sunday morning target dodgers - brought to you by the number 0. or is it the letter o?

two sundays into the new year, and i still haven't run out of sheets of cards from the 1990 target dodger set to show off.  i think i have enough to go for about 20 more weeks at which time i will have shown the entire set.  not sure if i'll make it that long, though.  here are this week's players:

bob barrett

barrett was 0 for 1 with a ribbie in his lone appearance for the robins in 1925. he had been acquired from the cubs in may, played in that one game, and was sent to the minors. he remained in the minors for the entire 1926 season, but returned to brooklyn in 1927.  that year, barrett hit .259 in 99 games.  he finished his big league career in 1929 with the red sox.

mace brown

the dodgers purchased the contract of mace brown from the pirates in april of 1941 and dealt him to the cubs in august of that same year. in between, brown appeared in 24 games for the dodgers pitching exclusively in relief.  he was 3-2 with a 3.16 era in those games. like barrett, brown finished his playing career as a member of the red sox, and later became their pitching coach and then a scout.  it was in the latter role that he discovered and signed hall of famer jim rice for the bosox.

gino cimoli

cimoli began his career in 1956 with the dodgers, and was an all-star for brooklyn in 1957.  he moved with the club to los angeles in 1958 (where he struck out as the first batter in a west coast major league baseball game), but was traded to the cardinals after that season as part of the wally moon deal.  as a dodger, cimoli had hit .269 in 324 games.  he also played for the pirates, braves, a's, orioles, and angels during his 10 year career.

ron davis

i don't remember ron davis as a dodger, probably because he only pitched in four games for them during the latter part of the 1987 season.  to me, ike's dad is a yankee, as he pitched for them from 1978 through 1981 when he faced the dodgers in the world series.  after i moved to minnesota, where davis pitched from 1982 into 1986, i came to know him as 'whiplash', as in the pain that twins' fans suffered as they followed a davis pitch approaching home plate and then being swatted into the outfield seats.  that's a bit of an exaggeration, as davis averaged 1 home run/9 innings pitched over his career, which is cole hamels-ish.  davis gave up no home runs as a dodger, but did walk 6 in his four innings of work for the blue.

art decatur

decatur was used as both a starter and a reliever for the robins from 1922 through 1924.  he also made one relief appearance in 1925 before he was traded to the phillies.  overall, decatur was 16-16 for brooklyn, with a 3.31 era.

jack fournier

fournier was the robins' first baseman from 1923 into the 1926 season.  he finished 9th in the league mvp voting in 1924 when he led the league with 27 home runs. the following year, he led the league with 86 walks and had a career high on-base percentage of .446.  he was regarded as a poor fielder, and his high error totals supported the reputation.

tom haller

haller was a two-time all-star for the giants when the dodgers traded for him following the 1967 season.  he was an all-star again in 1968, hitting .285 in 144 games for his new team.  haller remained with the dodgers until he was dealt to the tigers in december of 1971.  along the way, he hit .276 and caught in over 440 games as a dodger.  haller later became the giants' general manager, and was responsible for the signing of reggie smith.

billy herman

herman was a hall of fame second baseman who established himself with the cubs during the 1930's. he joined the dodgers via a trade made between the two clubs during the 1941 season, and played second in brooklyn through the 1943 season.  after missing two years due to military service during world war ii, herman returned to the dodgers in 1946, but was traded to the braves near the end of the season.  he eventually returned to brooklyn to coach the dodgers from 1952 through 1957.

hy myers

myers played for brooklyn beginning in 1909. he had a second cup of coffee with the club in 1911, and then became a regular in 1914.  he was a fixture in the robins' outfield through the 1922 season, after which he was traded to the cardinals for john fournier, profiled above.  for brooklyn, myers hit .282 and twice led the league in triples. he helped the club win two pennants, and was responsible for the only run that the team scored off of babe ruth in the 1916 world series thanks to his first inning solo home run.

al oliver

oliver, the man who wore number 0 for the dodgers, brought his .305 career batting average to los angeles following a february, 1985 trade with the phillies.  as a dodger, oliver fairly quickly lost his left fielder job and was used mostly as a pinch-hitter after the first month of the season.  he was traded to the blue jays in early july after compiling a .253 batting average in 35 games.

john ryan

ryan was a catcher who played for the 1898 brooklyn bridegrooms, hitting .189 in 87 games.  he played in a total of 13 seasons, although the last two each consisted of a single at bat while coaching for the washington senators.

frank skaff

skaff broke in with the 1935 dodgers, and hit .545 (6 for 11) in the 6 games in which he played.  he did not appear in the majors again until 1943 when he hit .281 for the philadelphia a's.  skaff later became the manager of the tigers in 1966, following the deaths of chuck dressen and interim manager bob swift.

roy spencer

spencer finished his 12 year career with the dodgers in 1937 and 1938.  he hit .222 as a dodger in 67 games during that span.

terry whitfield

whitfield had spent three years playing in japan where he had helped the seibu lions win a couple of championships before the dodgers signed him as a free agent for the 1984 season.  prior to that, he had found success with the giants, hitting .289 as a member of their outfield from 1977 through 1980.  as a dodger, whitfield hit .242 as a reserve outfielder and pinch-hitter from 1984 into 1986.  he was announced as a pinch-hitter in  the 9th inning of game 3 of the 1985 nlcs, but was pinch-hit for when the cardinals made a pitching change.  that was as close as whitfield got to postseason mlb action in his career.

pat zachry

zachry was acquired by the dodgers from the mets in december of 1982 in exchange for jorge orta.  he had been a starter for his entire career until the mets moved him to the bullpen during the '82 season, and the dodgers left him there (aside from one spot start in 1983 in which he was the winning pitcher) for the next two years.  zachry relieved in a total of 97 games for the dodgers, posting a record of 10-7 with 2 saves in that role.  he was traded to the phillies following the 1984 season in exchange for al oliver, which marks the second time a pair of players on this particular sheet of cards were traded for each other.  i really wish i knew what, if anything, the people who put these sheets together took into account when doing so.

the evolution of the left fielder, part 1

i'll start the left fielder evolution in the mid-50's with world series hero sandy amoros.  i'm starting there essentially because that's when baseballreference starts to differentiate the outfield positions on their team pages.  i'm lazy.

sandy amoros (1954-1956)

that 1955 topps card is sandy's rookie card, although he was a veteran of the negro leagues and debuted in the majors in 1954.  he's best remembered for his catch of a yogi berra fly ball that turned into a double play in game 7 of the 1955 world series, but amoros hit a home run in that series, and had an ops of 1.113.  unfortunately for amoros, he didn't do as well in the 1956 series, managing just one hit in 19 at bats.

gino cimoli (1957)

cimoli took over in left for the 1957 season, and made a splash.  by the way - i appreciate his 1958 card shown above because it looks like topps got rid of his bat for some reason.  cimoli established career highs in many categories during 1957, his first full season, and even made the all-star team.  he hit 10 homers, batted .293 and drove in 57 runs while playing 80 of his 142 games in left.  in the all-star game, cimoli appeared as a pinch hitter for pitcher larry jackson and struck out against billy pierce.  it was his only career all-star game appearance.

in 1958, cimoli shifted to center field and jim gilliam came from the infield to cover left.

jim gilliam (1958)

in total, gilliam only played 70 games in left field in 1958, but that was more games than anyone else.  the dodgers used a total of 13 different players out there in their first year in los angeles, including gil hodges, don zimmer and the previous year's left fielder, gino cimoli.  i am guessing noone was too comfortable playing in the short porch of the coliseum.

gilliam actually played all three outfield positions, as well as second and third, in 1958.  he made just one error in left, and had 5 assists from the position.  he also scored 81 runs and finished 19th in the league mvp voting.  in 1959, gilliam went back to being an infielder, so once again, a new face showed up in left field.

wally moon (1959-1961)

moon (and his fantastic unibrow as displayed on this 1959 topps card) had been acquired during the offseason in a trade with the cardinals for the aforementioned cimoli.  he took over in left and stayed there for three seasons - good seasons, in fact.  in 1959, moon led the league in triples and made the all-star team as the starting left fielder (he went 0 for 2 with a walk in the game).  he also finished 4th in the league mvp voting and helped the dodgers win their first world series title in los angeles.  in 1960, moon won a gold glove for his play in left (he had 14 assists), and in 1961, he hit .328 (4th best in the league) and led the league with an obp of .434.

moon began the 1962 season as the dodgers' starting left fielder, but moved to first base in late april to make room for 23-year old tommy davis. 

tommy davis (1962-1964)

davis had placed 5th in the 1960 nl roy voting and had been playing all three outfield positions with a little third base thrown in the mix during his first two years in the league.  in late april of 1962, walter alston stuck him in left field and let him take root.  the result was two of the greatest seasons in dodger history.  davis won back-to-back batting titles, hitting .346 in 1962 and .326 in 1963.  his 230 hits and 153 rbi in 1962 are still a dodger single season record.  for his efforts, davis made the all-star team both years, and finished 3rd and 8th in the mvp voting, respectively.  in the 1962 all-star games, he was a combined 0 for 5 as the starting left fielder for the national league.  in 1963, he again made the start and was 1 for 3 with a walk and scored the winning run for the nl squad.  later that year, davis hit .400 in the 1963 world series, helping the dodgers sweep the yankees and win their second title in 5 seasons. 

davis had a down year in 1964, hitting just .275 but still drove in 86 runs.  an injury in the 1965 season opened the door for another left fielder to take over.
lou johnson (1965-1967)

lou johnson stepped in after tommy davis injured his ankle early in 1965, and helped the dodgers get to the world series.  sweet lou  was acquired by the dodgers in april of 1964, but didn't play for the big club until 1965.  as davis' replacement, johnson hit .259 with 12 home runs and played good defense, helping stabilize the outfield.  the dodgers made it back to the world series, where johnson hit 2 home runs, including the game 7 solo shot that gave koufax the only run he needed to beat the twins and give the dodgers another championship.  johnson had a better year in 1966, and again helped the dodgers get to the world series, although they were swept by the orioles that year.  in 1967, he hit .270 while playing just 81 games in left, and was dealt to the cubs after the season ended.

len gabrielson (1968)

the dodgers had acquired gabrielson from the angels during the 1967 season.  he played a scant 57 games in left field for the dodgers in 1968, but that was more than any of the 8 other players the dodgers put out there.  they used wes parker, jim lefebvre, jim fairey, ted savage, al ferrara, cleo james, willie crawford, and even had rocky colavito for a short time in left.  in another strange twist to the season, gabrielson wound up leading the team with 10 home runs that year.  year of the pitcher, indeed. 

after the season, buzzie bavasi went to the padres, and al campanis took over as general manager.  he made a deal to bring some stability back to the position, landing manny mota from the expos.

manny mota (1969-1970, 1972-1973)

mota wasn't acquired until june, but still played more games as the dodgers' left fielder in 1969 than anyone else.  he hit .323 as a dodger, and then followed that up with a .305 campaign in 1970.  in 1971, mota split time between left and right to make way for willie crawford, but wound up reclaiming the starting left fielder job towards the end of the season.  in 1972, he hit .323 and earned some mvp votes.  he hit .314 and made the all-star team in 1973.  it was the lone all-star appearance of his career, and he pinch hit (not for pedro borbon) for dave giusti and grounded out.  while mota still played more games in left than any other dodger in 1973, he was easing into a platoon/pinch-hitting role that season. 
willie crawford (1971)

local prep star willie crawford was technically the dodgers' primary left fielder in 1971, although he and mota both appeared in 63 games there (crawford made 55 starts to mota's 47).  he and mota were also pretty close in 1969 (56 games/45 starts for willie to 64/54 for mota).  in 1971, crawford was only 24 even though it must have seemed he had been around forever - he had debuted in 1964 as a 17-year old - and he hit .281 with 9 homers and 40 rbi.  he would be moved to right field on a more permanent basis, so we'll see more of him when i get to the evolution of the right fielder someday.

that's all for part 1; be on the lookout for some sweet bill buckner eyebrows in part 2, coming soon.

the extreme closeup is nothing new

i was one of those folks who wondered why in the world upper deck used so many tightly cropped portrait shots in their 2009 o-pee-chee release.  cards like this garret anderson seemed to be so 'mug shot'-esque and out of place in the baseball card world.

well, i was looking through a few of my binders, and found that upper deck is not alone in their use of the extreme closeup.  here's a 1957 topps gino cimoli card to prove that point:

topps didn't even let us see gino's whole face, blocking his chin with text.  it's almost as if the photographer were looking for bats in the cave.

then there's this 1958 topps randy jackson

we get to see all of randy's face, but that's about it.  the dodgers' logo looks like a big chip on his shoulder, too.

fast forward to 1992, and the extreme closeup on chris gwynn's o-pee-chee card reveals a sweaty temple.

the hatless extreme closeup is pretty much worthless on a baseball card.  worthless.

finally, i'll show off todd hollandsworth on his 1998 upper deck collector's choice card

this may well be the most extreme closeup ever used on a baseball card. we only get about 2/3 of hollandsworth's head for goodness sakes. 

so, i apologize to you 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee.  you were not bucking tradition with your extreme closeups.  still, would it have been so hard to use the upper torso/posed swing images instead?