sunday morning target dodgers - russell and yeager, but not that russell or yeager

happy mother's day!  here are some more cards from a sheet of 15 that was part of the 1990 target dodgers giveaway set.

bob aspromonte

aspromonte was a brooklyn native who signed with the dodgers in 1956, and actually got an at bat that same year as an 18-year old.  he next appeared in the big leagues for the los angeles dodgers in 1960.  after playing in 68 games for the dodgers over the 1960 and '61 seasons, aspromonted was picked by the houston colt .45's in the expansion draft, and he went on to play for that franchise for several seasons.  in fact, he was their franchise's inaugural third baseman, first batter, first batter to get a hit, and  first batter to walk.

ike boone

boone played for brooklyn from 1930-1932.  he appeared in 59 games over that span, hitting .268 with 3 homers and 15 rbi.  in his two full seasons in the majors (with the red sox in 1924 and 1925), boone had hit .337 and .330, respectively. that's not too surprising i suppose, since his career minor league batting average was around .370 over 13 seasons.

eddie brown

brown - nicknamed 'glass arm' for some reason, played for the robins in 1924 and 1925.  he hit .308 in 114 games the first year, and .306 in 153 games the next.  in 1926, brown was playing for the braves, and he hit .328 while leading the league with 201 hits.

george culver

culver had a 9-year major league career, spent mostly in the bullpen.  the dodgers picked him up towards the end of spring training in 1973, and culver pitched in 28 games for them that year - his second-to-last in the majors.  he was 4-4 with 2 saves and a 3.00 era through august 1, but was put on waivers and claimed by the phillies a few days later.

sid fernandez

el sid was thought to be the next fernando valenzuela by some dodger fans in 1983. he was a lefty, but whereas el toro was from mexico, fernandez was from hawaii.  he made two appearances (one start) for the dodgers in '83, going 0-1 with a 6.00 era.  after the season, the dodgers traded fernandez to the mets in the deal that netted them bob bailor and carlos diaz.  fernandez had his best seasons with the mets, helping them to a world championship in 1986.

mickey hatcher

hatcher was a dodger double dipper - you can read all about it here - who seemed to have some bad luck before helping the dodgers win the world series in 1988.  in march of 1981, the dodgers traded hatcher to minnesota, and then went on to win the world series.  six years later, the twins released hatcher, and then they, too, went on to win the fall classic.

johnny hudson

they called him…mr. chips, supposedly because he was a good person to have around when the chips were down according to baseball reference. hudson was a member of the dodgers from 1936-1940, and he appeared in the first night game at ebbets field, which was also the second of johnny vander meer's consecutive no-hitters (hudson was 0 for 1 with a strikeout) in 1938.

chief meyers

meyers was a catcher who had two top-five mvp finishes for the new york giants in 1912 and 1913. he joined the dodgers in 1916, and helped them win the pennant.  meyers was 2 for 10 against babe ruth's red sox in the world series that year, and he returned to the robins for the 1917 season.

fred norman

this may well be the only dodger card of fred norman featuring him in a dodger uniform.  he's still wearing his dodger jersey on his 1971 topps card, but his team affiliation is noted as the cardinals, as he pitched in one game for saint louis in 1970 after they claimed him on waivers from the dodgers late that september.  he had only made his dodger debut earlier that season, and his 1970 topps card shows him wearing a jersey that i believe to be from the kansas city a's (his previous major league team) although he is listed as a dodger. i believed that, but i was wrong - he's wearing his spokane indians minor league jersey on his 1970 topps card (thanks eric).

phil ortega

i can't believe i haven't featured a dodger card of phil ortega on the blog before.  i included him in a post about the frank howard to the senators trade that took place following the 1964 season, but he was a senator on his 1965 topps card that was featured in that post.  ortega was 7-13 with the dodgers over parts of five seasons prior to the aforementioned trade.

jim russell

jim (not bill) russell was with the dodgers in 1950 and 1951. he hit .216 over that span, although that average is somewhat skewed by his 0 for 13 season in 1951.

dick scott

scott pitched for the dodgers in 1963, although not in the world series.  he made an appearance in nine games for the dodgers that year, and he recorded a couple of saves.  after the season, scott was traded to the cubs (that explains his jersey in the photo that was used for the card), and 1964 turned out to be his last in the majors.

don stanhouse

stan the man unusual  was the closer for the american league champion baltimore orioles, when the dodgers signed him to a free agent contract for the 1980 season.  it was a bust of a signing, as stanhouse pitched in just 21 games for the dodgers, amassing an era of 5.04 in 1980.  he didn't pitch at all during the second year of the contract in 1981, and he attempted a comeback with the orioles in 1982.  the dodgers were on the hook for over $400k a year through 1984, however, and some feel that the failed free agent signings of stanhouse and dave goltz made the dodgers gun shy on the free agent market for a few years - until they signed kirk gibson in 1988.

sammy strang

strang was with the brooklyn superbas in 1903 and 1904.  he was their primary third baseman in 1903, hitting .272 in 135 games that year, but he was moved to second base in 1904, and played in only 63 games while hitting .192 in doing so.

joe yeager

joe (not steve) yeager did indeed play both the field and pitch while with the brooklyn franchise from 1898 through 1900.  he was 12-22 on the mound in 1898 when he completed 32 of his 33 starts (he also pitched as a reliever in 3 games) with an era of 3.65, and he also played some shortstop, outfield, and second base. in 1899, yeager played more games at short (11) than he did at pitcher (10), but in 1900, he pitched in two of the three games in which he played.

that's it for this week - take your mom to brunch if you can!

the ring is the thing and other random cards from my scanned folder

i've got a lot of cards that have been sitting in my scanned folder for extended periods of time.  this post will show some of them - kind of a 'why did i scan this card' post.

can you guess which company made this card?

the first time i saw one of these 'ring leader' inserts, i would have bet dollars to donuts that this was a pacific release.  nope.  it comes from 1995 topps stadium club.  molitor got his ring with the blue jays in 1993, and every player in florida and arizona right now is hoping to get one 8 months from now.

1984 topps bob bailor

i really don't know why i scanned that card.  bailor had a 1984 topps traded card that featured him as a dodger.

1993 upper deck joey cora

1993 upper deck lou whitaker (back)

and 1997 upper deck jay bell

those three were obviously meant for a rundown/pickle post.

1997 upper deck mike mcfarlane

a long time ago, i posted cards featuring plays at the plate.  this is a pretty good one, but i no longer have a patp mini collection going.

1998 fleer ultra brady anderson

this card is all about the vein-y forearm.

1998 upper deck ray durham

slammin' sammy sosa sliding in!

2003 fleer flair greats gaylord perry

here's the hall of famer suited up for his company softball team.  seriously, though, perry pitched for the pads in the late 1970's which would put him at 39 or 40 in this photo.  i am older than that, and i hope i don't look as old as he does for at least another 20 years.

2003 topps stadium club carlos delgado

i like the fact that the fans in the photo have three different ways to catch the ball - one guy has a bare hand, another has a glove, and the third guy has his hat ready. all that's missing is a guy with a souvenir cup. it looks like the hat guy already has a ball in his left hand, so maybe the hat works.

2009 topps billy butler

i think i was struck by the uncommon angle of the photo used on that card, although after i looked into it, there were more cards like this than i thought.

here's a mike piazza 1997 upper deck card

whose back shows slammin' sammy sosa sliding in

maybe i was going to do a slidin' sammy post.

last but not least, here's a 1961 topps bob aspromonte card

i don't need a reason to scan some vintage dodger goodness.

what if they held the biggest card show of the year and i didn't show up?

this weekend is the biggest card show of the year in the twin cities (outside of twinsfest).  it attracts vendors from all over the region and beyond (plus mr. mint at least once).  it's the show where one dealer had boxes of 1975 topps minis and there were vintage bargain bins all over the place.

i had planned to go tonight and pick up a 1956 topps duke snider card to complete my '56 dodgers team set.  that's because earlier in the week i picked up this beauty of a card:

a 1956 topps roy campanella card.  it is a really nice looking card - one i have wanted for a long time.

as far as the show goes, i don't think i will be able to swing it.  the past two years i have gone on friday night when it opens, and i know i can't be there tonight.  tomorrow, the likes of frank robinson, pete rose, cal ripken jr, johnny bench, and eddie murray are signing autographs, but i won't be able to be there then, either.  on sunday, there is a slim chance that i could get there shortly before the thing closes at 4, so i guess i will go with the same refrain that dodger fans used back during the early part of campy's career - wait 'til next year.

so instead of that duke snider card, i'll show some other vintage cards.  these are some of the cards that i've picked up over the last couple of years but haven't figured out how to fit into a post.  problem solved.

1960 topps bob aspromonte

this was one of the last few 1960 cards i needed.  it's numbered in the 500's (547) and usually goes for a few bucks.  i put it off for as long as i could.  i think i used some 'ebay bucks' to finally acquire it.

1961 topps frank howard 

that's the card of the reigning nl rookie of the year who was also a member of topps' all-rookie team, but hondo got jobbed out of his rookie cup (which was actually a trophy back in 1961).  teammate tommy davis has the trophy on his card, but for some reason, topps left it off of howard's.  i believe that he is the only member of the all-rookie team to not get the trophy on his card.

1962 topps duke snider

here's the silver fox on his final topps card as a dodger.  luckily for me, his 1963 topps card (which is a high number) lists him as a member of the mets so i don't 'have' to bother.  this is a nice card for duke to go out on - a pensive look from within the walls of the coliseum.

1963 topps johnny podres

i should be on the lookout for an upgrade here.  podres' card is one of the few (moose skowron's is another that comes to mind) dodger card from 1963 to have the blue bottom.  i like it better than the more prevalent green or red.

1965 topps john roseboro

roseboro's card has that weird blue border up top.  i've never seen one that was orange all the way around.  by the way, i am very excited for next year's heritage release.  very excited.

1966 topps willie davis

the 3-dog here is a high number (535), so it took me a while to track down at a price i was willing to pay.  the corners are a bit soft, but it fits in my collection nicely.  now if only i could find a photo of davis in an angels' uniform, i could get to making that final tribute card that he never got.

1970 topps maury wills

this card, of course, is wills' first official topps card as a dodger (he's on one of the 1959 world series recap cards in the 1960 set).  which reminds me - a while ago i posted all of the topps cards that should have been of the 1962 league mvp and asked if there were any similar cards folks wanted to see.  three people responded so i'll probably take a stab at making each of the cards that they requested.  they are:

a 1951 or 1952 card of artie wilson (padrographs)
a 1983 card of harold reynolds (mariner1)
a 1979 card of jim bouton (dayf)

but, since a 1968 topps deckle edge wills was at stake, i need to designate a winner.  random.org tells me that the card goes to...

...dayf.

i'll get something thrown together sometime soon.

the topps dodgers autograph project - the early los angeles years

in case you missed the first installment, i am taking the lost collector's yankee project and putting my dodger spin on it.  so now we are into the los angeles years.  all of these autographs were obtained through the mail, and were free of charge. 

joe pignatano, 1958 topps

i've posted this one before.  pignatano was a brooklyn native who played in a handful of games as a hometown boy done good before moving to the west coast with the team.  he stayed with the dodgers until his contract was purchased by the a's prior to the 1961 season.  other players who have signed their 1958 topps cards for me include don zimmer.  that's it.

fred kipp, 1959 topps

kipp also went west with the club, having made an appearance with the team in 1957.  1958 was his big year in the majors, as he went 6-6 in 40 appearances.  he pitched in 2 games in 1959, and then was traded to the yankees prior to the 1960 season.  i have a few other 1959 topps cards that were signed through the mail - carl erskine, dick gray, and bob lillis.

chuck essegian, 1960 topps

essegian joined the dodgers for the latter part of the 1959 season.  he came from saint louis in exchange for dick gray, the man who had hit the first home run in los angeles dodger history.  essegian hit some home runs, too, as it turned out.  in the 1959 world series against the white sox, he had not one, but two pinch hit home runs.  the first one came in game 2 of the series with the dodgers down a game and trailing by a run in the 7th inning.  essegian''s blast tied the game, and a couple of batters later, charlie neal put them ahead to stay with his second home run of the game.  some other former dodgers who have signed their 1960 cards for me through the mail include roger craig (with fee), don demeter, and bob lillis.

bob aspromonte, 1961 topps

i posted this one not too long ago - it's the most recent 1961 topps card i have had signed through the mail.  others in my collection include don demeter, don newcombe (with fee), and joe pignatano.

norm sherry, 1962 topps

sherry debuted in the big leagues with a bang.  on april 12, 1959, he was the dodgers' starting catcher against the cubs.  on the mound that day was sandy koufax, the pitcher whom sherry suggested should just relax and take something off of his fastball to be more effective.  while koufax only lasted three innings that day, sherry played the whole game.  he was hit by a pitch in his first big league at bat, and then hit a two-run single his next time up.  sherry didn't appear in another game until september, but he was back in la each season from 1960 through 1962.  he even occasionally caught his brother larry.  i chose to feature sherry's card simply because i had not yet posted it on the blog.  other 1962 topps cards that i have received signed through the mail include tommy davis (with fee), willie davis (with fee), frank howard (with fee), wally moon (with fee), ron perranoski, pete richert, and daryl spencer.

ed roebuck, 1963 topps

same goes here for roebuck.  i've had his 1963 card  sitting in my scanned folder for a while now, but have never gotten around to showing it off.  roebuck was a member of the world champion brooklyn dodgers in 1955 (his rookie season) and he threw a couple of scoreless innings in the fall classic that year.  he also pitched in the 1956 world series.  unfortunately, roebuck did not pitch in the majors in 1959 due to injury, and so he missed out on another opportunity to pitch in the world series.  roebuck had a big year in 1962, winning 10 games and saving another 9.  he was traded to the senators in july of 1963, however, and eventually finished his career in philadelphia three years later.  the other 1963 cards i have signed through the mail include joe moeller, wally moon (with fee), and don zimmer.

ken mcmullen, 1964 topps

this is another card that i was saving for a different post - most likely mcmullen's double dipper post - but it fits here as part of the topps dodgers autograph project.  mcmullen first appeared in the big leagues in 1962, and he played in a total of 109 games for the dodgers between then and 1964.  after the 1964 season, he was traded to the senators in the claude osteen/frank howard deal.  he had his best years in washington and then in california with the angels before returning to the dodgers in a reserve role.  mcmullen gets the nod to represent 1964 over the other signed ttm cards in my collection, including willie davis (with fee), pete richert, and dick tracewski.

here's a running list of the cards and players in my topps dodgers autograph project.  only a few that were not free, and a different player for each year.

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

absolutely aspromonte

bob aspromonte had a single at bat as a brooklyn dodger.  it came in 1956, and the 18-year old brooklyn native pinch-hit for sandy amoros in the bottom of the 8th inning of a laugher against saint louis.  facing the cards' don liddle, aspromonte struck out and was replaced in the field by gino cimoli and the dodgers won the game 17-2.  fast forward four years, and the dodgers are in los angeles and bob aspromonte makes his next big league appearance.

he played in enough games (21) to warrant a card of his own in the 1961 set.  i have a couple of them, and aspromonte was kind enough to sign one through the mail for me

aspromonte played in 47 games for the dodgers in 1961 and hit .241 on the year.  after the season, the houston colt .45's made him the 3rd pick in the 1961 expansion draft.  aspromonte went on to man the hot corner for the colts/astros for the next 7 seasons before spending two years in atlanta and a final campaign back in new york with the 1971 mets, which were managed by his old brooklyn (and los angeles) teammate gil hodges.  speaking of brooklyn teammates, aspromonte was the last brooklyn dodger player to retire from the big leagues.

aspromonte hit only one home run as a dodger and it came against the braves' lew burdette on cinco de mayo, 1960.  the next home run he hit came as a colt, and he hit it on cinco de mayo, 1962. 

aspromonte also included a personalized note when he returned my card, complete with his uniform number

although that's the number he wore in houston and atlanta, not his dodger uniform number - that would have been 34. or 44. or 28.  i wonder if it was in any way a tribute to hodges?  i shoulda asked.

 

thanks bob!