sunday morning target dodgers - talkin' baseball...bunny, ducky, and the duke

woo hoo.  we're gonna learn about some new players today!  here's another installment of 15 cards from the 1990 target dodgers set that was given away in installments at dodger stadium that year.  each sheet features 15 players or managers that wore the uniform (or sat in the dugout in burt shotton's case) during the franchise's first 100 years in the national league.  we've got some hall of famers and some interesting names to get to today...

jesse barnes

nicknamed "nubby", barnes led the national league in wins in 1919 with 25 while pitching for the new york giants, although he also led the senior circuit in losses in both 1917 and 1924 when he was a member of the boston braves (he double dipped).  barnes was a member of the giants' world series championship teams in 1921 and 1922 as they defeated babe ruth's yankees both times.  he finished his career with two forgettable seasons in brooklyn - in 1926, barnes was 10-11 with a 5.24 era, and in 1927 he went 2-10 with a 5.72 era.

jim bucher

bucher made his big league debut in 1934 as an infielder with the dodgers.  he stayed with brooklyn through the 1937 season but was then traded to the cardinals in the deal that netted the dodgers leo durocher.  during his stay in brooklyn, bucher hit .269 and appeared in 405 games.

cannonball crane

crane (give name "ed") began his career in 1884 as an outfielder.  he converted to pitcher when it became apparent  that he wasn't a good hitter.  according to baseball reference, he was a hard thrower whose fastball was nicknamed "cannonball", and while he threw hard, he also lacked control.  in fact, his career k/w ratio is less than 1, and he led the league in wild pitches twice.  his brooklyn career consisted of two games (the last two of his career) in 1893 for the grooms.  he started both games and took the loss in each (although one was a complete game), allowing 15 earned runs in 10 innings of work and issuing 9 walks.  he also hit a batter and uncorked a wild pitch.

rick dempsey

dempsey joined the dodgers as a free agent prior to the 1988 season.  a few days after he was acquired, the dodgers released mike scioscia's backup from the previous season (alex trevino), and the job was given to dempsey.  dempsey appeared in 77 games and hit .251 during the regular season in that role, but also made some big starts, especially in the postseason.  tommy lasorda gave dempsey the start at catcher in the pivotal game 5 of the nlcs against the mets' sid fernandez, and dempsey opened the scoring with a 2-run double in the 4th inning as the dodgers went on to win the game 7-4.  dempsey, who was the 1983 world series mvp for the orioles, also got to start game 5 of the fall classic and had a rbi double in that game, too.  he also got to run out and hug orel hershiser after the last out was recorded and the dodgers had claimed the title.  dempsey remained with the dodgers through the 1990 season, and later managed in their minor league system for a few years.

bunny fabrique

fabrique played for the robins in 1916 and 1917. he appeared in just 2 games for the club in 1916, but saw action in 25 contests the following year.  being a shortstop, it is likely that his 18 errors in those 25 games greatly contributed to the early demise of his big league career.  by they way, he's wearing the checked brooklyn unis i mentioned the other day.  i do hope the dodgers do a throwback or two in 2016 to these things.

john gochnaur

gochnaur played in 3 games for the 1901 brooklyn superbas, although he looks to be wearing a different team's uniform in his photo.  it's probably from a minor league stop as the only other majore league team he played for (cleveland) had distinguishing lettering on their dark, collared jerseys that would have been visible in this photo.  in those 3 games in which he played for brooklyn, gochnaur was 4 for 11 with a walk and 2 rbi.

gerald hannahs

gerry hannahs was a member of the team of my youth, but just barely as he made one appearance for the club in 1978 following his acquisition by al campanis in the deal that sent mike garman to the expos.  he pitched two innings against the padres in that lone outing, allowing a couple of runs but also striking out 5 padre batters, including dave winfield.  the gerry hannahs appearance that i remember very clearly, however, came in 1979 when he came in to pitch against the big red machine.  hannahs had earned a september callup, and made his first appearance of the season on september 7 in a game against the reds.  called on to preserve a 1-run lead in the bottom of the 9th, hannahs struck out joe morgan, dave concepcion, and george foster to end the game and earn the save.  i remember listening to the game in our living room on my dad's trusty transistor radio, and hearing hannahs being interviewed following the game by jerry doggett.  good times.  hannahs only pitched in 3 more games for the dodgers that season, which turned out to be his last in the majors.

frank howard

hondo was the 1960 national league rookie of the year, and he turned out to be one of the better roys in terms of his overall career production.  howard lasted with the dodgers through the 1964 season (he won a ring with the 1963 squad, even homering in the world series against the yankees) after which he was traded to the senators in the claude osteen deal.  with washington, howard twice led the league in home runs and he earned his nickname as the "capitol punisher".  howard retired following the 1973 season with 382 career home runs, and only 63 men who have played the game have hit more in their career.  and, i believe that was a top 20 all-time total at the time howard retired.

leron lee

lee played for the dodgers in 1975 and 1976, mostly as a pinch-hitter and sometimes outfielder.  following his release from the team after the 1976 season, lee left for japan and wound up finding great success there as he hit a total of 283 home runs in 11 seasons.

tony malinosky

malinosky was with the dodgers in the big leagues for about 2 and a half months during the 1937 season.  in that time, he appeared in 25 games and hit .228.

joe medwick

ducky medwick had two stints with the dodgers, and helped them win the pennant in 1941 - their first since 1920.  he was better known as a member of the gashouse gang in saint louis, where he won a world series in 1934 and the triple crown in 1937.

rich rodas

rodas pitched for the dodgers during the 1983 and 1984 seasons.  in his big league debut, he struck out the first batter he faced (terry kennedy) and later retired tony gwynn on a groundout.  rodas relieved starter burt hooton in that game, and on june 19, 1984, hooton relieved rodas (who had taken over for carlos diaz who relieved starter fernando valenzuela) in what turned out to be rodas' last big league appearance.

duke snider

the duke.  snider played for the dodgers from 1947 (he debuted two days after jackie robinson) through 1962, and holds many franchise records, such as offensive war (career), home runs (career), rbi (career), and strikeouts (career), although matt kemp with pass him in 2015 in that last category unless he is traded away.  snider was elected to the hall of fame in 1980 and his number 4 has been retired by the team ever since.

don sutton

back-to-back hall of famers!  sutton was the ace of the staff as far as i was concerned during my first few years of dodger fandom.  he wound up leaving the team before they won it all in 1981, but returned for their 1988 championship season.  unfortunately for him, the dodgers released him in august of 1988 so he did not get a chance to finally win a world series.  like snider, sutton holds a lot of franchise records, such as wins, strikeouts, starts, shutouts, games pitched, and games started.

rene valdes

valdes' only major league experience came with the dodgers in 1957 and consisted of 5 games.  he debuted against the pirates in april of '57 and retired roberto clemente twice in his 3.2 innings of hitless and scoreless relief.  valdes had taken over for don newcombe in that game, and was himself relieved by sandy koufax.  overall, valdes was 1-1 with a 5.24 era as a major league pitcher.

whoopsie dempseys

i really like rick dempsey's 1991 score card

the black borders with the gray uniform and the blue chest protector and the little bit of red jersey number poking through make for a visually appealing card, even if the photo is kind of odd.  there are bodiless feet and part of dempsey's face is obscured.  still, i appreciate him rocking the jerry grote look with his cap instead of a helmet.

i like the card so much, i sent a copy of it (along with a 1978 topps card) to dempsey about 3 years ago through the mail hoping that he would sign it.  he had signed a couple of cards for me with a quick 10-day turnaround in 2009, and i was hoping for another success.  a year or so later, i sent another couple of cards - another '78 and a 1989 topps card.

well, two weeks ago, i got a return from the former dodger catcher and 1983 world series mvp, except it was a 1986 topps

and not the '78 or '89 or '91 card i had sent.  i'm thankful for the return though i am curious how this happens.  does he have a card desk where cards pile up and get knocked over and mixed up like so many of us do? or does he have a stack of pre-signed cards ready to go?  i'd like to think it was the former.

thanks for sending me a card rick - i am always appreciative of players taking some time to respond to mail.

oddball-palooza with a teaser

the goal today is to post the rest of the oddball haul i picked up a while ago and announce my first group break.  should be easy enough.  here are a bunch of dodger cards from off the beaten path.  this 1975 topps knock-off is from 1991 baseball cards presents, and features native son darryl strawberry

strawberry was happy to be in los angeles according to the card back

i am guessing that the third kid in the cartoon would be chris brown.  while the dodgers also brought eric davis back to la, brown was out of the majors by the time the 90's rolled around.

here's a 1993 topps eric karros card

but without the rookie cup.  what gives?

it's a pre-production sample.  most likely issued with 1992 topps factory sets i imagine.  i know i bought a 1993 topps factory set, and it had the 1994 pre-production samples in it.  unfortunately, i don't have the 1996 topps pre-production rafael bournigal sample card.  how random is it that topps picked bournigal for the 10-card set that year?

here's a 1990 baseball wit card of manny mota

the first question on the back is appropriate, even though it is no longer answered correctly.

i did not know that about the pirates.  always nice to see a manny mota card, and an extra bonus to learn something along the way.

here are a couple of pedro guerrero cards - 1985 drake's

and 1988 drake's

that '88 card was a nefarious 9 resident for a while.  i didn't realize that drake's sets were still made that late into the decade.

this kirk gibson card is from the bottom of a 1989 fleer box

i kinda sorta wish that topps still did this, even though i don't buy boxes anymore.  i think the last time i saw box bottom cards was with 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee.

next up are a couple of 1990 donruss learning series cards.  the complete dodger team set consists of rick dempsey

and fernando valenzuela

these cards were apparently part of a bigger educational packet made available to elementary and middle schools.  i was well beyond those institutions in 1990.

in 1993, fleer apparently partnered with fruit of the loom to include cards in packages of t-shirts and/or underwear.  i imagine that somebody picked up this brett butler card

whether they wanted to or not while shopping for tighty-whities.  i am thankful for it 20 years later.

also from 1993, i now own a tim wallach humpty dumpty card

let's learn more about this card from the authority on all things tim wallach.

you'll notice that there were no stickers in today's post.  i did show a couple of them yesterday, but the big sticker news today is that i will be hosting my first group break featuring a box of 1983 fleer stickers.  look for the post later today with all the details.  it should be fun.

eyes on the prize

as another season kicks off, here's a reminder of what the boys in blue (and every other major leaguer) are playing for.

this is the last one that the dodgers have won, coming in 1988 and displayed on a card from the 1989 mother's dodgers set of cards.

back then, it was kirk gibson

who was the mvp of the regular season and made the impossible happened.

that was thanks to a big walk that mike davis

coerced from dennis eckersley

and also made possible by an rbi single from mike scioscia

earlier in the game, although it was rick dempsey

who would finish the series behind the plate and get to be the one to rush the mound and hug orel hershiser after the final out was recorded.

it was the second world championship for fernando valenzuela

although he was hurt and did not pitch in the postseason.

after the dodgers won, they attracted a few new faces - veterans who wanted to win - like mike morgan

old foe willie randolph

and eddie murray

each of whom joined the dodgers hoping to help the team repeat as world champions, because as lou piniella will tell you...

...the ring is the thing.

expectations are high this season.  i'm hoping they are realized.

one of these things is not like the others

one of these things just doesn't belong.  i recently received four autographed cards from ryan at the great orioles autograph project.  all four were guys i had hoped to have sign a 1978 topps card, but either hadn't been successful, hadn't yet tried, or knew they didn't sign cards through the mail.

first up is rick dempsey, 1983 world series mvp and guy who wound up as the dodgers' catcher when they won it all in 1988.

i have sent this card to dempsey twice without success.  that was after i had success with him the first time i tried as we will see later.

ray knight

before 1986, knight was known for two things - being married to golf pro nancy lopez and for being the guy the reds replaced pete rose with.  after 1986, he was known as 'here comes knight and the mets win it!'

ken singleton

i had not yet attempted a ttm with singleton, and ryan saved me the 88 cents.  of the four, this is the best in terms of signature, but i'm not complaining.

finally, there was this fred lynn card

lynn apparently does not sign cards through the mail (he might send back a signed index card, however), so i was pretty happy when ryan told me this was one of the four cards he was sending.  i was a closet fred lynn fan in 1978, and was excited when he came west to join the angels in 1981.

i mentioned up top that i had been successful with my very first rick dempsey ttm request.  that is true, although i didn't send his 1978 topps card with that request.  instead, i sent a 1990 topps

and a 1991 topps

with him in his dodger duds. 

but, back to the title of this post.  to finish the song, 'and now my song is done.'

upon closer inspection of the fred lynn card (i flipped the card over), i discovered that it wasn't 1978 topps at all.  it's a 1978 o-pee-chee interloper! oh my o-pee-chee!

sweet!

thanks ryan!

a card lot from the sandlot

i recently completed a trade with joe over at the sandlot.  he had a bunch of autos and game used stuff he advertised and i jumped on the dodgers and twins.

here's a 2007 sp authentic by the letter rookie signature card of andy laroche

if it weren't a dodger, i wouldn't bother - just like shaq's biological.  a messy auto on a manufactured patch artificially numbered to 40 as if it's really scarce.  note that laroche is wearing 66.  the last dodger rookie i recall wearing 66 was paul konerko.  another dodger prospect they traded away.

2006 fleer flair showcase rafael furcal jersey

i still think of furcal as a brave, even though this is his 5th season in la.  he just passed 1500 career hits and will play in his 500th game as a dodger this weekend.  still a brave to me, though.

2006 topps turkey red joe mauer jersey

joe mauer even has the kirby puckett generation of twins fans wearing number 7 jerseys.  in related news, i went to target field twice last week.  it is awesome.  and so is joe mauer.

2006 ud future stars jason kubel auto

it's strange to think that after a breakout season in 2009, kubel is losing at bats to jim thome this year.

2005 topps chrome kevin west auto

kevin west looks to have been a very good minor league player who never got a shot in the big leagues.  he was in the twins organization from 1999 through 2006 and then with the rangers' minor league system in 2007. the next two years saw him playing in the independent northern league.  he had some good seasons for the twins' aaa club, but i gues couldn't break through the shannon stewart/torii hunter/jacque jones/michael cuddyer outfield in the majors.

2007 topps chrome glen perkins auto

perky is the fifth minnesota gopher to play for the twinkies that i can think of off the top of my head.  denny neagle, terry steinbach, dave winfield and paul molitor being the others.  right now perkins is in the doghouse in aaa.

1998 fleer sports illustrated world series fever orel hershiser

with jeff hamilton and rick dempsey lurking.  i like the idea of orel as a new mr. october (and i reject the idea of derek jeter as mr. november).  i wonder if there would have been a market for 'bulldog' candy bars.

thanks joe!