omar daal, double dipper

this is the second in a series highlighting those players that have worn dodger blue, left, and then returned to wear the uniform once again.  brett butler was the first to be feted.

omar daal made his big league debut on april 23, 1993 pitching for the dodgers in relief of ramon martinez in a game against curt schilling and the phillies.  i find that interesting because daal would later be traded (with some other players) in exchange for schilling.  anyway, daal pitched solely in relief for the dodgers through the 1995 season.  here's his 1995 topps card.

after the '95 season, he was traded to the expos where he pitched for one and a half seasons before heading to toronto to finish out the 1997 campaign.  the diamondbacks plucked him from toronto in the expansion draft, and he pitched for them primarily as a starter for two-plus years, including his career season (1999) when he won 16 games.  here he is in full d-back glory on his 1999 topps card:

the diamondbacks sent him to philadelphia for curt schilling in the aforementioned trade in july of 2000.  daal, who was 2-10 at the time, went 2-9 for the phillies the rest of the way.  he pitched a bit better in 2001, but the phillies still decided to trade him at the end of the season and they sent him back to los angeles for a couple of minor leaguers. 

in his return to the dodgers, daal was used primarily as a starter, appearing in 39 games - 23 as a starter.  he won 11 times and had an era of 3.90.  here's his 2003 topps card:

he was back with the dodgers for just the 2002 season, spending 2003 in baltimore - the last stop in his career.

the first time around with the dodgers, daal was 6-3 with a 5.35 era and 39 strikeouts in 69 innings.  the second time around he was 11-9, 3.90 with 105 k's in 161.1 innings.  in between, he went 47-55 with an era of 4.41 and 609 strikeouts in 874.2 innings.  that's ok though, the dodgers had darren dreifort to underachieve during that period.

here's to you, omar daal.  you double dipper, you!

1207 things i like about you

actually, these are 7 cards i like about 1207 consecutive games.  mainly because he sent them to me in a trade!  always nice to do business with a fellow garvey fan.

1985 leaf bill russell

leaf cards would have been better if they had given donruss the o-pee-chee treatment.  shameless plug.

1971 topps phil niekro

i received a few 1971 cards i needed, which is always an awesome thing. even moreso when it's a hofer.

1986 sportflics davey lopes

seeing davey at home in wrigley is weird.

1992 upper deck minors henry blanco

blanco must be playing for bakersfield if i know my dodger hats.  blanco debuted with the dodgers in 1997, playing third base.  he got a hit in his first major league at bat, and homered in his third.  he only had 5 at bats with the dodgers, and has played in colorado, atlanta, milwaukee, minnesota, chicago and san diego since then, mainly as a catcher.

1993 bowman omar daal

here i though daal was from venezuela, but he clearly hails from the black forest in germany.  daal went 4-0 in his third year in the bigs with the dodgers, although his era was over 7.  he was traded to the expos, but the dodgers got him back a few years later from the phillies.

1995 bowman rick gorecki

bowman must have liked (like me) the 1994 upper deck cards with the compressed photo on the left.  bowman, however, went one step further and reversed the negative!  i have to admit, this is a very strange card design.  it has a 'phantom zone' quality to it.  anyway, gorecki appeared in 4 games for the dodgers before being selected by the devil rays in the expansion draft.

finally, we have a 1991 jimmy dean darryl strawberry

i can't think of anything to say about darryl or jimmy dean, so i'll just say thanks rob!