sunday morning target dodgers - a sheet chock full of fantastic folks like dusty, forster, and the toy cannon

this is a heckuva sheet that i'm posting today - bookended by two guys traded for each other.  it comes from the 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary set, and features 15 players from the franchise's history as a national league team.  let's take a look.

dusty baker

johnnie b was the left fielder for the team of my youth.  he played for the dodgers from 1976 through 1983, helping them win four division titles, three pennants, and a world series championship.  he was the 1977 nlcs mvp and also one of four dodgers to hit 30 or more home runs in that same season.  so what if he eventually played for (and managed) the giants? dusty is one of my favorite dodgers.

mike davis

davis was part of the dodgers near-complete revamping of their outfield for the 1988 season.  he joined kirk gibson as a free agent signing, but hurt his ankle during spring training and slumped at the start of the season.  tommy lasorda never seemed to regain any confidence in davis, and he was relegated largely to a pinch-hitting/late inning replacement role.  i recall when the dodgers opened the second half of the season with a series in chicago, davis was seen holding a sign saying 'mike davis is alive and well in los angeles'.  anyway, davis got some redemption in the 1988 world series.  he drew the two-out walk off of dennis eckersley to make the impossible possible, and then homered in the decisive game 5.  he returned to the dodgers in 1989, his last year in the big leagues.

chick fewster

fewster had spent 9 seasons in the american league before he joined the robins prior to the 1926 season.  he was their primary second baseman that year, playing in a career high 105 games and hitting .243.  he played in only four games for the robins in 1927, however, and thus ended his major league career.  according to baseball reference, fewster was the first player to have an official at bat in yankee stadium.

terry forster

forster joined the dodgers prior to the 1978 season, taking over the closer duties from charlie hough.  like hough had in 1977, forster led the team with 22 saves in '78.  forster also posted an era of 1.93 and went 4 for 8 at the plate (he retired with a career batting average of .397, don't you know).  he battled injuries, but stuck with the dodgers through 1982, pitching in both the 1978 and 1981 postseasons.  his career postseason era is 0.00 in 8 appearances, although he did allow a couple of inherited runners to score during the 1978 world series, including the tying run in game 4.

pepe frias

frias, like many shortstops, hailed from san pedro de macoris in the dominican republic.  he joined the dodgers via trade with the rangers towards the end of the 1980 season (the dodgers sent denny lewallyn to texas), and he returned to the club for the 1981 season as well.  he even got a 1981 fleer card out of the deal.  even so, frias was released by the dodgers at the end of august, so he missed out on their championship postseason run.

jim j hughes

hughes was the first of two (so far) jim hughes to play for the dodgers.  the other came along in the 1950's, 50 years after this jim hughes pitched for the superbas.  one of the players that ned hanlon brought with him from baltimore, hughes won 28 games for brooklyn in 1899, his first year with the club, and that was good enough to lead the national league.  he didn't appear in the majors in 1900 (he went home to sacramento), but returned in '01 and '02, and won 17 and 15 games respectively.  with a 60-28 record and a 2.93 era in his three seasons with brooklyn, hughes decided to retire from the major leagues and return to the west coast where he played minor league ball for a few more seasons.

ira hutchinson

hutchinson was acquired by the dodgers from the boston bees following the 1938 season, and he pitched in 41 games for them in 1939.  he was 5-2 with an era over 4, and was returned to the minors for the 1940 season, during which he was claimed by the cardinals who promoted him to the major league club.

ernie krueger

krueger was a catcher for the robins from 1917 through 1921.  obviously, the photo of him used for his card (if in fact it is krueger - how would i know?) came well after his playing days were through.  krueger hit .267 in 258 games for the robins over the course of his 5 years in brooklyn, and was 1 for 6 in the 1920 world series against the indians.

andy messersmith

messersmith was the ace of the 1974 pennant winning staff (sorry, don sutton).  he led the league with 20 wins (tied with phil niekro and one more than sutton), but finished second in the cy young voting to teammate and reliever mike marshall.  messersmith started the all-star game in '74 and was on the squad again in 1975, won the gold glove both of those seasons, and then challenged the reserve clause and became a free agent.  he signed with the braves, but eventually returned to the dodgers for another stint, but i'll get into that in messersmith's very own dodger double dipper post.

ed reulbach

reulbach was a member of the 1907 and 1908 world champion chicago cubs, but was traded to brooklyn during the 1913 season.  he pitched well for the superbas, posting an era of 2.05 in 110 innings, although his record was just 7-6.  reulbach was still with the club, now called the robins as wilbert robinson took the managerial reins, in 1914, and was 11-18 with a 2.64 era for uncle robbie.  he jumped to the federal league in 1915, but returned to the majors in 1916 with the braves. that's the 1914 robins uniform he is sporting, by the way.  reulbach retired with a 2.28 era, which puts him just behind babe ruth at 18th all-time.

preacher roe

roe was part of return the dodgers received from the pirates in one of the trades following jackie robinson's 1947 rookie season that attempted to purge the roster of players opposed to jackie's presence on the team.  pitching for the dodgers from 1948 through 1954, roe won 93 games against just 37 losses (including an incredible 22-3 record in 1951).  he pitched well in the world series, too, recording a shut out of the yankees in a start in 1949, and beating them again with a complete game in 1952.  he took a loss in another complete game start against new york in 1953, and didn't get a chance to exact revenge against the bronx bombers in 1955 as he was dealt to the orioles before the season began.

dick schofield

man, i can't even get a dick schofield card showing him in a dodger uniform in this dodger-centric set!  he's certainly not wearing a dodger uniform on his only other dodger card (1967 topps).  he is most likely wearing one on his 1968 topps card, but he's designated as a cardinal on that one.  he's shown as a cardinal here, and he spent just the latter part of 1966 and all of 1967 with the dodgers before rejoining st. louis, the team for which he played from 1953-1958.  as a dodger, schofield hit .225 in 104 games as the team struggled to replace maury wills.  schofield was the first of his line to play for the dodgers, but his son (dick schofield) and grandson (jayson werth) have both done so since.

karl spooner

the debut of karl spooner is the stuff of legend.  he made two starts in 1954 and pitched two shutouts.  in his major league debut, he failed to retire either of the first two giants he faced, but went on to strike out 15 of them (a record for a debut matched only by jr richard), including six consecutively at one point, while beating the dodgers' rivals 3-0 on a 3-hitter.  four days later, in the final game of the season, spooner threw a 4-hitter against the pirates, this time striking out 12.  expectations had to be high heading into the 1955 season, and despite injuring his arm during spring training, spooner responded by throwing one more shutout late in the season against pittsburgh, although overall he was just 8-6 with a 3.65 era.  he did get to pitch in the world series, however, shutting down the yankees in relief over 3 scoreless innings during game 2, but taking the loss in a game 6 start in which he recorded just one out and gave up all five yankee runs.  that appearance turned out to be the last of his big league career.

don thompson

thompson was an outfielder for the dodgers in the early 1950's.  he began his career with the braves in 1949, but was dealt to brooklyn that same year.  often used as a pinch-runner or hitter, he appeared in a total of 210 games as a dodger in 1951 and 1953-54, hitting .220 with a homer and 19 rbi.  he had been a pitcher in the minors, but was converted to a fielder because of his bat.  thompson recorded an outfield assist in game 4 of the 1953 world series, throwing billy martin out at home to end the game.

jimmy wynn

had i been more aware of the dodgers in 1974 (i was 3), jimmy wynn might well have become my favorite player.  he joined the club in a trade with the astros for claude osteen, and went on to hit 32 home runs and drive in a career high 108 rbi while helping the dodgers win the pennant.  he also started the all-star game for the national league in center field, and did so again in 1975.  that year, he hit just 18 homers with 58 rbi, but actually improved his on base percentage despite a 30-point drop in his batting average.  as fate would have it, wynn was traded to the braves for dusty baker after the 1975 season, and steve garvey caught my attention in 1977.

all i see are all-stars

with the all-star game tonight, it seems appropriate to show this 1992 trak auto sheet of stamps that honors every dodger all-star from 1962 through 1992

as you can see, it was available for purchase at trak auto stores, either on its own or with a case of valvoline motor oil.

the full sheet of stamps is in one of my steve garvey binders, because i can't find this particular stamp all by its lonesome

1977 was a big year for dodger all-stars, but not as big as 1962, 1975, or 1978 when the dodgers had seven players on the national league squad, or even a few years when they sent 6 players.  garvey represented the dodgers in eight straight all-star games, and was the mvp of the 1974 and 1978 contests.  here is a better look at the stamps for the stretch of games in which garvey, as a dodger, was the starter for the national league at first base.

you may have noticed that the only dodger to get his mug shown twice on the whole sheet is tommy lasorda.

as a member of the padres, garvey returned to the all-star game in 1984 and 1985 as the first base starter for the national league, making his final all-star appearance in the '85 midsummer classic, which was the last time the all-star game was held in minneapolis.  here's a 1986 donruss all-stars pop up card which commemorates his appearance in that game, complete with underside of the metrodome's roof in view

garvey, at age 37, was a participant in the home run derby prior to that all-star game - the first home run derby prior to the all-star game - and hit 2 out.  dave parker won the derby with 6.  it wasn't the same back then.

anyway, happy all-star game day!

garv-aholic

everybody's favorite calgarian blogger, captain canuck, recently braved the elements to snowshoe (or did he have to row?) over to the post office and send me some pretty nice dodger cards to feed my addiction.

i will show them now so that his journey of kindness may not have been in vain.

2008 topps triple threads steve garvey

as much as i like seeing garvey on new releases as a dodger, the best part of this card might be the lurking jimmy wynn in the background!

it wouldn't be a proper package from the great white north without some o-pee-chee.  unfortunately, this is a 2009 upper deck opc card of jonathan broxton

instead of a true canadian cardboard sample.  no matter, there were other things in the package to keep my mind off of that situation.  like this 2008 upper deck baseball heroes nomar garciaparra charcoal parallel

nomah!

there were also a couple of 2008 upper deck sp authentic rookie exclusive cards, too.  i don't recall if these were inserts or part of a special set or what.  i think i knew at one time.  anyway, here's ramon troncoso

he can be seen in white sox gear these days.  the other card from that set that i received was of cory wade

wade is currently pitching in the rays' system at aaa.

another dodger with ties to the rays is don zimmer, whose 2005 topps pristine card is safely encased

thanks captain!

i snoozed, losed, but wound up winning. sort of.

i was recently tipped off via a saved search to a listing on ebay of a 2006 fleer greats of the game steve garvey bat barrel autogreats card, numbered out of 4 copies

i didn't win it.  i added to to my watch list with the intent of submitting a best offer to the seller.  someone beat me to the punch, although their best offer of $225 was higher than mine would have been.  

small consolation, but the seller had some other dodger goodies listed, and i was able to get a few of them for my best offer amounts.

like this 2009 topps triple threads russell martin, manny ramirez, and matt kemp relic card

i like the card, but i do have a tinge of buyer's regret thanks to the well documented questions surrounding 'game used' jerseys, as well as the non-committal statements on the back.  for all we know, that could be a piece of maury wills' wool jersey under kemp's photo.

here's a card i didn't know existed before now - a 2011 topps black diamond wrapper redemption card of clayton kershaw

kershaw wasn't around in 2001 when topps heritage used the 1952 design, but i suppose this is what it might have looked like.

jim wynn wasn't around in los angeles for too long, so i love finding cards that show him during his brief stay.  here's the autographed companion to the 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game card i showed a short while ago

it's nice.  as is this 2004 upper deck etchings dusty baker autographed card

and this steve sax auto from the same set.

i think the dusty baker photo was also used by upper deck in their 2004 legends timeless teams set.  speaking of which, the timeless teams blog gets an update in a couple of hours.  be sure to check it out, but make that best offer you've been putting off first.  just in case someone else is out there ready to beat you to the punch.

cover me

one of the best things to have come from fleer's partnership with sports illustrated in the late 1990's are the use of the magazine covers as baseball cards.  in fact, these cards are so cool and such a natural fit, that it's really too bad that there was no topps/inside sports collaboration or donruss/sport teamup.  thankfully we did get one of way too few jimmy wynn as a dodger cards as part of the 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game set.

it comes from the appropriately named 'cover collection' insert set.  and it has friends.

johnny podres, the 1955 sportsman of the year

 maury wills from 1965

 and steve garvey from 1975

garvey's cover turn as a padre was also included in the set, but i'd rather show a different garvey cover.

this next one is from 1998 fleer sports illustrated world series fever, and was part of the base set

it features the first ever all-california world series (there have been a few others since - 1988, 1989, and 2002) which saw the dodgers face the a's.  the a's won in five games, but at least we get this card that features dodger stadium, steve yeager triumphant over sal bando thanks to joe ferguson's arm, rollie fingers' mustache, garvey breaking out of the box, and billy buckner with what might be bert campaneris toppled over on top of him.

the only disappointment i had with these cards is that fleer didn't include si cover cards for the 1977 or 1978 world series.  how cool would these covers have been to have as cards?

a 1977 double play turn by billy russell in dodger stadium

and a lee lacy sliding in night card, also from chavez ravine.

those are some cards that totally should have been!

the topps dodger autograph project - the eary 1970's

now we are getting into the part of my topps dodger autograph project where i was around to see the cards released and the players on them play.  not that i saw them all, but you get the idea.  actually, i very vividly remember seeing jim campanis (the 1968 entry in this project) play, but that was in an old-timer's game at dodger stadium circa 1980 or so.

anyway, bring on the 1970's!

al mcbean, 1970 topps

mcbean signed that card for me back in 2009.  it's a shame i haven't shown it until now, as he has a very cool looking signature.  mcbean is one of only 11 people born in the virgin islands to have made it to the big leagues.  interestingly enough, three of those players (mcbean, henry cruz, and jose morales) have played for the dodgers.  mcbean arrived in los angeles via a 1969 trade with the padres.  he was 2-6 with 4 saves for the dodgers in 1969, and then pitched a single scoreless inning for them in 1970 before being released.  he finished his major league career later that season with a stint as a pirate.  other dodgers who have signed their 1970 topps cards for me include joe moeller, manny mota, bill buckner (with fee), bob stinson (with fee), billy grabarkewitz, bill singer (with fee), ted sizemore, jeff torborg, andy kosco, bill russell, len gabrielson, and bill sudakis (with fee).  i also have cards that were signed by jim brewer and wes parker from the set, but i purchased both of those from my local card shop back in the late 1970's.

sandy vance, 1971 topps

like mcbean, i've held off on showing this card for too long.  i've actually had two successes with vance (both 1971 topps cards, one of which i included in my trade with reader cory for the autographs he picked up for me at spring training and padres' games a couple of years ago).  vance was one of the players the dodgers selected in their historic 1968 drafts.  he was the team's second round pick in the june draft, after they took steve garvey in the first round.  while he quickly made it to the majors, vance appeared in only 30 games over the 1970 and 1971 seasons.  in his major league debut, vance got the start opposite future hall of famer tom seaver.  he didn't pitch too poorly (3 runs in 6 innings) but seaver held the dodgers to just one run and so vance took the loss.  his next time out, vance beat the expos 2-1 by pitching a complete game 4-hitter.  he made his final big league appearance in june of 1971 against the cubs.  other 1971 topps cards i have received signed through the mail include joe moeller, manny mota, claude osteen, bill russell, jeff torborg, billy grabarkewitz, von joshua, jerry stephenson, bill strahler, bobby valentine, and maury wills (with fee).

manny mota, 1972 topps

this is one of many, many manny mota cards that i have received from him through the mail.  he is the first member of the 1978 topps dodgers to be featured as part of this project, and his presence on those teams, as well as his connection to the dodgers since 1969, is a big reason why i have bothered him for his autograph so many times.  you can see some, but not all, of my ttm successes with manny mota in these here links.  other dodgers who have signed their 1972 topps cards for me through the mail include joe ferguson, claude osteen, bill buckner (with fee), wille davis (with fee), al downing, duke sims (with fee), mike strahler, bobby valentine, and maury wills (with fee).  i also have a ron cey rookie card signed by the penguin that i picked up from kit young cards long before i ever thought about ttm.

wes parker, 1973 topps

yes, that 1973 topps card you see above this text is signed by parker.  he is notorious for signing ttm free of charge but with a very light stroke of a ballpoint pen.  as long as you know this going in, it's all good.  i, for one, am just really happy that parker takes the time to sign at all.  i first saw him on a brady bunch rerun, and my mom pointed him out to me as the former dodger first baseman.  i have a couple other cards signed by the golden gloved first baseman, including that 1970 topps card i mentioned above, but his 1973 card is my favorite.  other dodgers to sign and return a copy of their 1973 topps cards to me include steve garvey, davey lopes (with fee), ken mcmullen, bill russell, red adams, willie davis (with fee), al downing, doug rau, and pete richert.

claude osteen, 1974 topps

osteen has signed a few cards for me through the mail, but i think this 1974 card of his might be my favorite.  other 1974 topps cards that former dodgers have signed for me through the mail include al downing, steve garvey, manny mota, ken mcmullen, joe ferguson, and pete richert.

i don't plan to include all of the topps traded and update sets as part of this project; they're kind of a bonus.  but, if i have them, i'll show them.  here's the first topps traded set, with the toy cannon representing.

jim wynn, 1974 topps traded

i've shown this card before, and i am still very happy to have it in my collection.  wynn is the only dodger in the traded set that signs through the mail without an exorbitant fee (dr. mike marshall).  the other dodger in the set, tommie agee, passed away in 2001.

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

a host of hostess

do you trust yourself? or do you find yourself questioning whether or not you really did update those want lists?  i, of course, have my want lists linked to my blog (although not all years are represented, and i know that any dodger wants listed past the 1980's are hopelessly out of date).  i've been concentrating the last couple of years on that 50's, 60's and most importantly to me, the 1970's.  

i knew i needed a couple of oddballs, and have added some of them to the nefarious 9.  imagine my excitement when i saw a healthy stack of hostess cards at one of the tables at the card show last friday.  it didn't take long for me to find target #1 (or #4 on the nefarious 9), a 1975 hostess bill buckner.

what a great card.  dodger stadium is represented nicely, and buckner's got his awesome mustache  and eyebrows in midseason form.  i am so happy to have found this card.  there were plenty of other dodgers in the stack as well, like this 1975 hostess bill russell,

which i was pretty sure i owned, but bought just for fun.  and for trading, i suppose.  same with this jimmy wynn

one cannot have enough jimmy wynn as a dodger cards.  i knew i had this one already, but it might be an upgrade for me.  plus it was almost free, so why not?

but then we got into some cards that i was fairly sure i still needed.  like a 1976 hostess steve yeager

so what if my want lists said that i did not need it - it did not look familiar to me, so i bought it.  i also bought a 1977 hostess steve garvey.

i may need this one, actually - either for my garvey collection or my dodger collection.  not sure yet.  it was on the want list - i just don't know if i needed one or two.

i did not need this 1977 davey lopes card.

more trade bait.  same goes for this 1977 rick monday card

which is one of his first as a dodger.  bill buckner's 1977 hostess card is also an airbrushed abomination, but i didn't bother with that one since he's a cub.  however, i am remorseful that i didn't pick it up as i look back.  

here's another steve yeager, this one is from 1978.

again, i could have sworn that my lists were wrong and i needed this one.  nope.  already had it.  i knew, however, that i did need a 1978 hostess reggie smith (#7 on the nefarious 9 list).  so, i picked one up.

i bought this one on ebay last week.  i could have had one at the show for about 20% of what i paid.  in fact, reggie was on the top of the stack.  that's karma slapping me in the face.

the last hostess card i picked up wasn't on any of my lists.  i was just struck by the look of the card, even though it's airbrushed.

there should have been more lyman bostock cards.

i told the guy that he had the "mostest hostess" i had ever seen, and regretted saying something that dumb even as i was saying it.  i should have trusted my initial instinct and just paid the man silently.  i also should have trusted my want lists.