frankendodger sheet 34 (cards 298-306) - like a flamingo...

here's sheet number 34 of my dodger frankenset - cards numbered 298-306:

and the back:

these cards are:

298. 1972 topps claude osteen (in action)
299. 1987 donruss franklin stubbs
300. 2014 topps heritage clayton kershaw
301. 2003 donruss paul loduca
302. 1981 topps dodgers future stars (jack perconte/mike scioscia/fernando valenzuela)
303. 2011 topps update juan uribe
304. 1970 topps bill russell
305. 1958 topps clem labine
306. 2008 upper deck timeline russell martin

the "no brainer" of the day:

the 1981 topps dodgers future stars card was one of the collection defining cards for me and my friends in 1981. it had to be in this set.

about the cards:

the local card shop where i grew up was both a card and comic store.  my brother, who read comics, and i would spend a lot of time there. one day we saw the 1972 topps claude osteen in action card and actually wondered if the guy had just one leg.  we found out that he did, in fact, have two legs, but we called this the flamingo card.  that was around the same time that we saw the 1971 topps brooks robinson card that we decided looked like he was searching for droids and the stolen death star plans on tatooine - the beginning of my tatooine collection.

we saw franklin stubbs' 1987 donruss opening day card early on in the set, but thankfully donruss used different photos for that set - something topps does a poor job of with their opening day release. now, the card above does show a confused looking stubbs as opposed to happy stubbs on the od card, but still, different photos.

here we are at the hero number.  i like that topps heritage often matches players/managers up with the same card numbers from the set being honored, and that is certainly the case here.  clayton kershaw gets number 300 in 2014 heritage, and sandy koufax was number 300 in the 1965 set.

i just wish they would match the pose, too.  kershaw's card uses a photo that makes me think the photographer just yelled "hey, clayton - over here!" and then snapped the photo.

not much to say about the 2003 donruss paul loduca card, so let's move on to the jack perconte/mike scioscia/fernando valenzuela rookie.  back in 1981, me and my friends were skeptical of fleer and donruss - topps was usually the priority for pack busting.  still, we bought a fair amount of the others, although most of my donruss cards that year came from buying a brick of dodger cards from a fellow collector.  anyway, fleer didn't even spell fernando's name correctly and donruss didn't bother to include him in their set, so it was topps all the way if you wanted to flaunt a fernando rookie.  throw in sweaty mike scioscia, and it was the card to have as fernandomania took over.  love this card.

i appreciate topps using a photo of juan uribe in the baby blue throwbacks for his 2011 update card. i still think the dodgers should have worn the 1916 checkered uniforms of the robins this season - it is the 100th anniversary of the franchise's first world series appearance, after all.  i also appreciate topps giving outfielder bill russell a card of his own in 1970.  he did play in 98 games for the dodgers in 1969, but with topps putting bill buckner (one game in 1969) over steve garvey (three games in 1969), one is never certain of the criteria for inclusion in a set.

the photo and hat positioning on clem labine's 1958 topps card give the impression that he had a very long cranium.  not 1988 o-pee-chee delino deshields long, but long nonetheless.  finally we have a russell martin card from the 2008 upper deck timeline set - specifically the subset that pays homage to the 2004 legends set.  four years is pretty quick to re-use a design, but i don't mind since i am a fan of the timeless teams set.

cards that didn't make the cut:

aside from the 1965 topps koufax card at the hero number 300, here are some other cards that could have been included but weren't:  1961 topps jim golden

at number 298, 1988 donruss mickey hatcher

at number 299, 1981 donruss jay johnstone at number 300, 1958 topps randy jackson at number 301, 1980 topps dodgers team card at number 302, 1994 leaf ramon martinez at number 303, 1992 bowman jose offerman at number 304, steve garvey's newest card (from 2016 topps archives)

at number 305, and 1984 topps dodgers batting & pitching leaders (pedro guerrero/bob welch) at number 306.

my favorite card on the page:

some tough competition, and bill russell's rookie card falls just short of the perconte/scioscia/valenzuela card - perhaps my favorite multi-player rookie card ever.

final thoughts:

including garvey in this year's archives release, as a short print no less, follows the trend. in 2013, dave lopes got the sp treatment with a 1976 style card.  the following year, it was bill russell's turn with a 1973 card (auto'd only).  last year i was expecting the garv, but eric karros and shawn green got the call for the auto only insert set instead.  here's hoping the penguin shows up in 2017.

in other archives related news, i've entered a couple of contests over at sport card collectors.  one is archives related, and the other is a sports challenge contest - both with some great prizes.  check them out!

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.