the grounded flight of the bumblebees

i'm working on a trade with matt from bob walk the plank, so i'm pulling together some pirates.  these cards won't be leaving my collection, however, even though they feature the black and yellow.

1984 donruss dave parker

the cobra is giving me the stare down from inside dodger stadium.  i will keep this card in my dodger stadium binder.

1984 donruss lee lacy

the black jersey/yellow pant combo is just not a successful look.

1984 fleer lee lacy

here it is again.  the fact that lacy wears yellow sleeves under the jersey puts it over the top.

1984 fleer rick rhoden

ah, a simple white jersey with the pillbox hat.

1985 donruss rick rhoden

i spoke too soon - there's the full yellow ensemble

1986 donruss highlights rick rhoden

rhoden at the plate!  he was voted the nl pitcher of the month for june of 1986 when he went 5-1 in 6 starts with a 1.99 era, 3 complete games, and 35 strikeouts.  he also kicked ass at the plate that month, going 9 for 19 with 3 doubles, 4 rbi, and 0 strikeouts.  kudos to donruss for putting a photo of rhoden with a bat on the card.  if i had three of this card, i'd keep one, send one to matt, and send the other to nick.

1987 donruss all-stars rick rhoden

now donruss put him back on the mound.  rhoden was an all-star in 1986 - his first time at the game since 1976 when he was with the dodgers.

1987 topps mini leaders rick rhoden

rhoden was second in complete games and fourth in era in 1986, so he received a card in this set.

i'm keeping the lacy and rhoden cards because while i really haven't committed to collecting non-topps base cards of the 1978 topps dodgers, i am not necessarily opposed to the idea either.

finally, i am not sending this 1991 topps gary redus to matt (or to wes for that matter)

because dodger lenny harris is lurking.

don't worry matt - i'll have some different (and hopefully better) pirates in the mail this week.

the evolution of the dodger second baseman, part 2

when we last saw the dodger second baseman, he (paul popovich) was on his way to the expansion montreal expos, so someone needed to step up in 1969.  that someone was…

ted sizemore (1969-1970)

sizemore (seen with his topps rookie team trophy on his 1970 topps card) actually started the season at shortstop (jim lefebvre was at second), but he moved to second when lefebvre got hurt in mid april.  even though he returned to short when lefebvre came back, walt alston eventually switched sizemore back to second when the club reacquired maury wills to play shortstop.  sizemore played 118 of his 159 games in 1969 as the dodgers' second baseman, and hit .271 as he was named the national league's rookie of the year.  in 1970, he appeared in only 96 games, but made 81 starts at second for the dodgers so he retains his title as their primary second baseman.  he hit .306 that year and was dealt following the season to the cardinals in the dick (rich) allen trade.

jim lefebvre (1971)

look who's back.  lefebvre, who had been the team's primary second baseman in 1965 and 1966 and is a former rookie of the year himself, was back at the position in 1971.  that's lefebvre's 1972 o-pee-chee card, by the way.  he played in 102 games as the dodger second baseman in '71 (98 starts) and hit .245 with 12 homers.

lee lacy (1972)

once again, lefebvre began the season as the team's second baseman, but hit a rough patch in early may and gave way to bobby valentine.  soon thereafter, lee lacy (shown on his 1973 o-pee-chee card) was called up from the minors, and he went on to lay claim to the position.  lacy made 58 starts at second - about a dozen more than valentine and 20 or so more than lefebvre.  he hit .259 and scored 34 runs, but didn't play much in september, as the dodgers called up another guy to play some second.

dave lopes (1973-1981)

lopes (shown on a very crooked 1979 kellogg's card) made 11 starts during the last month of the 1972 season, and i guess alston saw enough.  he handed the position over to lopes in 1973, giving him 133 starts that year.  he dabbled in the outfield from time to time, but otherwise held the position through the 1981 world series.  along the way, he led the league in steals twice, won a gold glove, made four all-star teams, and helped the dodgers to four pennants and a world series title.  he was the second baseman on the team of my youth.

steve sax (1982-1988)

like lopes, sax held the dodgers' second base position until they won a world series title.  lopes, however, was traded prior to the 1982 season while saxy left after the 1988 campaign as a free agent.  before that happened, he was the fourth dodger second baseman to win the rookie of the year award, and he made three all-star teams, including the 1983 squad as alluded to on the 1984 topps glossy all-star card above.  in 1986, sax finished second to tim raines in the batting title race, hitting a career high .332 (raines hit .334).  he twice led the national league in errors while with the dodgers and much was made about his difficulties throwing to first base, but he was still my favorite dodger after steve garvey left town.  besides, i don't think of him defensively - my lasting steve sax memory is of him hitting the first pitch of the 1988 season into the left field bleachers at dodger stadium.

willie randolph (1989)

the yankees and dodgers essentially traded second baseman for the 1989 season, although both signed with their new teams as free agents.  with sax gone to the bronx, the dodgers signed willie randolph (seen on a 1989 fleer update card).  randolph appeared in 145 games in 1989, including 139 starts at second.  he hit .282 and was selected to the all-star team.  however, the dodgers traded him to the a's early in the 1990 season for stan javier.

juan samuel (1990-1991)

following the 1989 season, the dodgers traded mike marshall and alejandro pena to the mets for samuel.  they moved him back to his original position of second base (the mets were using him as their center fielder), and he made 101 starts there for the dodgers in 1990.  the following year, samuel started 150 games at second for the blue, and didn't sniff the outfield.  he made the all-star team that year as well, hitting .271 with 74 runs scored and 23 steals.  samuel began the 1992 season as the team's second baseman, but was released in july.  eric young was called up to take his roster spot, but there was another player who actually played second more than anyone else that year.

lenny harris (1992)

yes, i am using cards from 1992 fleer ultra for both samuel and harris in this post.  it's what i had handy.  deal with it.  the second baseman position in 1992 looked something like this:  samuel, 29 starts; mike sharperson, 33 starts; eric young, 35 starts; harris, 65 starts.  harris had been the team's primary third baseman in 1991, and he played some third as well as short and outfield in 1992 as well.  overall, harris hit .271 while fielding at a clip below league average for second basemen.  many thought that young would be the dodgers' second baseman of the future, but they weren't convinced as he was left unprotected in the 1993 expansion draft and was taken by colorado.  as a result, the dodgers worked out a deal with the rockies to acquire one of their later draft picks to fill the hole at second.  that set into motion events that would lead to one of the worst (thanks to hindsight) trades in dodger history.  stay tuned...

sunday morning target dodgers

this week's sheet from the 1990 target dodgers giveaway set is a nice one.  two members of the 1978 topps dodger team, plus this guy - jackie robinson

what more can one say about robinson?  he is one of the best things about being a dodger fan, although he certainly does not only belong to the dodgers.

reggie smith

smith is the first of two players on the sheet who were members of the team of my youth.  he was one of four dodgers to hit at least 30 home runs in 1977, the same year that he led the league with a .427 on base percentage.  injuries slowed him down beginning in 1979, but he still was able to start in the 1980 all-star game held in los angeles.  that's the all-star game patch on his left shoulder, as a matter of fact.

lee lacy

lacy was a dodger double dipper, but i've already covered that.  i've also visited and re-visited his career a number of times, thanks to his status as a member of the 1978 topps dodgers, and he was also the former dodger who was signing in autograph alley the last time i was able to get back to chavez ravine. he was the utility player on the team of my youth, spending time everywhere on the diamond except for the mound, behind the plate, and at first base.

enos cabell

cabell finished his major league career with the dodgers in 1986.  he had been acquired from the astros during the 1985 season, and he hit .292 for the dodgers down the stretch.  initially, the dodgers moved him back to what i considered to be his 'normal' position of third base (he had been playing first for the astros since 1981 but spent the five seasons before that at third), but he wound up back at first after the dodgers picked up bill madlock.

doug camilli

camilli was a second generation dodger, as his dad dolph had played for brooklyn in the 1930's and 40's.  doug was the dodgers' back up catcher in the early 1960's, appearing in a total of 163 games over the course of five seasons.  he hit .204 with la and caught sandy koufax's third no-hitter before moving on to the senators prior to the 1965 season.

oris hockett

hockett broke into the big leagues with the dodgers in 1938, and hit .329 for them in 21 games.  he followed that up in 1939 with a .231 average in only 9 games, however, and never played for brooklyn again.  he resurfaced with the indians in 1941, and even made the all-star team in 1944 as a member of the tribe.  he finished his big league career with the white sox in 1945, which must be when the photo used on his card was taken.

steve howe

howe was the second of four consecutive dodgers to win the rookie of the year award from 1979 through 1982.  he followed rick sutcliffe to receive the award in 1980, and preceded fernando valenzuela and steve sax, the winners in 1981 and 1982, respectively.  he spent 4-plus seasons over 6 years with the dodgers from 1980 - 1985 (he was suspended for the entire 1984 season), and also pitched for the twins, rangers, and yankees.  during his career, howe was suspended from baseball 7 times due to various drug related offenses, including a permanent ban in 1992.  that ban was overturned, however, and he returned to pitch for the yankees until they released him during the 1996 season after he was arrested at jfk with a loaded gun in his suitcase.  ten years later, in 2006, howe was killed in a single vehicle auto accident when his truck rolled in the california desert.  i best remember steve as the guy who was on the mound when the dodgers won the 1981 world series.

bill joyce

joyce was a third baseman and hit .245 in 97 games for the brooklyn grooms in 1892, one of eight seasons he spent playing in the major leagues.  the last three of those seasons, 1896-98, he was the player-manager for the new york giants.  his .435 career on base percentage ranks 7th all-time, although in his lone season with brooklyn, his obp was 'just' .392.

doug mcweeny

mcweeny pitched for the robins for four seasons, from 1926-29, amassing a record of 33-45.  his 4 shutouts led the league in 1928, but so did his 114 walks.

rip repulski

repulski was one of the players the dodgers received prior to the 1959 season from the phillies in exchange for george 'sparky' anderson.  rip's real name was eldon, by the way, and this native minnesotan appeared in 53 games and won a world series ring with the dodgers in 1959.  he returned to la for the 1960 season, but was dealt to the red sox after just a few games.

ferdie schupp

schupp was acquired by the robins in march of 1921 by way of a trade with the cardinals.  he appeared in 20 games for brooklyn, and was 3-4 with a 4.57 era in them.  he is best remembered for his time spent with the new york giants, including 1917, when he was 21-7 with a 1.95 era.

billy sullivan

the dodgers purchased sullivan's contract from the tigers early in the 1942 season.  he wound up playing in 43 games for brooklyn, hitting .267 and serving as a backup catcher.  sullivan was out of the majors from 1943-46 while serving in the navy, but returned to the big leagues with the pirates in 1947.

tom sunkel

sunkel had pitched for the cardinals and giants before joining the dodgers for one season in 1944.  he was 1-3 for brooklyn in 12 appearances.

stan williams

williams began his big league career with the dodgers in 1958.  he threw a 2-hit shutout in his first major league start (second big league appearance), and later was named to the 1960 national league all-star team.  he was a part of the dodgers' 1959 world championship club (he appeared in relief in one game of the world series that year), but missed out on their 1963 title as he was traded to the yankees for bill skowron prior to the start of that season.

clarence wright

clarence here actually went by his middle name of eugene, or at least by a shortened version of it.  big gene wright broke into the major leagues with the superbas in 1901.  he made one start, and threw a complete game, allowing only 1 run.  he also went 1 for 3 at the plate.  that game would be his only start and appearance for the brooklyn franchise, as he somehow wound up with his hometown cleveland bronchos for the 1902 season.

the 1978 topps dodgers in 1988

when the 1988 topps set came out, i did something i had not done in 11 years.  i didn't buy any.  i had bought two boxes of every topps release since 1982, and bought way more than the equivalent of 72 packs each year before that, going back to 1978.  

i think i finally wound up buying some '88 cards in 1991.  i was quite disappointed to find out that neither ron cey nor steve garvey were included in the set.  and they weren't the only members of the 1978 topps dodgers to be dropped from the checklist, but the others (bill russell, terry forster, steve yeager, and dusty baker) had ended their careers in 1986.  that means that only 7 of the 27 members of the 1978 topps dodgers appeared in the 1988 set.  here they are.

tom lasorda  

the last remaining dodger of the bunch.  what did he do in 1988?  he coerced 21 more wins out of his team than they had earned in the two previous seasons.  he won his 1000th game as a manager as well as his second manager of the year award, and, of course, he won his second world championship.

charlie hough

the 40-year old knuckleballer went 13-16 in 1988 for the rangers while knocking about a half of a run off of his era from the previous season.  his first win of the season, a victory over cleveland, was the 150th win of hough's career.  hough threw 10 complete games on the season, including a pair of 10-inning efforts.  he had another start where he left after throwing 10 innings and then walking the first batter of the 11th, and another in which he pitched 11 shutout innings and left the game after allowing the first batter of the 12th inning to reach base on a single.  i doubt something like that will happen again.

tommy john

john didn't throw any complete games, but he did make it into the 9th inning in one of his 32 starts.  he finished the season with a 9-8 record for the yankees, with 35 total appearances.

rick rhoden

rhoden finished up his two-year tour of the american league in 1988.  he was 12-12 for the yankees with a 4.29 era in 30 starts.  he threw 5 complete games, including an opening day, 3-hit shutout against the defending world champion minnesota twins.  rhoden's 1988 season is best remembered, however, for his appearance on june 11 when he started the game as the yankees' designated hitter.  batting 7th in the lineup (ahead of rafael santana and joel skinner), rhoden was 0 for 1 with a sacrifice fly in his two plate appearances.  it was the first time that a pitcher had been used as the starting dh for a team, and it might be the only time, too.

don sutton

sutton finished up his career back where it began.  he rejoined the dodgers as a free agent, and went on to start 16 games for them in 1988.  he compiled a record of 3-6 with a 3.92 era and was released by the team in august.  his final tallies - 324 wins, 3574 strikeouts, and a 3.26 career era.  i was in attendance for one of his starts at dodger stadium that year - i would assume it was one of the two in june - and i remember very clearly one of my friends making the statement 'we could hit this guy'.  i doubted it, but it was clear that sutton's days were numbered.

dave lopes

lopes had finished his career in 1987 with the astros, but topps was nice enough to give him a true final tribute in the 1988 set.  here are the complete big league stats for the pride of providence

even 25 years later, lopes is still 26th on the all-time steals leaderboard, and he's 20th on the stolen base percentage list.  lopes joined the rangers staff under bobby valentine as a coach in 1988, and he has been coaching (or managing) ever since.

lee lacy

lacy is the other member of the 1978 topps folks to get a proper send off in 1988.  he was released during spring training after the orioles acquired wade rowdon from the cubs for a couple of minor leaguers.  here are his complete big league stats.

i think i forgot to mention back in the 1978 installment of this topic that lacy hit three consecutive home runs as a pinch hitter.  for all of his success as a regular after leaving los angeles, i still think of him as a pinch-hitter/utility guy.

1988 saw score come on the scene with a set of cards.  they were nice enough to include lopes and lacy in the set (and steve garvey, too, but i'll wait one more post to show that one again).  here's lopes' score final tribute

and here's lacy's card

there's a mention of his three straight pinch-hit homers.

and finally, lacy was all alone amongst the retired players in the 1988 fleer set.  donruss didn't give a rip about any of them.  here's lacy's fleer card from 1988

if only they could have fit his 1969 minor league stats on there, too.

now for the evolutionary wrap up.  there were 7/27 members of the 1978 topps dodgers featured by topps in 1987. here's the tally of appearances to date:

baker 17 (1971-1987)
burke 2 (1978-1979)
cey 16 (1972-1987)
davalillo 14 (1963-1974, 1978-1979)
forster 16 (1972-1987)
garman 8 (1971-1973, 1975-1979)
garvey 17 (1971-1987)
goodson 6 (1973-1978)
grote 15 (1964-1976, 1978-1979)
hooton 15 (1972-1986)
hough 17 (1972-1988)
john 25 (1964-1988)
lacy 16 (1973-1988)
lasorda 14 (1954, 1973-1974, 1977-1981, 1983-1988)
lopes 16 (1973-1988)
martinez 9 (1971-1976, 1978-1980)
monday 18 (1967-1984)
mota 18 (1963-1980)
oates 10 (1972-1981)
rau 9 (1973-1981)
rautzhan 2 (1978-1979)
rhoden 14 (1975-1988)
russell 18 (1970-1987)
smith 17 (1967-1983)
sosa 10 (1974-1984)
sutton 23 (1966-1988)
yeager 15 (1973-1987)

teams represented so far: 23 (dodgers, indians, colt .45's, pirates, white sox, astros, mets, a's, red sox, angels, expos, cardinals, braves, cubs, orioles, giants, phillies, yankees, rangers, tigers, padres, brewers, mariners)

there are a couple of cards that should have been in 1988, so stay tuned...

the 1978 topps dodgers in 1987 - active fielders first

1987 was a big year as far as the 1978 topps dodgers were concerned.  five of them had their final cards issued that year (four were true final tributes), and another had their last topps card released.  in fact, 1987 was the final season for all of the remaining position players.  the one who was still playing in 1987 but didn't get a topps card in 1988 was steve garvey.

garvey did, of course, get a card in the 1988 score set but was left out of the topps set that year.  that's due to the fact that he played in his final game when the 1987 season was just 44 games old.  garvey pinch hit for lance mccullers in that game against the expos and flew out to center. it was just his 76th at bat of the season in his 27th appearance for the padres, and it would be the last of his career.  three days later, garvey was on the disabled list planning to undergo season ending shoulder surgery to replace a torn biceps tendon. for the season, garvey hit .211 with one home run and 9 rbi. his lone home run, the 272nd of his career, came against guy hoffman of the reds. 

ron cey was the lone active player in 1987 who wouldn't get a card of any sort in 1988.  topps did issue a bevy of cey cards in 1987, if that's any consolation.  there was his base card

the cubs leaders card

a box bottom card highlighting his 300th career home run which was hit in the 1986 season

and a topps traded card resulting from his being traded to oakland in january of 1987

the idea in oakland was for cey to be the right-handed dh as well as provide some relief for carney lansford at third, but cey also played a bit of first base for the first time in his career. at the plate, the penguin struggled, hitting just .221 in 45 games. he hit 4 home runs (including his final career homer off of ed correa of the rangers) and drove in just 11 runs.

cey made his final appearance on july 12, 1987. as the a's dh against milwaukee, cey went 0 for 3, striking out against juan nieves in his final plate appearance. in the 9th, cey was pinch hit for by none other than reggie jackson. mr. october struck out to end the game. three days later, cey was released by the a's.

davey lopes was active in 1987 and would get a topps card in 1988, too.  he had two cards in the 1987 set - his base

and a record breaker thanks to his 25 steals in 1986 at the age of 40

or was he 41?  the cards at the time had his birth year as 1946.  baseball reference lists 1945 as the year he was born.  if the website is correct, then lopes' 47 steals in 1985 would stand as the record for a 40-year old (or at least most of them, as lopes' birthday is in early may).  

no matter his age, lopes was back for more in 1987 as he made it through the entire season on the astros' roster. for the first time in his career, he played exclusively in the outfield, although he was primarily used as a pinch hitter. of his 47 games played, only 5 included time in left field, and all of those were in the month of july. as in 1986, lopes managed just one home run, a two-run shot off of the phillies' don carman that was also his first hit of the season. he stole just 2 bases and was caught one time. 

in his final big league appearance, lopes was called upon on the final day of the season to pinch hit for nolan ryan. with runners on first and second and nobody out, tom browning got lopes to fly out to center. still, he got the lead runner over to third. lopes was released by the astros in november of 1987.

like lopes, lee lacy's final topps card is not his 1987 issue

but his career did come to an end following the 1987 season. lacy played in 87 games, mostly as the orioles' right fielder, in 1987.  most of his starts (44 of 64) came against left handed pitchers, although he hit slightly better against rightys over the course of the season.  in total, lacy hit .244 with 7 homers and 28 rbi, with one of those home runs being his fourth and final career lead-off blast.  lacy's final career home run, a solo shot off of southpaw frank tanana in detroit, was the last hit of his career.

the pitchers are up next...