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The best Dodger card for every year I've collected, 2023 update

 
Hey, did you know it's been just about seven months since 2023 Topps flagship came out?

Seven months! Don't anybody tell me the clock is slow. The clock is the world record-holder in the 100-meter dash.

Update will be out before we know it and I assume news of the 2024 design will be dropping like any second. But that's all for those up-to-the-minute people. I don't run that race anymore. I've got old cards to keep me happy for the rest of time.

But tradition is tradition and completing the flagship team set for my Dodgers is always a must. So is determining my favorite card from that set each year. And now it's a tradition to show that thought process -- probably something that should stay confined to my brain -- for all to see on this blog.

So, the 2023 team set has been complete for about a month now, and I'm just getting to this because, although I like the design of this year's set very much, the photos -- at least for the Dodgers -- are a bit mundane. Pitchers pitching and batters batting. This has been the default since like 1991. But I need a little more for a card to be crowned my favorite.

Unfortunately, there isn't a "little more" for the Dodgers this year.

Here are some of the top candidates:


The most coveted flagship Dodgers card for a brief period, this was also the last card I needed to finish the set. James Outman has been pretty good this year, good enough not to make me miss Cody Bellinger, despite his rebound season. I like Outman's expression here, I think he got all of it.
 


Two of the better batting and pitching shots in the set. Chris Taylor has a pretty violent swing and Tony Gonsolin's downward motion always makes for good cards.
 


Austin Barnes has been a favorite card candidate in multiple years, he always gets a decent action shot. I don't know how those guys who barely hit do it. ... Yeah, I know, it's because he's a catcher.


 
Except for the catchers, Miguel Rojas is the only example of someone in action in the field (pitchers mound shots excluded). I love watching Rojas field. His hitting has picked up lately, too.

So, those are the top runners-up, not anything that stands out, though.

The winner doesn't either but here it is:


This is the first time Will Smith has been my favorite Dodger card of the year. It's a nice moment-in-time shot, it looks like Smith has someone caught in a rundown between third and home. I could look up the exact moment on Getty Images, but I'm telling you, that clock is rocketing to another world record as I type.

Here is a look at all of the 2023 Dodgers cards for Topps flagship:


That's 21 cards total, one less than last year and eight less than 2021. Compared to 2022, this amounts to one less checklist/team card. There were three in 2022 and just two this year. The solo cards remain the same at 19.

OK, quickly, here is my favorite Dodgers card for each year since I started collecting. This list doesn't change, except for the last card, so many of you have seen this before:


















































There you are. I know last year I threatened to just take a group shot of all of the individual winners but I actually found this less time-consuming than pulling all those cards. I might do it next year though.
 
Also, I'm pretty sure -- if I don't forget -- that I will be doing one of these for my least favorite Dodger card each year.

Also, also, if any of you counted all those individual cards, you know that next year is a big one.

It will be the 50th flagship set issued since I started collecting.

So, you know, Topps, don't blow it with something that looks like 2016.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Remember when Topps cards had dozens of unique and interesting photos in a flagship set? Now it's 5 or 6, maybe. That said, Kike's return to LA might give you one more for this list. (btw, have I mentioned that one of the ladies at my office has a Hernandez bobblehead on her desk?)


I'm debating whether or not to buy a hobby box of Update as a last hurrah for my Topps set building. I've got a few Update/Opening Day sets from the past dozen years and I'm probably not going to bother with 2024 flagship unless it's really interesting. OTOH, Elly De La Cruz might single-handedly push box prices over $200.

Old Cards said…
Great list. 49 years of collecting documented nicely. Your 1981 choice of a hatless non-action card is interesting!
1984 Tigers said…
If you could go back one year, the 74 Garvey with the bizarre fan background might be the best of them all. That 79 Welch card would have been taken in 78, but before his dramatic K of Reggie in G2 WS and before Reggie took him deep in the loss in G6.

Never realized Tudor pitched for the Dodgers. Remember him best on the 85 Cards.
Very nice selection. Would love to see the "worst of" list.
I bet Andruw makes the worst card list, lol.
Doc Samson said…
Thanks for sharing, Mr. Owl. Seeing any scan of 2011 Topps always brings a smile to my face.
Anonymous said…
Surprised Orel was still around in 2000. The '81 Law seems like a hipster choice.
Matt said…
Is it too early to predict Enrique Hernandez wins in next year's set? Probably. Am I doing it anyway? Yep.
Nick said…
Not a whole lot of excitement for the Dodgers in 2023 Topps - I'd probably go with Kershaw for my favorite. Also, I forgot how much I liked that 2014 Topps Ricky Nolasco, so thanks for showing that one again.
Fuji said…
That opening photo is really cool. I like the angle you shot it from. I should do that with my A's team set (when I finish it) and use it as my computer screensaver.

As for favorites... the Smith was my favorite from the bunch as well.