sunday morning target dodgers - brought to you by the number 0. or is it the letter o?

two sundays into the new year, and i still haven't run out of sheets of cards from the 1990 target dodger set to show off.  i think i have enough to go for about 20 more weeks at which time i will have shown the entire set.  not sure if i'll make it that long, though.  here are this week's players:

bob barrett

barrett was 0 for 1 with a ribbie in his lone appearance for the robins in 1925. he had been acquired from the cubs in may, played in that one game, and was sent to the minors. he remained in the minors for the entire 1926 season, but returned to brooklyn in 1927.  that year, barrett hit .259 in 99 games.  he finished his big league career in 1929 with the red sox.

mace brown

the dodgers purchased the contract of mace brown from the pirates in april of 1941 and dealt him to the cubs in august of that same year. in between, brown appeared in 24 games for the dodgers pitching exclusively in relief.  he was 3-2 with a 3.16 era in those games. like barrett, brown finished his playing career as a member of the red sox, and later became their pitching coach and then a scout.  it was in the latter role that he discovered and signed hall of famer jim rice for the bosox.

gino cimoli

cimoli began his career in 1956 with the dodgers, and was an all-star for brooklyn in 1957.  he moved with the club to los angeles in 1958 (where he struck out as the first batter in a west coast major league baseball game), but was traded to the cardinals after that season as part of the wally moon deal.  as a dodger, cimoli had hit .269 in 324 games.  he also played for the pirates, braves, a's, orioles, and angels during his 10 year career.

ron davis

i don't remember ron davis as a dodger, probably because he only pitched in four games for them during the latter part of the 1987 season.  to me, ike's dad is a yankee, as he pitched for them from 1978 through 1981 when he faced the dodgers in the world series.  after i moved to minnesota, where davis pitched from 1982 into 1986, i came to know him as 'whiplash', as in the pain that twins' fans suffered as they followed a davis pitch approaching home plate and then being swatted into the outfield seats.  that's a bit of an exaggeration, as davis averaged 1 home run/9 innings pitched over his career, which is cole hamels-ish.  davis gave up no home runs as a dodger, but did walk 6 in his four innings of work for the blue.

art decatur

decatur was used as both a starter and a reliever for the robins from 1922 through 1924.  he also made one relief appearance in 1925 before he was traded to the phillies.  overall, decatur was 16-16 for brooklyn, with a 3.31 era.

jack fournier

fournier was the robins' first baseman from 1923 into the 1926 season.  he finished 9th in the league mvp voting in 1924 when he led the league with 27 home runs. the following year, he led the league with 86 walks and had a career high on-base percentage of .446.  he was regarded as a poor fielder, and his high error totals supported the reputation.

tom haller

haller was a two-time all-star for the giants when the dodgers traded for him following the 1967 season.  he was an all-star again in 1968, hitting .285 in 144 games for his new team.  haller remained with the dodgers until he was dealt to the tigers in december of 1971.  along the way, he hit .276 and caught in over 440 games as a dodger.  haller later became the giants' general manager, and was responsible for the signing of reggie smith.

billy herman

herman was a hall of fame second baseman who established himself with the cubs during the 1930's. he joined the dodgers via a trade made between the two clubs during the 1941 season, and played second in brooklyn through the 1943 season.  after missing two years due to military service during world war ii, herman returned to the dodgers in 1946, but was traded to the braves near the end of the season.  he eventually returned to brooklyn to coach the dodgers from 1952 through 1957.

hy myers

myers played for brooklyn beginning in 1909. he had a second cup of coffee with the club in 1911, and then became a regular in 1914.  he was a fixture in the robins' outfield through the 1922 season, after which he was traded to the cardinals for john fournier, profiled above.  for brooklyn, myers hit .282 and twice led the league in triples. he helped the club win two pennants, and was responsible for the only run that the team scored off of babe ruth in the 1916 world series thanks to his first inning solo home run.

al oliver

oliver, the man who wore number 0 for the dodgers, brought his .305 career batting average to los angeles following a february, 1985 trade with the phillies.  as a dodger, oliver fairly quickly lost his left fielder job and was used mostly as a pinch-hitter after the first month of the season.  he was traded to the blue jays in early july after compiling a .253 batting average in 35 games.

john ryan

ryan was a catcher who played for the 1898 brooklyn bridegrooms, hitting .189 in 87 games.  he played in a total of 13 seasons, although the last two each consisted of a single at bat while coaching for the washington senators.

frank skaff

skaff broke in with the 1935 dodgers, and hit .545 (6 for 11) in the 6 games in which he played.  he did not appear in the majors again until 1943 when he hit .281 for the philadelphia a's.  skaff later became the manager of the tigers in 1966, following the deaths of chuck dressen and interim manager bob swift.

roy spencer

spencer finished his 12 year career with the dodgers in 1937 and 1938.  he hit .222 as a dodger in 67 games during that span.

terry whitfield

whitfield had spent three years playing in japan where he had helped the seibu lions win a couple of championships before the dodgers signed him as a free agent for the 1984 season.  prior to that, he had found success with the giants, hitting .289 as a member of their outfield from 1977 through 1980.  as a dodger, whitfield hit .242 as a reserve outfielder and pinch-hitter from 1984 into 1986.  he was announced as a pinch-hitter in  the 9th inning of game 3 of the 1985 nlcs, but was pinch-hit for when the cardinals made a pitching change.  that was as close as whitfield got to postseason mlb action in his career.

pat zachry

zachry was acquired by the dodgers from the mets in december of 1982 in exchange for jorge orta.  he had been a starter for his entire career until the mets moved him to the bullpen during the '82 season, and the dodgers left him there (aside from one spot start in 1983 in which he was the winning pitcher) for the next two years.  zachry relieved in a total of 97 games for the dodgers, posting a record of 10-7 with 2 saves in that role.  he was traded to the phillies following the 1984 season in exchange for al oliver, which marks the second time a pair of players on this particular sheet of cards were traded for each other.  i really wish i knew what, if anything, the people who put these sheets together took into account when doing so.

emerald city dodger gems

larry over at emerald city diamond gems and the 1979 topps blog recently sent me some dodger cards.  here's the proof, starting with a 1979 tcma stars of the 50's george shuba

i don't have too many cards of shuba.  he is probably best known for shaking jackie robinson's hand at home plate after robinson homered for montreal, the dodgers' farm team in 1946.  he also was nicknamed 'shotgun' which meant the dodgers of the early 50's had a shotgun and the reading rifle in their lineup.

here's a 1981 fleer card of mickey hatcher

even when he's not doing something goofy on the front of one of his cards hatcher looks goofy.  nice to see dodger stadium and the dugout seats behind number 44.  next up is number 45, terry whitfield (who is also standing in dodger stadium), on his 1985 fleer card

the dodgers had brought whitfield back from japan for the 1984 season.  i was less than enthused, only because he had previously played for both the yankees and the giants.  yuck.

let's cleanse the palette with a 1986 topps card of orel hershiser

it's the tried and true vero beach shot.  one thing i don't miss now that the dodgers have moved spring training to arizona.

here's one of the dodgers' entries in the inagural upper deck star rookies subset from 1989

i think they had three - ramon martinez, juan bell, and william brennan.  brennan was the least successful of the three, appearing in a handful of games for the dodgers in 1988 and the cubs in 1993.  too bad, because i have a bunch of his cards.  he wore number 35 for the dodgers which i will always associate with bobby welch.  in fact, welch was barely gone to oakland before brennan was given the number.  that was crazy to me.

speaking of numbers, one day mike sharperson (seen here on his 1992 leaf card)'s number 27 will be retired by the dodgers

that's because it is now worn by matt kemp.  oh, hello alfredo griffin. i almost didn't see you in the background.  and what is that cub ballboy doing?

finally, there was a 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts significant swatch insert featuring none other than steve garvey

sure, the fabric is from his days in san diego, but it's the garv with fantastic blue forearms.

thanks larry - i'll get your cards out this week.

i heart (cards from) halos

rwh from i heart halos recently sent me a bunch of dodgers in return for some cards featuring those angels of anaheim - it was an interleague/freeway series trade!

here are some highlights:

2006 bowman chrome nomar garciaparra xfractor 182/250

can't top the checkerboard! reminds me of vans and junior high. so sad to see nomar making spot starts. the twinkie announcers were talking like he was dead over the weekend.

1995 upper deck collector's choice se darren dreifort rookie class
little d was the personification of 'tremendous upside'. injuries suck.

1982 donruss ken landreaux once traded for rodney cline carew, this man caught the final out of the first dodgers' world championship of my lifetime.

1986 topps terry whitfield
i always wondered why the dodgers brought whitfield back from japan instead of re-signing dusty or reggie or even rick monday. i also wondered what that guy off his right hip was wearing and what he was doing in the dugout.

1989 topps mini leaders john tudor i believe tudor led the league in being traded for pedro guerrero.

1990 topps mini leaders jay howell this set is even less attractive in mini style.

2009 topps walmart black angel berroathis card is bad ass. like shaft playing shortstop.

2008 upper deck timeline chin-lung hu not as dark as the walmart card, but it scans that way. another need from my timeline quest taken care of.

2007 topps finest jason schmidt refractor 109/199

hm. stick with the blue refractors, especially for the dodgers.

thanks rwh! see you in the fall classic!