Friday, July 06, 2012

Collection: 2005 UD SPx Houlton & Izturis





I thought I would take a moment to share a couple more 2005 Upper Deck SPx autograph cards of some former Dodgers.  Check out the DJ Houlton and Cesar Izturis cards above and below.

There was a time when I was sure Izturis would be our long term solution at shortstop.  In 2004 he had a big season where he continued to shine on the field, but also added a little spark with the bat.  He hit .288 and had a respectable OPS of .770 as a lead-off hitter.  Izturis had nearly 200 hits while stealing 25 bases and scoring 90 times.  For his efforts the Dodgers signed him to a mutli-year/ multimillion dollar contract.  However, it was obvious by the next season that 2004 was a career year.  He came back to earth offensively, and was subsequently traded in 2006 for Greg Maddux.

DJ Houlton could never quite stick.  Not that the Dodgers didn't give him a bunch of opportunities.  He started 19 games in 2005, but looked no better then an end of the rotation pitcher.  Ultimately, he was a stopgap until someone better came along.  Today, Houlton has found his grove in Japan.  He has played there since 2008.  In five season in Japan he has a 47-33 record with a 3.32 ERA.


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