sunday morning target dodgers - seven dwarves edition?

there are some interesting names on this sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set.  benny, johnny, eddie, sloppy, zoilo, possum, and doc. a dodger version of the seven dwarves?  here are this week's cards - only 14 in this post because i stumbled on to another dodger double dipper who will get their own post later today.

doc bushong

bushong, a dentist and thus referred to as 'doc', was a member of the inaugural brooklyn bridegroom national league team of 1890.  it was also the final year of his 13-year big league career

chris cannizzaro

cannizzaro spent the 1972 and 1973 seasons with the dodgers as a backup catcher.  he hit .235 over that span, with most of his action coming during the 1972 campaign.  he has the distinction of having been both an original new york met and an original san diego padre, and he was the first all-star representative for the friars.

bobby castillo

castillo is a dodger double dipper who is credited with teaching fernando valenzuela how to throw the screwball.  'nuff said.  unfortunately, castillo passed away last year at the age of 59.

roy cullenbine

cullenbine began the 1940 season with the dodgers following two years with the tigers.  he played in 22 games and hit just .180 before being traded to the browns around memorial day.  he knew how to draw a walk however, compiling 23 of them in those 22 games for the dodgers, giving him an obp of .405.  cullenbine actually had 121 walks in 1941 and an obp of .452 for the browns. he eventually made his way back to detroit where he was part of their 1945 world championship team.

gene demontreville

demontreville was traded to the superbas in 1899 along with jerry nops for hughie jennings.  a few days later, nops was returned to the orioles and jennings came back to the superbas, but demontreville stayed in brooklyn. he broke the roster in 1900, playing every infield position plus some outfield, and hit .244 in 69 games.  that was his only season in brooklyn, however, as the boston beaneaters purchased his contract prior to the 1901 campaign.

gil english

english finished his major league career by playing the 1944 season with the brooklyn dodgers.  he had previously played for the giants, tigers, and bees, but had most recently been in the minors where he was the 1939 american association mvp.  english hit .212 in 27 games for the dodgers serving as a backup infielder.

johnny klippstein

klippstein was part of the return package that the dodgers received during the 1958 season in the trade that sent don newcombe to the reds. he had previously been in the dodger organization during the 1949 seasons, but was lost in that year's rule v draft to the cubs without having made it to the big leagues.  in '58, klippstein was 3-5 with 9 'saves' and a 3.80 era. he was 4-0 with a couple of saves in 1959, although his era was 5.91.  in what would be his final appearance as a dodger, klippstein pitched two scoreless innings in game 1 of the 1959 world series against the white sox, and later pitched against the dodgers in the 1965 fall classic as a member of the minnesota twins.

benny meyer

meyer's card is fantastic when you realize that his nickname was 'earache' because he was a yeller.  he debuted in the big leagues in 1913 as a brooklyn superba, and hit .195 in 38 games. the following year, he jumped to the federal league where he played for the remainder of his career, save a single at bat in 1925 when he was serving as a coach for the phillies.  he hit a double in that at bat, by the way.

eddie solomon

solomon looks a little like bob gibson on his card, doesn't he?  and i'm guessing that's either willie davis or jimmy wynn in the background since solomon only pitched for the dodgers in the 1973 and 1974 seasons.  he appeared in only 8 regular season games for the dodgers, plus one in the 1974 nlcs.  early in the 1975 season, solomon was traded to the cubs in the burt hooton deal.  solomon was killed in a car accident in 1986, just four years after his big league career came to an end. he was just 34 years old.

bob stinson

perhaps best known to card collectors as a guy who appeared on multi-player rookie cards three years in a row for three different teams (1970 topps as a dodger, 1971 topps as a cardinal, and 1972 topps as an astro), stinson was the dodgers' first round pick in the 1966 draft.  he played in 4 games for the dodgers in both 1969 and 1970, but was traded to saint louis for dick allen prior to the 1971 season.  stinson eventually made his way to the expansion seattle mariners for the 1977 season, and he was the first catcher in the team's history going 1 for 3 with a walk in their inaugural game.  he played into the 1980 season, making him a 3-decade player.

fay thomas

thomas was a brooklyn robin during the 1932 season.  he made 7 appearances for the robins, earning just one decision - a loss in his only start.  he also pitched for the giants, indians, and browns in the majors, but was a bigger success in the pacific coast league where he earned a spot in their hall of fame.  thomas is also known as the first big leaguer to come from usc, and as the actor who portrayed christy mathewson in 'the pride of the yankees'.

sloppy thurston

thurston's given name was hollis, and he apparently earned his nickname by being anything but sloppy in his appearance.  isn't it ironic?  anyway, he's shown on his card as a member of the white sox for whom he pitched from 1923-1926.  he earned a card in this set, however, by pitching for the robins from 1930-1933.  during that time, he was 33-29 with a 4.02 era in 108 games.

zoilo versalles

versalles was the 1965 american league mvp for the al champion minnesota twins, and he hit .286 in the world series against the dodgers that year. he must have made an impression, because after the 1967 season, the dodgers - still trying to replace maury wills who had been dealt to pittsburgh a year earlier -  traded ron perranoski, john roseboro, and bob miller to the twinkies to get versalles and mudcat grant.  versalles only played for the dodgers during the 1968 season (he hit just .196 in 122 games) as he was taken by the padres in the expansion draft that followed the year of the pitcher.

possum whitted

whitted's big league career began in 1912 with the cardinals, but it was in 1914 as a member of the boston braves that he won a world series ring.  he returned to the fall classic the following year with the  phillies, but lost to the boston red sox who had a young player named babe ruth on their roster. the phillies traded whitted (given name george) to the pirates in 1919 for casey stengel, and the robins picked him up from the steel city during the 1922 season.  after all that, whitted made one appearance as a brooklyn robin, going 0 for 1 as a pinch-hitter in an april game against the new york giants. soon thereafter, whitted was managing the toledo mud hens.

see you next sunday for more player tales from the 1990 target set!

another bobby lost

sadly, former dodger pitcher bobby castillo passed away on monday - the second pitcher named bobby from the team of my youth to die this year.  i was reminded that arpsmith had recently sent me a 1982 topps castillo card that was signed by the pitcher himself

i was able to have castillo sign a couple of cards previously, but this one is much more boldly signed.  rest in peace, bobby.

arpsmith included another signed card from 1982 - a 1982 fleer burt hooton card to be exact

i appreciate having a socal connection with what seems to be a decent lcs nearby.  in addition to the in person autos he found there, arpsmith also sent a 2007 upper deck spx autographed card of delwyn young

and a 2007 ud artifacts jersey card of jeff kent

here's a 1994 upper deck fun pack mike piazza checklist card

unlike collector's choice, i think the silver signature was standard on this card.  also, piazza's wearing the tim crews memorial patch on this card.  there will be, of course, a separate post regarding that memorial someday.

speaking of collector's choice, here's a 1997 udcc hideo nomo all-star connection insert

nomo didn't make the all-star team in 1997, in fact, the only time he appeared in the midsummer classic was in his rookie year of 1995 when he was the game's starter.

pee wee reese, on the other hand, appeared in 10 all-star games, including 9 straight from 1945-1954.  here's a 2012 panini cooperstown crystal parallel of the dodger shortstop that arpsmith included

the kaleidoscope pattern and cropping of the familiar photo distract me from the fact there is no logo.

there's no logo on this next card either, but lest there be any doubts, tommy lasorda is still in charge.  he is 'calling the shots' according to this 2013 panini hometown heroes insert

clearly he did not call jack clark's shot in the 1985 nlcs.

thanks for the cards adam!

let's play the 1981 donruss memory game!

hey kids! do you 'remember' what time it is?  that's right! it's time to play the 1981 donruss memory game!  brought to you by 1981 donruss - the 'first edition collector series'!

now, here's your host, tommy lasorda!

hi everybody! and welcome to the game. let's find out who bleeds dodger blue and who is most likely a giants fan.  player number 1 and player number 2 are here to reveal the cards one at a time, looking for a match.  the matches will have the same (pretty much) background.  ok? we're looking for backgrounds that match.  speaking of matches, i like to match a red wine with my pasta.  ready? let's go.

player number 1, which card should we turn over first?

third card, second row? ok let's see what we get.

nice. steve yeager sitting in the dugout.  now remember, somewhere else on the board, there's a card with the same background.  probably has one of those outlet cover thingys in the picture.  pick another card.  last card, last row?  ok...

nope.  that's steve howe with a blue background.  no match.  we'll reset the board and give player 2 a shot.

player 2 wants the first card turned over.

hey - there's dave lopes.  did you know that his fleer card in 1981 called him 'davy'?  what the heck is a 'davy'?  pick another card.  first card, third row?

joe ferguson for the match!  see that bearded redheaded guy? he's in both photos! that's not a coincidence.  so, one match for player 2.  let's see if player 1 can make a match.  first row, third card coming up.

don stanhouse with a blue background!  i was blue when i realized that stanhouse wasn't going to deliver in the bullpen, i'll tell you that!  i'm also blue when the pizza guy won't deliver.  anyway, player 1, you should get a match here if you can remember where we saw the other blue background.

that's right, it was the last card.  steve howe and don stanhouse make a match.  we're tied at one apiece.

player 1 wants second row, last card.

that's bobby castillo.  fleer called him 'robert' in 1981.  i don't think anyone called him robert.  second row, second card?

hey, it's rick sutcliffe.  he's the guy that totally destroyed my office that one time.  that's not a match, by the way.  close, though.  castillo's background shows the slope of the bleachers, while sutcliffe's background has that triangular piece of the building across the street in right field.  player 2, whaddaya say?  top row, last card coming up.

well, if it isn't jerry reuss. and he's got that triangle building thing in the background.  i think i smell a match...

good for you.  you remembered where rick sutcliffe was.  not too impressive, given that we just saw him in the last round.  player 2 leads 2-1.  pick a card player 1.  bottom row, card number 2 on its way.

rudy law.  get back in my doghouse.  note the background is not in wrigley field!  i thought those donruss photographers never left wrigley.  it's actually dodger stadium's first base side railing.  next card is row 3, card 2.

 nope, that' wrigley behind derrel thomas.  player 2, back to you.  bottom row, card three it is.

hey - look at happy hooton!  he looks disinterested at best.  his pose matches sutcliffe's, but it's the background we're matching.  where have we seen the slope of the bleachers before? what? bottom row, first card?  what's the matter with your memory, player 2?

 that's steve garvey, sitting in the dugout.  player 1, how's your memory?

 yeah, that's still the garv at bottom row, first card.  how about the match?

ding ding! steve yeager for the match.  and we are tied at 2 matches apiece.  we were tied at 2 games apiece against the yankees back in 1978.  of course, we were also ahead 2 games to none at one point.  let's move on - player 2?  oh, you've got your memory back.  second row, last card

that's bobby castillo.  that means  you want...bottom row, third card.  yes.

 burt hooton for the match.  good job.  3-2 in favor of player 2.  player 1?  top row, second card is...

rick monday.  mo! saved that flag back in 1976.  good guy.  now find a match.  just wish he would give the score once in awhile during his broadcasts.  second row, first card?

nope, that's garvey's second card in the set.  he actually has three cards in the set if you count the error on the back of the card with the dugout photo.  some mistake in the number of home runs he hit or something.  anyway, player 2, do you remember where the other card with the dodger stadium railing was?

 right. first things first.  there's garvey's card again.  where's the match?

you got it! rudy law for the match.  player 2 is up 4-2.  player 1, you need to make something happen.  pick a card.  third row, third card? as you wish.

reggie smith.  he didn't have a candy bar, but he was the mvp of the team - just ask don sutton.  ok, where's his match?

you got it, player 1.  rick monday's card is so similar to reggie's, i thought they were doubles.  unfortunately,  that only leaves two cards unturned, so player 2 is going to win 5-3.  looks like he is going to the big dodger in the sky someday, and you, player 1, can kiss my cannoli.  now let's see the last two cards.

derrel thomas, we've seen him before.

and it's gary thomasson matching up with thomas.  if you look closely, you'll see the same guy in a white shirt sitting in the stands to the left of the railing.  he's behind thomas's back

 but just next to thomasson's left shoulder.

well, that's all the time we have for today.  come back next time when we play another round of the 1981 donruss memory game!