sunday morning target dodgers - the penultimate sheet edition

so far, i've shown 1,060 cards from the 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary giveaway set.  that means that there are only two more sheets of 15 cards to show.  here's the next to last sheet:

ed goodson

when i started following the dodgers in 1977, i recognized that ed goodson had the unenviable job of being a backup first baseman on the team for which steve garvey played.  goodson played in the field in only 17 games for the dodgers in '77 (13 at first, including one complete game in which garvey only appeared as a pinch hitter, and 4 at third).  however goodson did play several games at third base for the blue in 1976 after being acquired along with dusty baker from the braves.  still, he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter in his two seasons with the club, hitting .273 in 62 plate appearances in that role in '76, but just .182 in 45 pinch-hitting plate appearances in '77.

dixie howell

not to be confused with another dixie howell who played at the same time, the dodgers' howell was originally signed by the team in 1938.  he didn't reach the big leagues until 1947, however, following a trade with the pirates.  he eventually returned to brooklyn in a 1952 trade, and played for the dodgers in 1953, 1955, and 1956.  howell did not appear in the world series in any of those seasons, and he hit just .250 in 24 regular season games for the dodgers.

lyn lary

as lary's 12-year big league career was coming to a close, he played for three teams during the 1939 season. he began the year with the indians and finished it with the cardinals, but in between, he played in 29 games for the dodgers.  he hit .161 with a double, triple, and a single rbi for the man who holds the yankee season record for rbi (107) by a shortstop.

al lopez

hall of fame catcher al lopez caught more games than anyone else up until bob boone broke his record in the late 1980's.  of his 1.918 games caught, close to 750 came with the robins/dodgers from 1928 through 1935.  he played in a total of 762 games for the franchise over that timeframe, but spent a few complete games in the infield and had some other appearances as a pinch-hitter.  he hit .279 for brooklyn overall, and hit the last 'bounce' home run in major league history in 1930 while with the robins.

lee magee

magee's given last name was hoernschemeyer, which is longer than hollandsworth and would have been the longest surname in franchise history.  however, he opted for magee.  playing for brooklyn towards the end of his career, magee began the 1919 season with the robins, and hit .238 in 45 games. he was traded to the cubs in june after the robins' organization heard rumblings of his association with gamblers and rumors of magee betting against his team while he was with the reds in 1918. following the 1919 season, magee did admit that he had bet on a game (he claimed he bet on the reds while other evidence showed he had bet against them and did indeed try to throw the game) and he was banned.  a few months later, the black sox scandal was brought to light.

mike a. marshall

marshall, or general soreness, never faced the other mike marshall, although their careers did overlap in 1981.  this mike marshall was one of the dodger prospects that i, along with legion other dodger fans, were anxiously awaiting in 1981.  he had hit .373 in triple-a albuquerque with 34 homers and 137 rbi that year (good enough to win the pcl triple crown), and received a september call-up.  yes, even though he was a first baseman and i was a huge fan of steve garvey, i wanted to see marshall in the majors.  i figured the dodgers would move him to the outfield anyway, which they eventually did.  however, they also let garvey go after the 1982 season.  whatever, marshall stayed with the dodgers through the 1989 season, after which he was traded to the mets.  he had struggled with injuries throughout his career (even reportedly sitting out a game due to general soreness), but did lead the 1988 dodgers with 82 rbi.  my lasting mike marshall memory comes from 1988.  i was at the dodger/met game on august 24 that year.  orel hershiser was 17-7 going into the game, and the mets were the best team in the national league. me and some friends were able to wrangle tickets a few rows up from the dodger dugout from another friend's dad (a longtime season ticket holder) and headed to the game.  marshall hit an rbi double off of future dodger bob ojeda in the fourth to score the first run of the game.  hershiser was dealing zeroes through seven, and it was feeling very much like a playoff game.  leading off the top of the 8th, mookie wilson hit a fly ball to right that i believe marshall misplayed.  wilson wound up on third with a triple, and the mets scored two runs that inning and beat orel and the dodgers 2-1.  it turned out to be the second of hershiser's eight straight complete games as well as his last loss of the regular season, and it was during his next start (in the 5th inning, to be exact) that the bulldog began his record breaking scoreless streak.

russ meyer

meyer pitched for the dodgers from 1953-1955, and he appeared in both the '53 and '55 world series.  in the latter, meyer threw 5.2 innings of scoreless relief in game 6.  he was 32-13 for the dodgers during the regular season over those three years, despite an era of 4.47.

dee moore

moore's big league career began in 1936 with the reds. he pinch-hit in a couple of games, but in his first appearance as a defensive player in a major league game, moore was not catching, but pitching.  he threw five innings in relief (allowing an unearned run) and later was the starting pitcher in the reds' final game of the season, pitching two scoreless innings.  moore didn't pitch in the majors again after that, and after being out of the big leagues for a few years, he found himself with the dodgers for the start of the 1943 season.  he hit .253 in 37 games for brooklyn as a catcher and third baseman before the phillies selected him on waivers.

walt moryn

the pride of saint paul, minnesota, moryn was signed by the dodgers in 1948 and eventually got to play in his home town when the dodgers moved their triple-a affiliate from montreal to the saintly city.  he was called up to the show by the dodgers in 1954 and again in 1955, although he didn't see playing time in the world series in '55.  following the 1955 season, moryn was traded to the cubs where he was an all-star in 1958.

john purdin

purdin pitched for the dodgers in 1964 and 1965, and then again in 1968 and 1969 after being held in the minors in 1966 and 1967.  the second appearance of his career, his first career start, resulted in a two-hit shutout of the cubs on september 30, 1964, and he earned his second win a few days later on the last day of the season.  purdin won two games again in 1965, but his era jumped from 0.56 to 6.75, and his next two seasons were spent in the minors. purdin spent all of 1968 with the big club, winning (again) two games - this time with a more respectable 3.07 era.  1969 was his last season in the majors, and purdin was held decision-less for the first time, appearing in only nine games for the dodgers.  purdin wound up with the white sox (and was included in the 1971 topps set), but he never returned to the majors after the 1969 season.

vicente romo

there was no romo-mania in 1968 when romo made his big league debut with the dodgers, or in 1982 when he returned to the club to fulfill his double dipper destiny. i wrote about the adventures of romo here, if you are interested in learning more.

harry smythe

smythe began the 1934 season with the yankees, but was acquired by the dodgers in late may. with brooklyn, he pitched in 8 games, winning one and losing one.  smythe then returned to the international league where he continued his previous success, and ultimately was elected to the il hall of fame.

joe vosmik

after spending the entire 1930's playing in the american league, vosmik brought his .311 lifetime average to brooklyn where he promptly hit a respectable .282 in 116 games.  in 1941, however, vosmik was batting just .196 after appearing in 25 games and was released by the dodgers.

hank webb

acquired from the mets for rick auerbach, webb pitched in 5 games for the 1977 dodgers (which means i created a 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update card that should have been for him). in 8 innings of relief work over the course of those 5 games, webb allowed only two runs but earned no decisions.  webb's son, ryan, was acquired by the dodgers in april, but was released soon thereafter and is now pitching for the indians.

whitey witt

witt was the third outfielder in the yankee outfield of the early 1920's, playing alongside babe ruth and bob meusel until earle combs came along in 1925.  he was released by the yanks on july 4, 1925, and was later signed by the brooklyn robins.  witt played in 63 games for brooklyn in 1926, hitting .259 with just 2 extra base hits.

i'll have the final sheet of the set next week. stay tuned...

sunday morning target dodgers - seven dwarves edition?

there are some interesting names on this sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set.  benny, johnny, eddie, sloppy, zoilo, possum, and doc. a dodger version of the seven dwarves?  here are this week's cards - only 14 in this post because i stumbled on to another dodger double dipper who will get their own post later today.

doc bushong

bushong, a dentist and thus referred to as 'doc', was a member of the inaugural brooklyn bridegroom national league team of 1890.  it was also the final year of his 13-year big league career

chris cannizzaro

cannizzaro spent the 1972 and 1973 seasons with the dodgers as a backup catcher.  he hit .235 over that span, with most of his action coming during the 1972 campaign.  he has the distinction of having been both an original new york met and an original san diego padre, and he was the first all-star representative for the friars.

bobby castillo

castillo is a dodger double dipper who is credited with teaching fernando valenzuela how to throw the screwball.  'nuff said.  unfortunately, castillo passed away last year at the age of 59.

roy cullenbine

cullenbine began the 1940 season with the dodgers following two years with the tigers.  he played in 22 games and hit just .180 before being traded to the browns around memorial day.  he knew how to draw a walk however, compiling 23 of them in those 22 games for the dodgers, giving him an obp of .405.  cullenbine actually had 121 walks in 1941 and an obp of .452 for the browns. he eventually made his way back to detroit where he was part of their 1945 world championship team.

gene demontreville

demontreville was traded to the superbas in 1899 along with jerry nops for hughie jennings.  a few days later, nops was returned to the orioles and jennings came back to the superbas, but demontreville stayed in brooklyn. he broke the roster in 1900, playing every infield position plus some outfield, and hit .244 in 69 games.  that was his only season in brooklyn, however, as the boston beaneaters purchased his contract prior to the 1901 campaign.

gil english

english finished his major league career by playing the 1944 season with the brooklyn dodgers.  he had previously played for the giants, tigers, and bees, but had most recently been in the minors where he was the 1939 american association mvp.  english hit .212 in 27 games for the dodgers serving as a backup infielder.

johnny klippstein

klippstein was part of the return package that the dodgers received during the 1958 season in the trade that sent don newcombe to the reds. he had previously been in the dodger organization during the 1949 seasons, but was lost in that year's rule v draft to the cubs without having made it to the big leagues.  in '58, klippstein was 3-5 with 9 'saves' and a 3.80 era. he was 4-0 with a couple of saves in 1959, although his era was 5.91.  in what would be his final appearance as a dodger, klippstein pitched two scoreless innings in game 1 of the 1959 world series against the white sox, and later pitched against the dodgers in the 1965 fall classic as a member of the minnesota twins.

benny meyer

meyer's card is fantastic when you realize that his nickname was 'earache' because he was a yeller.  he debuted in the big leagues in 1913 as a brooklyn superba, and hit .195 in 38 games. the following year, he jumped to the federal league where he played for the remainder of his career, save a single at bat in 1925 when he was serving as a coach for the phillies.  he hit a double in that at bat, by the way.

eddie solomon

solomon looks a little like bob gibson on his card, doesn't he?  and i'm guessing that's either willie davis or jimmy wynn in the background since solomon only pitched for the dodgers in the 1973 and 1974 seasons.  he appeared in only 8 regular season games for the dodgers, plus one in the 1974 nlcs.  early in the 1975 season, solomon was traded to the cubs in the burt hooton deal.  solomon was killed in a car accident in 1986, just four years after his big league career came to an end. he was just 34 years old.

bob stinson

perhaps best known to card collectors as a guy who appeared on multi-player rookie cards three years in a row for three different teams (1970 topps as a dodger, 1971 topps as a cardinal, and 1972 topps as an astro), stinson was the dodgers' first round pick in the 1966 draft.  he played in 4 games for the dodgers in both 1969 and 1970, but was traded to saint louis for dick allen prior to the 1971 season.  stinson eventually made his way to the expansion seattle mariners for the 1977 season, and he was the first catcher in the team's history going 1 for 3 with a walk in their inaugural game.  he played into the 1980 season, making him a 3-decade player.

fay thomas

thomas was a brooklyn robin during the 1932 season.  he made 7 appearances for the robins, earning just one decision - a loss in his only start.  he also pitched for the giants, indians, and browns in the majors, but was a bigger success in the pacific coast league where he earned a spot in their hall of fame.  thomas is also known as the first big leaguer to come from usc, and as the actor who portrayed christy mathewson in 'the pride of the yankees'.

sloppy thurston

thurston's given name was hollis, and he apparently earned his nickname by being anything but sloppy in his appearance.  isn't it ironic?  anyway, he's shown on his card as a member of the white sox for whom he pitched from 1923-1926.  he earned a card in this set, however, by pitching for the robins from 1930-1933.  during that time, he was 33-29 with a 4.02 era in 108 games.

zoilo versalles

versalles was the 1965 american league mvp for the al champion minnesota twins, and he hit .286 in the world series against the dodgers that year. he must have made an impression, because after the 1967 season, the dodgers - still trying to replace maury wills who had been dealt to pittsburgh a year earlier -  traded ron perranoski, john roseboro, and bob miller to the twinkies to get versalles and mudcat grant.  versalles only played for the dodgers during the 1968 season (he hit just .196 in 122 games) as he was taken by the padres in the expansion draft that followed the year of the pitcher.

possum whitted

whitted's big league career began in 1912 with the cardinals, but it was in 1914 as a member of the boston braves that he won a world series ring.  he returned to the fall classic the following year with the  phillies, but lost to the boston red sox who had a young player named babe ruth on their roster. the phillies traded whitted (given name george) to the pirates in 1919 for casey stengel, and the robins picked him up from the steel city during the 1922 season.  after all that, whitted made one appearance as a brooklyn robin, going 0 for 1 as a pinch-hitter in an april game against the new york giants. soon thereafter, whitted was managing the toledo mud hens.

see you next sunday for more player tales from the 1990 target set!

anything good on tv?

well, as vin scully says, 'for your enjoyment, dodger baseball is on the air!'  i picked up some nice 1955 bowman cards at the monthly card show but held them out of the previous posts for some reason.  perhaps i was planning some grandiose post featuring a 'this is your life' parallel or some other reference to what was on tv back then.  or maybe it was the fact that the cards boast the text 'color tv' which to me is nothing spectacular but back then was state of the art.  whatever the reason, it has escaped me.

here's pee wee reese

this card is fantastic.  there is an ink stain on the back, and that is the only reason i can muster as to why this card was in the vintage bargain bin and not under glass.  it's real purty.  on the back, we learn that pee wee believes stan musial to be the best hitter he has ever seen.  that's the same sentiment on the back of russ meyer's card

did you know that 'gunsmoke' debuted in 1955?  so did 'the mickey mouse club' and 'the honeymooners'.  the mad monk, on the other hand, made his final dodger appearance in 1955.  happy to report that he went out a winner.

here's jim gilliam

the 1953 nl rookie of the year played more outfield in 1955 due to the presence of another second baseman, don zimmer

both of these guys, and the other two at the top as well, appeared on tv as themselves in the 1955 world series.  according to wikipedia, that was the first year that the fall classic was broadcast in color.  i am guessing, however, that not too many people saw it that way as color tv's were certainly pricey in their infancy.  but, at least the kids could take the 1955 bowman cards out of their spokes and pretend.