Monday, September 29, 2014

The Night Owl Big Box O' Cards - The 90's


Aloha readers and trade partners, 

Speaking of trade partners, the champion of sending me the most Dodger cards in terms of sheer volume is Night Owl. Earlier this month Night Owl sent a big box of Dodger Blue cardboard, and I've been showing off my favorites from this massive, awesome gift. 

Last week Night Owl featured a post that paid homage to Dodger cards of the one who was traded away - Paul Konerko. I feel Night Owl's pain involving Konerko being traded away. I still remember cursing under my breath at Tommy Lasorda when he pulled that one off.

Just as N.O., I love Konerko cards from his time as a Dodger, and this newest card for my collection is a good starting place for the best cards from the 90's.

 This is an awesome Konerko card, but what the heck is going on behind him? Is that a close up of the moon? A cell of ebola virus?

 E.K. holds the record for most home runs by an L.A. Dodger. I'm of the belief the record is a bit padded and misleading because Karros hit a ton of homers in Colorado, and he seemed to hit a lot of his homers in games with lopsided scores. 

That said, I definitely dig old-timey Bakersfield Dodgers cards. 

Lots of Dodger fans silently suffer when current catcher A.J. Ellis comes to bat, as he's pretty much an automatic out. When was the last time we had an easy-out catcher?  It was this guy...
 But he's got a beautiful card. 
"Yeah, I'm on a Cap'n Crunch card. Whataboutit?"

 The best Japanese pitcher the Dodgers ever had...


 Before Pedro, there was the great Ramon...
Martinez looks like an amputee here, but that's what happens to these 90's shiny cards when they get scanned.

 I love these Ovation cards, but I rarely see them floating around. If you've got any of these with Dodgers on 'em, I'll be happy to take them off your hands. 

These 3-D cards are a great example of 90's shininess. They look horrible on a scan, but great in person. 


 Then again, who needs shiny gimmicks when you've got beautiful simplicity on cardboard...


The unluckiest Japanese Dodger pitcher...
I've got a fistful of Piazza cards. Too many? No way. 

One more Mondy card with a beautiful bat barrel shot for Nick to enjoy...
 
 Finally, another bat barrel card that takes us from the thrill of a sharp line drive to the frustration of strike three...

Be sure to catch the next post folks, when we cover cardboard from the 21st century. 


Posted by Stealing Home at 9:06 PM
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11 comments:

  1. Zippy ZappySeptember 29, 2014 at 10:15 PM

    I'd argue that Hiroki Kuroda is/was the best Japanese pitcher the Dodgers ever had, and also the unluckiest. Although I'm a biased Kuroda-fan the stats show that Kuroda's been the most consistent pitcher ever from Japan and has pretty much been the best Japanese pitching import so far (although Darvish and Tanaka may change that in the future). Also Kuroda's entire career has been the same, good very high quality outings, but very little run support. Plus the minute he left LA they suddenly got rich and could finally score runs (ironically they also needed help with the rotation though).

    Regardless those were some nice cards.

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    Replies
    1. Stealing HomeSeptember 30, 2014 at 11:44 AM

      I can't argue that Kuroda was a very good pitcher, ZZ. I loved him being a Dodger and I was really sorry to see him go. It was yet another stupid blunder by Dodgers G.M. Ned Colletti.
      I can't just look at stats for who was better because that's unfair to what Nomo had to endure being the first pitcher to come over from Japan. I can't even imagine the pressure he must have felt. He HAD to succeed because he was representing the hope and pride of a nation.
      On top of that, he had to deal with Nomomania. He was literally swamped with press and fans at every stadium he pitched in. He took it all and still got the job done on the mound.
      Every step Kuroda,Tanaka and the others take was forged by Hideo Nomo.

      Delete
    2. Stealing HomeSeptember 30, 2014 at 11:55 AM

      Edit that first sentence, ZZ. I meant I can't and wouldn't argue AGAINST Kuroda being an excellent pitcher. Oops!

      Delete
    3. Zippy ZappySeptember 30, 2014 at 2:09 PM

      While I do agree that the pressure on Nomo's shoulders were massive and that him being able to cope with it (let alone succeed) was quite something, but after he fell from grace and set up the stereotype that Japanese pitchers only have two good years in them (which others have also fallen victim to) guys like Kuroda had to step up and take it down, which he did, sort of.

      You do raise some good points though. I suppose this debate is pretty much an apples and oranges type of argument, but it's a fun/interesting one at least.

      Delete
    4. Stealing HomeSeptember 30, 2014 at 7:49 PM

      Good points as well, ZZ. You're right, they're both bad-ass in their own ways.
      And I definitely appreciate a good argument/debate with a blogger friend such as you. :)

      Delete
  2. NickSeptember 29, 2014 at 10:32 PM

    That Karros minor league card speaks to me for some reason. Don't know if it's because of the ads on the scoreboard or the trees in the backdrop, but it does. Looking forward to seeing what else was in that mega-box!

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    Replies
    1. Stealing HomeSeptember 30, 2014 at 11:46 AM

      We both love the same things about it, Nick.
      How about that giant Marlboro Man riding a horse in the background?

      Delete
  3. night owlSeptember 30, 2014 at 12:15 AM

    Nomo best ever! EVER!

    ReplyDelete
  4. BobWalkthePlankSeptember 30, 2014 at 4:59 AM

    I love Denny's cards!

    Also, I had to check Kuroda and Nomo stats. It is an interesting argument. Nomo had some bigger seasons, but Kuroda was really consistent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stealing HomeSeptember 30, 2014 at 11:50 AM

      Yup, those Dennys cards are awesome.
      That Nomo/Kuroda arguement IS interesting. I'm glad ZZ gave his take on things.
      Check my reply to ZZ above to see my side of the debate and why I think Nomo gets the nudge over Kuroda.

      Delete

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