sunday morning target dodgers - now with two world series mvps

there have been eight men who, while playing for the dodgers, have been named the most valuable player of the world series. this sheet of 15 cards from the 1990 target dodger anniversary set has two of them, plus 13 others to have worn the uniform of the franchise between 1890 and 1990.  have a look.

max carey

carey was (and still is) one of the greatest defensive outfielders in the history of the game.  he was also one of the best base stealers, too, and his 10 stolen base championships while with the pirates helped cement his hall of fame status.  he joined the robins during the 1926 season when he was 36 years old, but he continued to play for brooklyn through the 1929 season.  in 1932, he returned to the franchise as their manager, replacing wilbert robinson as the team became the dodgers once again. although he led the team to a 6th place finish in 1933 (his last season as the manager) he was still added to the national league's coaching staff for the first all-star game.

bob chipman

according to baseball reference, they called him 'mr. chips'.  chipman was a brooklyn native who debuted for the hometown dodgers in 1941. he pitched in one game that season, two the next, and one in 1943.  in 1944, chipman pitched in 11 games for the dodgers before being traded to the cubs in june for eddie stanky.  he wound up pitching for chicago through 1949, and then spent 3 years with the boston braves.

willie davis

davis is, quite simply, one of the greatest los angeles dodgers ever.  after hitting .318 in 22 games as a rookie in 1960, davis spent the next thirteen seasons as the team's primary center fielder.  as a result, his name sits near or atop the dodger (and especially los angeles dodger) career leader board in many categories.  no other los angeles dodger has had more plate appearances, scored more runs, had more base hits, or boasts a greater war than 3-dog.  i was disappointed that the team did not wear a memorial patch following davis's death in 2010.

tommy dean

dean got his start in the big leagues as a dodger in 1967. he hit .143 in 12 games as a september call-up that year, but was back in the minors for the 1968 season.  dean was traded to the padres early in the 1969 season for al mcbean, and became their regular shortstop in their inaugural season.

phil gallivan

gallivan was a pitcher on the 1931 robins. it was his first year in the majors, and he posted an 0-1 record in 6 appearances. the next season, he was pitching for the white sox who later traded him for a player named george washington.

charlie gilbert

gilbert hit .246 as a rookie for the 1940 brooklyn dodgers. he was traded to the cubs in may of 1941 for billy herman.

pedro guerrero

ah. here's one of the world series mvp's that i mentioned up top. guerrero, of course, shared his award with ron cey and steve yeager in 1981.  he hit .333 with 2 homers, 7 rbi, and an ops of 1.179 in that fall classic against the yankees and all was right with the world. the next year, he finished third in the league mvp voting, and in 1983, the dodgers moved him to third base and he was fourth in the mvp voting.  i've often wondered what might have happened if the dodgers had just left petey in the outfield and not tried to use him as a third baseman, but at the time it didn't seem to affect his offense too much. he was one of the most exciting players in the league, and i was glad he was on 'my' team.

oscar jones

jones pitched for the brooklyn superbas from 1903 through 1905. after winning 19 games in 1903, jones led the league with 25 losses (paired with 17 wins) in 1902, a season in which he threw 377 innings and posted a 2.75 era.

george magoon

magoon was a brooklyn bridegroom in 1898 when he hit .224 in 93 games.  the next year, he was with the baltimore orioles and later played for the cubs, reds, and white sox.

camilo pascual

target put an extra 'i' in camilo's name, which is too bad since they are a company based in the twin cities which is where pascual had his best years. he was a member of the washington senators (as evidenced by the photo on the card) who moved to minneapolis with the rest of calvin griffith's squad in 1961. he won 20 games twice for the twins, and then pitched against the dodgers in the 1965 world series, losing game 3.  the dodgers signed pascual as a free agent during the 1970 season, and while he didn't earn a decision as a member of the club, he pitched well in his 10 appearances as evidenced by his 2.57 era. it's too bad that he wasn't held until the latter series of the 1970 set, as this is the only card of him as a dodger that i know of.

johnny podres

podres was the first dodger to win the world series mvp award.  he won game 3 against the yankees with a complete game performance, and then shut out the bronx bombers at yankee stadium in game 7 to win the dodgers' first world championship. podres then spent the next season in the military.  he returned to the club in 1957 and led the league in era and whip.  podres wound up winning a total of 136 games for the dodgers before pitching for the tigers and, fittingly enough, the padres towards the end of his career.

mike scioscia

scioscia was the dodgers' first round pick in 1976, and he made his big league debut four years later. after that, he was essentially the dodgers' primary catcher through the 1992 season, and appeared to be a front runner to eventually become the team's manager, especially after bill russell was fired in 1998.  no dice, however, as the club went with davey johnson for the 1999 season, and scioscia was soon leading the anaheim angels to a world series title.

harry taylor

taylor pitched for the dodgers from 1946-48, getting most of his action in 1947 when he pitched in 33 games, 20 of which were starts, and had 10 complete games and 2 shutouts. he also pitched in the world series that year. after spending 1949 and most of 1950 in the minors, his contract was purchased by the red sox, and he pitched for them through 1952.

john werhas

werhas played for the dodgers during the mid to late 1960's. he debuted in 1964 and then had a short stint with the club again as a september call-up in 1965. he was called up once more in 1967 for a few games, and was then dealt to the angels for len gabrielson, who was werhas's teammate at usc. overall, werhas hit .183 in 40 games as a dodger.

tom zachary

i knew who tom zachary was at a fairly young age, thanks to the fact that it was he who surrendered babe ruth's 60th home run in 1927.  i did not know, however, that zachary became ruth's teammate the following year (and helped the yankees win the 1928 world series) nor did in know that he also went on to pitch for the dodgers in 1934. he was 5-6 with a 4.43 era, but pitched a bit better in 1935.  in 1936, he made just one appearance as a dodger (allowing 2 runs in a third of an inning) before he was released - two years before the bambino joined the team as a coach.

that's it for this week - i've got another sheet lined up for next sunday...

sunday morning target dodgers - release the loudenslager!

this week's sheet from the 1990 target dodger set features 15 guys who were pretty much unknown to me.  let's learn about them together!

ben chapman

chapman was the one guy on this sheet that i knew about, but i can't say that i knew he suited up for the brooklyn dodgers in 1944 and 1945.  nor was it because he was an outfielder for the yankees in the 1930's, playing alongside babe ruth and lou gehrig as a part of the 1932 world championship team.  he moved on to the senators, red sox, and indians later in the decade, and then split the 1941 season between the senators and white sox.  after that, chapman managed in the minor leagues for a couple of years, but reinvented himself as a pitcher and returned to the majors with the dodgers in 1944 and part of 1945.  chapman was 8-6 with a 4.26 era for brooklyn, who traded him to the phillies in june of 1945.  the next season, chapman became the manager of the phillies, and in 1947 exposed himself as one of the most vocal opponents of jackie robinson and integration of the major leagues with a vicious heckling display when the dodgers visited philadelphia early in the season.  unfortunately for chapman, this is the only reason i knew of him.  quite a poor thing to be known for.

chuck corgan

corgan suited up for the robins in 1925 and again in 1927 for a total of 33 games, hitting .221 as a major leaguer.  he also played professional football, and was a member of the new york giants in 1927. shortly after the football season ended that year, corgan was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1928 at the age of 25.

jud daley

daley hit .250 in 80 games as an outfielder with the 1911 and 1912 dodgers.

rowdy elliot

elliot finished his 5-year major league career (which spanned 11 seasons) with 41 games as a member of the 1920 brooklyn robins.  although he was a member of that pennant winning team, elliot did not appear in the world series against the indians, but he did catch the majority of the 26 innings that the robins and braves played on may 1, 1920.

pete gilbert

gilbert played in 6 games for the 1894 brooklyn grooms, going 2 for 25 before he was released by the club.

chris haughey

i don't really remember how i celebrated my 18th birthday. i was in college, so i can probably guess, but it was nothing like the way chris haughey spent his 18th.  on october 3, 1943, haughey turned 18 and made his major league debut as a member of the brooklyn dodgers.  he pitched 7 innings in relief against the reds on that final day of the 1943 season, taking the loss while allowing 3 earned runs.  haughey was soon serving in the military, and never did return to the majors after that birthday debut.

al hollingsworth

hollingsworth, whose surname matches that of todd hollandsworth in number of letters and the most in team history as far as i can tell, was very nearly a dodger double dipper.  he was acquired by the dodgers during the 1939 season and pitched in 8 games for them, with another appearance as a pinch-runner.  near the start of the 1940 season, his contract was purchased by the senators, for whom he appeared in 3 games. the senators returned hollingsworth to the dodgers, but he was sent to triple-a, and didn't make it back to the majors until 1942 as a member of the saint louis browns.

bert inks

i suppose inks' name joins the likes of rick waits, dave sells, and davey lopes as a name that doubles as a complete sentence, if you accept 'inks' as a verb.  he joined the grooms in 1891, fresh out of the university of notre dame, and went 3-10 in his 13 games (all of which he started). he was back with brooklyn in 1892, appearing in 9 games before joining the washington senators for the remainder of the season.

tom kinslow

what a wonderful mustache this grooms' catcher sported! kinslow appeared in about 65 games a year during his run with the grooms which lasted from 1891 through 1894.  he hit .271 during that time, with his 1892 season (66 games, .305 average, 11 triples) being his best.  kinslow was traded to the pirates in 1895.

charlie loudenslager

loudenslager played in one major league game. it occurred on april 15, 1904 with the brooklyn superbas.  loudenslager struck out in both of his plate appearances that day, but was perfect in the field (he had one assist in his lone chance at second base).  loudenslager played in the minors for several seasons (i'm thinking this photo comes from his days with the rochester bronchos of the eastern league) and later served in world war i.

bill mccabe

mccabe broke in with the chicago cubs in 1918, and remained with the team until the robins purchased his contract during the 1920 season.  his 41 regular season games with brooklyn that year would be his last in the majors, but he did get to appear in the 1920 world series as a pinch-runner in game 6.

terry mcdermott

mcdermott was the dodgers' first round pick in the 1969 draft. he worked his way up to double-a in 1972, and earned a late season call-up with the dodgers. in 9 september games with the club, mcdermott  hit .130 as a pinch-hitter and first baseman. he returned to the minors the following season, and spent the next few years in triple-a, unable to crack the big league roster.

george mohart

mohart pitched for the robins in 1920 and 1921. he was 0-1 in 15 games during that time, and did not appear in the 1920 world series.

gordon slade

slade began his career with the robins in 1930, and remained with the club through 1932 before being included in the trade that sent dazzy vance to the cardinals in 1933.  he played primarily shortstop, and hit .238 during his time in brooklyn.  slade finished his career with the reds in 1934 and 1935, which is where the photo used for his card comes from.

adonis terry

terry's days with the brooklyn club dated back to 1884 when the team was in the american association. he was still with the franchise when they joined the national league in 1890, which was the point of this 100th anniversary set.  terry won a career high 26 games for the national league champion grooms that year, but was just 6-16 the following season, and found himself released in 1892.

maybe i'll be back next sunday with some more recognizable names...

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.