i received congratulations from bob walk the plank

yes, matthew from bob walk the plank sent me some congrats recently.

those, of course, are the backs of three baseball cards - a 2014 topps mini bill buckner autograph,

a 2001 fleer greats of the game ron cey autograph,

and a 2007 upper deck ultimate collection chad billingsley autograph

that wasn't all.  here's another card back

that's the back of a 2014 topps archives bill russell gold parallel autograph card

the shortstop for the team of my youth! numbered 6/50 (that's garvey's jersey number and one-third of russell's jersey number - got to be a 1/1, right?!?).  this will pair well with the base and silver autos i already owned.

but wait - there was more!  i noted on a recent bob walk the plank post that i regretfully did not own a john candelaria autographed card featuring the candy man in dodger blue, having been rebuffed in previous through the mail attempts.  here's the back of the last card matthew sent

yes, that's a 2004 donruss recollection collection 1992 donruss card, signed by candelaria himself

matthew, did we just become best friends?

thanks for the congratulations and the autos!  i'm working on another package to be heading your way soon!

diamond dodgers

here's the second suit from the 2005 baseball hero deck set i picked up recently.  the diamonds represent (primarily) the early los angeles dodger teams that reached the world series four times in their first nine years on the west coast. there are, however, a couple of obvious exceptions. have a look

a battery of sandy koufax and john roseboro, plus an infield of wes parker, jim gilliam (in a brooklyn dodger cap), bill buckner (?), and maury wills.  the outfield of tommy and willie davis, along with ron fairly won a championships in 1963 and 1965, although not in that complete configuration. fairly was the dodgers' first baseman in 1963, and he moved to the outfield in '65 which was the year that tommy davis was injured early on and didn't make it back until the following season.  the bullpen consists of ron perranoski, johnny podres, and don drysdale, with 1960 rookie of the year frank howard on the bench.

so, the big mystery here is bill buckner's inclusion.  it's great to see him in the set, but putting him with this group (and at the third base slot) is a bit puzzling.  however, the dodgers didn't really have a consistent third baseman in this era other than jim gilliam who was already featured at his other primary position. maybe jim lefebvre would have been an option.

next up, the 1970's!

i got the card, greinke gets the ball

it is somewhat appropriate that i have this card ready to go today.  it's a 2014 topps heritage zack greinke purple refractor

that fuji sent my way a while ago.  later tonight, greinke will get the ball in game 2 of the nlds, and he'll try to right the ship.  that's all that needs to be said about that.

fuji is working on a 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams set, a set that you know is near and dear to me, and in exchange for some of the cards he needed, he sent along some requested dodger doubles.

from the dodgers' 1974 subset he sent bill buckner

 and steve garvey

although i don't think garvey was rocking the dual-ear flapped helmet in 1974.

here's steve yeager's card from the 1977 subset

and here's mickey hatcher's card from the 1988 team's group

now, there are a couple of things to note here, as these cards have reminded me that in both 1977 and 1988 (and in 1981, for that matter), the dodgers lost the first game of their postseason.  in all three of those seasons, they made it to the world series, and in 1981 and 1988, they won it all.  i take the most comfort in the fact that the 1981 postseason was structured just like it is now, with a division series before the league championship series.  and, in 1988, don't forget the mets beat the cy young award winner orel hershiser in game 1 before the dodgers came back to take the series (although that was a 7 game series).  

the other thing i wanted to mention is that, after a long layoff, the timeless teams blog is back.  i posted about mickey hatcher and those improbable world series champions from 1988 the other day.  there aren't too many teams left in the set, so i hope to be through the base set by the end of the month.  after that, i'll probably post on a few of the inserts - autos, numbered parallels, and relics.

thanks for sending me these and all the other cards, fuji.  sorry about your a's, by the way - i was hoping for a 1974/1988 rematch.

the evolution of the dodgers' first baseman, part one

it is well known that jackie robinson began his major league career as the dodgers' first baseman in 1947.  unfortunately, i do not own a 1947 bond bread card of jackie's, nor do i own a 1948 leaf card to show in this space.  with that being the case, i'll start the evolution of the dodgers' first baseman with the guy who replaced jackie at first in 1948, gil hodges. this is not a departure from the norm, using a fantastic 1952 bowman card to kick off an evolution post (this is a baseball card blog and i don't have many pre-1950's cards in my collection), but it sure would have been nice to see that leaf card of jackie up top.  maybe someday.

gil hodges (1948-1959)

yes, hodges' 1952 bowman card is fantastic.  i enjoy having it in my collection.  the dodgers enjoyed having hodges' bat in their lineup following his conversion from catcher to first baseman in 1948.  he hit a total of 361 home runs for the dodgers, including 344 during the 12-year span in which he was the team's primary first baseman.  the club also won two world championships (and 6 pennants) with him at first.

norm larker (1960-1961)

norm!  larker (shown on his 1961 topps card) took over for hodges in 1960 and promptly went out and finished second in the national league batting race, .002 behind dick groat and .004 ahead of willie mays.  he was an all-star that year, but came back to earth in 1961, hitting .270 in just 95 games.  he was drafted by the colt .45's in the expansion draft prior to the 1962 season, and he became the very first first baseman in houston's history.  if there were an astros blogger out there doing this same sort of post, larker would be at the very start.

ron fairly (1962-1964)

with larker gone, fairly moved to first from the outfield.  yes, i am showing his 1965 topps card even though he was back in the outfield when the 1965 season rolled around.  before that, however, he enjoyed three solid seasons as the dodger first baseman, averaging 12 homers and 74 rbi.  he was playing more outfield by the end of the '63 season, making way for bill skowron.  as a result, he made only late-inning appearances during the 1963 world series.

wes parker (1965-1972)

skowron left the dodgers after one season, and fairly moved back to the outfield with wes parker taking over at first.  he became part of the team's all switch hitting infield (with jim lefebvre, jim gilliam, and maury wills) and helped the dodgers win the world series against the twins.  parker also won gold gloves in 6 of his 8 seasons spent playing primarily at first (including 1971 - the year of the topps card shown above).  in 1970, he led the national league with 47 doubles, but he was always better known for his skill with the leather, compiling a career .996 fielding percentage as a first baseman.  he retired following the 1972 season at the age of 32.  parker is the only non-hall of famer on rawlings' all-time gold glove team.

bill buckner (1973)

buckner's 1974 topps card lists him as a first baseman because he played in 93 games (83 starts) at the position in 1973.  he hit .275 and played in 140 games overall that year, and was moved back to the outfield in 1974, where he was seen climbing the wall in atlanta trying to get to hank aaron's 715th career home run.

steve garvey (1974-1982)

there aren't a lot of steve garvey cards from his playing days that i haven't shown on the blog yet, but that 1980 kellogg's card is one of them.  the garv took over the first baseman's job and wound up winning the all-star game and national league mvp awards in 1974.  he held on to the job until he left the club as a free agent following the 1982 season, amassing 8 consecutive all-star starts, 4 gold gloves, 4 pennants, and a world series championship during that 9-year span.

greg brock (1983-1986)

brock, shown on his 1986 o-pee-chee card, was a triple-a phenom who had the misfortune of being asked to replace garvey in the dodgers' lineup and maybe even continue the dodgers' string of rookies of the year (they had owned the award since rick sutcliffe won it in 1979, with steve howe winning in 1980, fernando valenzuela in 1981, and steve sax in 1982).  unfortunately, brock hit just .224 with 20 homers in 146 games in his rookie year, finishing 7th in the 1983 nl rookie of the year balloting.  the dodgers still won the west, however, and brock was 0 for 9 in his first taste of postseason play.  the following season, he hit .225 while playing in only 88 games, but still spent more time at first than anybody else.  in 1985, he helped the dodgers return to the postseason with what may have been his best season with the dodgers - he hit .251 with 21 homers and 66 rbi in 129 games.  he got his only postseason hit of his career that year, a home run in game 2 of the nlcs.  he was hitless in his other 11 at bats of the series.  following another lackluster season, brock was traded to the brewers for a couple of tims - crews and leary.

franklin stubbs (1987-1988)

stubbs had been the dodgers' left fielder in 1986, but moved to first to replace brock in 1987.  he had a 'brock-ish' season, however, hitting .233 with 15 homers and 52 rbi in 129 games, 111 of which included some time at first.  in 1988, stubbs appeared in 84 games at first for the dodgers, 54 of which were starts, which was more than mike marshall (54 games, 51 starts) so he gets the nod here for the year that was so improbable.  that's his 1988 score card, by the way.  stubbs started all five games of the '88 world series, hitting .294 with a couple of rbi. interestingly enough, stubbs went to the astros in a trade prior to the 1990 season, but signed with the brewers as a free agent for the 1991 campaign wherein he replaced greg brock as the first baseman for the brew crew.

eddie murray (1989-1991)

the dodgers were likely tired of a lack of production from the first base position since garvey's departure, so they traded for hometown guy eddie murray following their world series triumph over the a's.  steady eddie showed up in 1989 (i was excited to see him in dodger blue on his 1989 upper deck card shown above) and played in 160 games (159 at first) but hit only .247.  he did drive in 88 runs, however, and in 1990 he led all of major league baseball with a .330 average.  too bad for murray that willie mcgee was hitting .335 when he was dealt from the cardinals to the a's (mcgee hit only .274 with oakland, dropping his composite average to .324 for the season).  murray left the dodgers after the 1991 season as a free agent, opening the door for a rookie named eric karros to win the job even though the team had traded for todd benzinger just in case.

it's getting a little dusty in here

i am enjoying going back and visiting the early days of dusty baker's managerial career in the 1978 topps dodger evolutionary posts.  i am also enjoying seeing johnnie b. baker in some recent card releases.  i bought a 2014 topps baker autograph recently,

as well as a 2013 panini america's pastime boys of summer auto

and i am looking to add one from this year's panini donruss or topps tier one sometime soon as well.  there are plenty of other baker cards to show from my collection in the meantime.  like this 1981 permagraphic all-stars issue

or a 1981 squirt card

that features the 1978 topps team font and position ball!  good for you, squirt.

here's a 1984 7-11 slurpee coin of johnnie b.

and one of his more recent cards - a 2009 topps ring of honor insert

i guess i am ignoring the fact that dusty has received cards in the topps heritage set in recent years (up to 2014, anyway) as well.  but those were cards of him as a red, not a dodger.  baker was, of course, also a brave, and here is his 1990 pacific legends card showing him in atlanta duds

for some reason, topps decided to go back to atlanta as far as dusty was concerned for 2014 allen & ginter

there were probably too many other dodgers in the checklist already.  like…

…his old teammates bill buckner

 and don sutton

 and his former dodger manager, tom lasorda

 plus there are the current dodgers that needed to be represented in the set, such as adrian gonzalez

zack greinke

clayton kershaw

and yasiel puig

among others.

so, i'll take dusty in a braves uniform from time to time, especially if that limits the cards of him as a giant.

now that's buckner

i was flipping through a binder a couple of weeks ago when i noticed this 2002 topps gold label card

that is, of course, a bill buckner uniform relic card from the mlb awards ceremony insert set.  it's a cubbie card all the way, with the logo, relic, photo, and 1980 topps card in the background all coming from billy buck's time with the cubs.  still, i haven't parted with it because, of all the dodger players that didn't quite make it to the 1977 or 1978 teams, buckner is the one i was the most disappointed with.

i recall seeing the footage of hank aaron's 715th home run with buckner climbing the fence in left - what a great effort, i thought.  that guy is awesome!  then, when he led the league with a .324 average in 1980 (the reason he is featured on the card above), i was really disappointed that he wasn't still a dodger.  it was pointed out to me that there was really nowhere for buckner to play on those dodger teams, unless i was willing to not have steve garvey at first or dusty baker in left, and it was due to the trade of buckner that the dodgers acquired rick monday, so i accepted the fact that buckner was not a dodger.

still, i was happy to see that topps brought him back to the blue in this year's set, giving us dodger fans a certified sticker auto in the trajectory insert set

they used the same photo (rotated) that upper deck used in the 2004 legends timeless teams set, which offered an on-card auto of the former dodger

which was the first card of buckner as a dodger i had seen since, well, 2003 in upper deck's sp authentic chirography dodger stars set.  but before that, you have to go all the way to 1977 i am pretty sure.

i actually did pick up a buckner card from his days as a dodger recently.  it was also a nefarious 9 want, and it completes a team set for me.  it is his high numbered 1971 o-pee-chee card

on which he shares space with future dodger enzo hernandez and the braves' marty perez who is really wearing an angels' uniform.  here's the yellow back

buckner has been featured in a few topps releases over the past couple of years, but last year's tier one release was the only one that had him in dodger blue as far as i could tell.  this year marks the first time they've put him in a dodger uniform on a non-auto card since '77 with the release of allen & ginter.  that base card is on the nefarious 9, and i am looking forward to adding it to my buckner as a dodger collection.

sunday morning target dodgers - with a member of the infield and a yankee black armband for ray chapman

i don't know how long i will keep these posts going, but there are plenty more sheets to be shared.  here's another one featuring 15 men who wore the brooklyn/los angeles franchise's uniform between 1890 and 1990, including the dean of the los angeles dodgers and shortstop of the team of my youth, bill russell.

russell's name appears high on many of the 'softer' franchise career leader lists.  among los angeles dodgers, he is first in defensive war, first in games played, second in at bats, third in hits, fourth in doubles, first in singles, first in sacrifice hits, first in intentional walks (hitting 8th will do that for you), and, fairly obviously, first in outs made.  when you factor in the brooklyn players, russell still ranks pretty highly in those same categories.

joe beckwith

beckwith was a dodger double dipper and won a world series ring in 1985 with this next guy's brother.

ken brett

in another case of the 'wrong brother' history of the dodgers (see the martinez brothers, guerrero brothers, and the gwynn brothers, among others), ken, and not george, brett wore dodger blue.  the elder brett joined the dodgers in 1979 after a short stint in minnesota, and went 4-3 with 2 saves in 30 relief appearances for the club.  in one of those appearances, he was pinch-hit for by manny mota, who used the opportunity to set the record for career pinch hits.  brett was himself a good hitter, and was 3 for 11 at the plate as a dodger.  unfortunately, brett was hurt in spring training the following season, and the dodgers released him.  a few months later, ken would join brother george in kansas city for the last couple months of the 1980 season.

bill buckner

billy buck was squeezed out of the dodger outfield despite a .289 average in 773 games for the blue when the team acquired dusty baker and reggie smith to man the corner positions.  as a result, he was dealt to the cubs for center fielder rick monday (and reliever mike garman) prior to the 1977 season.  the cubbies moved buckner to first base and the rest, including his 1980 national league batting title and his error in game 6 of the 1986 world series for the red sox, is history.  buckner finished his career with 2,715 hits - a total surpassed by only 61 other players in the history of the game.

moose clabaugh

clabaugh had a prodigious minor league career spanning 16 seasons.  he hit 346 home runs while maintaining a .339 batting average in the minors, according to this thorough post.  in the majors, not so much.  the robins brought him up to the big leagues in 1926 following a 62 home run season in the low minors, but he hit only .071 (1 for 14) with his lone hit being a double.

bud clancy

clancy played first base for the dodgers in 53 games during the 1932 season.  he had previously played for the white sox (as evidenced by his uniform above) and later joined the phillies.  his timing as a member of the dodgers was good, because he was featured as a member of the team on his 1933 goudey card, which happens to be the oldest dodger card that i own.

wes covington

covington finished his major league career (which began in 1956 with the milwaukee braves) with a stint as a dodger in 1966 following an early season release from the cubs.  he hit only .121 in 37 games for the dodgers, but was a part of their world series roster and made his final big league appearance against the orioles in the fall classic.

bill f. hart

i believe we have a case of mistaken identity here.  william franklin hart pitched for the brooklyn grooms in 1892.  william woodrow hart was an infielder who played for the brooklyn dodgers from 1943-45, and is certainly the player pictured on the card.  there is a card for bill w. hart in the set, so we'll have to see what photo that card features if and when i get to that sheet.  in the meantime, i'll ignore the photo and note that bill f. hart was 9-12 despite a 3.28 era for the grooms in his lone season with the team; a season in which the grooms went 95-59.

alex kampouris

kampouris was the pride of sacramento, as vin scully might say.  he was born in sacramento, played minor league ball in sacramento, worked in sacramento after his baseball career was over, and died in sacramento.  in between stints with sacramento's pacific coast league team, kampouris played for the dodgers, among other big league teams.  he spent 2-plus seasons with brooklyn from 1941 to 1943, hitting .267 in 45 games as a backup second baseman to billy herman.

wayne lamaster

lamaster was traded from the phillies to the dodgers during the 1938 season.  he wound up 0-1 in his three appearances for the dodgers.

steve lembo

lembo was a backup catcher who appeared for the dodgers in a handful of games in 1950 and 1952.  while he didn't appear in a game for the team in 1951, he did spend time with the big club and was the bullpen catcher who warmed up ralph branca in the third playoff game against the giants.  lembo later became a scout for the team and signed, among others, tommy davis and john franco.

don newcombe

newk began his major league career in 1949 with a shutout against the reds.  he went on to win the rookie of the year award, and then won the first cy young award (along with the mvp) in 1956.  he wasa 123-60 for the brooklyn dodgers from 1949 through 1957 (including two seasons lost to military service), but was 0-6 for the los angeles dodgers in 1958, a record that prompted a trade to the aforementioned reds.  he retired after the 1960 season with a career .271 batting average, and later even played a year in japan as a fielder, not a pitcher.

danny richardson

richardson spent 1893 with the brooklyn grooms, hitting .223 in 54 games.  he had previously played for the new york giants from 1884-91 and the washington senators in 1892.

hank thormahlen

thormahlen was a teammate of babe ruth's in new york before he was traded to the red sox in the deal that sent hall of famer (and dodger double dipper) waite hoyt to the yankees following the 1920 season.  in fact, i believe that the photo used for thormahlen's card comes from the 1920 season, as he is sporting a black armband (maybe two black armbands?) on his left sleeve, and the yankees were one of several teams to do so that year in honor of ray chapman, the indians' shortstop who died after being hit by a pitch in a game against the yankees in august of that year.  thormahlen actually relieved carl mays, the yankee pitcher who hit chapman, in that game.  as for thormahlen's tenure with the brooklyn squad, he was with the robins in 1925 when he appeared in five games, starting two of them.  he wound up with an 0-3 record, but did hit a triple in his final big league at bat.

dick whitman

whitman was almost a dodger double dipper.  he began his big league career with brooklyn in 1946, and remained with the club through 1949, hitting .266 in 191 games during that span.  his contract was then purchased by the phillies, but they traded him back to brooklyn after two seasons.  unfortunately, whitman never made it out of the minor leagues during his second tour with the organization and so left my dodger double dipper criteria unfulfilled.  he did play in back-to-back world series, however - with the dodgers in 1949 and with the whiz kids in 1950 - falling to the yankees each time.