sunday morning target dodgers - from abrams to zahn

let's go from a to z with this sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger set.

cal abrams

abrams was a part-time player who debuted as a dodger in 1949.  he peaked in 1951when he hit .280 in 67 games. with a fantastic obp of .419  the following year, the dodgers traded abram to the reds after he had appeared in just 10 games for the blue.  abrams was reportedly buried in his brooklyn dodgers uniform following his death in 1997.

jack billingham

billingham was 3-0 with 8 saves and a 2.14 era as a rookie for the dodgers in 1968, however, he was lost to the team when the expos selected him in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season.  montreal was forced to flip billingham to the astros before the season began because donn clendenon refused to report to houston after he was traded as part of the package that netted the expos rusty staub.  eventually, billingham made his way to the reds, where he won back-to-back world series titles in 1975 and 1976.

ben cantwell

cantwell's career began in 1927 with the new york giants, although he spent most of the next 10 years with the boston braves during which time he won 20 games once and also lost 25 games in a single season.  in 1937, he returned to the giants, but was claimed by the dodgers after one bad start.  with brooklyn, cantwell had no record as he appeared in 13 games, all as a reliever.

vic davalillo

davalillo was one of the professional pinch-hitters employed by the dodgers when i began my fandom.  he and manny mota filled that role on the dodgers (davalillo from 1977-1980), and it was davalillo's pinch-hit bunt that got things going with 2 outs in the 9th on black friday in philadelphia during the 1977 nlcs.

johnny gooch

gooch spent time with the robins during the 1928 and 1929 seasons. he was acquired by the robins via a trade with the pirates during the '28 season, and was traded away to the reds early in the '29 campaign.  as a robin, gooch played in 43 games and hit .314.

babe herman

the robins'/dodgers' babe.  one of them, anyway.  herman was a franchise double dipper who had his best years as a robin, hitting .381 in 1929 and a franchise record .393 in 1930, but finishing second in the batting average race both years.

john hummel

hummel, who played with the superbas/dodgers/robins from 1905 through 1915, was best known as being one of the first utility players in the major leagues.  he played everywhere but pitcher, catcher, and third base, and did spend a couple of seasons as brooklyn's primary second baseman.

max macon

macon joined the dodger system in 1939 following his first taste of big league ball in 1938 with the cardinals for whom he pitched and played the outfield.  he didn't appear as a dodger until 1940, and even then he played in just two games, both as a pitcher only (he was 1 for 1 at the plate, by the way).  macon returned to the majors as a dodger in 1942, and was used as a pitcher and pinch-hitter.  he pitched in 14 games and had an era of 1.93 while he pinch-hit 12 times and was 5 for 11 in that role.  macon pitched (and hit) for the dodgers again in 1943 before being selected by the braves in the rule v draft following the season's conclusion.

fritz ostermueller

ostermueller spent the first part of the 1943 season with the browns, but was traded to the dodgers in july.  he was 1-1 in 7 games for the dodgers over the remainder of the season, and was 2-1 in 10 games for the dodgers in 1944 when he was dealt to the pirates at the end of may.

paul popovich

popovich was traded to the dodgers by the cubs for lou johnson following the 1967 season.  he spent 1968 with the dodgers, playing in 134 games and batting .232.  the dodgers traded popovich to the expos a couple of months into the 1969 season in the deal that brought manny mota and maury wills to the dodgers (back to the dodgers in wills' case).  the expos flipped popovich to the cubs that same day, so popovich was around to witness the infamous collapse of leo durocher's cubbies.

dave sells

sells joins rick waits and davey lopes as players whose names make full sentences.  sells spent the majority of his career with the angels, pitching in 85 of his 90 big league games for the halos.  the other five were spent as a dodger during the last part of the 1975 season following a trade that sent jim brewer to the angels.  sells was 0-2 for walter alston's team in those five games, and he spent the following season in triple-a albuquerque.

bill skowron

skowron spent just one season with the dodgers - 1963 - and he helped his new team defeat his former club in the world series.  skowron hit .385 in the 1963 fall classic for the dodgers against the yankees, with whom skowron had won four rings, including the previous two seasons.  following the series, skowron was picked up by the senators who later traded him to the white sox.

rick sutcliffe

sutcliffe, who made his big league debut in 1976, was the first dodger to win the rookie of the year award since ted sizemore (1969) when he claimed it in 1979 (the longest stretch the dodger organization had ever gone without one of their players winning the award).  even so, sutcliffe seemed to be in tommy lasorda's dog house, and he was used mainly as a reliever the following two seasons.  sutcliffe trashed lasorda's office after being left off of the 1981 postseason roster, and was traded to the indians soon thereafter.

jimmy wasdell

wasdell was a member of the dodgers in 1940 and 1941.  he hit .289 in 171 games for the dodgers over those two seasons, and he saw some action in the 1941 world series as well.

geoff zahn

zahn was a member of the dodgers' famous 1968 draft class.  he made it to the bigs in 1973, going 1-0 in his six appearances that season.  in 1974, zahn pitched in 21 games for the nl champs, but did not appear in the postseason.  he started the 1975 season with the dodgers, but was traded to the cubs in the burt hooton deal early on.  i approve of that deal.

see you back next week with another sheet from the 1990 target dodgers set...

jim fairey was a dodger double dipper

[this is the sixtyfirst installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, guillermo mota, joe beckwith, jamie hoffmann, babe herman, joe medwick, juan castro, ron perranoski, clyde king, paul waner, hughie jennings, ron negray, broadway aleck smith, george smith, and johnny cooney.]

jim fairey.  i've featured him on the blog a couple of times before, and both times, his 1968 topps rookie card figured in.  might as well make it three for three.

fairey obviously shares the space with jack billingham, although he did get a card of his own in 1969.  by then however, he was with the expos as his first stint with the dodgers ended after 99 games played in 1968 and a .199 batting average to show for it.

fairey played for the expos through the 1972 season and into spring training of 1973.  he was released by the team in late march that spring, and was picked up by the dodgers.  here's his 1973 topps card, which was printed too soon to capture his return to the dodgers.

fairey's four years in montreal resulted in 290 games played and a .245 batting average, by the way.  if only topps had put fairey's card in the last series, maybe they would have taken the time to make some changes to his uniform.  perhaps it might have looked like this

actually, it probably would have looked worse.

fairey only played in 10 games for the dodgers in 1973, but he did cement his status as a double dipper, so at least that's something.  his low game count was obviously not enough to warrant inclusion in the 1974 set, but i went ahead and made this card that should have been anyway.

the photo comes from the great steve's baseball photography pages, and would have fit right in with the 1974 set, i believe.  even though the photo is from 1968 (fairey wore a different number during his second go-round with the dodgers).

i do have one other card of fairey's that really was made, and that is his 1990 target card

here's to you jim fairey - another dodger double dipper!

little ditty about jack and jim

two american kids doin' the best they can.  jack billingham and jim fairey shared this 1968 topps card, and both were kind enough to sign it for me recently through the mail. 

billingham won 3 games for the dodgers in 1968, and his card-mate fairey figured in each of them.  billingham earned his first major league win on may 12, 1968, pitching 2 innings of relief, and allowing just one hit against the braves in extra innings.  in the top of the 12th inning, fairey pinch hit for billingham, but grounded out.  the next batter (willie davis) tripled and then scored on a zoilo versalles single.  jim brewer and mudcat grant closed it out, and billingham's victory was secure.

in june, fairey hit his first big league home run pinch-hitting for billingham in a game against the pirates at forbes field.  fairey's home run came in the top of the tenth inning and proved to be the game winner, giving billingham, who had successfully relieved mike kekich with two on and no outs in the bottom of the ninth, the second victory of his career. 

then, in september, the dynamic duo was at it again.  this time, billingham allowed an inherited runner to score along with another run (unearned) as the dodgers fell behind to the reds 5-2 going into the 8th inning.  that's when jim fairey once again pinch hit for billingham.  with 2 on and no outs, fairey beat out an infield hit to load the bases.  five batters later, the dodgers had a 7-5 lead.  after the reds scored in the bottom of the 8th, fairey drove in an insurance run in the 9th and billingham had his third and final victory as a dodger.

after the season, both billingham and fairey were selected by the expos in the expansion draft.  however, only fairey played for montreal as billingham was sent to the astros in the rusty staub deal, replacing donn clendenon who had refused to report to houston due to a conflict with their manager, harry walker.

from there, fairey returned to the dodgers for his final season in 1973, while billingham went to the reds, appearing in 3 world series, before finishing his career with tours in detroit and boston.

head to head, fairey was 4 for 15 against billingham with an rbi and 2 walks.

both guys signed a couple of their other cards for me - jim fairey signed his 1969 topps

with him still in the dodger uniform, and his 1971 topps

in the official montreal baby blues, while billingham signed his 1976 topps

and 1978 topps

thanks jack and jim!

break me off a piece of that icons case

not fancy feast. or chrysler car.  as many of you know, carl crawford cards and sewingmachineguy busted a bunch of upper deck icons last month.  i had the dodgers and i was well rewarded.  aside from the base cards, i happily received a clayton kershaw manufactured patch lettermen card

o.  all i could say was o.  at least the intent is for the cards to spell out his name, not something silly like 'the second coming of koufax' or 'no pressure but you are supposed to lead us to the promised land.'

speaking of pressure, here's a matt kemp future foundations parallel

along with the white swatch jersey version

interesting and scary things coming out (check out vin scully is my homeboy) about who matt kemp may be and what crazy ned might do about it.  i think i would self destruct if ned traded my baseball salvation.

next up is a chad billingsley icons white swatch

i have stopped expecting anything from billingsley.  now i just hope for a quality start most of the time.  i hope he pulls it together because the dodgers really need some consistency from their pitching staff right now.

speaking of which, i also received a james mcdonald rookie auto

i expected mcdonald to be the number 5 starter this year, as did a lot of people.  i don't know if his demotion to aaa was to send a message or if he has regressed or what, but i hope he can also right the ship and get back up to the big club.

thanks guys, for hosting the break.  looking forward to the june break as i am hoping my extraordinary luck continues!

enjoying wait 'til next year's hand me downs

steve at wait 'til next year was kind enough to send over some fantastic dodgers cards. most of these are from the 60's and early 70's before i was an active collector. they kind of feel like cards i would have inherited from my big brother once he moved on to other things, if my brother had ever collected cards. i wonder why a cubs fan would get rid of these great cards!?

1968 bill singer.tattered and torn. not the card, singer's undershirt. get thee a tailor, or a new shirt. actually, the dodgers, like most clubs back then i am sure, didn't throw much away. i'm not sure they even laundered their stuff. on an episode of antiques roadshow, a woman showed up with a late '60s dodgers warmup jacket that her husband was issued in spring training. in the pocket he found don drysdale's pre-game notes from the end of the previous season! in 1970 singer threw the first non-koufax dodger no-hitter since 1956. he was later selected by the toronto blue jays in the 1976 expansion draft.

1968 topps dodgers rookie stars jack billingham and jim fairey.this card should have been called 'expos rookie stars'. billingham went 3-0 with 8 saves for the dodgers in 1968, but the expos liked what they saw and took him in the expansion draft. they traded him to the astros prior to the start of the 1969 season, though. later on, billingham was part of the trade that sent joe morgan to the reds. as a result, billingham won two world series rings as a member of the big red machine. jim fairey hit a buck ninety-nine for the dodgers in 1968, playing in 99 games, before he too was selected by the expos in the expansion draft. he played with them for four years before returning to the dodgers in 1973. he made 10 pinch hit appearances that season before being traded to the twins, for whom he would never appear in a major league game. still, 5 of fairey's 7 career home runs came off of hall of famers (gaylord perry, juan marichal, fergie jenkins, and tom seaver - twice!).

1968 topps al ferrara. another expansion draftee, although he was taken by the padres. ferrara hit 16 home runs in 1967, but only made 2 appearances for the dodgers in 1968. he had a couple of decent years with the padres before retiring after the 1971 season with the reds. it is worth noting that he once hit an inside-the-park home run against fergie jenkins.

1968 topps jeff torborg. unlike the others, torborg didn't play for an expansion team or homer off of fergie jenkins. he did hit 2 of his 8 career home runs against the cubs, though. torbog caught sandy koufax's perfect game, singer's no-hitter, and nolan ryan's first no-hitter. not bad for a platoon guy.

1966 topps ron fairly. fairly wasn't selected in the 1968 expansion draft either, although the dodgers traded him to the expos in 1969 anyway as part of the manny mota/maury wills trade. fairly would also be traded to the blue jays in their first season, becoming the first player to appear for both canadian franchises. i remember fairly mostly as a broadcaster for the angels in the late 70s/early 80s, although he spent most of his broadcasting career with the mariners. fairly hit 3 home runs off of fergie jenkins.

1972 bill buckner. billy buck's first solo card. he's looking to destroy the rookie cup trophy. buckner would go on to play for the cubs after he was traded for rick monday. he didn't hit any home runs off of fergie, but he did take then-cub burt hooton deep once.

1982 donruss dave stewart. intense. stewart made his debut for the dodgers in 1978! he pitched in one game and then didn't make it back up until 1981. that time, he was up for good, and he pitched well in the 1981 world series after a terrible nlds against the astros in which he was the losing pitcher twice. stewart pitched well for the dodgers who eventually traded him to the rangers for rick honeycutt. he didn't do so well for the rangers or the phillies, but had 4 monster seasons for the a's, finishing in the top 5 for the cy young voting every year from 1987-1990. he was dominating.

finally, steve sent along a couple of fernando autos. 1987 fleer and 1987 topps. viva fernando! and viva wait 'til next year!