Consolation prize

This card is here as a tribute to John of Old School Breaks, who recently held one awesome group break and is also a die-hard New Jersey Devils fan.

As John will tell you, Claude Lemieux has played for several teams in his NHL career. He's still clicking along as a member of the San Jose Sharks. But he's probably most known either as a Montreal Canadien or a Devil.

I know him as a Devil, and what a devil he was. He was awesome in the 1995 postseason, the year the Devils won the Cup. But he's also one dirty-ass player, and for years was considered the most hated man in hockey -- by opponents, of course.

But another reason why I'm featuring this card is because Lemieux shares my birthday. And I don't simply mean he was born the same day I was. I mean he was born the same day AND year that I was. So the exact day my mother was giving birth in Buffalo, New York, little Claude was being born in a hospital in Buckingham, Quebec (I assume he was born in a hospital, anyway).

Lemieux is the only famous person that I know of -- in sports or otherwise -- that was born the exact day that I was. I think that's freakin' cool. I'm not sure what it says about me that a player who made Detroit's Kris Draper want to rip out Lemieux's liver shares my exact birthday, but I ain't ashamed. Even if I am a Sabres fan.

I sold almost all of my hockey cards a couple of years ago. This '93 Score is one of the few I kept because of the birthday connection.

Anyway, that's a loooong way to go to tell you that John sent me cards! I'm guessing he took pity on me, because out of 15 people in the group break, I was one of just four who didn't win a single thing. My streak of fabulous luck continues.

John was kind enough to send me the base Dodgers from the break -- kind of like a consolation prize -- as well as a few other great Dodgers. Let's have a look, shall we?

I'll start with the 2009 Upper Deck Dodgers. First, a pair of Mannys. The thrill of owning a Manny card in a Dodger uniform is still there, even while the longest free-agent courtship in history continues. As annoyed as Dodger fans are, I'm wondering if players like Adam Dunn and Garret Anderson are even more ticked. Boras and Ramirez are gumming up the works!

Blake DeWitt looks like he just corked one down the line. I'm counting on you, Blake. Show everyone that you're the right decision at second base.

Here's another player with something to prove going into 2009. Although I hear he's progressing nicely from his offseason injury. By the way, I'll say something good about the UD design, as far as the Dodgers go anyway. Red is a good choice for the logo backdrop. It goes good with L.A.'s red jersey numbers.

The dearly departed Derek Lowe. Pitching in San Francisco again. This stuff annoys me. Upper Deck could have found another shot. I've seen almost this exact Lowe photo in San Francisco several times. Here are two of them:

People talk about Topps laziness. Myself included. Well here's an example where Upper Deck is the one on the couch eating bon-bons.

On to some older cards. This is a Kaz Ishii Donruss Diamond King from 2002. On the back it lists the number of Diamond King appearances a player has made. That's kind of neat. I also didn't know that artists other than Dick Perez drew Diamond Kings. This one is done by Frank Scicchitano.

I was never a fan of the Diamond King. When they first came out, my brothers and friends thought of them as a total waste. I'm not quite as militant now, but I'd rather have the photograph.

On to the base cards from the group break. This was the first box that John broke, the 2002 Leaf Certified. Four solid players here. In terms of irk factor, from least to most, it is Karros, Nomo, Beltre and Brown.

These cards are super shiny by the way. They're so shiny that you could go outside on a sunny day and cause major car accidents by reflecting the sun into drivers' windshields. (Disclaimer: this is some lame blogger's attempt at humor. Do NOT try this at home).

Next up are three Dodgers from 2002 SP Authentic. And another card of Kevin Brown. Man, he was on way too many Dodger cards. What a cranky-puss.

The last box was 2002 Fleer Boxscore. I like these cards because of the boxscore design in the background. I wonder if a card issue has ever put a full boxscore on the back of a player's card, depicting an exceptional game in that player's career? That would be cool.

Lastly, two great cards of The Duke of Flatbush. This one is from Fleer Ultra 2001's Fall Classics subset. I'm pondering Snider as my next TTM try. He's a good signer. I've just got to find the right card, and an address.

I know what you're thinking. I have the TTM bug. Not quite. I'm being very selective here. If you see me talking about trying to get autographs of Frank Castillo or Kevin Seitzer, then you can say I have the TTM bug.

Duke Snider, 2002 Topps Tribute. Now THIS is an awesomely great shiny card. This could do some major traffic damage, too. But I'll keep it out of harm's way, in a binder of my choosing.

John, this is great stuff. Thanks again.