postcards from paradise

a funny thing happened on the way to this post.  i misplaced all of my dodger postcards.  i had scanned them, some of which are shown below, but i had planned to further investigate and try to determine the exact years that they were issued using the information on their backs and some of the very scattered data available on the interwebs.  oh well, i'll have to tackle that task another time.  in the meantime, it's summer, and i assume some traveling folks are still sending postcards to the poor saps that are stuck back at home working.  in that vein, here are some dodger postcards that i will classify as 1962 (circa) to 1971 (circa) dodger team issue postcards.

big d!

i chose 1962 because that is the season that dodger stadium opened, and beautiful chavez ravine is the backdrop for many of these.  some, including the don drysdale postcard above, the ron perranoski postcard below,

this larry sherry postcard

and this maury wills postcard

all feature the three sisters palm trees closed up as they were first installed.

these next two are certainly from 1967, as that was the only season that ron hunt

and gene michael suited up for the dodgers.

plus, the palm trees have opened up!

i figure that these wes parker

and jeff torborg postcards

are from 1966, but that's only based on the relative youthfulness of torborg and this website.

sadly, the postcards moved out of dodger stadium later in the decade to what i assume to be vero beach.  these al ferrara

and bill singer postcards

are assumed to be from 1968 based on the fact that the singer photo is essentially the same as this mudcat grant photo

and this zoilo versalles postcard (i think) has the same info on the back

i wish i could find these things to confirm.  anyway, grant and versalles were only dodgers in 1968, so it's pretty easy to figure those, just like the hunt and michael.  same goes for these next couple - maybe - as long as the dodgers didn't wait to use these photos several years after they were taken.

billy grabarkewitz

and bill sudakis

are both wearing the mlb 100th anniversary patch from 1969, so i figure these to be 1970 postcards, although they could also be 1969 items if the dodgers were really on the ball and published these right after the photos were taken during spring training.

i'm not quite as sure of this tom haller postcard

since he was a dodger from 1968 through 1971, but this dick/richie allen postcard is certainly from 1971 (his lone year with the team)

and it's back in paradise - dodger stadium.

i may get back there yet this season, and if i do, maybe i'll drop a postcard in the mail...

sunday morning target dodgers - wampum edition

sadly, dick allen's card from the 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary giveaway set features him as a member of the chicago white sox.  that was the team to which the dodgers traded allen (for tommy john), and the team with which allen subsequently went and won the most valuable player award.  still, allen leads off this week's trip through a sheet of 15 cards in the set, although the 15th card (of double dipper vito tamulis) gets a separate post later on.

dick allen

allen had played for one year in saint louis as the cardinals' first baseman following his best years in philadelphia before joining the dodgers for the 1971 season.  the dodgers moved him back to third base,  and he hit .295 over 155 games with 23 home runs and 90 rbi.  the dodgers, of course, had steve garvey and ron cey waiting for a chance to play third base, but it was al campanis' desire to bring frank robinson to los angeles that may have spurred the consummation of the allen for john deal prior to the 1972 season.

willie crawford

crawford was a local standout athlete when he signed a contract with the dodgers in 1964 as a 17-year old.  he debuted for the big club that same season, shortly after turning 18.  at 19, crawford was playing the world series, getting a hit in one of two appearances against the twins.  he was in the majors for good in 1969, and stayed with the dodgers through the 1975 season.  with a .268 average in 989 games as a dodger, crawford was traded to the cardinals prior to the 1976 campaign for ted sizemore.  oddly enough, sizemore was one of the players the dodgers had given up in order to get dick allen prior to the 1971 season.  crawford did return to the dodgers for spring training in 1978, but was cut by the team before he had a chance to become, like sizemore, a double dipper.

tommy davis

davis was another local prospect signed by the dodgers, but he was a brooklyn-ite, signed while the club was still playing in ebbets field.  davis didn't make it to the majors until the dodgers were in los angeles, first appearing in one game during the 1959 season before becoming a regular sometime during the 1960 season.  davis led the league in batting average in both 1962 and 1963, setting the dodger franchise record for rbi (153) in 1963.  his career was sidetracked by a broken ankle suffered in 1965, and davis wound up as a bit of a journeyman after being traded by the dodgers in november of 1966.

al ferrara

the bull, as ferrara is known, played for the dodgers from 1963-1968, although he didn't appear in the majors during the 1964 season.  the only world series that ferrara played in was the 1966 fall classic, in which the dodgers were swept by the orioles.  he did manage to get a hit in his lone at bat, however.  ferrara was also one of the many dodger players to get some side work on tv, appearing in episodes of gilligan's island and batman, among others.  he was selected by the padres in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season, and became the team's first pinch-hitter when he substituted for longtime friend and teammate johny podres in the friars' second game.

burleigh grimes

ol' stubblebeard is back.  he was a pitcher for the robins from 1918-1926, and later succeeded casey stengel as the manager of the dodgers in 1937.  the photo on the card above must come from grimes' two-year stint as the dodger skipper.  grimes was inducted into the hall of fame as a pitcher (he won a total of 270 games, with 158 as a dodger) in 1964.

luke hamlin

hamlin was a pitcher who won 20 games for the dodgers in 1939.  he was 20-13 that year, following campaigns in which he was 11-13 and 12-15 for the dodgers despite posting consistent era's around 3.60.  goes to show how little a win-loss record tells you.  hamlin was 17-16 for the dodgers in 1940 and 1941 combined, and was dealt to the pirates in the arky vaughan trade in december of '41.

fielder jones

jones played for the bridegrooms and superbas from 1896 through 1900.  he hit over .300 (with a high of .354 in 1896) in four of those years, batting .285 in the other. at first i thought that perhaps his nickname was ironic, because he made 144 errors in his career, including 14 in his rookie year, but that is actually his first name.

rafael landestoy

landestoy bookended his career with stops in los angeles.  he was a rookie on the 1977 nl champion squad and then returned to the club for the 1983 and '84 seasons.  he played for houston and cincinnati in between.

cy moore

moore began his big league career with the robins in 1929, and pitched for the franchise through the 1932 season when they became known as the dodgers again.  he was 4-8 over those four seasons in 76 games, in which moore started only 6.  he finished his career with two seasons in philadelphia.

ray moore

no known relation to cy, ray moore pitched for the dodgers in 1952 and 1953.  he amassed a record of 2-3 in 15 games as a dodger, and he went on from there to find greater success in the bullpens of the white sox, senators, and twins.  with the chisox, moore faced the dodgers in the 1959 world series, giving up one of chuck essegian's pinch-hit home runs.

bob ramazzotti

ramazzotti played in 62 games as a 29-year old rookie in 1946, but didn't make it back to brooklyn until 1948.  he appeared in only 4 games that year, and was on the field for the dodgers in only 5 games in 1949 before he was traded to the cubs.

willie randolph

randolph joined the dodgers in what turned out to be a swap of free agent second basemen - steve sax went to the yankees following the 1988 season, with randolph leaving the bronx to sign with the dodgers.  randolph hit .282 in 144 games for the dodgers in 1989, making the all-star team in his return to the national league.  in 1990, he began the season as the dodgers' second baseman but was traded to the a's in may in exchange for stan javier.  it worked out well for willie, as he was able to return to the postseason for the first time since 1981.

ellie rodriguez

rodriguez began his big league career in 1968 with the new york yankees, but was taken by the royals in the expansion draft and became the first catcher in team history the following spring.  that year he was also the first royal all-star, although he did not get into the game.  after stints in milwaukee and anaheim, rodriguez was dealt at the end of spring training in 1976 to the dodgers in a rare trade between the clubs.  rodriguez wound up playing in 36 games, spelling steve yeager behind the plate.  he had an obp of .400 which is probably partially due to hitting in front of the pitcher - he was walked 19 times in 90 plate appearances.  rodriguez was released by the dodgers in may of 1977 without having appeared in a game.

mack wheat

mack wheat stands beside dave sax as probably the most forgettable dodger teammate brother in history.  zack's younger brother hit .191 in parts of five seasons with the robins from 1915-19, while zack hit .300 in that span, including a league-leading .335 in 1918.  mack was picked up by the phillies following the 1919 season, and had his best campaign in 1920 when he hit .226 with 20 rbi.

this ferrara is less xbox, more atara

hey - look at me! i'm hip, quoting (sort of) a song by that dude from 'the voice' with the tiny hands.  all to make a pun about former dodger outfielder al ferrara and this recent acquisition of mine - his 1967 topps high number card.

no disrespect to the bull, but i caved and bought a lower grade card than i would have liked in an effort to finish off my 1967 topps dodger needs.  rounded corners are probably my least favorite condition issue.  on the bright side, my want list is down to just one league leader card which i am 97% sure i already own - i just need to go dig through my retired star binders and find sandy koufax's pages.

1967 also happened to be ferrara's best season as a dodger, and it was also his last full year in dodger blue.  he appeared in only a handful of games with them in 1968 before being lost to the padres in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 campaign.  the card is number 557 in the set - the highest numbered dodger of them all.

welcome to the collection. go ahead and get comfortable -  i don't expect to upgrade anytime soon.

no bull - an al ferrara through the mail success!

i received my 1968 topps al ferrara card back in the mail a couple of weeks ago.   

i sent him $5 along with the card, and he signed both it and a note.

ferrara is a brooklyn native who played for the dodgers from 1963-1968.  his best year was 1967 when he played in 122 games with 16 home runs.  after the 1968 season, ferrara was taken by the padres in the expansion draft.  he played in san diego for 3 years, finishing his career with the reds in 1971.

ferrara got one postseason at bat, and it was in 1966.  he pinch hit for don drysdale in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 4 against dave mcnally and the orioles.  ferrara, representing the tying run, singled with one out.  unfortunately, the dodgers didn't score and the orioles won 1-0 to sweep the series.

i think the least i can do is honor the bull's wishes and 'remember johnny podres', so here is his 1957 topps card

thanks al, and here's to both you and johnny! 

enjoying wait 'til next year's hand me downs

steve at wait 'til next year was kind enough to send over some fantastic dodgers cards. most of these are from the 60's and early 70's before i was an active collector. they kind of feel like cards i would have inherited from my big brother once he moved on to other things, if my brother had ever collected cards. i wonder why a cubs fan would get rid of these great cards!?

1968 bill singer.tattered and torn. not the card, singer's undershirt. get thee a tailor, or a new shirt. actually, the dodgers, like most clubs back then i am sure, didn't throw much away. i'm not sure they even laundered their stuff. on an episode of antiques roadshow, a woman showed up with a late '60s dodgers warmup jacket that her husband was issued in spring training. in the pocket he found don drysdale's pre-game notes from the end of the previous season! in 1970 singer threw the first non-koufax dodger no-hitter since 1956. he was later selected by the toronto blue jays in the 1976 expansion draft.

1968 topps dodgers rookie stars jack billingham and jim fairey.this card should have been called 'expos rookie stars'. billingham went 3-0 with 8 saves for the dodgers in 1968, but the expos liked what they saw and took him in the expansion draft. they traded him to the astros prior to the start of the 1969 season, though. later on, billingham was part of the trade that sent joe morgan to the reds. as a result, billingham won two world series rings as a member of the big red machine. jim fairey hit a buck ninety-nine for the dodgers in 1968, playing in 99 games, before he too was selected by the expos in the expansion draft. he played with them for four years before returning to the dodgers in 1973. he made 10 pinch hit appearances that season before being traded to the twins, for whom he would never appear in a major league game. still, 5 of fairey's 7 career home runs came off of hall of famers (gaylord perry, juan marichal, fergie jenkins, and tom seaver - twice!).

1968 topps al ferrara. another expansion draftee, although he was taken by the padres. ferrara hit 16 home runs in 1967, but only made 2 appearances for the dodgers in 1968. he had a couple of decent years with the padres before retiring after the 1971 season with the reds. it is worth noting that he once hit an inside-the-park home run against fergie jenkins.

1968 topps jeff torborg. unlike the others, torborg didn't play for an expansion team or homer off of fergie jenkins. he did hit 2 of his 8 career home runs against the cubs, though. torbog caught sandy koufax's perfect game, singer's no-hitter, and nolan ryan's first no-hitter. not bad for a platoon guy.

1966 topps ron fairly. fairly wasn't selected in the 1968 expansion draft either, although the dodgers traded him to the expos in 1969 anyway as part of the manny mota/maury wills trade. fairly would also be traded to the blue jays in their first season, becoming the first player to appear for both canadian franchises. i remember fairly mostly as a broadcaster for the angels in the late 70s/early 80s, although he spent most of his broadcasting career with the mariners. fairly hit 3 home runs off of fergie jenkins.

1972 bill buckner. billy buck's first solo card. he's looking to destroy the rookie cup trophy. buckner would go on to play for the cubs after he was traded for rick monday. he didn't hit any home runs off of fergie, but he did take then-cub burt hooton deep once.

1982 donruss dave stewart. intense. stewart made his debut for the dodgers in 1978! he pitched in one game and then didn't make it back up until 1981. that time, he was up for good, and he pitched well in the 1981 world series after a terrible nlds against the astros in which he was the losing pitcher twice. stewart pitched well for the dodgers who eventually traded him to the rangers for rick honeycutt. he didn't do so well for the rangers or the phillies, but had 4 monster seasons for the a's, finishing in the top 5 for the cy young voting every year from 1987-1990. he was dominating.

finally, steve sent along a couple of fernando autos. 1987 fleer and 1987 topps. viva fernando! and viva wait 'til next year!