Wednesday, January 07, 2015

I'l Play the Wallet Card Game! A Bulldog in My Pocket


A new sensation has hit the sports/card collector blog community, and I can't help but join in on the fun.  Conceived by card blogger named defgav at Baseball Card Breakdown, it is called the 'Wallet Card' game and is really simple to join.  All you need to do is pick a single card from your collection (a dupe or a card you don't mind ruining) and keeping it in your wallet for the entire year.  Preferably, it should be a card that makes you smile.  Then, from time to time, put up a little report on it's condition and whereabouts on your blog (and maybe other social media sites).

Simple enough, right?

Well, it took me far longer than expected to pick which card to carry around.  It wasn't an easy decision, but I think it was the right one.  Check it out above.  It is a 1989 Donruss "59 and Counting" card of Orel Hershiser, #468.  It highlights Orel's fantastic scoreless innings streak during the 1988 season and the highly coordinated skill of juggling (something I could never master).

As for the rejected cards for the 'Wallet Card' game, I figured I would show some of them below.

At first I focused primarily on Dodger players; such as Mike Scioscia and Hiroki Kuroda (two of my faves).  Then I thought, "why not Roger McDowell?"  After all, nearly all of his Dodger cards are hilarious in some way, and the card below of him wearing a 'Lasorda University' shirt is one the best.  Or, how about Bobby Ojeda receiving lessons from Tommy on how to hold a certain pitch while trying not to bust out laughing.  Of course, I couldn't just ignore the the Stanley Cup Champion Kings and their lovable mascot Bailey.

Soon, I started thinking about just humor - like, what cards make me laugh regardless of team.  Below is a sample of some of the cards that came to mind. 

At the end, the Orel Hershiser card won out for obvious reasons.  It represents the Dodgers last truly great moment.  When the mastery of an ace, who had an unbelievable season, lead the boys to the promised land.  And I'll be sure to take the card and it's 'feel-good' memories around with me everywhere.

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* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *

Blog Kiosk: 1/7/2015 - Dodger Links - Pedro, Piazza and McCarthy


In honor of his election to the Hall of Fame yesterday, Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo shared a handful of photos from his archive featuring Pedro Martinez; including the above pic of Pedro with his brother Ramon from 1993.  Go here to check out more photos from him.  He even shares some shots of Randy Johnson; who was a student and photographer for the school paper at USC before turning pro. 

Below are some links to check out:
"I can only say that there's been a lot of great players throughout history that have had to wait their turn," Piazza said last month. "Joe DiMaggio had three ballots. Yogi Berra had three ballots. And that's part of the process.

"For me, it's not really my place, I feel, to start campaigning. I can only say that I'm proud of my work and I'm proud of my career. I'll put my numbers against a lot of players in history, and I feel that's all I can do."
"That was the result of the negativity around me, telling me, 'No, you can't,' when I knew I could," Martinez said Tuesday. "That transformed my mind and my body."
  • Brandon McCarthy makes me laugh, via a tweet from yesterday:



    * Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *
    * Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *