Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2006 Dodgers

The trend in these posts have been that teams like the Mets and Dodgers have had the most entries in Topps Cards That Should Have Been because Topps will make cards of the stars and the newsmakers, which there are many on said teams, while glossing over the more interesting, fringe stories on them. The 2006 Dodgers were no different.

For instance- Topps made cards of Danys Baez as a Ray, to commemorate his 2005, and as a Brave, to denote his midseason trade in Update, but as it tends to happen, the team he actually started the season with was nowhere to be found. Baez started the year with the Dodgers in relief, had a 4.35 ERA in 46 games, including 9 saves covering from the arm-juuuuust-blown-out Eric Gagne and the yet-to-get-the-ninth Takashi Saito. He'd be swapped to the Braves, do alright, and bounce around non-competitors for the rest of his career.
 

Meanwhile, a ton of innings went to former Red Sox and Mariners star Aaron Sele, who Topps, as discussed, basically stopped making cards of after 2004 for some reason. Maybe it's because he started being a relief option for the majority of his innings, and Topps just doesn't love relievers. In 15 starts, Sele had a 4.18 ERA, a 7-5 record 46 Ks. In 13 relief appearances he had a 6.05 ERA. Clearly he was better suited to starting, but the Dodgers had Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, Mark Hendrickson and later Greg Maddux, and so he'd inevitably be the sixth man. He'd have diminishing returns with the Mets the following season, I think I already posted that one. 

Like Baez, Lance Carter got an ASG nomination for closing games for the Tampa Bay Rays. Also like Baez, Carter fell off after a few years and was eventually slated into the Dodgers' bullpen in 2006. In 10 appearances, Carter posted an 8.49 ERA, after which he was cut and never pitched again. 

Ricky Ledee has showed up in like 3 or 4 of these posts by now. I should honestly leave a sandwich out for him at this point. Ledee split this season between LA and Queens, and in 43 games as a Dodger, the former Yankee bench man his .245 with 13 hits and 8 RBIs. Like Sele, he was blocked for a larger gig. 

I mentioned that Sandy Alomar Jr. tried to make camp with the Mets in 2007, and got 8 games out of it, but the Indians catching legend's penultimate year was split between the Dodgers and White Sox. Alomar was actually the team's opening day starting catcher, due to Russell Martin...I dunno, being sick that day or something. In 27 games, the 40-year-old Alomar hit .323 with 20 hits and 9 RBIs, though his defensive catching let a lot to be desired, especially considering that there were other options there.

This also may have been Pat Borders' undoing. Yes, Pat Borders, the 1992-3 Blue Jays catcher, was STILL PLAYING IN 2006. Or at least trying to. After a backup role in Seattle that at least got the man a card in 2006 Heritage, Borders, at age 43, went out for Spring Training camp with the Dodgers. Restate everything I just said about Alomar, only ADD Alomar to the equation. Alomar was 3 years younger and was actually still hitting at MLB level. Borders tried, but did not make the team, and his career endeavors sadly end there. 

Look for another one of these soon enough, these are fun.