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

Fashionably Late to 2020 Flagship

I'm way behind on posting, so much so that this is my first post of 2020--Happy New Year? 

Last July we got a sneak peek at the 2020 design, and I wasn't a fan. I still don't think it's a great design overall, but my stance has seemingly softened with repeated exposure. Great photos can salvage a bad set design. See Exhibit A above. Gotta love celebration photos. This pic comes from one of the Dodgers eleventy-hundred walkoffs in 2020. 

Series One primarily features the core of the Dodgers. Sluggers like Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy... 

...along with long-time hurlers like Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen get their dues in the set. 

And then there's Tyler White. Dude hit .045 last year for the Dodgers and was not destined for the team in 2020. Not sure why he was in the set over someone like Will Smith, but someone like this always finds their way into the set. 

Justin Turner has been one of my favorite players since he broke into the league back in 2009. I've always rooted for my fellow redheads, and Turner has been the face of gingers for last several years--not to mention one of the best players in Los Angeles.

But Turner has some stiff competition in the hair department this season (if there is a season) with the arrival of the Dodgers' most recent uber-prospect--Dustin May. Just look at those locks. He may also have the best nickname on the team: Gingergaard. 

Over on the hitting side, the Dodgers' other top prospect also gets his first card in Flagship. I've got a feeling this will be one of the more valuable cards from this set in a few years. 

Despite the set including cards of the 2019 NL MVP, a future Hall-of-Famer, and a pair of top prospects, my favorite card has got to be of super-utlity man Enrique Hernandez. I mean, look at that extension.

I've been slowly chugging away at picking up Dodgers from flagship sets, but this is actually the first time I've just purchased the team set on eBay. With a $5 dollar coupon, I managed to snag all 17 cards from S1 for just a couple of bucks. I already have more cards from the 2020 set than I do for all of 2019, but I really need to get a move on finishing up some of these sets. 2012 is the only year I've completely finished to this point.

(P.S. I've moved...again. If you're planning on sending me anything or just want to have my new address on hand, let me know. ) 

Return to Card Land

Things have been busy. The blog has been quiet since late-August and, until last weekend, I hadn't purchased, looked at, or even thought about cards all that much since that last post. It's just been that busy. 

Work got crazy as fall began and then I found myself interviewing for a new job (a process that lasted a few months). I got the job in late-October and it's been even busier since. But the job came with a company car and a sizeable pay raise, so it's not all bad. 

Anyway, I was back in California visiting family last week for Thanksgiving and made a stop at my former LCS. Perhaps it was the lack of cardboard in my life over the last few months, but I quickly found myself opening up several hobby boxes, including a box of 2019 Stadium Club, two mini boxes of 2019 High Tek, and a box of 2019 Allen & Ginter. 

I'm still trying to go through all of the cards, but I wanted to get back into blogging and thought I'd show off some of the hits, including a few big ones. 

High Tek

 

A decent pair of autos in Corbin and McCullers. Really great looking cards. 

A couple of Springers. Green and Purple parallels numbered to 150 and 99, respectively. 

Stadium Club

The Poncedeleon and Santana are meh hits, but the box also included a pretty sweet Big Mac boxloader. The bottom bent a bit during my travels back to NY, so that's a bummer. 

Allen and Ginter

This box alone was worth the price of the rest of the cards. Upon cracking the box open, this Goldschmidt was sitting at the top as the box topper. It's an N43 auto, so it's a bit oversized, but it's certainly one of the coolest cards I've ever pulled. 

As if the Goldschmidt wasn't enough, this Darryl Strawberry 1/1 mini black printing plate fell out of the very first pack I opened. The cards in that pack were all gold-bordered (sorry I don't have any images), so we quickly figured out that this was a hot box. Hot damn. 

Next up was another mini, this time a framed relic of the Hall-of-Famer, Roberto Alomar. 

Though I already hit the three hits each box contains, two more relics found their way into my hands. Not bad. 

All in all, it was a pretty successful day and a welcome return back to card land. Hopefully, I'll be back soon with the rest of the cool stuff I pulled from these boxes. 

Trade with Dion's Autograph Collection: Swapping Ink and Dodgers

I recently (well, it's been a couple of months) swapped some cards with Dion over at Dion's Autograph Collection, my second trade with him in the last few months. I sent over a handful of autographs and he offered up several Dodgers team set needs and a ton of new Shawn Green cards. 

The Big League Challenge card above was new to me, and the concept of the Big League Challenge--and not the Home Run Derby--was something unfamiliar. From what I can find online, the Big League Challenge took place in the early-2000s and was essentially a Home Run Derby played over the course of a mock 9-inning game. The card above shows a date of February 9th, 2002, but the logo is of the 2003 BLC. I can't find any info on the 2003 event, but Green participated in 2002 and did not make it very far. Troy Glaus ultimately won the entire event. 

I was born in the 90s but didn't start collecting until the early-2000s, around 2002 I believe. For whatever reason, I've always considered this the cutoff between "old" cards and "new" cards. I was never really aware of this distinction, but as I've looked back at my collecting habits and my taste in cards, it becomes pretty obvious to me. I won't get into my own distinction between old, vintage, new, or modern cards here (that's a whole post on its own), but I will say I never had much affection for cards from the 90s. Maybe it has to do with the whole junk wax era and the saturation of products during the decade. I don't know. Whatever it is, I'm never been particularly attracted to cards from the 90s. 

That said, I've started to grow a fondness for some select sets over the past couple of years, especially 1995 Topps Flagship. Take a look at the card above. The photo is great; how often do you see "player signing autograph" cards nowadays without it being an SP or in Stadium Club? I also dig the sort of watercolor-y border and drop shadow of the photo. It definitely gives the set its own identity and sets it apart from the rest of the sets from the 90s. 

Green spent most of his career with the Dodgers, but, as I am now noticing, the cards I chose to scan don't show him in Dodger blue. (Is Blue Jay blue a thing?!?) I think this may be the first I've seen of 1992 Classic Best set, and it ain't too shabby. It shows Green as a member of the Dunedin Blue Jays, Toronto's single-A affiliate. Green made his major-league debut in 1993, the same year I was born, and went hitless in 6 at-bats. He appeared in 14 games with the big-league club in 1994, but he didn't manage to hang around until the 1995 season. 

But enough of Green. Dion sent over several other Dodgers, including a new Corey Seager for me to add to the binder. If Corey Seager can hit like Tulo in his prime, I'd be very happy. Let's just hope he can avoid the injury bug. Injuries derailed Tulo's career and forced him into retirement this season. 

Finally, here's a hodgepodge of Flagship needs Dion sent my way. A handful of cards from 2016-18 sets are helpful as I'm still tracking down the cards from those sets. I initially thought the Maddux was just a normal base card from 2009, but quickly realized that it's actually the Wal-Mart black border version. Alas, I still lack any base Dodgers from 2009 Flagship. In fact, it's one of only a handful of sets of which I have no Dodgers, along with 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1968. Lump in 2009, and we quickly see one of those things is not like the others. 

It was another successful swap with Dion who is quickly becoming my go-to blogger for low-end autos I have no interest in and won't fetch much on eBay. Thanks for the trade!

National Baseball Card Day

Apparently today, August 10th, is National Baseball Card Day. Topps kicked off the "holiday" yesterday in Brooklyn with free cards, trivia, and other giveaways, and I found myself right in the middle of it.

I was actually on the train heading home when I came across Topps' post on Twitter saying they were in Old Fulton Plaza--not far from where I was. So I decided to take a detour and check out the Topps truck in person.

There were a handful of Topps employees hanging around handing out baseball cards and encouraging folks to enter their raffle: correctly guess how many cards are plastered on the truck and win a prize. I guessed 2020, which is probably too high, but they still haven't officially announced the winner. Any guesses as to how many cards on on this truck?

I dropped by with the hopes of grabbing some free cards and maybe winning one of their giveaways. They weren't doing any giveaways or trivia when I got there, but I did snag two of the packs they were handing out. Each pack had four cards from Series 1, and they were some of the most uneventful packs I've ever opened. Jedd Gyorko was the biggest name I pulled, and he doesn't even play with the team he's pictured with anymore. It seems like the cards showing on the tops of these packs were pretty representiative of what was inside.

Oh well. Free cards are free cards. And I can't complain about views like this either. Too bad I didn't have cash, or I would have picked up an ice cream cone, too. 

Those two packs weren't enough to get me through the day, so I followed this trip up with a trip into Target and picked up a pair of Stadium club packs. 

Couldn’t resist picking up some more @Topps at Target after dropping by the truck. My first Stadium Club of the year. #ToppsBaseballCardDay pic.twitter.com/TXt16fIAZz

— Alex Markle (@chavezravining) August 9, 2019

They were the first Stadium Club packs on 2019 for me, and I managed a pair of Dodgers among the 10 cards. Not half bad. 

That Duke will fit nicely into my growing Dodgers Legends binder. I love finding that Brooklyn 'B" on cardboard. 

All in all, I think it was a pretty successful day, especially considering I had no idea National Baseball Card Day was an actual thing heading into the day. Maybe I'll plan a fun celebration next year. Is anyone celebrating today?

A Pair of A&G Blasters

Several months back, my girlfriend and I were apartment hunting and found ourselves in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. We were a bit early for an apartment viewing, so we decided to take a stroll around the area to get a better sense of what the new neighborhood might be like. We passed by several pizza shops (all claiming "The Best Slice in NY"), a Dunkin', and far too many empty storefronts. 

We were about to turn around and head back for our appointment, when I happened to read the sign in front of an absurdly large collection of buildings: "EBBETS FIELD."

Wait a minute. Ebbets Field?!? Of course, I know the Dodgers spent the first half of their existence in Brooklyn, but I never thought about where in Brooklyn they used to play. 

We didn't end up taking that apartment, instead opting for a much spacier place in Kensington, but it was certainly quite the find on that pleasant Sunday evening. 

As was the above Pee Wee Reese card that slid out of a pack of A&G a couple of weeks back. I didn't look at the A&G checklist (and still haven't) before picking up a pair of blasters at Target, so it was cool to add another Pee Wee to my Dodgers Legends binder. 

Speaking of legends, The Left Arm of God. Koufax is probably in most Topps releases nowadays, and though the photos sometimes get repetitive, I won't ever compain about adding more Koufax to my collection. Plus, is there a better combination of colors on these cards than red, white, and Dodger blue? I don't think so. 

My girlfriend and I ended up doing a "blaster box war," if you will, taking turns opening packs one by one and comparing cards to see who had the better box. She has very little baseball knowledge and resists my attempts to convert her into a Dodgers fan--she's from just outside of Cleveland and roots for the Indians--so there were many discussions to be had about the who pulled better players, celebs, and eggs. Of course, she ended up pulling the doozy of a card above--a Casey Stangel Brooklyn-back mini #'d 16/25--surpassing my blaster by far. Not bad. This went to eBay shortly after pulling it, and it just about paid for the blaster it came from.

The real draw of Allen and Ginter for me this year is the Mares and Stallions set. The checklist contains only 15 cards, but I'm making a concerted effort to track them all down as quickly as possible. The "Horse in the Race" 25-card mini set from '17 A&G still haunts me--I only have 2 of the 25 cards. 

I think I've mentioned this before, but my girlfriend is a life-long equestrian (hence the horse card collection I'm working on), so chasing these cards together has been quite fun. Though Topps found a way to mess that up. I'll let her explain...

"I was so excited to have found a few horse cards in the packs I opened, but as soon as I saw the Appaloosa card, my excitement dwindled. The Appaloosa is a breed characterized by its spotted coat. While the card above does show a bicolored coat, it is most certainly a paint (or at least pinto)--it's cowlike markings are nothing like those that characterize an Appaloosa. Appaloosas come in a variety of patterns, but to see a bit of the spectrum of an Appaloosa coat, take a look at the images below:

from https://www.saddleupcolorado.net/blog/appaloosa-horses/

from http://www.appaloosamuseum.org/

That said, it was still great to see a few horse cards, the incorrect picture notwithstanding."

Yep, so a bit of a disappointment when all is said and done, but it's still nice to move closer to the complete set. 

The fun didn't stop with the Mares and Stallions, however. In an attempt to match the other blaster, I pulled a pretty cool relic of Yadier Molina. I'm not at all a Cardinals fan (I dislike their devil magic), but there are enough Cardinals bloggers out there that this should have no difficulty finding a new home. 

All in all, we had a great time breaking open some boxes and ripping packs. I've always enjoyed doing this solo, but it's great to have someone to crack some packs with, and even more fun to chase a set together. 

Making Space with Trade Bait

It didn't take too long for me to determine that I needed to make more space for cards in my new apartment, so I've decided to highlight some of my trade bait on this balmy Sunday evening. Below you can find an embedded spreadsheet of my what I have to offer. (View the list on a sortable Google Doc here.) You can see images of all cards in the images below that sheet. Scroll to the far right of the embedded spreadsheet to see which scan the card image appears. 

I am also happy to sell these cards outright as well. Price is (always) negotiable, so leave a comment if you're interested. Shipping is $3.50 for purchases under $10; Free Shipping for purchases over $10. (Of course, shipping is free for all trades.)

 

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