Cards and cards from Cards on Cards

What? I enjoy alliteration. Even if it is merely using the same word over and over.

I just completed a team trade -- Cardinals for Dodgers -- with madding of Cards on Cards and A Pack a Day. Team trades are the best, because each of you get nothing but cards you want. Even if you get dupes, you don't mind so much (or at least I don't). I live on one side of the country and madding the other, so these Cardinals and Dodgers each took a transcontinental journey.

The Cardinals and Dodgers have been fairly regular trade partners over the years. Joe Ferguson for Reggie Smith (advantage Dodgers). Pedro Guerrero for John Tudor (advantage Cardinals). So it makes sense that their fans should swap cards.

Among the cards I received on Thursday were five different Brad Pennys and four different Jeff Kents. Maybe madding's a closet Dodger fan? Or more probably he just has loads of cards.

Here's a look at the L.A. highlights, obtained all the way from Oregon Ducks country:

Hey! Let's start with yet another former Dodger farm hand who is now a member of the Tampa Bay Rays! The Rays are getting like the Padres were in the 1970s, swooping up all of L.A.'s players. Except the Rays actually know what they're doing. Tiffany was part of the trade that sent Edwin Jackson to the Rays, and of course, Jackson got to the World Series faster than almost anyone currently on the Dodgers (Kent, Penny, Lowe, ManRam, of course, all played in the WS for OTHER TEAMS).

Woah! Headache-inducing colors! I love it. This card is like Saved by the Bell, Full House, Kid n' Play and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air all rolled into one. I can see Vizcaino joining Jesse and the Beach Boys for a Full House episode-ending rendition of "Kokomo."

As you probably can tell, I didn't collect many Classic cards. I've GOT to get more (I actually received another one in my Trick or Treat package from the Halloween Santa, David of Tribe Cards. I'll post on that soon).

This is the thickest card that I've seen that did not include a "game-used piece of memorabilia that has been certified to us as having been used ..." You know the rest. But no swatch, not even a piece of Bazooka bubble gum squeezed between the cardboard.

OK, this is where my cluelessness about cards comes in. This looks like the usual 1989 Donruss card. But the back looks like this:

That's not the back of a 1989 Donruss. I received several O-pee-chee Dodgers from madding (thanks a bunch for those!), but those usually have French on the back. Anybody know what the deal is?

This is a terrific shiny green card. Green looks great on cards for some reason (except 1994 Topps, yuck!). And this is what I'm talking about when card designers decide to take the players out of their natural backgrounds. I'd prefer that they didn't, but if they do, make it something snazzy-looking like this. To me, this year's Upper Deck SP Authentic just doesn't cut it. Unless the card is autographed, the UD-SP-A is just dull.

Normally, I spit on anything ESPN (ptew, ptew), but then they go and pair themselves up with Jackie. I can't help but like this card.

I love the background. I love the camera angle. I love the action. It's the subject that needs to be cropped out.

Again, a fantastic shot wasted. Pierre's not awful and he knows how to steal, but a shot like this needs to be reserved for Rickey Henderson.

Finally, this beauty. The 1967 Topps set is one of the great "clean" sets of all-time. I already have this card and the 1968 Topps Campanis card at the top of the post, but madding has introduced me to a new concept: doubles of 1960s cards. Sweet!

Thanks, madding. Check out his blog. Especially if you're a Cardinals fans.