Building a Best of the Decade Team from Flagship

It's admittedly been pretty quiet here on the blog for most of the year. Typical life stuff like work and moving (again!!!) have gotten in the way of blogging and collecting, but with COVID-19 forcing me to work from home and stay inside, I've once again found some time to devote to the blog. (For those wondering, I'm holed up in my apartment in Jersey City, NJ, and staying heathy. I hope you all are as well.) Let's hope I get back on a more regular schedule moving forward. 

2020 has been pretty light in terms of new cards for the collection, so I thought I'd revisit my binders and put together a different kind of post today--a best of the decades post. But rather than simply give a list of the best Dodgers cards of the decade, I decided to make things difficult and give myself a few rules:

1. Select one player for each position (just one starting pitcher and one reliever);
2. Each player has to represent a different year between 2010-2019; and
3. I have to have each player's flagship card in my collection. 

There were a few easy choices here, including a pair of MVP seasons and a Rookie of the Year. Other choices were a bit more difficult. Second base was a revolving door of incompetence for the Dodgers, especially earlier in the decade, which made it difficult to fit into the rest of the puzzle. Without further ado, here's the squad I constructed. 

Catcher - Yasmani Grandal (2017)
Key Stats: 22 HR, .459 SLG%, 2.4 WAR

Grandal was the Dodgers' best catcher of the decade and one of their best players since he joined the team in 2015. His 2017 season was actually his worst for the Dodgers, but I had to get him into this list somehow. 2017 didn't have the best Flagship design, but this is a great photo of Yaz in his catcher's gear. 

1st Base - Adrian Gonzalez (2015)
Key Stats: 28 HR, .275/.350/.480, 4.6 WAR

Vin Scully provided A-Gon with one of my favorite monikers of the decade, often calling him the "butter-and-egg man". Gonzalez drove in 448 runners in his 5+ years with the Dodgers, including 90 RBIs in the 2015 season. I assume he's watching a ball go over the fence in this card from 2015. 

2nd Base - Mark Ellis (2012)
Key Stats: 2.6 WAR

The Dodgers have had a number of guys man second over the years, but there wasn't a constant guy manning the position. Mark Ellis had a fairly productive tenure with the team for a couple of seasons, his value largely provided by his glove. 

3rd Base - Justin Turner (2018)
Key Stats: .312/.406/.518, 4.9 WAR

Turner came to the Dodgers as a non-roster invitee back in 2014 and has since cemented his place as one of the best third baseman in Dodgers' history. 2017 was his best season with the club. If there is no season in 2020, there's a chance he's already played his last game for the Dodgers. 

Shortstop - Corey Seager (2016)
Key Stats: 26 HR, .308/.365/.512, 5.2 WAR, NL Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger

Seager hit the scene in an impressive fashion, smashing 26 homers in route to the Rookie of the Year award. He's been consistently productive since his debut, though a lost 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery has led many to overlook Seager. Should the 2020 season ever be played, he'll play an integral role in the club's success. 

Left Field - Yasiel Puig (2013)
Key Stats: 19 HR, .319/.391/.534, 4.7 WAR

The decade was one of the most succcessful in team history, and Puig's arrival is a big reason why. His first week in the majors is probably my favorite event of the decade, and his 2013 rookie card is still one of my favorite pieces of cardboard ever. 

Center Field - Matt Kemp (2011)
Key Stats: .324/.399/.586, 39 HR, 40 SB, 8.0 WAR, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

My pursuit of Matt Kemp carboard was the reason I started this blog in the first place back in 2013. His 2011 season was the best of his career, and he just missed garnering MVP honors, losing to Ryan Bruan. I didn't start collecting on a regular basis unti 2012, so I missed the boat on the great 2011 set, but I managed to get this card into my collection pretty quickly. I'm just 4 cards away from completing the 2011 set, including Kemp's card from Update Series. 

Right Field - Cody Bellinger (2019)
Key Stats: 47 HR, 115 RBI, .305/.406/.629, 9.1 WAR, NL MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

Bellinger's 2019 was absolutely bonkers, though there's a chance he wouldn't have been the MVP if Christian Yelich didn't go down to injury in the last month of the season. Also of note, the 2019 Flagship design is one of my favorite designs from the decade (and perhaps one of my favorite sets ever).  

Starting Pitcher - Clayton Kershaw (2014)
Key Stats: 1.77 ERA, 10.8 K/9, 7.7 WAR, NL MVP, NL Cy Young

Honestly, any of Kershaw's seasons over the last decade would have been appropriate to include in this position. His production has certainly dropped off over the last few seasons, but he's still an incredible talent and one of the best pitchers in the game. His run of dominance--topped with an MVP award in 2014--from 2010-2015 is one of the best peaks for a pitcher in history, and I'm glad I've been able to see him pitch in person nearly a half-dozen times (including a 2008 game where he faced Max Scherzer of the D-Backs. It was Kershaw's 17th career start and Scherzer's 13th. The game was initially supposed to be a matchup between Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson, but both eventual Hall of Famers were scratched prior to the game.). 

Relief Pitcher - Hong-Chih Kuo (2010)
Key Stats: 1.20 ERA, 12 SV, 3.2 WAR

Kuo had a pair of successful seasons with the Dodgers but was otherwise ineffective during his time in the Majors. His 2010 seasons stands out as one of the best years for a reliever this decade. 

Just for fun, here's what a potential lineup might look like.  
Yasiel Puig - LF
Corey Seager - SS
Cody Bellinger - RF
Matt Kemp - CF
Adrian Gonzalez - 1B
Justin Turner - 3B
Yasmani Grandal - C
Mark Ellis - 2B
Clayton Kershaw - P

Stadium Club, Some Dodgers, and My Greatest Pull Ever

I decided to take a break from Matt Kemp week (only after two days) and post about something that happened yesterday. I was still able to pick up a new Kemp (which is in this post), so I guess we can say Matt Kemp week is still technically going. 

Anyway. I had to make an unexpected stop to my LCS yesterday in search for a Christmas gift for a friend. I haven't been to my LCS in months, and I felt a little guilty for not keeping in touch with the owner. I went in with the intention of just asking about an item, but I ended up dropping 25 bucks on a mini box of Stadium Club. The cards are freaking gorgeous, and I knew I was guaranteed an auto which gave me an opportunity to make my money back. 

That didn't happen. I had a pretty lackluster box in terms of hits, but that wasn't a big deal. I bought the box for the sweet base cards within. I am a bit disappointed that Kershaw didn't get a more creative shot, but I'm not complaining. Any day I can add a new Kershaw is a good one. 

I pulled some sweet cards from the box, including the fantastic Beltre celebration card you see above. Doesn't look like he upset that his head is being touched...yet.

I have discovered that I am pretty darn good at pulling inserts of the games brightest young stars. I nabbed these sweet diecuts from my box, and they will immediately be heading to their respective binders. Also, that Puig card is pretty electric. That blue is phenomenal in person. 

Here is the auto I pulled. Needless to say, it could have been much better. I am not a big fan of Kelly (2013 playoffs were not a fun time), so I am looking to trade this card as soon as possible. I know there are tons of Cardinals fans out there, so hit me up if you are interested. 

I also dug through some dime boxes and pulled these three beauties. I have not had the chance to buy any Finest yet, so finding the ones that interested me for cheap was awesome. That is card number 189 of Matt Kemp by the way. 

The fun was going to end there, but I picked up a bag of team bags to buy. The owner and I were chatting and started to toss the bags back and forth. After a short time of doing this it turned into a sort of game. In fact, we made a bet over this little game of ours. The first one to drop the bags was the loser. If I lost, I would buy three packs of update. If he lost, I would get three packs of update for free. Innocent enough. Of course, my hands decided to stop working and I dropped the bags on the first toss. There goes another five bucks, I was stuck buying more cards.

The first two packs were pretty uneventful. Just the standard update cards, with a decent mixture of rookies and All-Star cards. However, the third pack caught me (and the owner) by surprise. 

That is a freaking Oscar Taveras clear parallel #'d 2/10. I have no real tie to Taveras or the Cardinals, however his tragic death just a couple of months ago was incredibly saddening. So pulling this card evoked feelings of joy and sadness. But those sad feelings soon left after I found that the only other copy of this card on eBay sold for 185 bucks. 

So that is where this one will be shortly. I'm hoping to get at least a 150 bucks for it, but we'll see. I've never pulled such an expensive card before, so this is sort of exciting. Of course, I will take offers for it here on the blog, but chances are it will sell on eBay. 

EDIT: Here is the listing. Reserve is $100.00 for any of those interested in bidding. You may want to just contact me directly. 

Following up my 21st with a 1st

I celebrated my 21st birthday on Saturday (thanks to all those who wished me a happy birthday btw), and I decided to take some of my birthday money over to my LCS. I was debating on spending the money on a Kershaw auto, but I decided to buy my very first hobby box. 

Nothing was really jumping out at me, but I decided to go with a box of 2014 Donruss. In hindsight, I probably would have enjoyed ripping something else, but the box turned out fine. 

Each box supposedly comes with two autos and one relic. Every box also comes with a box topper, which I find pretty gnarly. 

Especially, since this is the very first thing I pulled. 

.

I cropped it to save some room, but I managed to pull a David Wright autographed box topper. That's a pretty damn good way to start off a box. This was immediately listed on eBay, as it should sell for about the same price as the box. 

I'll get to my other three hits (the boxtopper was a bonus) shortly, but let's first take a look at some of the #'d cards from within. 

There is a pretty good mix of teams, with some solid players to boot. The Gordon refractor will probably be heading over to Greg, but the others are up for grabs.

This may be the best #'d card to come out of the box. It is limited to just 99 copies, so I threw it on eBay for a little more than it should sell for to see if anyone bites. It does not appear like any have sold yet, so that may benefit me. 

The Mariano card may have been the "best" card in a general sense, but this Zack Greinke card was my favorite. Limited to just 263 copies, I somehow managed with card number 1. Definitely a first for me, so it was just an added bonus at the end of an awesome box.

The base cards in Donruss aren't anything special, but I certainly dig the inserts. The "Power Plus" cards may just be on my list for Top Insert of the Year, if there was such a thing. Coupled with a sweet looking card of Puig exploding out of a brick wall, I have some sweet new additions to my Puig binder. 

We finally move into the autos with two guys on the opposite ends of the spectrum. 

Miguel Sano is a promising young prospect, actually ranked #3 overall by MLB, but recently underwent Tommy John surgery. The procedure is rare for position players, but the time it takes to recover is much shorther than that of a pitcher. I doubt San returns in 2014, but he should rake in the Twins system come 2015. 

Horton, on the other hand, retired in 1980 after an illustrious career with 6 different organizations, primarily the Detroit Tigers. Horton was a 4x All-Star, World Series Champion, 1979 AL Comback Player of the Year, and had his number 23 retired by the Tigers in 2000. 

Pretty solid autos if you ask me. 

To top it all off, I pulled a nice relic of the reigning NL MVP. I was hoping for a multi-colored patch, as my LCS owner had a few laying around his shop. However, I ended up with just a plain gray swatch, but I'm not complaining. 

At the end of the day, the David Wright Box Topper basically made me my money back on the box. I managed to pull quite a few cards that I enjoyed, and even more that other will appreciate. Most everything shown above has been added to my Trade Bait page, so be sure to head over if you are looking to deal. 

It was a happy birthday indeed.

Spring Fever at my LCS

Last week I made a trip down to my LCS to trade in some Yankees. I've mentioned it before, but my LCS owner and I are pretty good friends. He is a big Yankees fan and so I like to take in recent Yankees to him. In return he usually lets me take my pick of Dodgers he has laying around. 

I did just that.

First up is this sweet Yasiel Puig Spring Fever card. I rarely see these in his shop, but I was able to pick up this one, as well as a similar card of Jose Fernandez. I am a huge fan of Puig, yet the pricing on his cardboard has generally made him an afterthought for my collection. I try to pick up cheap singles when I find them, but for the most part I will stick to trades and LCS pickups for him.

Of course, a trip to my LCS wouldn't be complete unless I picked up some new Matt Kemp cardboard.

I plucked this recycled image out of the newly released Topps Archives and added it to my stack. The image may have been used before, but at least Topps chose a photo I really like. 

I also picked up these two cards, hailing from 2013 and 2014 Panini Prizm, respectively. I thought I already had a copy of the 2013 card and planned on sending it to a fellow blogger, but a quick look at my checklist shows that it is a new addition. In fact, it is my 149th card of The Bison. I have a post on my 150th card planned as soon as it gets in.

I also picked up a couple of cards of my favorite Dodgers pitcher, Clayton Kershaw. This has to be one of my favorite photos of Kershaw on a card, so I will be on the look out for some of the #'d versions out there. 

Speaking of great looking cards of Kid K, I was able to secure this awesome white-framed card from Gypsy Queen as well. I LOVE THESE WHITE FRAMED CARDS.

Now is as good as a time as ever to show off a couple more powdery cards from 2014 Panini Prizm. Seriously though. What was with all the powder residue on this product. I'm not sure if I was the only person with this problem. 

I don't pass up the opportunity to pick up free Harper cards very often, so I grabbed two more to add to the collection. It's a shame that Harper hasn't been able to stay healthy. The game is much better with young studs like him in the lineup everyday.

I feel like this trip was predominantly taken over by Topps Archives. I picked up these three cards, though I don't care enough about Archives to figure out the need for 3 different vintage sets. I am fans of all three, but Topps is already using the '89 design for the flagship minis. I wouldn't mind seeing some more of those '86 designs though as it may be one of my favorite sets of all-time, but it doesn't get enough credit. I did enjoy picking up my first card of Alex Guerrero, but with a bitten off ear, Topps may have to reuse the rookie card emblem again next year. 

I try not to nitpick about Topps too much, but sometimes there are some issues I like to bring up. Like why the hell they felt the need to use this picture not only in Heritage, but Archives only a few weeks later. The shot of Hanley is great, but I would like to see some more variation. 

I enjoy hitting up my LCS, but with a lack of time and money, my time there has diminished since last summer. I was able to secure another job recently (more on that later), so hopefully I will be able to pick up my first hobby box this fall. 

Ripping Open Some New Gypsy Queen

Over the weekend, my buddy Dikran and I got the itch to rip some packs.  We headed over to one of the 7 local Targets here in Fresno and quickly decided on the new Gypsy Queen. I'm not the biggest fan of Gypsy Queen, but ripping open new cards is always fun. We ended up picking up three of the 10 dollar hanging packs. 

This card stood out above the rest, although we did pull some cool cardboard. It came out of the bonus three card pack that came with the hangar packs, cards that I now have an infatuation with. It is hard to get a feel for this card from the scan, but these cards are sweet. I will definitely be on the lookout for the rest of the Dodgers, as well as my PC guys. 

This card was later found inside of the same hangar pack. Color is nice, but sometimes the old-school look can be nice. This is a perfect example of that. Topps featured a great pose of the man that doesn't hustle, one that they will probably be re-using in another set sometime later this year. This time I won't be complaining though.

The rest of the 1st hangar pack was lackluster. Other than the Kemp, there were no Dodgers. However, the second hangar pack quickly helped my itch for new Dodgers cardboard. I managed to pull this awesome insert of the most hated man in baseball, well second to A-Rod maybe, Yasiel Puig. Like I said earlier, I am not a big fan of Gypsy Queen, but the Glove Stories inserts are pretty cool. Because Topps knows how much I enjoy them, they allowed me to pull this exact card again in the third hangar pack, but I won't be needing that. I guess it goes to the first person that claims it.

Other than the Puig card above, the second hangar pack turned out to be a dud. The third hangar pack looked to continue the trend, but I finally pulled a card of someone I collect: David Ortiz. I have seen cards very similar to this one of Big Papi, but I quickly realized how difficult it must be to find pictures of a guy that does nothing but hit. Topps could probably address this in flagship by throwing out some more "behind-the-scenes" cards you may have seen in the 90's, but most cards like that are SPs these days.

Just behind the Ortiz card was this beauty of Captain Clutch. That nickname probably doesn't apply much anymore these days, but it is still fun to reminisce about the success he had a few seasons ago. Now is the time to buy high on Ethier cardboard, which I have done. In fact, I may have some new additions show up in the next few days. 

Dikran and I were a little bummed that $30 didn't get us more of what we collect, but we did manage some decent hits from other teams. But you can head over to my freshly updated Trade Bait page to see what those hits were exactly.

BTW: Head over to Andrews Baseball Cards and enter his latest contest.

Trade with A Swing and a Hit: 42

I completed my third trade with Nathan of A Swing and a Hit. You can see our first swap here, and our second here. 

Nathan primarily collects the Astros, but also enjoys picking up Red Sox and Brewers cardboard as well. I actually sent cards to him yesterday in return for the great stuff he sent over my way.

First up is this sweet Beltre from the new 2014 Donruss set. I enjoy the look of these Diamond King inserts, but I pretty much have all the ones I had my eyes set on. With the acquisition of this card, my Adrian Beltre PC is up to 83 cards.

Accompanying that Beltre was this sweet Yasiel Puig from the same set. This particular Puig comes in the form of the slightly rarer Studio insert. I am a big fan of the Studio design, but I haven't checked the set list to see if there are any other Dodgers out there. 

Although the Puig and and Beltre cards were nice additions, this trade package was dominated by some sweet Jackie Robinson cardboard. Take the above Jackie card for example.

Also included was this awesome 2012 Gypsy Queen blue framed card of Jackie. It happens to be #'d 112/599, which made me think about how awesome it would be to own a card of Robinson's that is #'d 42/out of something. 

As if a #'d card of number 42 wasn't enough, Nathan tossed in this sweet manu-patch. It is my first Jackie patch, and probably the closest I'll come to owning any type of Robinson relic for a while. 

Thanks again for trade Nathan! Hope you enjoy the cards I sent your way.

Trade with Playing With My Cards: Properly Thanking the Correct Blogger

I completed my first trade with Ethan of Playing with my Cards a while back, but I am just getting around to posting my loot. You can check out his post on what I sent him here. 

A few weeks ago I improperly credited Ethan with some cards I received in a trade. He quickly notified me of my mistake and now I am finally going to make it right.

I'm pretty foggy on the details of the trade because it has been so long since we talked about it, but I believe this was the center of the deal. I love adding new Puig cards to my Puig PC and this one is no exception. It seems like people either love Puig or hate him, typically leaning toward the latter. It is a hate that I can't get my head around and something that was produced by mainstream media. I hate playing the race card, but there is probably a lot racial fueled hate toward the young Cuban. Wil Myers got nowhere near the same attention as Puig last year, though he played with the same flare Puig usually shows and probably missed just as many cut-off men. It is an argument I don't really want to get in the middle of, but an argument I seemingly get pulled into quite a bit. 

As far as the Future of the Franchise moniker this card displays, I have a hard time agreeing with it. Clayton Kershaw is obviously the Future of the Franchise, though he is also the Present of the Franchise, and for the past few seasons has been the Past of the Franchise. Puig will play a big part on the Dodgers over the next several seasons, but the Dodgers belong to Kershaw for the time being.

The beauty of this trade however, comes in the form of a 1972 Topps Bill Buckner. The card is not in the best shape, but it works for me. The '72 design is one of the best of the decade and this is my first card from the set. I could do a lot worse than a fantastic bat barrel shot of the first baseman and the All-Star rookie cup is a phenomenal touch. 

I have been busy lately (my way of saying lazy), and haven't updated my Topps Team Set Project needs in a few weeks. I have a pretty decent sized stack of cards to take off of the list, including a ton from Ethan. I wish there was something special to show you from 2010 Topps, but there isn't anything that really stands out. 

Ethan also sent over a ton of cards that fit into my now defunct mini-collections. Those have been placed into a large box which contains the rest of the cards from those mini-collections, and will be revisited sometime in the future.

Thanks again for the trade Ethan. Hope we can do another swap again soon. 

Cracking Some 2014 Donruss

My buddy Dikran decided to purchase a box of 2014 Donruss earlier this week. The big hit from the box is on eBay here, while the others were posted in my Trade Bait Tuesday post earlier today. Because he is only looking for the hits, the majority of the cards came to me.

Let's take a look at the Dodgers and a few other PC hits from the box.

Thanks to Dodgers Blue Heaven, I know that I have all nine base cards, but I am missing the Diamond Kings insert of Puig. I did, however, get my hands on a nice looking Power Plus card of my favorite Cuban. 

I also was able to land the sweet Adrian Gonzalez Press Proof to add to my A-Gon binder. It is numbered #'d 78/99, and is a welcome addition to the family. 

I dig these cards overall, though the lack of licensing is a problem on a few of the cards. Most notably the Michael Young card located in the center of the scan. Panini isn't fooling me; he is wearing a Rangers uni.

I was also able to add six awesome cards for my other various PC guys. Because of a lack of licensing, we see a ton of shots of the backs of players while they are batting (i.e Beltre). Though Panini has gotten better, there are a few things that can be improved.

I do love that Diamond Kings shot of Harper and I do have an extra up for grabs. On second thought, I will probably be sending that too Judson of My Cardboard Habit, so long as he promises not to play Wrecking Ball on his blog everyday.

The Ortiz cards look great, and the lack of licensing doesn't hurt here at all. The Hall-Worthy card has a nice texture to it, and is a good way to get around the team logo. The blue Elite Series card is also a cool card, #'d 363/999. 

Overall, 2014 Donruss is a passable product. Lack of licensing can be a bug and produces some unflattering pictures, but Panini has done a decent job getting around that. The set-list is pretty strong, particularly for my Dodgers. I plan on picking up a few of the #'d Dodgers cards from online, but will wait for the hype to go down a bit. 

If you are interested in getting your hands on some of the base cards from this set, head over here and make a claim on a team. 

A Thank You From Dodger Penguin

As you may know, I recently finished a up a contest promoting Matthew's, aka Dodger Penguin, blog. Well, I was surprised yesterday when I received a PWE from Matthew.

I have since talked to Matthew on Twitter, and he said the cards are a thank you for the contest. If you haven't followed him yet, now is as good as a time as ever. He is great guy and posts awesome cards. He is also currently holding a contest for a Paco Rodriguez autographed card, with more contests planned in the future. 

The first thing inside was this Yasiel PUIGGGGG card from 2013 Bowman Chrome. I am pretty sure there are two variations of this card, but my memory is failing me. I sent over a similar card to Matthew a few weeks back in a trade, however I sent the pricier refractor version. This is one of my favorite cards from 2013, and I suppose a Top 10 cards from 2013 should be a priority for me. Considering we are already a month and a half into 2014, I don't see it happening.

Behind the Puig was another great card that I've had my eye on for a while. It is #'d 121/199, and is a fantastic addition to my Beltre PC. But this wasn't the only Beltre in the PWE.

In fact, I got some matching Shawn Green cards to go along with my new Beltre's. These come from 2003 UD Victory, and feel more like playing cards than baseball cards. I think these are also my first "Green Goatee" cards. With these two additions, my Green PC now sits at 43 cards, yet these are the only cards in which he is rocking facial hair. 

Thanks for the cards Matthew. I appreciate the love.