The Holiday Spirit

The month of December is a very festive time of year in every neighborhood across America.  The blog world itself is also a bit more cheery and generous.  Generosity is a strong trait that all baseball bloggers share towards one another and the kindness takes an uptick during the holiday season.  The baseball card blogs host some fun contests while giving away a sweet treat of cardboard and this spreads some joy throughout the community.

There also seems to be a Secret Santa among the blogging world around this time of year.  Names get paired up and bubble mailers get randomly dispersed throughout the globe.  Fantastic Catch organized a Secret Santa this year and I received a nice gift from a participant named Roger.  I had a good time reading some of the blog posts about the cardboard gifts that people received on Christmas.  Some cool looking cards were obtained and shown off during Christmas week.

I was glad to get this bubble mailer so I can have a nice baseball card Christmas gift to dive into.

This card really stood out from the rest of the grand bunch that Roger sent my way.  A mid-90s card of Hideo Nomo batting will almost always be the big winner for "Best Card of a Bubble Mailer."  Nomo is surely cranking out a homer in this photo.  I was also probably at the game and the ball landed about five feet over my head.

My Hall of Fame collection gets a boast!  Hip, hip hooray!  I have been really focusing my collecting habit on getting cards of the legends enshrined in Cooperstown.  This is my first Ozzie Smith relic.  I have explained in the past how I feel Ozzie is a cardboard superstar.  He is one of my favorite Cooperstown inductees to collect because so many of his cards are action packed.

I know it seems weird to bring up the high energy impact that Ozzie had on baseball cards while staring at a card of him posing the same way Little League kids pose.  Just keep in mind that this piece of jersey may have been involved in an epic defensive play or worn during a head first dive at third after legging out a triple. It is possible that this jersey was game worn.  Please just let me hope.

This is a very nice manupatch featuring two Brooklyn icons, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella.  I would actually wear this logo on a shirt or a hat.  I would even wear a shirt with this striped pattern.  I hope I have a reader that is a fashion designer and can make this happen.  You wouldn't even need and MLB licence since the patch is of a trolley and the name Brooklyn in the classic Dodger cursive.

Thanks for the cards, Roger.  It was a very kind gift with many great cards.  

I'm A Show Off

It is a dreary day in Los Angeles right now.  The sun hasn't risen in a few days and the dark clouds have finally burst with filthy, acidic rain.  My little Fiat has been sliding over the roads as I cruise along the freeways of the Valley.  It is better to just stay in and enjoy the glorious cardboard that has been sent my way from the blog world.

I started to write out a daily task list each morning.  I heard this was the best way to try and accomplish some goals.  I had actually heard this over a decade ago and I let procrastination get the best of me.  After two whole days of writing out a to-do list, I am finding out that listing out goals may actually work.

One of the objectives of this cloudy Thursday, was to write up a mega trade post.  Some bubble mailers have been piling up on my desk and it was time to start sorting through them.  

Democratic Roadkill is a big time Allen and Ginter mini collector.  I have been trying to complete some Ginter mini sets of my own from 2012.  This has proven to be an extremely tough task and is taking a very long time.  I have been reluctant to even put up the 2013 Allen and Ginter sets that I am currently trying to finish.  I was just hoping that readers of the Platter could just see into my mind and send me some 2013 mini Ginter inserts.

Democratic Roadkill has knocked off many of the 2012 Ginter cards that I was after.  This has given me the motivation to post up the 2013 Ginter cards that I am chasing.  I am very thankful for that.

One of the keys to my collecting heart is getting cards of my childhood idols.  Specifically, receiving 90s inserts of my favorite Dodgers.  Some might say that getting 90s inserts of my favorite players is the key to my collecting heart.  Actually nobody says that.  Only I find that to be true.

The Lost Collector brought some shiny greatness into my collection.  I would have traded a Fleer Ultra insert of Cal Ripken Jr. or of Frank Thomas back in '96 for this Mike Piazza card.  This would have been highly sought after by a young bike riding Spiegel.

The Piazza wasn't the only 90s gem to fall out of a bubble mailer sent to me by the Lost Collector.  He also sent me this embossed Raul Mondesi insert from '95 Fleer.  Back in the day this card would have cost me a John Kruk or a Tim Salmon insert.  I would have gladly dumped a mullet haired fat guy or a rotting salmon for a muscular Rauuuuul.

The Lost Collector made my heart warm and fuzzy with these two cards for my collection.  What a swell fellow.

Sometimes I bump into bloggers on other corners of the collecting landscape outside of the blog world. Over at the Sports Card Forum, I ran into Tim from the Home of the Toddfather blog.  We worked out a trade and sent each other cards of our favorite teams.  

This Hideo Nomo is new to me which is always a good thing at the Platter.  This card hails from a set I had never heard of called Ballpark Idols by Upper Deck.  This card also features Nomo standing on the edge of the mound peering at an incoming grounder.  This photo may have been taken during some sort of fielding drill as no other players are standing in the background.

I used to watch pitchers work on fielding drills back in the day during spring training in Vero Beach.  Pitchers always seemed bored going through these drills.  Fielding your position is important and fans always get hulk style angry when a pitcher boots an easy comeback dribbler during a game.  

Nomo looks focused in the picture.  He was a true professional.

 

I was sent many great cards from this bundle from Tim but this is my favorite.  This actually may be one of my favorite cards of all time.  Tommy Lasorda drinking a milkshake?  In the form of a cartoon caricature? As the card states this is fun stuff.  Cards like this makes me so proud to be an avid collector of Dodger baseball cards.

This Lasorda is definitely the show stopper for this mega trade post.  Thanks for the cards my fellow bloggers.  Time to drop the mic and walk off. 

Super Sized Nomo

I love accumulating items for my future man cave.  I have a wide assortment of mostly Dodger related items that will be on display whenever the day arises and my man cave is established.  The plan of one day becoming a homeowner has been on my mind for several years.  When I have enough funds and a solid job, my future home will have an extra baseball themed room.  Since, that day is not today, the process of hoarding items and dreaming is part of the process.

The dozens of bobble heads, autographed photos and signed baseballs currently reside in my bedroom.  A bedroom is not a man cave.  A man cave is a separate space in one's home reserved for sports watching, beer drinking and a place to view all my showy baseball memorabilia.  The time for the debut of such a space will be here eventually.  It will be a grand sight to see.

A group break was held by the Nachos Grande blog and one of the sets that Chris opened up was 1997 Pinnacle Zenith.  The particular Zenith set was of the 8x10 variety.  The set features extra large versions of the regular base cards from the '97 Zenith set.  I have the regular sized Hideo Nomo version and now I have the super sized 8x10 version.

This is one of my favorite Nomo cards in my collection.  I have just finished updating my Nomo haves list and according to the count on Microsoft Excel, I have over 300 cards of the former Doyer superstar.  The 8x10 version of this stellar photograph will be hanging in my future man cave.

This will also look great signed.  Now, I just need to track Hideo Nomo down once more for that opportunity.  Until then, this glorious photo will have to wait for that day to be hanging on my wall as I drink a Tecate and watch the Dodgers play some baseball on an HD flats screen television.

Any of my readers have their own man cave already?  What are some of your favorite items on display to show off to your guests?

We Play Nice

The Dodger/Padre scuffle the other night has added a spark to the blog world.  Dodger and Padre fans have posted write-ups about their opinions on the incident.  This fight has led to some dialogue between me and a couple Padre fans.  Emails were exchanged that were mostly pleasant and offered some insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Dodgers newest rival.

The Dodgers and Padres have always been in the same division and have competed for playoff spots.  This has been happening for decades.  Most of the animosity in this SoCal feud has been Padre fans hating the Dodgers.  Dodgers fans didn't really acknowledge that there was any bitterness or anger towards the Padres or their fans.  That lack of mutual hatred probably bristled the nerves of some Padre supporters.  San Diego fans may have wanted this rivalry to take a step up in temperature and I should add that they probably didn't want the feud to escalate due to a fight and a broken bone.

Sadly, the disdain level between the two fan bases has escalated due to a fight on the field and a near fight in the player's parking lot.  The rivalry of mutual hatred between Dodger and Padre fans has begun.  This is going to be a new experience for both fan bases.  Dodger fans save their angst for the hated Giants to the north.  Now Dodger fans have to shift a piece of the darkness to the San Diego team to the south.

Another team to the south that probably hates the Dodgers more than we hate them is the Angels.  I have heard Angel fans mention their dislike of the real LA team before.  I don't often hear Dodger fans talking about any hatred for the Angels or their players.  Mostly, Dodger fans take jabs at the Angels team name or Arte Moreno's mustache.

The emotions that we show towards other teams doesn't really affect the way we treat each other in the blog world.  We may have certain grudges against teams that are close in proximity or that are competing for the same division crown but, we still exchange items through the mail and write nice comments on blog posts.

I mean, I even take the time to read the words typed by a Giants fan and we also swap cardboard on occasion.

I even trade baseball cards with a fan of Orange County's major league team.  Tom from the blog, The Angels, In Order sent me a sweet PWE that included some Dodger stamps and a few Ian Kinsler cards.  Tom may not like the baseball team I root for and he may consider the Dodgers to be his team's biggest rival.  I am not sure.  I am sure that he is a nice fellow that surprised me with some stamps featuring some of my favorite players of the 90s.

The players included on this sheet are Mike Piazza(awesome dude in the 90s), Eric Karros(LA Dodger home run champ), Raul Mondesi(Physical freak until poor eating habits got in the way), Hideo Nomo(Superstar), and Delino Deshields(?).

These stamps were from 1996.  So, I googled the roster from that season to see if any other player on the team could have supplanted Delino on this sheet to make it perfect.  I actually came across several candidates that could have fit better than Delino.

Todd Hollandsworth would have been nice but, maybe these stamps came out prior to the '96 season and that was before his solid rookie campaign.  Ramon Martinez was a really solid starter.  Brett Butler was a premier lead-off hitter that could get on base, swipe a bag and lay down beautiful bunt hits.  Juan Castro would have been a better choice as well because Castro's inclusion would be making me laugh right now instead of cringing.

This PWE was a kind gesture by Tom.  I will have to scrounge up something sweet and odd that will fit into his collection.

Baseball fans can get along in the blog world despite the level of seriousness that we take our rivalries.  That kindness doesn't extend to the stands at the ball parks across America.  Maybe those drunken loudmouths would treat their fellow baseball fans better with some friendly dialogue and baseball card trading?

Rain and Organize

Every baseball card collector has a day that they spend several hours sorting, viewing and cleaning up their card collection.  Actually, every collector of anything, from stamps to bottle caps, probably has a day where they spend sifting through their collection.  A collection needs some order and is best not left to being stored as a chaotic mess.

Today is my sorting day of my collection.  It is a day of grey skies and rainfall.  It is also a day where I have no work and am caught up on my schooling.  What a perfect day to put a dent in some of the stacks of cards and packages by my bedside.

I consider some other blogs to be friends of the Platter.  These are bloggers that I have been trading with over the years, they may occasionally leave a comment on one of my posts and they have earned my respect as a writer.  "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog is one such blog that I consider to be a friend of the Platter.  That blog is run by an Orioles fan named Ryan.

His computer was down for a bit and he has gotten back to posting after a hiatus.  Ryan probably missed posting on his blog.  During his hiatus, he may have even pulled or purchased an award winning piece of cardboard and was unable to show it to the masses due to technical difficulties.  That is a painful situation for an card collecting blogger.  It is good to have him back in the mix.

Ryan sent me these cards a while back.  I just haven't been able to show off a card like this Tadahito Iguchi autograph because of school and probably a little laziness.

Some collectors may open up a trade package and consider the autographed card to be the best of the lot.  I am not one of those collectors.  The Iguchi signature may have the most value or worth but, it certainly wasn't the best looking card that Ryan sent me.

This Hideo Nomo card was the favorite one that Ryan included in the bubble mailer.  Don't let the ugliness of the New York Met uniform distort your view of this great action shot.  The only thing that would have made this card better was if this card came out a year earlier when Nomo was a Dodger.  This still rates highly and is my favorite Nomo Mets card that I own.

This Mike Piazza weightlifting card probably would have been my favorite card from this trade if it weren't for some of Piazza's comments towards Vin Scully.  Piazza mentions in his book that Scully was critical of Piazza during his contract negotiations with the Dodgers in the late 90s and this soured the LA fans on him.  Scully doesn't turn any fans against anybody, he isn't critical of any player's contract and he never threw Piazza under the bus.  This was such an odd person for Piazza to try and go up against.  Scully is God and you never tempt your fate by creating a false rumor about God in your biography.

Therefore this card is just a notch below the above Nomo card.  Piazza will always be viewed differently in my mind after what he was saying about Scully.

Piazza even made me enjoy a card that features him with a greasy mullet and him pumping iron a little less than I would have before.

Welcome back to blogging, Ryan and thanks for the trade.

Import/Export Business

The NBA is currently playing a regular season game in London.  The game is between the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons.  Has the NBA been sending over regular season games to Europe for awhile now?

I am not a big NBA fan so, I am not really sure if they have been exporting basketball to England for several years now.

This is a good idea for the NBA to grow in a large city like London that also has wealthy people living within the city limits.  It is also a positive because the game started at noon pacific time.  Not too many sporting options to choose from on a Thursday afternoon.  Sports junkies like me need my fix as often as possible.

Noon on a week day for a pro sporting event works for me.

This has also led me to think of other sports that can be imported or exported to countries that may not be known traditionally to view or participate in the given sport.

Rugby could be brought into this country from England.  England has a pro rugby league and we have stadiums that could suit the dimensions of the sport.  The sport has confusing rules that I think the American sporting public could grasp after viewing rugby matches played at a high level.  Rugby has the physical nastiness that Americans enjoy in sports, it has speed and kicking for points just like our football.

Send us some top pro teams, England.  The sport can grow here.

I think MLB could send baseball pretty much anywhere that the sport isn't appreciated yet and it will catch on eventually.  Baseball just takes years to learn and understand.  It may take generations to play, live and breathe with the sports until it takes root in a sporting nation.

The countries that Americans introduced baseball to are now rabid about the sport.  Think about the passion that Japan and the Domincan show for the game.  Baseball needs a European presence to become closer to becoming a global game.

Maybe MLB could stage some games in Europe someday.  Stadiums will be an issue though.  There has to be one baseball stadium in Europe, right?  Just one?

That was just a thought that I was having while watching some daytime NBA action and digging through a trade package that was sent my way from Jim of the blog GCRL.

The trade package that he sent my way was puffed up.  The reason for the bulkiness was this Hideo Nomo tin.  I was surprised to get this as part of our trade.  I enjoy collecting Dodger knickknacks like this.  Someday, I will have half my house filled with items like this.

This tin was made in 1997 by Topps and it contained one moving action baseball card.  This tin was empaty so, I am not too sure what a moving action baseball card really is.  Maybe it was a film strip that one could play on his old school film projector?

That wouldn't be a bad idea for a release.  How many people have film projectors?  Would collectors take the extra time to dust off an old film projector to view such an item?

Jim sent me a few cards from this 2002 SP Legendary Cuts set.  This set in new to me.  The photography is stellar and I enjoy the simpleness of the card design.

I will have to chase down more cards from this set.  There are probably some good classic Dodger photos in this set.

This trade helped me knock a few numbers off my 70s Topps Dodgers team sets.  This project is moving slowly.  I am somewhat close to finishing some of the team sets from the late-70s.

With some luck and kindness from the blog world, I should be able to wrap up at least a couple of the team sets.  That is another one of my random 2013 collecting goals.

Thanks for the tin and baseball cards, Jim.

Also, England please send us some rugby.  I need a new sport to get into.

Fuji! Fuji! Fuji!

Isn't Fuji a great name to chant?  If there was a Blogger Olympics, the crowd would get behind Fuji because they would love shouting his name in a stadium.  Even if Fuji, couldn't jump a hurdle, the crowd at the Blogger Olympics would still adore him like a champion.

Fuji, as most of you know, runs a blog called The Chronicles of Fuji.  It is a great blog that shows sports cards, starting line-up figures and some oddball sets from old television shows.  Fuji has a solid variety act going on at his blog, that is something I envy.

Fuji is also one of the better traders in the blog world.  He must have meticulously crafted the perfect trade package to send me.

This is one of the greatest Hideo Nomo cards ever made.  The V.J. Lovero series that Upper Deck came out with in the 90s was genius.  This Nomo will stand the test of time in the card world.

Getting cards of Nomo in a non-Dodger uniform is also a plus.  He spent some short stints with other teams such as the Brewers.  Nomo was still a cardboard superstar, even while donning something other than Dodger Blue.  Card companies still churned out a fair amount of Nomo cards in the 2000s.  It was nothing like the 90s though, when thousands of new Nomo cards were printed daily at Topps, Upper Deck, Fleer or any of the other card companies of that era.

 Fuji's blog has a lot of interesting variety to it and so does the trade packages that he sends out.  These are my first minis from Japan.  These cards feature players from the Seibu Lions in the Japanese Pacific League. These cards were made in 2009.  The Lions had one the Japan Series title in 2008 so, these dudes were on top of the world when these cards were released.

Minis from America!  Dodger minis from '86 Fleer, '87 Topps and '90 Topps!  Look a card featuring Mariano Duncan with a jerry curl and he is signing autographs with a blue sharpie.  Good Dodgers sign autos in blue sharpie.

This lot also features a couple Fernandos and an Eddie Murray too.  Did these come in little wax packs?  How were they sold?  I don't remember getting cards like this back in the day.  It seems that minis from this era just popped up when I became a card collecting adult.

Not many bloggers include stamps of ballplayers in their trade packages.  Luckily, Fuji is one of them that does send people stamps of players like Steve Sax.  The other two stamps show Burt Hooton in science teacher glasses and Jerry Koosman looking like a sitcom dad.

Including items like this start to make a trade package epic.  Where else would I have found these stamps?  I haven't seen them at a card show or hobby shop.  Fuji came through big time with these.

Fuji also sends cards with little pieces of cloth in them.  I believe this is my 100th game used jersey card of Shawn Green.  I am always welcoming more.  Were Dodger fans bored with collecting game used cards of Green in the early to mid 2000s?

It seems that in those years Green, Kevin Brown and Gary Sheffield had a ton of game used cards.  To me, Green is the only one worth collecting of the three of them.

I will finish off this trade post with a classic vintage card.  This is the 1963 Topps Dodger team card.  The stats shown on the back from the '62 season show some outstanding numbers.  In 1962, the Dodgers had 3 players finish in the top 5 of MVP voting.  Maury Wills won the award, Tommy Davis finished third, and Don Drysdale finished fifth.

Tommy Davis had a grand season.  He won the batting title while hitting .346 and also had 153 RBIs that also led the league.  I feel those two numbers are reachable for Matt Kemp in 2013.

This was a memorable trade with Fuji.  I look forward to our next.

The Fun Trade Partner

I have traded with people long enough in the blog world that sometimes I don't even have to mention to someone that it is time for a swap.  Some of my regular trade partners just mail me cards when they think that they have accumulated enough cards to send my way.  I do this too sometimes.  I just package a bunch of cards for a blogger and mail it out to them.  I usually just shoot them an email to let them know that some baseball cards are in transit to their home.

Julie from the Phillies blog, Funner Here, surprised me with a trade package.  Her blog used to be called Things are Funner Here but, she shortened the name.  Just wanted to clarify so, people don't think that there are two Julies in the blog world and one of the Julies is stealing a blog title from the other.

Julie and I have been trading Phillies for Dodgers for over a year now.  Maybe even close to two years ago was our first trade.  There has been a gap that we haven't traded in a while until she sent me an awesome package full of Dodgers and other goodies.

This Hideo Nomo card is one of my favorites that she sent.  This Circa Thunder card was designed by someone that loves lava lamps, the 70s and acid.  The influence of those three things makes for a nice looking card.  Maybe Topps should hire a graphic designer like that.

A rookie card of my favorite Dodger to make fun of.  James Loney had so much potential and he had some hype among Dodger fans when he was racing through the minor league system on his way to the big leagues. Now Loney is probably hoping to get at least a one year deal from somebody.  A team shouldn't give him a multi-year deal.  He never lived up to expectations of being able to hit for good average with some power in his bat.

2007 was his best season and it was in limited time as a 23 year old.  Loney had 375 plate appearances with 15 home runs and an on-base percentage of .381.  The 15 bombs he hit in 2007 are still his career high.  Between 2008-2011, Loney had seasons of getting well over 500 plate appearances and never hit more than 13 home runs.

Russell Martin was part of the core that came up through the minor leagues with James Loney.  Martin had some good years in Los Angeles before leaving for the Yankees.  Martin is now a free agent hoping that no team will notice that he batted .211 last year with a .311 on-base percentage.  Martin also had a career high 95 strikeouts in 2012.

Martin is really hoping that teams see his 21 home runs that he hit last year.  He hit 13 of the home runs in tiny Yankee Stadium.

Martin is the type of player that should stay in the American League, far away from the Dodgers.  He seems like the type of player that will hurt his former club despite his declining numbers.  I would rather ignore Martin than root against him.

Thanks for the trade, Julie.  I have some cards already set aside for you, now I just need to make a trip to the post office.

My Oldest One

On my desk at home, I have a stack of baseball cards that I set aside for the Platter.  These cards are ones that I have picked up randomly from pack pulls to card shop purchases.  I think they look cool and would make for a nice story to tell.

Most of this stack is vintage cards.  The way the players looked and even the wear on the card itself is interesting when it comes to the vintage years.  The weathered faces of baseball players of the past is fun for me to look at.

Another attribute of the random stack of cards that wait to be posted about is uniqueness.  Cards that I have never seen before of players that I collect.  Maybe a card of a Dodger star in an oddball set may fit this bill.

This Hideo Nomo is definitely unique.  This card comes from across the sea in Japan.  Nomo is a snazzy, retro, early 90s uniform.

That is a great throwback look.  The hat or the jersey should be in my wardrobe.  I have thought for awhile that I had everything I ever needed.  I guess I was wrong.  I need a Kintetsu Buffaloes hat from 1991.

The set that this card comes from is 1991 BBM.  Nomo pitched 5 seasons with the Buffaloes.  Nomo burst onto the Japanese seen with a stellar rookie season.  He had 287 strikeouts in 235 innings pitched.  Nomo was only 21 years old that season.  I kind of miss the days of letting good young pitchers rack up heavy innings totals.

The attitude of win now and winning now means using your best pitcher for 235 innings in his rookie season, then so be it.  National fans must be wondering, what if?

In 1991, Nomo once again struck out 287 dudes, which would be his high strikeout total while in Japan.  Nomo was a workhorse in 1991.  He throw a career high of 242.1 innings.  That is the most he threw in Japan and in the U.S.

Also in 1991, Nomo was working on his craft has a cardboard superstar.  He probably know that posing in front of a giant dark green wall was a bad idea.  Nomo was trying to make the best of the photographer's poor judgement and is standing with his unique wind-up.

I am unsure as to what the back of the card says.  Only some of the letters and numbers are understandable to me.  I think the back of the card is showing the history of the Kintetsu Buffaloes.  The years on the left start in 1960 and go to 1990.

This 1991 BBM is my oldest Nomo card by far.  My next oldest in from his rookie season of 1995 with the LA Doyers.

Was Nomo dreaming of going to the U.S. and playing major league baseball in 1991?  How far in advance to he plot his escape route to come to the Dodgers?

I wish I could find those answers out.  Now I need to go on a search for a Kintetsu Buffaloes hat.

Playoff Fever

In years past, when the Dodgers were done for the year, I stopped watching baseball.  If the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs or were eliminated from the post season, my baseball season ended as well.  I would just be too depressed to watch anymore baseball.

This year, I am going to try something different and I am going to closely follow the Dodger-less playoffs.  I would kind of casually know what was going on in the past Dodger-less playoffs and may see bits of games. This playoffs I am going to watch chunks or full games.  The one game elimination wild card system has intrigued me.  I had fun watching most of the Rangers and Orioles game.

Since the Orioles beat the Rangers 5-1, I feel somewhat obligated to write a post that has something to do with the Baltimore Orioles.  I don't have any Orioles cards to show.  What I do have is some cards that were sent to me by a Baltimore Orioles fan

Ryan who writes the blog called "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog, is probably thrilled right now.  He is probably celebrating in a safe but, rowdy way.  Ryan may be dancing in the streets with thousands of other long suffering Orioles fans who now have some joy in their baseball loving souls.

The green background of this Hideo Nomo card that Ryan sent me reminds of the Ecto Cooler juice boxes I drank as a kid.  Slimer from the Ghost Busters must have oozed his way through this card.

Now that Topps has included autographs of baseball general managers in their 2012 Topps Update sets, will they include cards or autos of base coaches?

I ask because some teams have base coaches that I would like to see pop up in Topps sets.  Maybe some new cards of Davey Lopes that always looks grump but still really cool.

Former Dodger Dave Roberts is the first base coach of the San Diego Padres.  I sadly don't have many cards of Roberts in a Dodger uniform.  He was a speedy, always active player that should have been a cardboard superstar.  At this point I will accept a Padre Dave Roberts card of him in a flap less helmet staring with great focus into the dugout.

I have many versions of this 2010 Topps Chrome Russell Martin card.  I love having a full page of all the different versions of a particular card.  It makes for nice viewing while flipping through my binders.

Martin will probably be a make a return to the Dodgers as an aging back up 6 years from now.  I just wanted to write that down in a time stamped blog post to gloat to all my Dodger friends when that prediction comes true.

Thanks for the trade, Ryan.  Your cards will be on their way soon.

End of the Baseball and Collecting Season

The 2012 Dodgers had a wacky season.  The word wacky is the best way to describe it.  I have never experienced a Dodger season as exciting, depressing, odd, and several other feelings that I felt about the team at some point this year went on.

The Dodgers went through an ownership change at the beginning of the year.  The team went from being run by a snake named Frank McCourt to a group of people called the Guggenheim Group.  The new owners have super deep pockets and added some high priced veteran talent as the season progressed.  The Dodgers started the season on a hot streak and had a great April and May.

Things started to fall a part in June.  Matt Kemp got hurt and never really seemed to fully recover.  Kemp set the bar high and the injuries that he suffered really hurt his numbers.  Kemp's hamstring problems as well as a shoulder injury really affected the team's playoff hopes.

The Dodgers acquired Hanley Ramirez from the Miami Marlins just before the trade deadline.  That was a huge upgrade over the stiffs that the Dodgers were trotting out at shortstop.  The team wasn't done adding payroll and talent after the trade for Ramirez.

The big trade was when the team picked up Adrian Gonzalez to take over James Loney's spot at first base.  That is small shoes to fill for Gonzalez.  The team also got Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto in that same deal with Boston.

The team had acquired a bunch of new players and a new owner all in the same year.  Most of the new players such as the guys from Boston and Ramirez will be back next year.  The new ownership group will also be around for a number of years.

2012 was the start of a new Dodger era and for the first time in a long time, I am excited for the future of the Dodger organization.  I am more excited as opposed to my usual nervousness about the club's direction.

With the conclusion to the Dodgers baseball season, the collecting season for me is also over.  I will still pick up a few packs of 2012 Topps Update.  I will also still make some trades.  But, both of those activities will wain as I catch up with organizing my collection.

The collecting season for me is an almost daily drive to obtain cards, send cards to other bloggers, and buying cards for my collections.

The stacks above are cards that I need to binder and catalog in Excell.  Those stacks don't even include the trade packages that I need to sift through.

Here are some cards that I need to send out to get signed through the mail.  Most of this stack is of retired Dodgers that I will write to this off season.  This task got me through last off season and was a way to keep me busy.  This also led to getting some nice autos when my buying habits have dipped.

Some trade packages that I need to send out.  Sorry to the blog world.

What a crazy season both in the Dodger world and for my blog.  The Platter seems to be growing and is still fun for me.  Blogging is still a great outlet for me to think creatively and share my love of the cardboard hobby with the blog world.

It was a great season for collecting.

Oh yes, the collecting season was great.

Crazy Summer Weekend

It has been a whirlwind type of Summer this year for Dodger fans.  The team has looked awful at times, key players and scrubs have been injured as well.  The team has looked dominant at times as well.  The Dodgers have played better on the road than at home recently.  The Dodgers had a 7-3 road trip and then only won 2  games this past week at home.

Oh yeah, this Summer has also seen the new Dodger ownership group throw big money all around and acquire some big name talent.  The team has committed themselves to hundreds of millions of dollars work of contracts since the new owners took over this season.

Seeing Adrian Gonzalez batting in the clean up spot for the Dodgers is going to be fun to watch for the next several seasons.  I am so pumped to see a hitter of his caliber batting for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are only 2 games back of the Giants for the NL West division title.  Should be a fun finish to the season and I am thankful that I get to root on such a beast line-up.

 
Hey!  Look it is Zach Lee!  He is a Dodger pitching prospect that is still in the Dodger system.  So, he must be good because the Dodgers only trade away bad prospects like Carlos Santana and James Macdonald.

Oh, wait......I hope Rubby De La Rosa doesn't come back to haunt us.

The Dodgers have traded away some "top flight" prospects before that turned out to be bums like Andy LaRoche and Joel Guzman.

Maybe Rubby De La Rosa won't come back to haunt us.

Besides watching baseball, I have also been making some trades in the blog world.  These cards were sent to me by Josh at the blog Royals and Randoms.

Josh sent me a good amount of Hideo Nomo cards.  This is my favorite Nomo card of the lot that he sent my way.  One of the reasons that Nomo is a cardboard superstar is that most of his cards came out in the 90s.  Nomo was a big league star and a cultural icon during the era of a bunch of card companies making tons of cards.  The 90s has the best looking sets.  Nomo had a funky wind-up that photographed well combined with the artistic creativity of the 90s was the perfect storm for a cardboard superstar.

Josh also included several of these circular cards.  I didn't have many of these before this package arrived but, now I am better off due to this trade.

Cesar Izturis was a Dodger fielding whiz that played shortstop for the team in the early to mid 2000s.  I enjoyed watching him play because he fielded everything so smoothly and I never got worried if a ball was hit to his side of the diamond.

Kaz Ishii on the other hand made me worry every time he took to the mound.  He always had high pitch counts because he lacked control of the strike zone.  Kaz was my whipping boy on the team while he played in LA between 2002-2004.  Even though, he helped the Dodgers lose some games, I enjoy having at least one stiff on the team that gets the opportunity to screw up.  The crummy player on the team that sticks around for some years and plays poorly but, still plays in a lot of games.  That gives me more innings out of a season to crack Ishii jokes.

Thinking of Ishii reminds me of James Loney.  So frustrating to watch and just waiting for him to turn into something he is not.

So long James Loney.

Thank you for the trade, Josh.

I Met Hideo Nomo!

I decided to go with a direct title that would let the reader know what I am going to type about and share with the blog world.  I wanted to name this epic post something more subtle in order to attempt to give mystery to this post.  Another idea was make the title a little more deceitful and then by paragraph five, spring the reader with a momentous shocker of getting to meet one of your heroes.

The title of this post deserved to be straightforward in order to catch the blog world's attention because this post is a must read for all the tens of Platter fans.  I wanted the title to pop out of your blog roll and make you check it out to share the joy of meeting Hideo Nomo.

My day started off pretty normal and dull.  I went to work early this morning thinking that I just have to make it through this day at work so I could take a nap.  Sleeping was my main priority when my first work break rolled around at 8:30 AM.

My day wasn't filled with excitement until around 10 AM when Dodgerbobble sent me a text about Hideo Nomo and former major league relief pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa coaching a youth league baseball game in Compton, CA.

I was kind of surprised that this event that was showcasing a quality 15 and under Japanese baseball team versus a team of top players from the youth RBI program that was being managed by one of my heroes wasn't known to me before the day of the game.  Dodgerbobble was on point with breaking this news to me.

Hideo Nomo is an elusive ballplayer.  Nomo is a star with adoring fans but, he always seemed uncomfortable with all of the accolades that his pitching skills gave him.  I haven't heard much about Nomo since he retired from baseball in 2008.  I never thought that I would actually have a chance to meet him and get his autograph.

I certainly didn't ever expect to meet Hideo Nomo in Compton.  Dodgerbobble mentioning this event to me had me a little puzzled until I remembered that the MLB Urban Youth Academy is in Compton.  This field is awesome and of at least a minor league quality.  Many guys that grew up playing baseball would have loved playing on a field this well kept.  The field had well manicured grass and even major league dimensions.  Center field was 401 feet from home plate!  These kids were 15 and under and playing on this gem of a diamond.  Good for major league baseball for hooking Compton up with this field.

The grass was no doubt better maintained than the joke of a field that they have going on in Miami.

As my day progressed at work, my mind was racing with possibilities.  I knew I wasn't missing this chance to meet Nomo even though I had agreed to pick Dodgerbobble up, and drive all the way to south LA in rush hour traffic which would take me about 40 minutes even during a decent traffic flow.  I had to try and take possibly the only chance I could have of ever getting a Hideo Nomo autograph.  He doesn't sign often or make appearances.

Nothing was going to stop me from trying to meet him.

My work day was flying by and some questions were swirling in my head.  I had a full dosage of nervous excitement all day.

What if Hideo Nomo big timed me?

What if I didn't get his autograph because this event was too crazy and hectic with a large crowd?

What if I did get to meet Hideo Nomo and take a photo with him and get his autograph?

Once work ended at 130 PM, I raced home and got my autograph gear ready.  I throw a brand new MLB baseball in my backpack as well as some Nomo and Hasegawa cards just in case we can get multiple signatures.

After getting Dodgerbobble at his home, we sat in traffic for a little over an hour.  The traffic and long drive didn't seem so bad because we just began to discuss the Dodgers and for the most part, all the possibilities that seeing Hideo Nomo could bring.  While driving, I was thinking about actually getting the holy grail to my collection which is a Nomo autographed baseball signed in person!

Sandy Koufax is my other elusive Dodger that I need a signature from but that is a little more easier to get.  Koufax signatures are a lot more available since his cards pop up in Topps products.  Nomo autos aren't in many card products ever.  The Nomo auto is more rare and I watched him pitch during his whole career.

Nomo is my guy and I type on a blog named after him.  A Nomo auto was my true holy grail.

We arrived about an hour before the game was about to begin.  Dodgerbobble and I did a lap around the field.  When we got to the Team USA dugout on the other side of the field I noticed Nomo just chilling in his dugout having a conversation with his coaching staff while sitting in his Team Japan dugout.

He was so close to me.  The holy grail will be mine!  We walked over to the Team Japan dugout and sat down and talked ourselves into actually getting up to ask Nomo for his signature.  Not too many people were in the seats yet.  We may have been the only graphers in the ball park at this time.  This event was under publicized.  We had to get up off our seats and ask for his auto.

We got our baseballs and pens ready.  I shot up and leaned over the railing of the dugout and waited for a pause in the conversation Nomo was having with his staff.  Once there was a pause I asked him for his signature.

Asking him actually worked.  Nomo said, "One minute" and finished up what he was saying and signed our baseballs as well as signing for some fans from Japan that shared the joy in getting to meet a cultural icon.

 
Nomo even took a photo with me!  Me looking awesome and Nomo somehow looking cooler than me.  I guess when you throw a no-hitter at Coors Field, you always look cool.

I felt a sense of relief moments after this photo was taken.  I met a hero.  He took a couple minutes of his time to make my day.

I reached the height of my collection.  I never thought this would ever happen.  It always seemed like a pipe dream.

I have to mention one thing about the actual game that was played by some really skilled teenagers. Remember when I mentioned that this field had major league dimensions.  I sat and watched this game with a group of other autograph hounds and we didn't think anyone could hit one out.  Sure enough, a kid from Japan who was maybe 5'6 and around 120 pounds, cranked a 330 foot bomb over the right field wall.  That shot amazed me and I wish I had a replay to show everyone how impressive it looked.

That kid crushed it.

Today was just one of those perfect days.

High End Trade Partner

Sometimes when I make a trade with a fellow blogger, I get the feeling that the person actually reads my blog.  I know that may sound strange.  You probably just read that first statement and blurted out something like, "Hey Spiegel, if someone is trading baseball card with you, then they must know that by reading your blog.  How else would they know what to send you?"

But, there are some folks that really pay attention to my words and click on other parts of the Platter.  Some trade partners click on my haves lists or have read a post about me chasing the Topps sets of the 70s Dodgers.  That is what I mean.

One of the few readers that are known as Platter Super Fans.

I believe Nick from an awesome blog called Dime Boxes:The Low End Baseball Card Collector's Journey, is a fan of my blog.  I do think he reads my posts from time to time.  He also probably checks out what cards that I already have under my player collections.

I thank him for that effort and care in his trade packages.  Nick and I have made a few trades or so and they have all been a great return.

I totally dig this 2000 Fleer Ultra card of Eric Gagne.  His is slim, wearing a high number, and working on some sort of fielding drill.  He is almost unrecognizable to me.

The size and shape of the 2012 Topps '87 minis is preferred by me as opposed to the size of the Gypsy Queen or Ginter minis.  I just like a little more meat on my minis. You know what I'm saying?

This card features a great shot of Kemp celebrating a home run against the Giants.  Kemp is one of the best hitters in baseball and will probably hit several hundred more homers against the Giants in his career.

I should have a special section at the Platter for Hideo Nomo cards that are super shiny.  I bet Nick will read that and send me a bunch of flashy Nomo cards that he somehow finds in dime boxes.

The flair that this card has will add some class to one of my many binder pages of Nomo cards.  You can never have to much flair.

An aspect of my collection that I have been trying to build up this summer is my hall of fame collection.  Nick helped me out with that by sending me some cards with legends on them.

These Mound Dominance cards from 2012 Topps are cool looking and informational.  The card was made to honor Bob Gibson's 17 strikeout performance against the Detroit Tigers in the opening game of the 1968 World Series.  17 strikeouts in the World Series?!?!?

That dude invented beast mode back in the day.  I hope St.Louis has a statue of him outside their stadium.  I think they have a Stan Musial statue but, I am not sure about Bob Gibson.  Maybe someone in the blog world has an answer to that.

Dodger Stadium has no statues yet.  The only Dodger statue that I know of is a Johnny Podres statue that I made out of melted copper pipes.  It sits in my living room so I can pay homage to his Game 7 pitching victory in 1955.

Thanks for the trade, Nick!

Spanning The Decades

Recently, I was going through my trade packages in order to sort and catalog them.  I picked up a bubble mailer with Napkin Doon written on it.  This package was from must contain some great cards from Napkin Doon.  Sure enough, the cards that I sifted through were awesome.  The package was a wide mix of cards from the 70s to the 2000s.

I am still trying to fill some gaps in my 70s Topps Dodgers team set pursuit.  Many of the cards that were inside that bubble mailer will fill some of those gaps.  That will give me some work tonight to binder and catalog those cards.  I love the kind of work where you don't get paid to do it, but you fully enjoy your night.  The work that pays you is usually more of a chore and aggravating at times.

Part of the slew of 70s Dodgers that were included were these two here.  Ron Cey is taking some hacks in the batters box.  It must have been great being a Dodger fan in the 70s and watching Cey mash doubles and homers.  It sure beats Juan Uribe.

The Dodgers beat the Mets tonight by a score of 7-6.  I am super thrilled that the Dodgers started off a long road trip with a victory.  What makes me a little down on this win was having the displeasure of watching Uribe have one at-bat.  He pinch hit and flew out.  Just looking at him pretending to be a big league ball player made me slightly ill and I hope I don't have to call out of work tomorrow.

Hey, a Hideo Nomo card on a blog named after him.  Woooo!  This probably needs to happen more.  Nomo was a great strikeout pitcher.  He was also a great guy for sports photographers.  Nomo made a great baseball card.  Tons of his cards were produced throughout his career.  His ability to become a baseball card superstar is one of the reasons he is so fun to collect.

This Raul Mondesi relic must have been the centerpiece of our trade.  I am unsure but, this card is so sweet that I must have sent something top notch to Napkin Doon for it.  This card leaps to the top of my Raul Mondesi collection.  Mondesi is one of the past Dodger stars that I don't have cataloged on Microsoft Excel.  I am unsure how many Mondesi cards I have but,it is probably quite a few.

Nomo, Piazza and Kemp may be the top three.  Mondesi may be top five on my list.  The 90s produced a ton of cardboard so, the 90s stars will always rank high.

This card has a game used bat and is super shiny.  That puts it at the tops of the hill of Raul Mondesi cards in my collection.

Does anyone have a certified auto of him for trade?

Napkin Doon writes one of my favorite blogs.  His posts about the auctions at his local shop are a fun read.  He seems to find some interesting cards for great prices.  Also, be sure to check out his posts on the All-Star game activities that he partook in.  

Thanks for the trade!

Rallying Back

It has been awhile since I have typed up some words at the Platter.  I also have cut down on my card buying significantly.  I still have a lot of trade packages to scope through and there are still stacks of cards on my bedside.  That is the reason for not purchasing many more cards.  I have so many that I still need to box, binder and enjoy, sitting right next to me.

The best way for me to get back in the habit and mood for blogging is to write something up that I am most passionate about.  A part of blogging that I dig the most is building trade partnerships with people thousands of miles away.  Night Owl and I seem to always set cards aside for each other.  We send bubble mailers from California to New York about once a month.

 
There have probably been a handful more blogs that have popped up since my last post.  Some of you may be new readers at the Platter.  Just to get the new guys acclimated to my blog, I collect all types of Hideo Nomo cards.  That may be obvious from the title of my blog.  This is also a Dodger themed blog.  I collect Nomo in any uniform including his stint in Detroit.

I remember asking Night Owl to set this card aside for me several weeks or several months back.  He has many trade partners, I have no idea how he keeps track of all his card swaps.

I love shiny cards of Dodger hall of famers.  This card features a young looking Don Sutton.  I am so used to seeing Sutton with a curly 'fro that is shocks me that he didn't always rock the curls.

Sutton must have started growing a clownish style of hair as he progressed through his hall of fame career.  He must have done so, to hide his big ears.

I have a signed version of this Frank Howard card.  The signed version has a Topps Heritage feel and is an on-card autograph.  This shiny one is sweet though.  I wish the shiny version was signed also.

The Dodgers need a player like Frank Howard right now.  The 2012 Dodgers need a big, hulking, right handed hitting first baseman.  I am sick of watching James Loney bat.  I am also sick of seeing the 2012 Dodgers line-up loaded with lefties against left handed pitching.  Give us a righty Ned Colletti!

Hell, get Frank Howard back in the batting box.

Great card of Cy Young winner, Clayton Kershaw.  This is when he was repping Team USA as youngster.  Kershaw probably knew even back then that he was going to become a beast Doyer.

The Dodgers start a big series against the Frisco Giants tonight in about and hour.  Night Owl will probably be watching the game thousands of miles away.  Viva Los Doyers!

Thank You!