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The trifecta, new school version


About a year ago or more, I learned of the collecting term "trifecta." I don't know who came up with that, but I first read about it at Drew's Cards. I thought it was a great little collecting category.

The best part of tracking down a rookie card, auto card and relic card of a single player is it's a little bit of a challenge. Going through my collection, I found lots of examples of completing two of the three categories. But coming up with all three was more difficult.

Finding a rookie card and relic card of Manny Ramirez was easy. Finding an autograph card, not so easy. Same with Shawn Green.

Finding a rookie card and an auto card of Sandy Koufax was doable. But I don't know if I've ever seen a relic card of Koufax.

Finding an auto card and relic card of Duke Snider was achievable. But it takes big cash to land the rookie card.

In the end, I found 15 Dodgers for which I have the rookie card, autograph card and a relic card. That's much more than I thought I had, and can be attributed to the generous traders out there more than my collecting ability.

But I'm afraid I'm going to have to call it an uncertain 15. Anytime I get involved with anything concerning rookie cards, I get very confused. Between the multiple sets issued since the '80s, and the rookie card logo, and displaying cards of players not in the majors or even in pro ball, I really have no idea what a rookie card is anymore. I think if you visit the Beckett website, you can figure it out, but every time I go on that site, my computer starts to smoke, so I generally avoid it.

So, here are the 15 trifecta players as I see them. They may or may not feature the player's true rookie card. I leave it to the experts to figure that out.


1. Ron Cey: Of course, I must have a trifecta of my favorite player. The Troll helped me out with the rookie card, bless his way-too-busy heart.


2. Steve Garvey: The Garvey relic might be my most favorite relic card that I have. It is such an impressive card, from the see-through back down to the reproduction of his 1974 card in the background.


3. Pedro Guerrero: Good ol' Upper Deck, using the same photo of Guerrero for the auto and the relic.


4. Chan Ho Park: This is where it starts to get murky for me. There are several '94 cards of Chan Ho. But I don't think there's a '93. Also, I wonder if Park is disqualified on the relic because he shares the card with Kaz Ishii?


5. Adrian Beltre: There are a bunch of Beltre cards from 1998. The Bowman's Best is from '97, so I believe that's the rookie card. I just know someone is going to tell me that I'm wrong.


6. Kaz Ishii: Ishii is just one of three cards that I have that features both a jersey and bat relic. Yes, I know he's a pitcher.


7. Chad Billingsley: The Billingsley card at the top of the post is another one of my all-time favorites. But showing a card that features both the auto and relic seems like trifecta cheating.


8. Hong-Chih Kuo: I have one of those Just Minors cards of Kuo from around 2000, but I'm assuming that minor league cards are not useable in a trifecta. Somebody needs to post some Trifecta Rules somewhere.


9. Russell Martin: This is where I start getting into "first year" cards and other baloney. I'm saying that card, or any Martin card from 2005, is his rookie card. So there.


10. Andre Ethier: This is the only trifecta I have where the "rookie card" features the player on a team other than the Dodgers. Usually I don't collect those cards. But I have several 2005 Oakland A's cards of Ethier.


 11. Blake DeWitt: It's a trifecta of a Cub. But I'm not trading these away.


12. Matt Kemp: Kemp's 2006 cards feature the "rookie card" logo, but there are several Kemp cards from 2005, including the Bowman's Best here.


13. Clayton Kershaw: The first time that Kershaw starts showing up in Dodger uniforms is 2006, I believe. All I've seen from his 2005 cards are him in a Team USA uniform. But if you ask Topps, Kershaw's rookie card is from 2008. Arrrrrgggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!


14. Delwyn Young: Yes, I have a trifecta of Delwyn Young. I couldn't be more proud.


15. Chin-Lung Hu: Again, the rookie card could be some other deal. That Bowman Chrome card is from 2006, which I think is his earliest mainstream issue. He is all over the place in 2008.

I ended with Hu because he's my most recent trifecta as of a few days ago. I won the autographed card in Community Gum's Moments & Milestones Pack Lottery contest!!!

Jon and Andy could have totally kept the auto card for themselves because I was a lazy ass and didn't watch the videos they made. As usual, I skimmed the pretty pictures and apparently the autos weren't part of the pretty pictures. Jon said it was the second-best auto of the break. (As I write this, I am listening to their video to figure out what the best auto was .... Ross Ohlendorf? OK, I'd still rather have Hu).

Collecting trifectas is pretty cool, but I admit all of these happened just out of my desire to own Dodger cards. I don't actively seek out trifectas. In fact, I kind of like that they just became trifectas all by themselves. I like the idea of my cards roaming around and forming groups while I'm asleep. Just as long as they don't form secret warring tribes.

I suppose you're wondering why I mentioned in the post title that this was the new-school version of the trifecta. Well, I'll be visiting the old-school version of the trifecta in the next day or two.

It was cool in an old-school kind of way.

(Crap, I forgot to plug The Great Orioles Autograph Project's contest. It may not be a Dodger auto, but you can win a really cool Earl Weaver autographed card! Go!)

Comments

Dodgerbobble said…
Impressive. Very very impressive.
Derek Hill said…
Awesome! I think thats a fun thing to chase right there!

1. I count any relic no matter how many people it features ( and one reason I do so is so I can count my Jason Heyward Relic, that also features McCann and Jones)

2. That rookie card issue would hurt my head. If I'm to pursue this trifecta I think that any card produced within the rookie year will count for me.

Good luck in the future pursuit.
dayf said…
According to my Beckett Alphabetical Checklist Vol. 7 Chan Ho's rookie cards are from 1994 and Beltre is 1997. Beltre has a couple of minor league issues from 1996 but those don't count in rookie cards.

For Kershaw you're on your own, my book is too old.
TheRealDFG said…
Great post. I love it. Makes me want to do the same thing with my Pirates, Steelers, or Penguins. I'm too lazy though.
TJ said…
That's awesome. I'm going to have to organize a little and see if I have any trifectas.
Fuji said…
Holy Trifecta... those cards are sweet. I totally use Drew's idea as well... it's an awesome way to collect cards!
Arno said…
Dig it. I should see what trifectas I have...
Drew said…
Hey love the plug Night Owl, I'm almost positive that I was the 1st one to bring up the idea, but theres no specific set of rules, they can be however you really want them to be. Impressive stuff!!! I bet I have a few more trifectas now than the last time I checked.
Community Gum said…
I personally think the Armando Galarraga auto was the best, but I could just be influenced by all the hooplah surrounding the "perfect" game.

Still, I'm glad I could help complete your fifth trifecta of trifectas.

--Jon
gcrl said…
Koufax had a relic card in 01 ud piece of history. Its the only part of the trifecta I own for him.
Anonymous said…
Man, I think the only trifecta I *might* have is of WNBA legend Ticha Penicheiro. Got a couple autos of her, a shoe card and a couple of cards that might be considered rookies. My collection is just too eclectic and thinly spread to have any yet, though I'm 2/3 of the way on several, most notably Billy Williams (need the RC) and Derrick Rose (need the game-used). The groundwork is laid for completing a Matt Forte trifecta though.

Word Verification: bratiest (hey, I resemble that remark, lol)
EggRocket said…
Kuo's got a cool sig.