sunday morning target dodgers - the longest name edition

here are more players from another sheet in the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary giveaway set.

mike devereaux

devereaux was a 5th round pick of the dodgers in 1985, and he was in their outfield a couple of years later.  and then again a few years after that.  i've told his tale before, so i won't go into details again here.  devereaux is currently a coach in the rockies' system.

dick dietz

dodger fans know dietz from his days as a giant, particularly his failure to get out of the way of a don drysdale pitch during big d's scoreless innings streak.  dietz was deemed to have not tried to evade the pitch, and was not awarded first base. that was significant because the bases were loaded at the time.  drysdale got dietz out after the non-hbp, and went on to set the record for consecutive scoreless innings.  dietz joined the dodgers for the 1972 season, but injuries limited him to just 27 games.

snooks dowd

in 1919, dowd played in 13 games for the a's and one for the tigers.  seven years later, he appeared in two games for the brooklyn robins, going 0 for 8. not much to say about dowd, so instead i will note that mlb should bring back the sweaters.

jim golden

golden was acquired by the dodgers from the phillies in 1958 in the deal that sent sparky anderson to philadelphia.  he debuted with the dodgers a couple of years later, starting and beating the cubs in his big league debut and only appearance of the 1960 season. the following year, golden pitched in 28 games, winning 1 and losing 1, although he was used exclusively in relief.  after the season, golden was selected by the houston colt .45's in the expansion draft, and he went on to pitch for them for a couple of years.  he was traded to the white sox for nellie fox following the 1963 season.

don lund

lund was a standout athlete at the university of michigan, and chose baseball over football by signing with the dodgers rather than the chicago bears. he appeared in four games for brooklyn in 1945, and then hit .300 in 11 games for them in 1947. the following year, lund was hitting just .188 when the browns selected him on waivers in late june. he eventually returned to michigan as a member of the tigers, and later coached baseball at his alma mater, leading them to the college world series in 1962.

cal mclish

that would be calvin coolidge julius caesar tuskahoma mclish.  just cal, for short.  mclish first appeared in the majors with the dodgers in 1944 as an 18-year old.  he was 3-10 in 23 games (13 starts) that year, with all three of his wins coming in complete game performances. after a year of military service, mclish appeared in just one game in 1946, and was included in the may 1947 trade with the pirates that netted the dodgers al gionfriddo.

clarence mitchell

mitchell pitched for the robins from 1918 through 1922, which means that he was a member of the 1920 national league champions.  he was 5-2 during the regular season that year, and pitched in just one of the world series games (game 5) without figuring in the decision.  mitchell also played the outfield and first base when he wasn't pitching, and had a batting average of .277 in well over 400 at bats during his time with the robins.

gene moore

moore had three different stints with the brooklyn dodger organization, but only appeared in the majors for them in one of them, so he did not achieve true double (or triple) dipper status.  he was first brought into the fold in september of 1935 after playing for the reds and cardinals, but he was traded to the boston bees prior to the start of the 1936 season.  following the 1938 campaign, the bees sent him back to the dodgers, and he played in 117 games for brooklyn over the 1939 and 1940 seasons until his contract was purchased by the bees in may of '40.  the bees eventually traded moore to the yankees, and the dodgers purchased his contract a couple of months later, in february of 1942.  moore spent most of 1942 with the dodgers' triple-a team in montreal, at least until the senators came calling at the end of august and brought him back to the majors.

mike morgan

morgan was well traveled in his major league career, pitching for the dodgers from 1989 through 1991. he was 33-36 as a dodger, and represented the club at the 1991 all-star game - the only all-star selection of his career.

mike munoz

munoz began his 12-year big league career with the dodgers in 1989, and pitched for them again in 1990.  following that season, he was traded to the tigers, but he eventually returned to the nl west with the rockies, with whom he spent the majority of his career. a lefty specialist, munoz appeared in 453 games (all in relief) and pitched a total of 364.1 innings in his career.

charlie neal

neal played mostly second base for the brooklyn and los angeles dodgers from 1956 through 1961.  he was an all-star in 1959 and 1960, and led the league in triples in the former.  neal hit .370 with a couple of home runs in the 1959 world series, but the dodgers traded him to the mets in the fall of 1961.  with the mets, neal was their inaugural second baseman, and he drove in the first run in franchise history on opening day, 1962.

bill north

north was a two-time stolen base champion for the oakland a's and a two-time world series champion (he was with the a's in 1973, but did not appear in the postseason due to injury, and played against the dodgers in the 1974 fall classic).  he began his career with the cubs, which is why he's wearing cub gear in the card photo.  i don't know why a photo of him from the early 1970's was used for his card, unless someone really wanted to make sure we acknowledged those sweet muttonchops.  anyway, north joined the dodgers in a may of 1978 trade (the trade that sent glenn burke to oakland) and took over in center field for rick monday.  he helped the dodgers win the nl west that year, but was 0 for 8 in the nlcs and 1 for 8 in the world series against the yankees, and he chose to leave la via free agency for the 1979 season.

lee rogers

rogers spent one year in the majors - 1938.  he was 1-1 in 14 games for the red sox, and then, following an august trade with the dodgers, he went 0-2 in 12 games for brooklyn.

dick smith

smith was originally signed by the dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1957, but he made his big league debut with the mets in 1963.  he returned to the dodgers for the 1965 season, and he was 0 for 6 with a sacrifice in 10 games.  he did not appear in the 1965 world series, although he was traded to the twins (the 1965 american league champions) prior to the 1967 season, after spending all of 1966 in the minors.

ben wade

similar to dick smith, wade signed his first professional contract in 1940 with the dodgers, however he made his big league debut as a cub in 1948.  the dodgers re-acquired the hurler prior to the 1950 season, and he marked his return to the majors two years later - this time with brooklyn.  he was 19-15 in the 2-plus seasons that he spent with the dodgers, and got to pitch in the 1953 world series for them as well.  after his playing days were over, wade became a scout for the dodgers, and he eventually served as their scouting director from the late 1970's into the '90's.  no word on whether or not he bought into sabermetrics, though.

sunday morning target dodgers - you can call him shirley

here's another sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary giveaway set. enjoy.

luis alcaraz

alcaraz showed plenty of pop in the minors, hitting 22 homers in 1967 at albuquerque, which would have been unusual for middle infielders of the time.  however, when he reached the majors as a september '67 dodger call-up, he slugged just .250 with one extra base hit.  1968 was worse - he slugged .217 in 41 games for the dodgers with a double and two home runs.  his contract was purchased by the royals after that season, and he played in kansas city for a couple more years.

bill antonello

antonello was a brooklyn native who made his way to the big leagues with the dodgers in 1953. he appeared in 40 games for the club, hitting .163 with a home run, triple, and a double to his credit. although he was with the team all season, antonello did not appear in the 1953 world series.

steve bilko

bilko had played parts of six seasons in the majors before he joined the los angeles angels of the pcl in 1955.  he had hit 21 homers for the cardinals in 1953, but really found his power stroke in the pcl, as he hit 37, 55, and 56 home runs in 1955, 1956, and 1957, respectively.  the reds purchased his contract for the 1958 season, and then traded bilko to the dodgers in june of that year.  over the course of the remainder of the season, bilko hit .208 with 7 home runs for the dodgers. he spent the 1959 season back in the minor leagues, and was then drafted by the tigers in the rule v draft following the '59 season.

carl erskine

erskine was a pitcher for the dodgers for 12 seasons - from 1948 into 1959.  he helped the club win their first world series title in 1955, although he pitched better in other fall classics.  in the 1953 world series, erskine set a record by striking out 14 yankees in game 3. he had won 20 games during the regular season that year, and finished 9th in the mvp voting. erskine has two career no-hitters to his credit, throwing one in 1952 and the other in 1956.

george fallon

fallon was 2 for 8 with the 1937 brooklyn dodgers in what was his first taste of the big leagues. he returned to the majors in 1943 with the cardinals, and played for saint louis through the 1945 season. he had a couple of at bats in the 1944 world series with the cards, and so earned a ring following their defeat of the crosstown browns.

pete mikkelsen

mikkelsen spent the last four years of his nine year major league career with the dodgers. he pitched out of their bullpen from 1969-1972, compiling a record of 24-17 with 20 saves in 155 appearances. i previously lamented the fact that, despite his regular presence in the bullpen each of those years, topps never put him on a baseball card as a dodger.  i'm glad to have this card.

bobby mitchell

mitchell did get a card from fleer in 1982, even though his dodger career consisted of 13 plate appearances in 19 games over the previous two seasons.  he was included in the trade that sent bobby castillo to the twins following the 1981 season, and played for two years as a twin.

paul richards

richards was 0 for 8 as a member of the 1932 brooklyn dodgers, appearing in 3 games that season. he got his first big league hit the following year, although he was a member of the new york giants then.  richards went on to play for the a's and tigers as well, and he was detroit's starting catcher in the 1945 world series in which they defeated the cubs in 7 games.  in fact, hit was his 3-run double in the first inning that put game 7 out of the cubs' reach.

don ross

in between stints with the tigers in 1938 and again from 1942-45, ross spent some time with the brooklyn dodgers. he appeared in 10 games for the club in the 1940 season, hitting .289 with a home run and a couple of doubles.

steve shirley

shirley spent about a month in the majors. the dodgers called him up in june of 1982, and he appeared in 11 games between june 21 and july 30.  he was 1-1 in those games with a 4.26 era, and in one of them he was allowed to bat.  on june 25 against the astros, shirley relieved bob welch in the 2nd inning, and when the pitcher's spot came up in the top of the 4th, tommy lasorda let shirley hit. in his only career at bat, shirley singled off of mike lacoss, so he is among the very few players to have a career batting average of 1.000.  later in the game, shirley was relieved by terry forster, himself one of the best hitting pitchers in the history of the game.  shirley went on to pitch in japan for a couple of seasons before returning to the states where he pitched in triple-a for several organizations (including the dodgers) through the 1988 season.

jerry stephenson

stephenson appeared in 3 games for the 1970 dodgers, pitching 6.2 innings and posting an era of 9.45 after putting up some pretty good numbers (18-5, 2.82 era) in triple-a spokane.  not good, but enough to earn him a card in the 1971 topps set for which i am thankful.  i'm guessing the photo used for the card comes from 1971 spring training (stephenson pitched in the dodger organization through 1973), as that was the year the team added the shoulder and neck piping to their jerseys.

stuffy stewart

stewart was a member of the 1923 brooklyn robins, appearing in 4 games and going 4 for 11 at the plate with a double and a home run. despite being a prolific base stealer in the minor leagues, stewart did not attempt a steal with the robins, nor had he tried to swipe a bag in his previous big league appearances with the cardinals or pirates (as far as baseball reference knows).  when he returned to the majors in 1925 as a senator, however, stewart did start to steal.

bert tooley

tooley spent 1911 and 1912 in the major leagues with the dodgers. in fact, he was their primary shortstop in 1911.  following the 1912 season, he was sent back to newark of the international league where he played through the 1915 season.

george watkins

watkins finished up his seven year big league career, and the 1936 season, with the brooklyn dodgers. he had begun the 1936 campaign with the phillies, but joined brooklyn in may.  in 105 games for the dodgers, watkins hit .255 with 4 homers and 43 rbi.

les webber

webber pitched for the dodgers from 1942 into the 1946 season.  he led the league in saves (although not an official category) in 1943 with 10.  overall, webber was 22-18 with a 3.89 era for the dodgers, and he had a 2.30 era in the 1946 season when he was claimed on waivers by the cleveland indians.

sunday morning target dodgers - the rifleman, a unibrow, and 12 others

only 14 cards from the 1990 target dodgers set today, because this particular sheet featured another dodger double dipper who gets his own post later on.

bobby bragan

bragan began his career as a shortstop with the phillies in 1940, but began catching as well, and after he was traded to the dodgers just prior to the 1943 season, catcher was his primary position.  he returned to shortstop for a bit in 1944, and then missed the 1945 and '46 seasons due to military service during world war ii.  when bragan returned to the dodgers in 1947, he signed the petition protesting the addition of jackie robinson to the major league roster, and even asked branch rickey for a trade.  bragan wasn't traded, and he soon changed his mind about being jackie's teammate.  in 1948, after appearing in just 9 games for the dodgers, bragan was offered a job managing in the organization's minor league system at fort worth.  bragan accepted, knowing that his roster spot had essentially been taken by roy campanella.  after several seasons in fort worth (where he made maury wills into a switch-hitter), bragan eventually managed in the major leagues for the pirates, indians, and braves.  he returned to fort worth, and became the oldest manager in professional baseball history when he managed a game for the independent cats at the age of 87 in 2005.

buster burrell

another catcher, burrell spent three seasons (1895-97) with the grooms/bridegrooms, although he never appeared in more than 62 games in a single season.  his best year was 1896 when he played in 62 games and hit .301.  burrell looks pretty intense, but he lived to be 95 before passing away in 1962.  so, in his lifetime, the entire history of professional baseball up until sandy koufax's 7th start of the 1962 season occurred.  crazy.

guy cantrell

cantrell's nickname was 'gunner', and as a pitcher for the brooklyn robins in 1925 and 1927, he was 1-0 with a 2.93 era over 20 appearances.  cantrell was acquired by the philadelphia a's during the 1927 season, and finished his major league career with the tigers in 1930.  now we go from one 'gunner' to another…

chuck connors

connors was a brooklyn native who signed with the local club as a teenager in 1940.  he soon after went to college at seton hall and was picked up by the yankees.  in 1946, he wrote to branch rickey asking the dodgers to re-acquire him, and they did so after the yankees waived him.  connors wound up playing in the minor leagues, but also spent some time on the roster of the boston celtics from 1946-48.  he finally made his baseball big league debut in may of 1949 as a pinch-hitter.  with one out in the bottom of the 9th in a game against the phillies, connors pinch-hit for carl furillo.  gil hodges was on first base, so connors represented the tying run, as the dodgers were down 4-2.  unfortunately, connors grounded into a game ending double play, 1-6-3.  that turned out to be his only appearance as a dodger, but he was traded to the cubs and played in 66 games for the southsiders in 1951.  after that, connors played in the pcl for the los angeles angels, and was discovered by hollywood.  he eventually decided to pursue acting as a career, and landed the title role in the abc program 'the rifleman'.

jumbo elliot

elliot first pitched for the robins in 1925 after throwing just one inning for the browns in 1923.  after taking the loss in 2 of the 3 games in which he pitched in '25, elliot spent 1926 in the minors, but was back in the majors to stay in 1927.  he pitched both as a starter and a reliever for the robins through the 1930 season, which happened to be the only time in his career up until that point that he earned a winning record.  with a 26-36 record overall, the robins traded elliot to the phillies, with whom he promptly led the league with 19 wins in 1931.

dick farrell

farrell was better known as 'turk' during his playing days.  he spent the last few months of the 1961 season with the dodgers, but didn't ever get a complete card as a dodger from topps, so it is quite disappointing that this card fails to feature him in the correct uniform as well.  as a dodger, farrell was 6-6 with 10 saves in 50 appearances.  he was selected by the colt .45's in the expansion draft, and lost 20 games for them in 1962.

balvino galvez

galvez was once traded for billy beane, straight up.  i wonder if the a's general manager makes that deal today.  all of galvez's major league experience came as a dodger in 1986.  he pitched in 10 games and had a record of 0-1.  the first batter galvez faced as a big leaguer was none other than ron cey.  the penguin stroked a two-run, game-tying single off of galvez, and tommy lasorda removed the rookie pitcher from the game.  galvez was traded by the dodgers to the tigers during the 1987 season, and they sent him to the twins the following year for beane.

phil garner

garner doesn't look quite right without his bristle brush mustache, does he?  he joined the dodgers during the 1987 season following a trade with houston and wound up playing in 70 games for the club. he hit just .190 with two home runs (the last two of his career), and finished his major league career with 15 games for the giants in 1988.

jeff hamilton

hamilton was a backup third baseman who won the job during the 1988 season when pedro guerrero was moved to first base.  he wound up manning the hot corner for the dodgers during the world series, too, catching the final out of their pivotal game 4 win.  that was the game that, thanks in part to hamilton's presence in the lineup, caused bob costas to comment that the dodgers were fielding the weakest hitting lineup in world series history.  hamilton was the dodgers' primary third baseman in 1989, but was injured for most of 1990 and '91.  he attempted to convert to a pitcher, but was unsuccessful, meaning his only pitching appearance as a major leaguer remained his 1.2 innings of work in a 22-inning game against the astros in 1990 in which he struck out billy hatcher and ken caminiti, but was nonetheless saddled with the loss.

dale mitchell

mitchell's career started with a bang in cleveland - over his first 8 seasons with the indians, mitchell had 1201 hits, 60 triples (he led the league with 23 in 1949), and a .315 batting average.  beginning in 1954, however, he was relegated to part-time duty, and the indians eventually sold his contract to the dodgers during the 1956 season.  with brooklyn, mitchell hit .292 in 19 games down the stretch as the dodgers repeated as national league champions.  in the world series, mitchell was hitless four pinch-hit appearances against the yankees, the third of which resulted in the final out of don larsen's game 5 perfecto.

wally moon

all hail the unibrow!  moon was the 1954 national league rookie of the year for the cardinals, who traded him to the dodgers after the 1958 season for gino cimoli.  moon immediately made an impact for the dodgers in 1959, hitting .302 while leading the league in triples and launching his 'moon shot' home runs at the la coliseum as the dodgers won the pennant and the world series.  moon hit .299 in 1960, and then .328 in 1961 (his .434 obp led the league that year), but his performance tapered off after that.  his final appearance as a dodger came in the 1965 world series, where he was hitless in two pinch-hitting appearances.

bill posedel

posedel didn't reach the majors until the age of 31 when he debuted for the dodgers during the 1938 season.  he made 17 starts, finishing 6 of them (one was a shutout), and also relieved in 16 games.  he finished with a record of 8-9 and was traded to the braves during the offseason.  he was sometimes known as barnacle bill due to his two stints in the navy - one prior to the start of his big league career, and one during his career to serve in world war ii.

howie reed

the dodgers acquired reed from the kansas city a's in 1961, buy he didn't make it to the club's big league roster until 1964.  he was 3-3 as a starter with a no-decision, and 0-1 with a save as a reliever in 19 other appearances that year.  in 1965, reed pitched in 38 games (5 as a starter) and had an overall record of 7-5 plus a save.  he appeared in two games during the 1965 world series, but had just one appearance for the dodgers in the 1966 season before he was traded to the angels.

rj reynolds

robert james reynolds received a september call-up from the dodgers in 1983, but was with the team for most of 1984 and 1985 up until the time he was traded to the pirates for bill madlock.  he played for the pirates through the 1990 season, and then went to japan where he found some success.  as a dodger, reynolds is best remembered for his walk-off squeeze bunt on september 11, 1983 that beat the braves and put the dodgers 3 games up on atlanta in the nl west. that was a big two-game swing in the standings, and the dodgers held on to win the west.

sunday morning target dodgers - putting the 'l' in 'gcrl' and the last brooklyn dodger

another sunday, another sheet from the 1990 target giveaway set marking the dodger franchise's 100th anniversary of national league existence.

this sheet is a pretty good one - we'll start with the second baseman on the team of my youth, and the dodgers' current first base coach, davey lopes

lopes helped the dodgers to 4 pennants during his tenure as their second baseman.  he led the league in steals in 1975 and 1976 - the last dodger to do so.  maybe dee gordon will break that streak this year.

hank aguirre

nice dodger stadium background there!  aguirre spent the entire 1968 season with the dodgers and seemed to pitch well following a solid decade with the tigers.  for the blue, he had a 0.69 era in 25 appearances, including 39 innings of work, but was released by the team during the offseason.  he wound up signing with the cubs and pitched for a couple more seasons.

roy campanella

campy is one of a very small group of players to have won 3 mvp awards.  he won his over a 5-year span during his 10-year tenure as the dodgers' catcher that came to an end when he was paralyzed from injuries sustained in a car accident following the 1957 season.  he entered the hall of fame in 1969, and his number was retired by the dodgers right about 42 years ago at the same time that jackie robinson and sandy koufax had their numbers retired.

george dockins

the card says that dockins was an infielder, but he was actually a pitcher.  dockins pitched for the cardinals in 1945, but had his contract purchased by the dodgers in 1946.  he reached the big leagues with the club in 1947, appearing in four games.  he had no record with an era of 11.81.

dave foutz

not often you see a necktie on a baseball card.  foutz was with the brooklyn franchise starting in 1888,  two years before the bridegrooms joined the nl, and so was an original national league brooklyn-ite.  he stayed with the team as a player through 1896.  he also was a pitcher, but spent most of his time with brooklyn as a first baseman and outfielder.  oh, he was also the team's third manager, leading the team from 1893 though 1896 when both his playing and managing careers came to a simultaneous end, reportedly due to difficulties with asthma. sadly, he died at the age of 40 shortly thereafter.

john hale

that's a pretty good photo used on hale's card.  hale was an outfielder on the dodgers from 1974 until late in the 1977 season when the dodgers put him on waivers and he was claimed by the blue jays.  two weeks later, the mariners purchased his contract, and he spent 1978 and 79 with the m's.  as a dodger, he started out with a bang.  he was 4 for 4 in his first big league appearances in 1974 - his first big league at bat came against jr richard, and resulted in a double for hale.  hale was the team's fourth outfielder in 1975 behind bill buckner, jim wynn, and willie crawford, but wasn't able to crack the starting lineup even with the departure of those three because of the arrival of their replacements - dusty baker, reggie smith, and rick monday.

joe judge

judge had spent 18 seasons with the washington senators, including their two pennant winning teams, before joining the dodgers for the 1933 season.  as a dodger, judge played in 42 games and hit just .214.  he was released by the team and returned to the american league as a member of the boston red sox.

mike kekich

another dodger stadium backdrop!  kekich is best known by me as one of three 'other' dodgers featured on jim lefebvre's 1965 topps rookie card.  truth is, he spent 9 years in the majors, mostly as a yankee.  he debuted for the dodgers in 1965 as a 20-year old and was 0-1 in 5 appearances.  he returned to the big leagues in 1968 and went 2-10 in 25 games.  following the season, he was dealt to the yankees for andy kosco.

bob kennedy

bob kennedy ended his big league playing career with 19 appearances for the brooklyn dodgers in 1957.  in fact, he made the final out in the dodgers' last game as the brooklyn dodgers, a fly out to end the 1957 season.  like kekich, i remember kennedy more for a 1965 topps card - the one that shows him as 'head coach' because the cubs used a group of coaches rather than a manager for a season or two.

rudy law

law debuted with the dodgers as a september call-up in 1978.  he returned to the majors in 1980 as the club's primary center fielder and stole 40 bases.  unfortunately, the dodgers went out and traded for ken landreaux and so law spent the team's 1981 championship season in the minors.  law was traded to the white sox prior to the 1982 season, and made the postseason that year with chicago.

ramon martinez

martinez debuted during the dodgers' memorable 1988 season, but didn't appear in the postseason.  he soon became the team's ace, winning 20 games in 1990.  his 1314 strikeouts as a dodger are good for 8th all-time in franchise history, but he should be passed by clayton kershaw here in the next few weeks.

chappie mcfarland

mcfarland earned this card by making one start for the brooklyn superbas in 1906.  he pitched a complete game, but unfortunately it was a loss in which he allowed 8 earned runs.  that game was not only the sum of his brooklyn career, it was the end of his big league career that had begun in 1902.

johnny mitchell

mitchell spent the 1924 and 1925 seasons with the brooklyn robins.  he hit .256 as one of the team's shortstops, playing in a total of 161 games as a robin.

howie schultz

schultz broke in with the dodgers in 1943, playing first base.  he played in over 300 games for the dodgers at that position until he was replaced by jackie robinson in 1947.  the dodgers dealt him to the phillies early on in the 1947 season.  after retiring from baseball following the 1948 season, schultz went on to play in the nba with his hometown minneapolis lakers.

tracy woodson

woodson played for the dodgers from 1987 into 1989.  he was a member of the 1988 world champions, getting into four of the five world series games that year against the a's.  in fact, woodson drove in what wound up being the game winning run of the dodgers' game 4 4-3 victory that put them up 3 games to 1.