"O," yes ... and "O," no

One of the card accomplishments that I'd like to finish off before I'm senile is to complete trifectas of my all-time, top-five favorite Dodgers.

I already have finished trifectas -- rookie card, relic card and autograph card -- for two of them. Ron Cey  and Clayton Kershaw are done. Finito. Fait Accompli. And they look fabulous.

That leaves Hideo Nomo, Sandy Koufax and Orel Hershiser.

All I need is a relic card for Koufax. There don't seem to be too many out there, but they DO exist.

I need an autograph card for Nomo. That could be tough as well.

But more distressing is my painfully slow quest for a Hershiser trifecta.

Until last week, I had only his rookie card. And that's not all that difficult to obtain. I acquired it in 1985 when I purchased the entire '85 set. Since then, about 4 or 5 other versions have worked their way into my collection.

But relic cards and autograph cards of Orel seem more difficult. Unusually difficult.

So difficult that when I saw the above card pop up on Cards From the Quarry I think I pulled 27 muscles trying to get to the comment section as quickly as possible to say, "Me! Me! Me! WANT! WANT! WANT! GIVE! GIVE! GIVE!"

I found a Dante Bichette bat card to send in return. Turns out, the Bichette bat card was about as vigorous a want for hiflew as a Hershiser relic card was for me. Glad it could work out so well.

So now I have this relic card from ... uh, well, I'm not sure what set this is. I know it's 2004 Topps.

And I'm two-thirds of the way to a Hershiser trifecta.

The unfinished business is a Hershiser autograph card.

I tried to get that part done by sending a TTM request through the mail. It was right about the time when a few other collectors had received signed cards back from Hershiser. But since that time -- more than two years ago -- I haven't heard of one success. And the card I sent to him never came back.

So all that's left is finding a certified auto card.

Those aren't easy to find. And are pretty pricey.

Not to mention UG-LY.

This hideous thing will cost you close to $100 bucks if you're foolish enough to pay that much. I have no desire to see a card of Hershiser in his high school senior picture in my collection. I'll fake his signature on a 1989 Topps cards before I get this thing.

 This is just as hideous and just as expensive. The Hershiser part is OK, but the Kirk Gibson photo will haunt anyone who views it (and yes, I fear I may have just freaked out some readers showing the pilfered scan myself).

There are precious few "normal" autograph cards of Orel. They do exist. I just have to decide whether I want to pony up for what they cost.

For now, I'm ever grateful that I saw the relic card on Cards From the Quarry.

And equally grateful that some companies are not so desperate to issue cards that they resort to high school photos.