt kemp
203. 1990 donruss jay howell
204. 2001 topps archives tom lasorda
205. 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams steve garvey
206. 1959 topps carl furillo
207. 1971 topps alan foster

the "no brainer" of the day:

that would be the 2001 archives lasorda card.  his 1988 topps card is one of my top 3 favorite lasorda cards (along with 1992 topps and 1978 topps), but it didn't make the cut earlier in the set.  so, the archives card that reprints the '88 card was a no brainer once the no repeat players/sets guideline expired.

about the cards:

i'm pretty sure that this is the first sheet that includes cards from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's, and 10's.  and they are all pretty good, too.  leading off with ron cey's 1977 opc card, and following that up with sandy koufax's 1964 topps card? that's a great start.  i thought that the hero numbers should be well represented in this set, and although clayton kershaw's 2013 topps heritage card was also number 200, i decided to go with the original, so to speak. so, i purchased a second '64 koufax for my collection.  and, while i may go back and replace matt kemp at number 100 with hubie brooks (i've got that bowman card in my sportlots cart as i type), sandy won't be going anywhere.

i could have used either a 1982 donruss or 1983 donruss yeager card

at 201, and i went for yeager at the plate rather than yeager behind it.  the photo is similar to the one on cey's card - so much so that i wonder if the top of the dugout was painted sometime between 1976 and 1981, so that both photos were taken in the same (shea?) stadium.  matt kemp's 2014 topps chrome card features a nice photo with the red number prominently displayed, but it's jay howell's 1990 donruss card that really makes the red pop.

i already mentioned that i like tommy's card, so i'll move on to the garvey from the timeless teams set.  i am a fan of this set to be sure, and this is one of my favorite cards in it because upper deck matched the photo with the year, which is nice.  from one number 6 to another, and from dodger stadium to the la coliseum, we have carl furillo's 1959 topps card. i've seen a few football games at the coliseum, but did not make it to the exhibition game the dodgers played there a few years ago.  i do recall sitting there during the football games trying to imagine it as a baseball stadium and couldn't really figure it out even though i had seen photos of the conversion.  anyway, the rams will be playing there for a couple of years, and i kind of hope the stadium falls apart on them.  this coming from a guy who was a big fan of the rams until they traded vince ferragamo to the bills in '85.  i thought georgia frontiere was a bad owner. that kroenke guy seems like a real jackass.

apologies to alan foster for bringing up kroenke just before getting to his card.  one thing about foster that i find interesting is that he wore number 44 - a number usually identified with sluggers like hank aaron, willie mccovey, and post-oakland reggie jackson.  speaking of sluggers, foster served up the first pitch that willie stargell hit out of dodger stadium (stargell did it twice), although pops wore number 8.

cards that didn't make the cut:

i considered but did not choose a number of cards for this sheet, including 2002 topps 206 paul loduca at number 199, 2013 topps heritage clayton kershaw at number 200, the aforementioned 1983 donruss steve yeager at number 201, 1979 o-pee-chee gary thomasson

at number 202, 1983 fleer greg brock at number 203, 1970 topps len gabrielson at number 204, 2003 topps traded adam riggs

at number 205, 1983 fleer steve garvey

(proving that garvey cards don't always win) at number 206, and 1986 topps fernando valenzuela record breaker at number 207.

my favorite card on the page:

there are a lot of contenders here, but a 1964 topps sandy koufax card - more for the stature than the aesthetic - should and does win out.

final thoughts:

back to the uniform number thing - foster was traded to cleveland after the 1970 season, and he took number 32 (now that is a pitcher's number) with the tribe. the dodgers acquired al downing that same offseason, and he (another pitcher) took foster's 44.  about three years later, downing gave up aaron's 715th career home run - from one 44 to another...

frankendodger sheet 1 (cards 1-9) - if the infield fits...

it's all over but the shouting.  without further ado, let's see some dodger cards.

here's sheet number 1 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 1-9:

and the back:

these cards are:

1. 1981 fleer star stickers steve garvey
2. 1994 donruss mike piazza
3. 1982 fleer ron cey
4. 1976 topps davey lopes
5. 1957 topps sal maglie
6. 1982 topps fernando valenzuela
7. 2012 bowman platinum matt kemp
8. 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts bill russell
9. 1993 ted williams roy campanella

the "no-brainer" of the day:

come on. i had to get steve garvey, ron cey, bill russell, and davey lopes on the first page of the set.  i knew that garvey, cey, and lopes all had cards that would fit, but wasn't sure about russell.  i was very happy to see that legendary cuts card numbered at 8!

about the cards:

this sheet is a good one - it's got the four infielders from the team of my youth, plus fernando, piazza, and matt kemp, who at one time was my favorite dodger.  add in roy campanella and a card from the 1957 topps set (the first year of the now-standard card size and the last year of the brooklyn dodgers), and we have a pretty good opening act.

i knew going in that these low numbers would result in either a league leader or record breaker/highlight card or two, and so it is no surprise to have two such cards here.  it's a little bit funny this feeling inside to have a sticker as the first card in the set, but that's how it shook out.  i didn't have a double of the first card of garvey's 1984 star set, and that may be the only other time he's card number 1 as a dodger.

cards that didn't make the cut:

this early in the game, there are a lot of options.  the spot i struggled the most with was card number 5.  at one point, i had a 1960 topps wally moon in that spot, but i also had charlie neal's 1960 topps card in the set within the first 20 pages, so i wanted to switch one of them out to maintain the diversity of the first 180 cards. maglie's 1957 topps card was the obvious choice as the '57 set was not yet represented due to the fact that any doubles i had were in my set binder (yes, i am trying to complete the 1957 topps set). i picked up a third copy of the maglie card, and here he is.  without it, the 1957 set would not have been represented in the frankenset.

there were also a few options for the number one spot, not including the dodgers' most famous number one card (that of andy pafko in the 1952 topps set which was disqualified due to the size of the card and the fact that i do not own one, let alone two).  i could have chosen from tommy davis' 1963 topps league leader card, dusty baker's 1982 fleer card, fernando's 1983 donruss diamond king card, mike piazza's 1994 topps card, or clayton kershaw's 2015 bowman, just to name a few.  however, putting steve garvey at the beginning of this set was a must for me.

finally, as happy as i was to see russell with a card numbered 8 in a set, that meant it had to bump one of the cards that otherwise was a shoo-in here.  the 1965 topps set has as its number 8 card the national league era leaders card of sandy koufax and don drysdale.  as i began putting this frankenset together, i had in my mind several cards that i thought would have to be in the set, and that was one of them.  in the end, however, i decided i wanted the infielders on the first sheet, and so drysdale and koufax will need to be represented by other cards.

my favorite card on the page:

i think i'll just say that i am happy to have the infield all together on the first page of the frankenset and leave it at that.

final thoughts:

there were a couple of late options for the set at number 7. both corey seager (2016 topps gypsy queen) and kenta maeda (2016 topps now)

clocked in at the yeager/mantle spot, but until i have doubles (i don't have the seager card yet, and i only ordered one of the maeda cards), kemp will stay on this inaugural sheet of my frankenset.

another card that could have slotted in at number 7, but was never under any serious consideration, is the 1993 hostess darryl strawberry card.  i have a few doubles of that card, but it is pretty nondescript, and darryl appears in the set in a few pages. however, i do have a story about that card.  i was traveling for work recently, and found myself at a charlotte knights game. the knights are the aaa team for the white sox, so naturally, darryl strawberry was there signing autographs.  i usually research the baseball situation in any town i travel to ahead of time, but i did not do so prior to this trip.  so, i found myself standing in line with nothing for darryl to sign.  i noticed a couple of guys with multiple cards and wound up spending too much for a 1993 hostess card of which i had doubles back at home.  anyway, that's what i got signed.

i really wish those guys had had a copy of his 1992 topps card on them.

i recognize that the subject matter of this blog is extremely narrow, and so i don't anticipate a lot of reaction. still, i appreciate those who have mentioned the blog on their sites and those who do take some time to read these posts. as i was assembling this frankenset (one of the many things i did after ending my run at garvey cey russell lopes), i realized i didn't have anyone to share it with. that's why i'm here - to share this set with anyone who is interested - which is the same reason i think so many of us blog - to share our collections and write about what makes them unique.  so, thanks.