One more time for The Infield

 

The Dodgers recognized "The Infield" on Friday on the 50th anniversary of Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, Dave Lopes and Bill Russell first playing together.

It seems like they just did that the other day, but I guess 10 more years have gone by since, and, wow, was that fast.

That Dodgers infield set the major league record for most consecutive years together and they did it all during my first years of following baseball and the team, from 1973 to the end of the 1981 World Series.

I thought I'd take the occasion to look through my cards of each of those players and pick out a few notables for each.

Here we go:

 

 

RON CEY

Total number of cards in my collection: 178

Rank in my collection: 30th

Number of autographed cards: 25

 

Rookie card: 1972 Topps (AL-NL Rookie Stars)

Favorite card: 1975 Topps

Most difficult to land: 1979 Hostess

Most painful card: 1983 Topps Traded

 

As you could guess, it was tough to choose from my Cey collection, which is easily the most varied of the four.

 

I could have named the rookie prospects card that Cey shares with Mike Schmidt as the most difficult, but actually that wasn't nearly as hard as getting that short-printed Hostess. I do, however, still need a second Cey-Schmidt card for the team collection. "Most painful card" could have been that '75 World Series card in which Joe Rudi is circling the bases next to Cey in Game 5, but that's barely a Cey card.

Best retro card: 2017 Topps Archives autograph (peach parallel)

Most annoying card: 2013 Panini Hometown Heroes Nicknames insert

Strangest card: 2014 Goodwin Champions

Oddest card: 1982 Nike Penguin Power

Still couldn't be more annoyed with Panini designating that Penguin card to "Chicago." I have a hunch that the Cey Goodwin photo came from the same photo session as the Nike poster card, which is actually a 5-by-7 card.

 

 

 

STEVE GARVEY

Total number of cards in my collection: 207

Rank in my collection: 26th

Number of autographed cards: 5

Rookie card: 1971 Topps

Favorite card: 1974 Topps

Most difficult to land: 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated, Greats of the Game

Most painful card: 1983 Topps Traded

The favorite-card category is almost a toss-up between '74 Topps and '75 and '76 Topps. I love all three so much. The "most difficult to land" card is pretty much whatever retro Garvey card I've picked up most recently. Because it's usually a hassle trying to track down any retro Garvey card (I expect it to happen with his Heritage insert this year).

Best retro card: 1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated Greats Of The Game Covers

Most annoying card: 2004 SP Legendary Cuts, Historic Swatches

Oddest card: 1982-93 Louisville Slugger

Strangest card: 1986 Fleer mini

The Fleer SI cover cards of SI's from the late '70s/early '80s are pretty much the greatest cards of the '90s. Moving in the complete opposite direction, putting a Padres uniform relic with a photo of Garvey playing for the Dodgers is one of those endearing stunts Upper Deck played all the time.

The Fleer mini card amuses me to no end. That set is full of weird stuff.

 

DAVE LOPES

Total number of cards in my collection: 93

Rank in my collection: 87th

Number of autographed cards: 1

Rookie card: 1973 Topps Rookie Second Basemen

Favorite card: 1976 Topps Record Breakers

Most difficult to land: 2013 Topps Archives

Most painful card: 1982 Topps Traded

I've lauded the '76 Record Breaker card before a couple of times. I love that card front-to-back. The 2013 Archives card wasn't that tough, but it is a short-print. There just aren't a lot of people clamoring for Lopes cards.

Lopes was the first of The Infield to leave the Dodgers, so the '82 Traded card was especially weird.

Best retro card: 2004 Topps Retired Signatures

Most annoying card: 1984 Topps AL Active Stolen Base Leaders

Strangest card: 2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams, 1977

Oddest card: 1980 Burger King

 

I probably should have selected the Retired Signatures Chrome autograph as the best retro card but somebody's got to give base cards some love. As for the Strangest Card, the photo used is at least four years prior to 1977.

 

The AL Active Stolen Base Leaders rubs me wrong because 1) He's sharing space with two Yankees; 2) He's in an A's uniform; 3) He got most of those stolen bases with a National League team!

 

 

 

BILL RUSSELL

 

Total number of cards in my collection: 78

Rank in my collection: 135th

Total number of autographs: 4

Rookie card: 1970 Topps

Favorite card: 1977 Topps

Toughest card to land: 1972 Topps

Most painful card: 1989 Smokey Bear

Russell's 1972 card is in the high-high numbers, so good enough for a player who doesn't have a lot of cards comparably. The photo chosen for the Smokey Bear card -- or rather how close up it is -- is not enjoyable to me.

As far as the other categories, for Russell it's difficult because there's not a lot of variety for him.

The strangest card is probably the one on the right:

 

Russell showed up as a player in 1987 Topps. Then later the same year, he showed up as a member of the coaching staff in the Mothers Cookies set.

 

The oddest card isn't really a card (but it's listed in TCDB):

 

TCDB tells me this is a Danny Goodman photo released as part of a picture pack in 1976. That photo can't be any later than 1970.

 

So, that's my tribute to the Infield on the 50th anniversary of its debut. This could be the last time for all four of them together, they're all in their 70s now. So I'll hold out hope for one last hurrah for the infield that has brought me more joy than any other. 

 

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