Dodgers revisited

Sometimes I feel like I'm neglecting my duties as a Dodger fan on this blog. I often drift off into other card collecting topics or baseball in general. But that's not because writing about the Dodgers bores me. It's because I have such an interest in baseball and collecting that I can't help but write about that, too.

In fact, being a Dodger fan is kind of a byproduct of my passion for baseball. Because I enjoy baseball history so much, it's only natural I am a Dodger fan, with the great history the franchise owns. And I greatly respect fans of teams like the Yankees, Cubs, Cardinals, Red Sox, Indians, Reds, White Sox, Pirates, etc. -- teams whose histories go way back.

So sometimes I need someone to steer me back to the Dodgers. Receiving card packages is a good way for me to regain my focus. Recently, I received Dodgers from reader Steve, and Jeffrey of Card Junkie.

Steve sent me about 25 Dodgers. I believe I needed about half. Here are some of the highlights:

Ramon Martinez, 2007 Upper Deck. This card raises a question that I have asked before with night cards. What was the first card to feature a player breaking his bat? If I had to guess, I'd say some early '90s card from Upper Deck. But there's probably an odd example or two that goes back much farther than that. Maybe someday I'll collect broken bat cards.

For some reason, it never dawned on me that Martinez had the same name as the Dodgers' more famous Ramon Martinez, Pedro's older brother. It think it's because I spent so much time obsessing about the fact that Martinez came from the Giants.

Two manager cards, a 2001 Topps Traded card of Jim Tracy and a 2004 SP Legendary Cuts card of Tommy Lasorda. I interviewed Tracy once, very briefly, although it was in a "pack of reporters" setting. I don't think I have a card of Lasorda in which Tommy looks older than on this one.

I also received several other 2007 Upper Deck cards I needed from Steve, a '93 Pinnacle Kevin Gross, a key Eric Karros card and several other goodies.

Steve is Mets fan living in the Southeast. I'll be digging up some Mets and, hopefully, some Stadium Club wants for him. Steve doesn't have a card-centric Mets blog that I know of, but more card bloggers are Mets fans than fans of any other team. Someone might have to do a post on why that is so. Meanwhile, my Mets are quickly vanishing.

On to Card Junkie. Jeff sent me three Dodgers off of my want list. What I like about Jeff and his site, besides the many videos, is the enthusiasm for cards of a period that I once had ignored. By the time the late '80s, early '90s rolled around, I was old enough to become a card critic. I pretty much dismissed Fleer and Donruss of the day, laughing off their designs.

It's good to see that others do appreciate those cards, probably because those were the cards they collected when they were kids. It's made me look at those cards again and find something to like about them.

For example, 1987 Donruss. Here is a Mike Scioscia card Jeff sent. I've commented before that it looks like a kid designed '87 Donruss. But others like the little baseballs on the sides, and the simplistic design. I've learned to appreciate that they only used the team logo on the front, rather than listing the team name, much like '87 Topps (this was something I previously didn't enjoy).

Finally, Jeff sent a '92 Checklist that I needed to complete the '92 Fleer Dodgers team set. Thanks to Fleer's ugly decision to put four teams on one checklist for much of the '80s and '90s, team collectors are forced to pick up cards like this. I don't like the fact that the Dodgers are sharing time with the Expos, Reds and Astros on the card, but I guess I'll live with it (this is actually the back of the card).

Thanks for the cards, Jeff. I'll be sending some cards your way next week.

But first I need to fret about the weather. Because the forecast has changed and they're talking about dreaded lake effect snow for my area tomorrow, the day of the card show. If you've ever driven in heavy lake effect snow, you know there's no kind of terror quite like it. (Great Lakes residents know what I'm talking about). I may do a lot to own cards, but driving in that stuff isn't one of them.