sunday morning target dodgers - a garvey, a heinie, and a black eye

i'm back with more cards - 15 to be exact - from one of the sheets in the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set.  things get started with my baseball hero, steve garvey.

interesting that his position is identified as 'inf'.  true, he did start out at third (he also played one inning of second base and a handful of games in the outfield), but pretty much everyone remembers garvey as a first baseman.  he was the dodgers' first baseman, just about every day, for over 9 seasons.  four gold gloves, an mvp award, 1968 hits, 211 homers, and a .301 average are what he earned as a dodger.  greg brock never had a chance.

randy jackson

a two-time all-star with the cubs before joining the dodgers, 'handsome ransom' played for the dodgers in 1956, '57, and some of '58.  he replaced don hoak as the team's third baseman, splitting time with jackie robinson as hoak had done during the 1955 season, although jackie got all of the playing time there in the 1956 world series.  he was neither a judge on american idol, nor a member of the jackson 5.

george jeffcoat

jeffcoat, the older brother of hal jeffcoat, pitched for the dodgers in 1936, '37, and '39.  he was 6-9 with a 4.68 era in 62 games for brooklyn, and was the last dodger to wear number 42 prior to jackie robinson.

tito landrum

prior to landrum, i think that the only other tito i was aware of was tito jackson, michael's brother, and that was only because eddie murphy had a bit in his 'delirious' special where he is portraying michael and asks tito to get him some tissue.  anyway, this tito hit .429 against the dodgers in the 1985 nlcs, so when he was released by the cardinals in 1987, they signed him right away.  he was used mostly as a pinch-hitter, and it was in that role that he hit his only home run as a dodger - off of phillie pitcher michael jackson.  and that is how you bring something full circle.

billy loes

loes was 50-25 for the dodgers from 1952 through 1955 with a 3.70 era.  he had also pitched for the club in 1950, but earned no decisions, and appeared in one game as a dodger in 1956 before having his contract purchased by the orioles.  he appeared in three world series (1952, '53, and '55), pitching in four games.  he took the loss in game 2 of the 1955 fall classic, but still earned a ring.

heinie manush

manush's given name was henry, and i suppose i see how 'heinie' might have come about.  still, the first time i read his name in lawrence ritter's 'the image of their greatness' i laughed.  manush had the last laugh, though, as he began his career playing alongside ty cobb in detroit and eventually finding his way to the dodgers for the 1937 season.  he hit .333 that year in 132 games, but lasted just 17 games for the dodgers in 1938 before he was lost to the pirates.  manush retired a year later with a batting average of .330, and was inducted into the hall of fame in 1964 by the veteran's committee.

jack mccarthy

mccarthy finished his career that began with the reds in 1893 as a member of the brooklyn superbas in 1906 and 1907.  he hit .304 in '06, but just .220 in 25 games in '07.

bill mcgunnigle

mcgunnigle was the manager of the brooklyn bridegrooms in 1890 when they joined the national league.  he promptly led them to the nl pennant (just as he had led them to the american association title in 1899), but there was of course no world series back then.  for some reason, he was replaced as manager prior to the 1891 season, but returned to the majors as the manager of the pirates later that season.

wally millies

millies' first taste of the big leagues came with the dodgers in 1934.  he was 0 for 7 while appearing in two games for the club that year, and never got another chance as a dodger.  two years later, millies hit .312 in 74 games for the senators.  he also played for the senators, and was a longtime scout for the mets, expos, and astros following his playing days.

johnny morrison

morrison pitched for the robins in 1929 and '30 at the tail end of a ten year career spent primarily with the pirates.  he was 14-9 with 9 'saves' over those two seasons with brooklyn.

tom niedenfuer

target really screwed up niedenfuer's last name there.  mixing up 'i before e' and adding a random d is pretty inexcusable when you consider that he had been with the team as recently as 1987 and had some decent years out of the 'pen.  of course, giving up a home run to a left-handed hitting ozzie smith and pitching to jack clark with first base open in the 1985 nlcs is also inexcusable although only one of those things is really his fault.

irv noren

noren is shown here from his coaching days with the oakland a's.  more specifically, he is shown following a brawl between the tigers and a's on august 22, 1972 when the two teams were in the heat of the pennant race.  noren was punched by a tigers player following a couple of high and tight pitches thrown at a's batters, the second of which resulted in angel manual charging the mound.  you can get all the details here, just scroll down about half way.  anyway, noren actually began his professional career with the brooklyn dodgers in 1946, but was purchased by the senators before he could reach the big leagues.  he faced the dodgers as a yankee in three world series (1952, 1953, and 1955) and eventually joined the club in 1960, his final big league season.  he appeared in 26 games for the blue, all as a pinch hitter, and was 5 for 25 with a walk.

frank o'rourke

o'rourke played for the robins in 1917 and '18, hitting .233 over that span.  he broke into the big leagues in 1912 and played into the 1931 season, after which he managed in the minors and then became a scout.  he worked for the yankees in that capacity for about 50 years, retiring in 1985.  he passed away a year later at the age of 92.  a native of ontario, he is enshrined in the canadian baseball hall of fame.

don padgett

padgett began his career as an outfielder with the cardinals in 1937.  the cardinals converted him to catcher due to enos slaughter's arrival in 1939, and he wound up hitting .399 in 92 games during that season.  he played a total of five seasons in saint louis, and after missing four seasons due to military service in world war ii, padgett joined the dodgers and returned to the majors in 1946.  with brooklyn, he hit .167 in 19 games and had his contract purchased by the braves in june of that year.

charley smith

smith was a third baseman who entered the major leagues with the dodgers in 1960.  he was traded to the phillies early in the 1961 season, and had a total of 91 at bats in 27 games as a dodger.  he is probably best known as the player that the yankees acquired when they traded roger maris to the cardinals following the 1966 season.

it's beginning to look a lot like all-star weekend

when the twins were awarded the all-star game a couple of years ago, i thought for sure that i would be attending a bunch of the events, including possibly the game itself.  now that it's almost here, i've actually turned down tickets to the futures game and celebrity softball game, as well as fanfest.  i thought about buying tickets to the home run derby, but decided not to go through with it.

i was in boston during the 1999 fanfest but didn't go, and i regretted it at the time (i think steve garvey might have been at that one).  there's a slight chance that i might pop into the local card show for a bit tomorrow, but i won't be at the fanfest.

anyway, i was thinking about this because there is a lot of coverage on the local news and downtown minneapolis is all decked out with all-star game graphics, and also because this 1987 topps fernando valenzuela glossy all-star card

has been staring at me from my scanned folder for quite some time.  it was included in a pwe sent my way by a certain jay barker fan.  and it wasn't alone.  a couple of weeks later, there was another pwe in my mailbox with more cards.  here are some of the cards from the two envelopes.

1981 topps jay johnstone

this card scanned kind of crookedly, which suits johnstone.  i am currently wondering who the player behind johnstone is.  it sort of looks like the second number on the back is a 6, which would mean it's rick monday, burt hooton, or pepe frias based on the 1980 roster.

1982 fleer tom niedenfuer

aka mr. judy landers

1984 donruss steve sax

we as bloggers don't show enough 1984 donruss i don't think.  this was such a high target set when it came out.  i completed multiple sets and sold one for about $80 in the late 80's as i recall.   i think i still have two sets today.

1990 fleer mike hartley

and another dodger who wore 43, raul mondesi and the back of his 1992 leaf gold leaf rookie insert

i am really intrigued by the lefty batting photos that leaf used here and on his 1993 leaf card.

2003 upper deck darren dreifort

and 2003 upper deck paul loduca

from 2002 through 2005, i largely ignored upper deck's flagship set, only buying product from carlsbad when it was stuff like 2003 chirography and 2004 legends, so these two cards were especially appreciated.

last but not least, here's a 2011 bowman hiroki kuroda card

i wonder if kuroda gives current teammate mark teixeira grief about spoiling his perfect game back in july of 2008 with an 8th inning double.  there are actually three braves who played in that game that now play with kuroda in new york - teixeira, brian mccann, and kelly johnson.  hopefully kuroda reminds them all that he dominated them that day as a dodger.

thanks for the cards wes!

this had seemed most improbable

following up on davey lopes' inclusion in the 2013 topps archives set with a short print and an auto, as well as steve garvey's autos in 2013 panini and topps, and the ron cey auto available from panini golden age that same year, 2014 has brought to me a 2014 topps archives bill russell on-card, certified autographed card.  unbelievable!

i did not consider this to be very likely given that topps has not once put russell in a fan favorites issue.  the last time topps issued a card featuring the shortstop of the team of my youth, it was 1987.  upper deck included him in a number of releases much to my enjoyment, but not topps.  we got the likes of tom niedenfuer in 2005 topps all-time fan favorites

 and 2005 topps retired

but never russell.  i was shocked when i first saw one of these cards show up on ebay.

here's the back

not sure how topps decided on truncating the stat rows, but they left out russell's final six seasons with the club.  the career totals are correct however, and so is the cartoon - russell played in 2181 games as a los angeles dodger, just about 230 more than the next player on the list, willie davis.  in fact, the only player to wear the franchise's uniform in more games than russell is hall of famer zach wheat.  wouldn't it be nice to see him in one of these sets sometime…

thanks, topps, for thinking of bill russell.  he definitely was one of this fan's favorites.

giants cards can be useful

i believe the dodger/giant rivalry to be a bigger deal than yankees/red sox or cubs/cardinals or twins/brewers or whatever other manufactured rivalries that bud selig wants to try to peddle.  growing up in southern california, we disliked all things about no-cal, and the giants were at the top of the list.  these days, i count san francisco as one of my favorite cities to visit, but i still dislike the giants.  so, you had better believe that i was more than happy to send some cards featuring the san francisco nine out of my collection, and in return receive some pretty cool dodger cards.  it's all thanks to arpsmith, whose cardboard obsession focuses on the dodgers' foes, and who was kind enough to agree to trade with someone who bleeds dodger blue.

here's a 1959 topps card featuring johnny podres, clem labine, and don drysdale.

in 1959, podres was 3-0 against the giants, with a 2-hit shutout in one of the games.  labine, meanwhile, was 1-0 with 2 saves in his appearances against the giants, while big d was 4-2 in 7 starts versus san francisco.  no wonder a giants fan was willing to part with it.

i also received a former nefarious 9 card - a 1984 fleer tom niedenfuer

as is often the case in our little community, i needed one of these and now i have an extra as i also received a copy from mrmopar recently.

there were some pretty big cards in the package, too.  literally.  like this 1988 topps big mike davis card

along with his oversized 1989 bowman card

but, as much as i appreciate the walk that mike davis earned in game 1 of the 1988 world series, he was not even the best davis in the package.  that honor goes to willie davis, who appears on tony gwynn's 1992 pinnacle 'the idols' subset card

i know i have shown that card before, but it is so cool that i wanted to show it again.

arpsmith also noticed that i am still trying to finish my 2008 upper deck timeline set, and he moved me a couple of cards closer to that goal.  he sent along a jay bruce

and a prince fielder card

and also included an andre ethier jersey card

ethier returned to the lineup last night, as did matt kemp.  so, it makes sense to close with a kemp card, like this 2012 topps heritage new age performers insert.

thanks for the trade arpsmith!

this time, i niedenmor - not fuer

i love tom niedenfuer's name.  more than once i am sure i have recounted the fantastic letter to the editor of the la times that ran sometime after the 1985 nlcs in which the author suggested that 'there is a certain pitcher we niedenfuer games'.  awesome.

truth be told however, niedenfuer was a pretty good reliever for the dodgers in the early 1980's.  in fact, prior to the 1985 nlcs, niedenfuer had not allowed an earned run in 6 postseason innings, spanning from the 1981 nlds through the 1983 nlcs.  his 1983 season was outstanding, as he won 8 games, saved 11 and posted an era of 1.90 which was complemented by his whip of 0.887.  

he's also a good through the mail signer, and i have had a few successes with him over the last three years.  unfortunately, i erred and sent him what apparently was my lone copy of his 1984 fleer card.  he signed it of course, but now i am left with a gap in my collection.

i've added it to my nefarious 9 over there on the right.  can't you help a blogger out?

while i wait for the answer to this non-rhetorical question, here are some other cards mr. niedenfuer returned to me - his 1982 fleer

1984 topps

1985 topps

1986 donruss

1986 fleer

with a dodger stadium photo that fleer re-used in 1987

1986 topps

and a similarly posed 1987 topps

and finally, his 1987 donruss

niedenfuer was traded early in the 1987 season to the orioles for brad havens and john shelby.  he actually saved 18 games (a full third of the orioles' victories) for baltimore during their abyssmal 1988 season.  eventually, niedenfuer ended up in saint louis of all places to finish out his career.

thanks tom - and please let me know if you have an extra 1984 fleer card for me.  you will be rewarded!

wide awake in america

8 days to go until i see u2 live again.  that means it's time to link a u2 release that included two live tracks to baseball cards.

it's not a full length album, but i feel pretty strongly about wide awake in america being one of u2's most important releases, so i'll give it its own post.  the four song ep was released in may of 1985, and the live version of 'bad' blew me away. then, a couple of months later, they played 'bad' at live aid and it was all over.  i was convinced that u2 was the best live band ever, even though i had never been to a concert.  critics (for what they are worth) seemed to agree about u2's elevated status as a live act.

do you know what else was bad in 1985?  tommy lasorda's decision to have tom niedenfuer pitch to jack clark in the 9th inning of game 6 of the nlcs.

it was only a bad decision because clark hit a 3-run home run.  if he had struck out, as lasorda hoped, the game would have been over and the series would have been tied at 3 games apiece, and lasorda would have made a successful, although questionable, call.  lasorda points to the fact that niedenfuer

had struck clark out earlier in the game (when niedenfuer entered the game in the top of the 7th) so it was only logical that he would get clark out on strikes again.  never mind first base was open, the tying run was on third with the go-ahead run on second, niedenfuer was in his 3rd inning of work and that he hadn't pitched more than 2 innings in a single outing since september 2.

is there anything worse than a card that is from 1985 featuring jack clark as both a giant and a cardinal?

well, yes there is.  this is actually a pretty fantastic o-pee-chee card.  the subject matter is bad though.  very bad.