a 52 card pick up, 13 at a time

not too long ago, i showed off some new to me steve garvey cards.  one of those came from a deck of playing cards - the dodgers' version of the 2005 baseball hero deck.  i later went out and bought the whole deck of cards, and figured they were worth showing off.

i noted in the title that it was a 52 card pick up, but actually, there are 55 cards in the set.  three 'jokers' are included - long time managers walter alston and tommy lasorda, along with even longer-time broadcaster, vin scully.

each suit is broken up into specific teams/eras of the franchise, with the clubs focusing on the brooklyn years - and primarily the 'boys of summer' years of the late 1940's and early 1950's.  let's see what we have in this suit.  aces are low in this deck, as the card values mirror the fielding positions...

don newcombe as the ace of the staff, plus roy campanella behind the plate. gil hodges, jackie robinson, billy cox, and pee wee reese make up the infield, with hall of famers zack wheat and duke snider sharing the outfield with rightfielder carl furillo.  the high cards have dazzy vance, clem labine, and carl erskine in the bullpen, plus jake daubert coming off the bench.

most of these cards represent the latter years of the brooklyn franchise, with the outliers being zack wheat, dazzy vance, and jake daubert. it's nice to see them getting some attention though.

this is daubert's first appearance on the blog, so i'll go ahead and note that he was the first franchise player to win the mvp award (1913), and the second to win a batting title (also 1913) after dan brouthers was the first in 1893.  daubert followed up that season by winning the batting title again in 1914.

sunday morning target dodgers - featuring an honorary member of the infield

another sunday, another 15 cards from a 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set sheet given away at dodger stadium in 1990.  enjoy.

rick auerbach

auerbach filled in for the injured bill russell for the first three months of the 1975 season.  he first appeared as a dodger during the 1974 season, although the team acquired him from the brewers in april of 1973.  auerbach spent the rest of that season in albuquerque and had his contract purchased by the brewers in september. a month later, the dodgers purchased his contract back, and he made the big league roster for the 1974 season and even appeared in the postseason that year.  very nearly a dodger double dipper, auerbach stayed with the dodgers through the 1976 season and was traded to the mets for hank webb prior to the 1977 campaign.

billy cox

cox was the dodgers' third baseman from 1948 through 1954.  this 'boy of summer' was acquired in a trade with the pirates following the 1947 season that was prompted in part by the aversion some dodgers had to playing with jackie robinson. unfortunately for cox, he was traded to the orioles prior to the dodgers' world championship season of 1955.

tim crews

along with tim leary, tim crews was part of the return package that the dodgers received from the brewers in exchange for greg brock.  crews was part of the dodger bullpen from 1987 through 1992, although he did make 4 spot starts over that span.  he also had 15 saves in a total of 281 appearances as a dodger.  following the 1992 season, crews signed with the indians as a free agent, but died in a boating accident during spring training.  both the dodgers and indians wore memorial patches for crews (the indians' patch also honored steve olin who was also killed in the accident) during the 1993 season.

fred frankhouse

kudos to frankouse's parents for not naming him frank.  fred frankhouse pitched 10 seasons for the cardinals and braves before joining the dodgers prior to the 1936 season. used primarily as a starter, frankhouse was 13-10 the first season with the dodgers, and then flipped that record the next.  1938 was his last season with the club, and he posted a 3-5 record while pitching mainly out of the bullpen.

harry harper

harper pitched for the senators from 1913-1919, showing some success with decent era in most of those seasons.  he also led the league in losses in 1919 with 21, thanks in part to the poor team for which he played and his career worst (up to that point) era of 3.72.  harper was traded to the red sox for the 1920 season, and then dealt again to the yankees in the waite hoyt deal prior to the 1921 season.  after sitting out the 1922 campaign, harper joined the robins in 1923 and made a solitary start for them.  he lasted 3.2 innings against the giants on may 8, allowing 6 earned runs, as his big league career came to an end.

tommy holmes

holmes was the national league home run champion in 1945 as a member of the boston braves.  he hit 28 homers that year, and also drove in 117 runs, both career highs.  while he still hit for average in the next three seasons, he never approached those power numbers again.  in fact, holmes had hit a total of 38 home runs over the next 6 seasons before signing with the dodgers in 1952.  he failed to hit any home runs as a dodger, although he played in only 31 games during that '52 season.  holmes hit .111 for the dodgers during the regular season, and then was 0 for 1 in his final appearances as a dodger during the 1952 fall classic.

charlie irwin

irwin finished his 10-year big league career with a season and a half as a member of the brooklyn superbas. acquired after being released by the reds during the 1901 season, irwin played third base and hit .253 over the remainder of his career.

von joshua

joshua was a dodger double dipper whose last appearance in his first go-around as a dodger came with him making the final out in the 1974 world series. the second time, the dodgers brought joshua back to the majors from the mexican league in 1979.  overall, joshua appeared in more games with the dodgers than any other team for which he played, although his best season was probably his 1975 campaign spent with the giants.

brickyard kennedy

according to baseball reference. kennedy's nickname was actually 'roaring bill', not brickyard.  strange.  he pitched for the grooms/bridegrooms/superbas from 1892 through 1901, winning as many as 25 games in 1893 and more than 20 four times.  he was 177-149 for brooklyn overall before spending the 1902 season with the new york giants and the 1903 campaign with the national league champion pittsburgh pirates. in fact, kennedy's final major league appearance came with the pirates in the inaugural world series, starting (and losing) game 5.

bill krueger

krueger's dodger career consisted of three appearances over the course of two seasons.  he was acquired by the club from the a's during the 1987 season and made 2 relief appearances as a dodger in september.  he re-signed with the dodgers for the 1988 campaign, but began the year in albuquerque.  krueger was eventually called up and was given the july 4 start against the cardinals, his lone big league appearance of the season.  krueger allowed 3 runs in 2.1 innings of work that day and was sent back down to triple-a. the dodgers traded him to the pirates for jim niedlinger following the end of the regular season.

paul minner

in 1946, and then again in 1948 and 1949, minner was a pitcher on the dodgers' roster.  he appeared in a total of 58 games and posted a record of 7-5 with a 3.16 era.  you can learn much more about minner in this post, courtesy of another dodger blogger.

joe pignatano

pignatano, a brooklyn native, debuted with the dodgers in 1957 - the team's last year in brooklyn.  he remained with the team as they moved to los angeles, and served as the team's backup backstop through the 1960 season.

ron roenicke

roenicke was dodger #3 on the 1982 topps steve sax/mike marshall rookie card.  he was also an outfielder on the team who played in 212 games for the dodgers from september of 1981 through july 18, 1983 when he was released.  roenicke went on to play for the mariners, padres, giants, phillies, and reds before rejoining the dodger organization as a minor league manager and later a big league coach. he is currently the manager of the milwaukee brewers, adding one more manager to the list who played for tommy lasorda.

joe shaute

shaute pithed for the robins/dodgers from 1931-33 after spending 9 seasons with the indians.  he was 21-19 for brooklyn in that span, with a 4.32 era compiled over 100 appearances.  while with the indians, shaute struck out only 402 batters in 1,447 innings pitched, but babe ruth accounted for over 30 of those k's according to baseball reference.

bobby valentine

bobby v was the dodgers' first round pick in their vaunted 1968 draft.  he made his big league debut just over a year later, and would appear in 5 games as a 1969 september call-up.  he returned to the majors in 1971 and 1972, playing all over the outfield and everywhere in the infield except for first base.  after hitting .274 in 119 games in 1972, valentine was included in the trade that sent frank robinson to the angels.  valentine was just 23 and was hitting .302 when he tore up his knee in may of '73 after getting his spikes caught in the angels' outfield fence. the injury plagued him for the remainder of his playing career that included post-anaheim stints in san diego, new york, and seattle.  valentine never played for lasorda in the majors (he did in the minors), but he did go on to manage in the majors and according to reports, would have been tommy's choice to guide the dodgers instead of davey johnson had valentine not already been managing the mets.  we also have valentine to thank for making tommy a coach on the 2001 national league all-star team which brought us the fantastic footage of tommy getting upended in the third base coaches box by a wayward bat.

sunday morning target dodgers

here are another 14 members of the dodger franchise from the 1990 target set.  there were a lot of ghostly images on this particular sheet.  let's see what we can learn from baseball reference about them, shall we?

pete cassidy

pete, not a known relation to butch, played in all of 6 games for the superbas in 1899 before they traded him to the washington senators.  he looks a lot like doc casey, if you ask me.

dick cox

good lord, what a name by today's standards.  the weird thing is that his name was actually elmer joseph cox.  no richard to be found.  anyway, he played two years of major league ball, both with the robins.  in 1925, his rookie year, he hit .329 in 122 games.

cliff curtis

curtis joined the dodgers during the 1912 season and was 4-7 in 19 appearances.  he returned for the 1913 season, and posted a 8-9 record in 30 games for  the superbas as they were then known.  he didn't play in 1914 when the franchise changed their name for a third year in a row, this time to the robins.

wally gilbert

gilbert did play for the robins, although not until the 1930's.  he was the team's third baseman from 1928 through 1931, but was traded to the reds prior to the 1932 season.

jake hehl

hehl appeared in one game for the robins in 1918, and that was it for his major league career.  he pitched 1 inning, allowing no hits or runs, although he did hit a batter.  he was 18 at the time - the youngest player in the league - and was a pitcher at a brooklyn high school brought in to replace players lost to military service.  i wonder what he did with the rest of his life.

chet kehn

kehn had three times the big league experience as hehl.  he pitched in three games during his career, all with the dodgers in 1942.  he also got two at bats in that time, and while his career era was 7.04, his lifetime batting average was 1.000.  not too many people can say that!

dick loftus

loftus played for the robins in 1924 and 1925, the only two years he spent in the major leagues.  he hit .250 in a total of 97 games.

charlie malay

malay has the distinction of being the second baseman on the worst team in franchise history - the 1905 superbas.  he hit .252 that year, which also happened to be his lone season in the big leagues.

larry miller

miller made his big league debut in 1964, pitching for the defending world champion dodgers against the reds.  he wound up 4-8 on the season, but did go 2 for 2 at the plate in each of his first two games - the last dodger to do so until yasiel puig came around last season.  miller was traded to the mets following the 1964 season, and his only win for the ny metropolitans came against his former club on june 20, 1965.

earl mossor

mossor spent 12 seasons in the minor leagues with just one taste of big league experience.  in 1951, the dodgers brought him up and he pitched in 3 games.  in his debut, he allowed a sacrifice fly to the first batter he faced, and then walked the next three (all of whom eventually scored) before being removed.  he pitched two-thirds of an inning his next time out without allowing a run, but his third and final appearance included another sacrifice fly (scoring an inherited runner), three more walks (one intentional), and a three-run home run in two-thirds of an inning for a whopping 32.40 career era.  still, mossor is another guy that retired with a 1.000 career batting average, as he was 1 for 1 at the plate.

red smith

smith played for the dodgers, superbas, and robins from 1911 until he was traded to the boston braves during the 1914 season.  he hit .279 in 397 games during that span and led the league with 40 doubles in 1913.

farmer steelman

steelman played for the superbas in 1 game during the 1900 season, and 1 game during the 1901 season.  he left brooklyn and joined connie mack's new american league team in philadephia for the rest of the 1901 season and played for mack again in 1902.

overton tremper

tremper was an ivy leaguer who played for the robins in 1927 and 1928.  he had a degree in economics from the university of pennsylvania, and after hitting .220 in 36 games over two seasons, he became a high school math teacher.

rube vickers

harry porter 'rube' vickers was a canadian born pitcher who appeared in 4 games for the superbas in 1903.  he was 0-1 in those appearances which included one start.  he resurfaced in 1907, pitching for connie mack's a's, and had his best season in 1908 going 18-19 with a 2.21 era for philadelphia.

so there you have it - 14 guys i hadn't heard of before.  the 15th player featured on this sheet gets his own post later today. stay tuned.

my pared down 1952 topps sampler set, a dodger double dipper, and a contest winner!

thanks to all who joined me in wishing steve garvey a happy birthday yesterday.  as promised, i will be giving away a 1952 topps card to one of you.

first, let's take a look at what my 1952 topps sampler set looks like now.  as you'll recall, i decided to pare down most of my pre-1970 collection (1957 topps and 1965 topps not included) to just dodgers and a few double plays, final tributes, and memorials.  here's what i am left with from 1952.

that's wayne terwilliger, the overly happy chris van cuyk, a forlorn johnny schmitz, and clyde king.  billy cox, rocky bridges, and ralph branca, too.  there is one spot left on the sheet, and darned if a high number wouldn't look nice there.  i'll have to do something about that.

i have posted about each of these guys in one way or another, except for van cuyk, a dodger pitcher from wisconsin.  van cuyk will have to wait, however, as clyde king is hijacking this post.  yes, king was a dodger double dipper.

[this is the fiftyfifth 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, and ron perranoski.]

just for fun, here's another 1952 clyde king card - from bowman - that i just picked up.

it hasn't arrived yet, but i am posting it anyway.

king signed with the dodgers prior to the 1944 season, and a couple of months into that season, he was making his debut with the club.  he wound up going 13-12 for the dodgers from 1944 through may of 1948 before the team put him on waivers.  he was selected by the phillies, but never did appear in a game for them.  they wound up waiving him a few days later, and the dodgers decided to bring him back into the fold.  when he returned to the mound for brooklyn in 1951, king's status as a double dipper was completed.

he had his best season in 1951, going 14-7 with a complete game and 6 saves.  then, after one more season in brooklyn, king was traded to the reds for dixie howell.  he finished his big league playing career with the reds in 1953, but spent a couple more seasons in the minors.  after that, king began his managerial career in the braves' organization.  he managed in the pirates' organization, too, and was later an instructor/coach for the cardinals, reds, and back to the pirates during the 1960's.  late in the decade, he joined the giants' organization, and was named their manager in 1969.  from there, he moved on to managing the braves, and later the yankees.  he also took a turn as the yankees' general manager in the mid-1980's, and wound up trading for jay buhner and rickey henderson, among others, as well as signing bernie williams.

but enough about king.  let's find out who gets a 1952 topps card.  there were 5 blogs which promoted the contest:

the junior junkie
it's like having my own card shop
mark's ephemera
the writer's journey
tenets of wilson

there were 24 blogs (other than mine) that wished steve a happy birthday and left a comment.  i wasn't too much of a stickler beyond that - it's the thought that counts, right?  here are the blogs:

the writer's journey
it's like having my own card shop
ptown tom
angels in order
1978 baseball
red cardboard
the chronicles of fuji
the diamond king
this way to the clubhouse
tenets of wilson
coot veal and the vealtones
mark's ephemera
the prowling cat
the junior junkie
the lost collector
baseball card breakdown
1978, the year it all began
dime boxes
chavez ravining
play at the plate
cards on cards
dodger penguin
night owl cards
playing with my cards

so, here's the list that goes into random.org:

the junior junkie
it's like having my own card shop
mark's ephemera
the writer's journey
tenets of wilson
the writer's journey
it's like having my own card shop
ptown tom
angels in order
1978 baseball
red cardboard
the chronicles of fuji
the diamond king
this way to the clubhouse
tenets of wilson
coot veal and the vealtones
mark's ephemera
the prowling cat
the junior junkie
the lost collector
baseball card breakdown
1978, the year it all began
dime boxes
chavez ravining
play at the plate
cards on cards
dodger penguin
night owl cards
playing with my cards

and, after randomizing 6 (the garv's jersey number) times, the winner is…

…play at the plate.

brian requested the senators (which are the twins' senators, not the rangers' senators), so he receives an eddie yost card.

yost wound up as an original angel, and not a twin, in 1961.  dude could get on base, too.

congrats brian, and thanks again to all who participated.

card show recap - the final dealer

i went back to the vintage bargain bin dealer to end my time at the show.  he had tried to tempt me earlier with his '90% off bowman box'.  here's what i picked up before hitting the road.

1976 shakey's roy campanella

yay oddballs
1974 topps hank aaron special #3
1959 topps baseball thrills rocky colavito

somebody collects catches at the wall, i believe.
1955 bowman smoky burgess - because somebody else collects catchers in gear
1951 bowman dan bankhead

i did not realize that dan bankhead was the first african american pitcher in big league history.  he debuted in august of 1947, just a few months after jackie robinson.  he hit a home run in his first big league at bat, and his only appearance in the 1947 world series was as a pinch runner.

1951 bowman billy cox

1952 bowman preacher roe

1953 topps clem labine

1955 bowman don newcombe

the bowmans all have some paper loss on the back, but the fronts look good.  i took a long, hard look at a 1951 bowman campanella but couldn't pull the trigger.  i would say maybe next time, but this dealer informed me that he is relocating to north carolina and is not sure how often he will return to the twin cities.  of all the bowmans, i think i like the 1952 cards the best.  the colors seem to pop a bit more, at least on the dodger cards i have from that set.

so, how much do you think i spent on these cards? make your guess in the comments.  i'll have the answers (and winners) tomorrow.

the evolution of the dodger third baseman - part one of way too many

it's been a while since i've run down the lineage of a dodger position.  it's time to get to the infield, although i should probably update one or two of the previous posts.  i'll do that eventually, but for now, let's look at the hot corner.  this one will take a few posts to get through, as third base has not been a model of consistency for the dodgers except from 1973 through 1982.

as usual, i am starting with the late 40's/early 50's since that's when baseball cards became more prevalent.

billy cox (1948-1953)

look at that 1952 bowman awesomeness!  billy cox arrived in brooklyn after the 1947 season (along with preacher roe and gene mauch) by way of a trade with the pirates.  he helped the dodgers win three pennants (1949, 1952, and 1953) and was best known for his fielding abilities although he hit .291 in 1953 and .302 over his three world series appearances.  cox was prominently featured in roger kahn's book 'the boys of summer' but was unfortunately not a member of the 1955 brooklyn dodger championship team.  that's because he was traded (again along with roe) after the 1954 season to the baltimore orioles.  he spent just part of the 1955 season there before being traded to cleveland, but he chose to retire rather than report to the indians.

in his tenure as the dodgers' third baseman, cox appeared in 742 games and hit .259 with 46 homers and 245 rbi, and he saved who knows how many with his glove.

don hoak (1954)

yes i realize that i'm showing hoak's 1953 topps card rather than his more appropriate 1954 issue.  it's because i find it odd that hoak had a card in the 53 set since he didn't debut in the majors until the following year.  anyway, hoak and cox split time fairly evenly at third base in 1954 with hoak getting slightly more playing time and thus the entry here.  as a rookie, he hit .245 with 7 homers and 26 rbi.  one would have thought, perhaps, that with cox being traded after the season hoak would be given the third base job.  not so.

jackie robinson (1955)

good lord.  i'm burying my 1955 topps jackie robinson card three deep in a dodgers-centric post that hardly anybody but me cares about?  what's wrong with me?  nice card, anyway.

yes, jackie robinson slid over to the hot corner in 1955, starting there in 82 of his 105 games played for walt alston.  he had the worst offensive season of his career that year, hitting just .256 with only 16 extra base hits and 36 rbi.  still, the dodgers won the pennant and jackie started the first six games of the series.  after hitting .182 in those games, alston gave the game 7 start to hoak, who had the privilege of being on the field when johnny podres shut the yankees out for brooklyn's lone world series title.

in 1956, robinson made 71 starts at third during his final season, but was not the team's primary third baseman.

randy jackson (1956)

randy 'hansome ransom' jackson started just three games more than robinson in 1956, but that's enough to make the evolutionary list.  he had been acquired from the cubs prior to the season in a deal that sent don hoak (among others) to chicago.

jackson had been an all-star in his last two seasons with the cubs and was coming off a 21-homer campaign.  he played in a total of 101 games for the dodgers in 1956, and hit .274 with 8 homers and 53 rbi.  one of those home runs came as the middle part of a back-to-back-to-back sequence that started with a duke snider home run and culminated with gil hodges' walk-off blast against the phillies on june 29 - the only time three consecutive home runs have ended a game.  jackson helped the dodgers return to the world series in 1956, but he was hitless in his three fall classic at bats.

jackson returned in 1957 and started the season as the dodgers' third baseman.  however, a serious knee injury suffered near the end of april caused him to miss half the season, and precipitated a move to third by a dodger legend.

pee wee reese (1957)

good golly.  a '55 jackie and a 1957 topps pee wee reese in the same post? never mind the tape stains, this is a sweet piece of cardboard.

with jackson injured, pee wee took over at third and wound up playing 75 of his 103 games there that year.  at 38 years old, he hit .224 with a single home run and 33 runs scored.  he made the move to los angeles with the team, but was just a part-time player in 1958.

dick gray (1958)

dick gray made his major league debut on april 15, 1958 and was 2 for 4 with a single in his first big league at bat.  the next day, he hit the first los angeles dodger home run, and a couple days after that, he hit the first dodger home run in los angeles.  not a bad way to start.  gray wound up hitting .249 with 9 home runs on the season in just 58 games.  randy jackson and pee wee reese shared time with him at third, with jim gilliam, don zimmer, earl robinson, and even gil hodges helping out, but gray's 53 starts at the hot corner were more than anyone else, so he gets the spot in our countdown.

gray began the 1959 season on the bench, but got a few starts at third before he was traded to the cardinals in mid june.

jim gilliam (1959-1960)

the aforementioned gilliam brought some semblance of stability to the third base position for the dodgers as he took over in 1959.  sure, he still played second base and the outfield, but between 1959 and 1960, gilliam made a total of 246 starts at third base - more than any dodger in a two-year span since before even billy cox.  in 1959, gilliam led the league in walks and was named an all-star for the second time in his career.  he hit .282 and helped the dodgers win their first championship in los angeles.  in 1960, his average dipped to .248 although he matched his base on balls total from the previous season, and scored 96 runs.  in 1961, gilliam spent more time at second base, as the dodgers acquired a third baseman from the cardinals.  sort of.

daryl spencer (1961)

daryl spencer was acquired by the dodgers early in the 1961 season, and wound up starting 55 games for them at third base that year, despite having played nothing but shortstop for the cardinals prior to the trade.  he hit .243 with 8 home runs and 27 rbi for the dodgers, and then returned in 1962 to hit .136 with a pair of homers and 12 rbi in 77 games (57 of which included time spent at third base).  spencer's reduced playing time in 1962 meant that a familiar face was once again the primary dodger third baseman.

jim gilliam (1962)

believe it or not, walt alston trotted out jim gilliam as the dodgers' starting third baseman 60 times in 1962 - more than spencer, andy carey, lee walls, or even tommy davis.  that means that gilliam was the team's primary third baseman and second baseman that season!  in addition to those starts, gilliam found himself manning the hot corner 30 times as a result of in-game moves after starting elsewhere on the diamond.  overall, gilliam hit .270 in 1962, with an obp of .370 and 83 runs scored.

in 1963, gilliam made only 27 starts (and 55 total appearances) at third, because the dodgers had a rookie from oxnard ready to take over.

ken mcmullen (1963)

that's mcmullen's 1964 topps card.  i wasn't going to bury his 1963 rookie card way down here in this post.

as with most years, the dodgers employed a number of third basemen in 1963.  mcmullen got the most starts (66) out of his 71 appearances, so he gets to represent the year that the dodgers swept the yankees in the world series.  unfortunately, mcmullen did not appear in the postseason after hitting .236 with 5 home runs and 28 rbi during the regular season.  mcmullen only appeared in 24 games during the 1964 season, after which he was dealt to the senators in the claude osteen trade.

jim gilliam (1964-1965)

look who's back!  gilliam was once again getting the majority of the starts at third base in 1964 and 1965.  gilliam had a down year in 1964, hitting only .228 in 116 games (86 of which were spent at third with 62 starts there), but bounced back in 1965 to bat .280 with an obp of .384 in 111 contests (80, 77).

come back next time to see who took over for gilliam in 1966, and whether the dodgers could keep someone there for more than one season at a time.