zuckered in - garvey cey russell lopes is now on facebook

yup. you can 'like' the page by clickling over there on the right, or you can become a fan of the site on facebook.  or both, i suppose.  jim perry seems happy about it.

i'm not sure what i will do on facebook - all the posting will still be here - but i figured it was time to reach out a little bit.

also, there is a new page on facebook called 'the topps traded 1975 project' that i wanted to more formally follow.  david, the proprietor of the site, had asked me a few weeks ago to create some cards that should have been, and may well have been if topps had issued a traded set in 1975.  the first few cards i made up were some dodgers, such as juan marichal

leron lee

(with tommy lasorda lurking!), charlie 'chuck' manuel

and burt hooton (burt hasn't been featured yet, so i won't post that card yet).

then, prior to the hall of fame weekend, david asked me to create a few more cards (he provided the photos, so most of the credit goes to him.  i just put it in the 1975 topps format and added the autograph).  here's jim rice

and dennis eckersley

the eckersley card is pretty cool, if i don't say so myself, but most of that is because of the photo david found somewhere online.

i also did a gaylord perry card which also hasn't yet been showcased, as well as the jim perry card you see at the top of the post.  for that card, i just used his actual 1975 topps card

and put him in the oakland yellows and greens.  it's not the best, but there are some pretty bad cards in the actual 1975 topps set, too.  the jim perry card that should have been has also made its way to the hardball times, which is pretty cool.

so, if you're on facebook, fan up!  and don't forget to check out the 1975 topps traded cards that should have been!

juan marichal final tribute - the card that should have been

when i drew up a short list of cards that should have been, this one was number 3 or 4 on the list.  travis took care of cards one and two of the top 4, and i (and doc) took a shot at another.  i still haven't seen anyone try this, probably because the only photo i know of juan marichal wearing a dodger hat is in black and white, and he's not in full uniform. 

juan appeared in exactly 2 games for the dodgers early in the 1975 season.  they would be the final two appearances of his career as he gave up 11 hits, 9 earned runs, and struck out only one batter in 6 innings of work and was released by the dodgers shortly thereafter.  this means that the 1976 card would have been a final tribute with his complete career stats on the back - something every player (even former giants who took a bat to john roseboro's head) deserves.

i have scoured the internet, visiting the usual sources for photos and have come up empty.  so i asked myself, what would topps do?  and topps would recycle a photo.  so, with that in mind, i give you the 1976 topps juan marichal card that should have been

if the photo looks familiar, it's because i took it from marichal's 1974 topps traded card and reversed it. 

i also bleached the uniform, airbrushed his neck, and used someone else's top part of the cap to get a small bit of the interlocking 'la' logo.  not too bad if i do say so myself.

 

here's to you, 1976 topps juan marichal card that should have been!

the evolution of the out of place guy, part 1

you know the guy, right? the free agent in decline your team signed but you don't really think of him as a 'member' of the team. the guy who came over in a trade but didn't really fit with the team or was only there for one season. or, the guy you had heard of but who you didn't realize even played for your team until many years into your fandom.

the dodgers have had their share of 'those' players, so here's a primer on the evolution of the dodgers' out of place guy.

we'll kick it off with moose skowron who was shown as a dodger on his 1963 topps card

skowron is best known (and almost exclusively known) as a yankee. he came to the dodgers in a deal for stan williams and had perhaps his poorest season ever, batting just over the mendoza line. he came alive in the 1963 world series though, batting .385 with an ops of over 1.000 against his former mates. his contract was purchased by the washington senators after the 63 season.

fast forward to 1968, and we have zoilo (once called 'zorro' on a topps card) versalleszoilo must have impressed the dodgers in the 1965 world series, because they traded for him two years later, sending john roseboro and ron perranoski (among others) to minnesota. versalles was the al mvp in 1965, but he was in serious decline by 1968. he hit only .196 for the dodgers that year - his only year in la - and was perhaps thankfully selected by the padres in the expansion draft prior to 1969.

so, with versalles gone, jim bunning was brought in to be the out of place guy. by the way, thank goodness for the 1990 target dodgers set, otherwise we might not have a card of jim bunning as a dodger. the phillies had traded bunning to the pirates prior to the 1968 season. after one-and a half seasons in pittsburgh, the dodgers acquired the future senator (united states, not washington) for a couple of minor leaguers and cash. he pitched fairly well for the dodgers (3.36 era in 56 innings) but was released after the season. the phillies took him back and bunning finished his career in philadelphia.

1971 saw dick allen joining the ranks, featured here on his 1971 topps super card (with the dodger stadium scoreboard in the background) allen had spent 1970 with the cardinals after 7 pretty remarkable years in philadelphia. he had a good year for the dodgers in 1971, too, but was traded to the white sox after that lone year in la. all he did the following year was win the al mvp.

on the same day dick allen was traded away, the dodgers traded for frank robinson, shown here on a 1989 smokey dodger greats card

like allen, frobby would spend just one year in la. unlike allen, that year would be pretty mediocre offensively. luckily for the angels (to whom robinson was traded), he would bounce back big time in 1973.

in 1975, juan marichal was a dodger, most definitely out of placehe had spent one year in boston after pitching exclusively for the giants organization and the dodgers decided to give him a shot. he lasted just two starts, completing six innings and striking out 1 before the dodgers released him.

in 1977, there was boog powell the former oriole had been released by the indians after the 1976 season. he came to the dodgers as a pinch hitter, but hit just .244 with no extra base hits in 53 at bats before being released in august of 1977.

we'll finish part one with another oriole, don stanhouse, who signed with the dodgers as a free agent prior to the 1980 season stan 'the man unusual' had saved 45 games for the orioles over the two previous seasons, but did not pitch that well in the 1979 postseason. he pitched even worse for the dodgers, saving just 7 games and posting an era of 5.04 to go with a whip of 1.84. the dodgers released him prior to the 1981 season. i believe that the stanhouse experience (along with fellow 1979 signee dave goltz) was a big reason the dodgers seemed to avoid the free agent market until 1987.

that doesn't mean, however, that they were without any 'out of place guys' during those years, as we will see in part 2.