it doesn't take long to get to dusty baker's current career torchbearer, thanks to three former dodgers

dusty baker, sadly for me, finished out his playing career with the oakland a's.  dusty was the left fielder on the team of my youth, and he was therefore one of my favorite players.  i was disappointed when he followed the trail reggie smith had left and went to the giants after yet another postseason appearance in 1983, but the dodgers were moving on.  anyway, baker found himself in the green and yellow (just as he is shown on his 1987 fleer card)

in the penultimate game of the 1986 season as the dh for the a's.  in the 7th inning, he drew his second walk of the game off of royals' starter mark gubicza, and was lifted for a pinch-runner (tony phillips).  baker did not appear in the final game of the season, and he was not signed by anyone after the season ended.

gubicza continued to pitch for the royals through 1996, but was traded to the angels (a team i witnessed him shut out in 1989 at the big a) prior to the 1997 campaign.  gubicza made only two starts for the halos, but he did get a card in the 1997 fleer set in his new duds

in his second and final appearance for the angels, gubicza allowed a lead off single to marquis grissom, but retired the other three indians he faced.  in the second inning, however, gubicza couldn't get anyone out as he allowed three singles, a home run, and two doubles before being lifted.  that last double was hit by grissom who eventually came around to score on a jim thome single off of shigetoshi hasekawa.  i mentioned up top that dusty's torchbearers were all former dodgers (at least up until now), and while gubicza's last big league appearance was that bad start against the indians as a member of the california angels, he did sign with the dodgers for the 1998 season in an attempt to get back to the big leagues.  he was unsuccessful.

so, that means that grissom was carrying baker's torch.  he had been traded from cleveland to milwaukee after the 1997 season, and then the brewers traded him to the dodgers prior to the 2001 season.  as a result, i have in my collection this fantastic 2001 upper deck gold glove marquis grissom game-used glove card

that features not only a piece of one of his gloves, but also a bit of walter alston on the outfield fence at dodger stadium.  grissom's career didn't come to a close with the blue, however, as he did what reggie smith and dusty baker had done before him, and head to no-cal after his time with the dodgers ended. grissom signed with the giants as a free agent after the 2002 season, and he played for them until they released him in august of 2005.  his last game came on july 31, 2005 when the giants faced the brewers.  in grissom's last at bat of the game, he struck out against brewers' starter chris capuano.

capuano won 18 games for the brew crew that season, and was on the all-star team the next.  unfortunately, he ran into some arm problems and missed a significant amount of playing time into the 2010 season.  after a season with the mets in 2011, capuano signed with the dodgers and at one point was 7-1 with a low era for the club.  he finished the season at 12-12 with a league leading 33 starts. he made only 20 starts (along with a few relief appearances) for the dodgers in 2013, with his last performance in dodger blue coming in the nlds against the braves in which he held atlanta scoreless for three innings and earning the win in the dodgers' game 3 victory.  from there, capuano signed for the 2014 season with the red sox who used him exclusively as a reliever and released him in july.  he was picked up by the rockies who sent him to the minors where he pitched well and had his contract purchased by the yankees.  here's his 2014 topps update card showing him in pinstripes.

the yankees moved him back to a starting role, and he was 2-3 in 12 starts for the club.  i guess they liked what they saw, because they just re-signed him to a contract for 2015.  that means that capuano will continue to carry dusty baker's torch a while longer.

sunday morning target dodgers

time for another sheet of cards from the set that keeps on giving - the 1990 target dodger stadium giveaway set.  as always, thanks to baseball reference for providing some information about some of these heretofore unknown to me players.

don demeter

demeter's first major league hit came in his second big league at bat, and it was a home run off of don liddle of the cardinals in september of 1956.  demeter only appeared in three games that season for the dodgers, but he returned to the majors in 1958 and stayed with the dodgers until he was traded to the phillies early in the 1961 season.  in 1959, he hit three home runs in a game agains the giants - one was an inside the park job, and the third one was a walk-off.

jack dunn

dunn was a pitcher who also played in the field from time to time.  he entered the big leagues with the brooklyn bridegrooms in 1897 and remained with the franchise until he went to the phillies during the 1900 season.  he hit .238 in his 3-plus seasons for brooklyn, but also won 56 games, including 23 in 1899.  dunn later replaced hughie jennings as the manager of the baltimore orioles in the eastern league, and actually became the team's owner a couple of years later.  they moved to the international league, and dunn led them to seven straight titles.

lee grissom

grissom pitched six seasons for the reds, culminating in a world series appearance against the yankees in 1939.  the reds lost, but grissom must have made an impression on new york as he was traded to the yankees in january of 1940.  he appeared in five games for the defending world champions, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings, before he was claimed on waivers by the dodgers.  with brooklyn the rest of the way, grissom went 2-5 despite a 2.81 era, and he threw a 2-hit shutout against the phillies on the final day of the season.  in 1941, he pitched in four games for the dodgers and had an era of 2.38, but was traded to the phillies.

danny heep

heep was the guy the mets received when they traded mike scott to the astros, straight up, in 1982.  a lopsided trade in hindsight, but heep did help the mets win the world series in 1986, so it wasn't all bad.  following his triumph in 1986, heep signed with the dodgers and played for them in 1987 and 1988.  he was used mostly as a pinch hitter but also made starts at first base and in the outfield.  he even got to pitch in a game during the 1988 season - he threw two innings against the astros in july, giving up a 2-run homer to ken caminiti in the process.  he had some pinch hit appearances in the 1988 postseason for the eventual world champion dodgers, and served as the dh in game 4 of the world series.

burt hooton

happy hooton was the mvp of the 1981 nlcs as he won both of his starts against the expos without allowing an earned run.  he joined the dodgers in 1975 and remained a fixture in the rotation through the 1983 season.  in 1984, he spent most of his time pitching out of the bullpen and left the dodgers for the rangers prior to the 1985 campaign.  as a dodger, however, hooton won 112 games with a 3.14 era, and he nearly wrecked this fan's shoulder thanks to my trying to throw a knuckle-curve like hooton.

johnny hopp

target gave hopp an extra 'n' in his name there.  hopp was involved in the 1949 trade with the pirates that sent marv rackley to pittsburgh, but was voided a few days later.  as a result, rackley became a double dipper, and hopp only appeared in 8 games for the dodgers.  in those games, he was held hitless in 14 at bats.  maybe burt shotton had the trade voided due to hopps' performance.

ken landreaux

landreaux is best remembered by me and many other dodger fans for catching the final out of the 1981 world series.  he was also the main guy that the twins received from the angels in the rod carew trade prior to the 1979 season.  two years later, the dodgers acquired landreaux for mickey hatcher and a couple of minor leaguers.  landreaux spent seven seasons with the dodgers, most of which were spent as the team's regular center fielder.

ken mcmullen

i've told mcmullen's story before so i won't rehash it here.  suffice it to say that the pride of oxnard has had a big impact on dodger team collectors, thanks to his rookie card companion.

judge mccreedie

mccreedie (baseball reference spells his name 'mccredie') was an outfielder for the 1903 brooklyn superbas.  he hit .324 in 56 games for brooklyn before he was traded to baltimore in july.  somewhat curiously, he never made it back to the major leagues.  in 1904, he found himself in portland playing in their pacific coast league team that wound eventually be known as the beavers.  in 1905, judge took the reins and became their player/manager, a role he held through the 1913 season after which he gave up playing and was just their manager (save for a couple of appearances in 1916 and 1917).  in all, he spent 20 years managing in the pacific coast league, most of which was spent in portland.  he is a member of the pcl hall of fame.

simmy murch

murch played in 6 games for the 1908 brooklyn superbas following a couple of seasons with the cardinals.  he hit .182 with a double while playing first base in his stint with brooklyn, his last in the major leagues.

boots poffenberger

poffenberger obviously played for the tigers - he did so in 1937 and 1938 - but the dodgers claimed him on waivers at the start of the 1939 season.  for brooklyn, boots (real name cletus) pitched in three games, including one as a starter.  he had no record and an era of 5.40 in those appearances.  and yes, this boots was made for walking - he walked two of the four batters he faced in his dodger debut.

craig shipley

shipley became the second australian (and first in over 100 years) to debut in the major leagues when he appeared in a game for the 1986 dodgers.  he hit .111 in 12 games for the blue, and returned in 1987 to hit .257 in 26 contests.  the dodgers traded him to the mets, and he later found success playing for the padres and working in the front office for the red sox.

dwain sloat

aka lefty sloat.  he pitched in four games for the 1948 dodgers, including one as the starter.  he was 0-1 with an era over 6.  he was claimed by the cubs in the rule v draft prior to the 1949 season and did not return to brooklyn.

alex trevino

in a rare trade with the giants, the dodgers acquired trevino in exchange for candy maldonado prior to the 1986 season.  trevino spent the '86 and '87 seasons with the dodgers, playing catcher behind mike scioscia.  he received some significant playing time for a backup, appearing in 161 games over his two seasons with the club.

dazzy vance

hall of famer dazzy vance had two stints with the brooklyn franchise, so you know what that means…

…a double dipper post coming up later!

showdown throwdown

let us team collectors mourn the 2000's - with upper deck victory and topps total and upper deck 40 man and the like - sometimes the only way to get cards of our third string catcher or long reliever.  not quite as heralded as those releases was mlb showdown.  still, in 2000, it provided we dodger fans with a card of pedro borbon jr!

borbon jr was almost a dodger triple dipper - he was originally drafted by the dodgers in 1986, but did not sign.  they later signed him as a free agent in 1998, and he pitched in 70 games for them during the 1999 season.  after that, he was included in the raul mondesi for shawn green deal, but returned to the dodgers in the spring of 2003.  unfortunately, he was released before the season started so he didn't even double dip according to my definition.  anyway, i think that the 2000 mlb showdown card is the only one of borbon's that i have showing him in dodger blue.  it might be the only card made for him now that i think about it, as he was a loogy but never a closer.  ok, no.  he has a few cards from his mid-90's stint with the braves and even has one in 2002 ud 40 man as a blue jay.  good for him.

oh, and using my 20-sided die (thank you dungeon master), i rolled a 13.  looks like borbon got me to fly out.

here's another card from 2000 mlb showdown.  it's mark grudzielanek

it's too bad the g-man and doug mientkiewicz didn't both play for the cubs.  harry caray, who had enough trouble with grudzielanek, would have had a heart attack trying to describe a routine ground ball.  anyway, before grudz was dealt to the cubs, he had a few years with the dodgers and got a lot of cards.  he got me a single just now, as i rolled a 14.

another guy with a lot of cards, including one in the 2000 mlb showdown set was todd hollandsworth

i have to admit that i really don't understand this game.  are we to believe that todd hollandsworth does not fly out?  whatever, i rolled a 6.  first and second, one out baby!

hey, it's todd hundley from his first stint in dodger blue.

i rolled a two. figures. a strikeout.

raul mondesi was still a dodger in the 2000 mlb showdown set.

i really like all dodger cards from 2000 a lot.  many of them show the dodger heroes patch on the left sleeve that were worn during the 1999 season.  here, we can see mondy paid tribute to number 11, manny mota.  shouldn't borbon have worn mota's patch?  he wore a tommy lasorda patch instead.

upon closer inspection, i see that the hundley and the mondesi cards are 'edition 1' cards.  parallels, perhaps? who knows?  anyway, i rolled a five - mondy walks to load the bases. mondy walks - yeah right.

devon white has a few dodger cards, including a 2000 mlb showdown card

what will he do with 2 outs and the bases loaded?  if you guessed strike out, you are correct.  i rolled a one.

the last of the 2000 cards i will show is eric young's.

ey is rocking the jackie robinson patch, and he gets to lead off our second inning.  he walks with a rolled 6.

that brings up shawn green on a 2001 mlb showdown card

shawn green is certainly not a guy with only a handful of dodger cards.  no, he was in every set, every subset, every insert set - you name it, he was in it.  he also just cleared the bases with a 2-run home run thanks to a roll of the die that equaled the average age of the us serviceman in vietnam.  19.  19. 19 19 19.  at least according to paul hardcastle.

so, it's 2-0 if in fact i am doing this right, with nobody out in the 2nd inning.  here's a 2003 mlb showdown card of another frequently featured dodger, kevin brown

between brown and gary sheffield, i had a hard time buying dodger cards 10 years ago.  maybe that's why i branched out my pc's around that time to include more non-dodgers.  anyway, brown just pu'd with a 1.  and what's with the 21+ category?  does he have a bat +1?  and if so, then how many hit points?

here's shawn green again, this time working the goatee on a 2003 mlb showdown card

will he go deep twice in the same inning? no, he will not.  he will strike out with a second consecutive 1.

that brings up marquis grissom

grissom was traded by the brewers to the dodgers for the aforementioned devon white after the 2000 season.  he spent all of 2001 and 2002 with the dodgers, and actually played in 246 games as a dodger. he has that 2001 topps traded relic card, too, of which i swear i have a dozen copies.  by the time this card came out, grissom was up in san francisco hitting .300 for the nor-cals.  i rolled an 8, so he's on base with a two-out walk.

also gone from dodgertown in 2003 was eric karros, although he still got a dodger card in 2003 mlb showdown

the all-time los angeles dodger leader in home runs hits a single with a rolled 13.  actually, i'm sure he hit a gapper, but could only muster a wide turn of first thanks to the piano that he carried with him on the basepaths.

let's see what the guy who was supposed to replace karros can do, shall we?  here's one of fred mcgriff's few dodger cards, also from the 2003 mlb showdown set.

i'll assume that grissom went to third on karros' single, but it doesn't matter since the crime dog drew a walk with a 10 on the die.  bases loaded.

do you remember odalis perez's 2002 season?  15-10 with a 3.00 era and an all-star berth.  he was just 12-12 the year this 2003 mlb showdown card came out.

now i really know i am doing this wrong.  i rolled a 20, so that's a double.  maybe it's impossible for perez to homer.  4-0 with runners on second and third with two outs.

now we're back to why i started this post in the first place.  this is one of just a few paul quantrill dodger cards.

quantrill did get cards from topps in 2003 and 2004, most likely due to the fact that he led the league in pitching appearances in both of those seasons.  like borbon jr, he was drafted by the dodgers in 1986 but did not sign, so he's not a double dipper either.  he is a rally extender-er, though, as he just drew a two-out walk with a 19.

and that brings us to one of the jewels of the 2003 mlb showdown set, paul shuey.

though his face is obscured by shadow, shuey gets some cardboard love.  he pitched in 90 games for the dodgers over the course of the 2002 and 2003 seasons, but i think this is his only dodger card aside from one in the 2003 upper deck 40 man set.  he strikes out to end the inning (i rolled a 4) but that's ok. i can't find fault with a card that features paul shuey in a dodger uniform.

the evolution of the center fielder, part 3

it's been a while since the last post, so here's part 1 and part 2 if you want to catch up.  i'll wait.

the dodgers were looking for a new center fielder in 1999 so raul mondesi could move back to right field.  enter devon white.

devon white (1999)

white, shown above on his 1999 topps stadium club card, was coming off a pretty decent year in arizona, although his best years were well behind him.  still, kevin malone signed him to a 3-year, $12 million contract.  white started 121 games for the dodgers as their center fielder, and hit .268 with 14 home runs.  known for his glove, white made just 4 errors in 280 chances, although his range factor was down.  white began the 2000 season as the dodgers' man in center once again, and was playing pretty well through april when he was injured and forced out of the lineup.  as a result, todd hollandsworth wound up leading the team in center field starts in 2000.

todd hollandsworth (2000)

holly, seen above on his 1999 keebler dodgers card, took over for white in early may and made a total of 55 starts for the blue in center.  he was hitting just .234 for the dodgers, and they bundled him in a trade deadline deal that brought tom goodwin back to la from exile in colorado.  goodwin took over in center, but did not eclipse hollandsworth's number of starts.  for the dodgers in 2000, their center field merry-go-round had hollandsworth at the top with the aforementioned 55 starts.  next was goodwin with 46, white wound up with 35, fp santangelo had 22, and the field had the rest.

prior to the start of the 2001 season, the dodgers traded white to the brewers for...

marquis grissom (2001)

that trade was interesting in hindsight, because white and grissom are essentially the same player (grissom is 4th on white's baseballreference most similar list).  grissom, shown on a 2001 topps traded relic card, played in 135 games for the dodgers in 2001, including 83 starts in center.  he hit .221 with 20 home runs, and while he stayed with the club for the 2002 season, grissom wasn't the answer.  after the 2001 season, the dodgers brought in another guy to play center.

dave roberts (2002-2003)

dave roberts is enjoying his re-signing with the dodgers on his 2003 upper deck vintage card, but that's getting ahead of ourselves.  in 2002, roberts played center in 115 games and hit .277.  he also stole 45 bases.  as the card above indicates, roberts was back in center for the dodgers in 2003.  that year, he hit .250 and stole 40 bases as their main guy, but he was not seen as the long term solution.  he played all three outfield positions for the dodgers in 2004 before they traded him to boston and he went on to postseason glory. the dodgers bucked their trend and went for a younger player to man the position.

milton bradley (2004-2005)

the dodgers acquired bradley prior to the start of the 2004 season, and i immediately embraced him.  i hadn't cheered for the name on the back of the jersey (figuratively speaking, as the dodgers removed the names from the backs around that time as seen on the above 2005 topps turkey red card) as hard as i did for bradley during his dodgers' tenure in a long time.  in '04, he played all three outfield positions but started 91 games in center.  he hit .267 and scored 72 runs with 19 homers and 67 rbi. he even had 8 outfield assists. he helped the dodgers get back to the postseason for the first time since 1996 and hit .273 in the nlds against the cardinals.

in 2005, he started all 73 of his games in center and hit .290 but the dodgers fell to 4th place and they grew tired of bradley's outbursts.  they went back to their old ways of acquiring a veteran center fielder for the 2006 season.

kenny lofton (2006)

the 2007 upper deck card above is actually a rangers card, but you get the idea.  lofton had a great year for the dodgers in 2006.  he hit .301 with 32 steals in 129 games (114 as the starter in center field).  the dodgers made it back to the nlds, but lofton hit just .077 in 3 games against the mets.  he was allowed to leave as a free agent after the season and had a comparable year for the rangers and indians in 2007.  his departure opened the door for ned to give the starting job to one of the youngsters in the fold - the only question was whether it would be andre ethier, who had been acquired for milton bradley, or dodger farmhand matt kemp.  ned tricked us all when he went out and signed juan pierre.

juan pierre (2007)

pierre, shown on his 2008 topps card (with mariano duncan lurking in the background), continued his consecutive games played streak for the dodgers in 2007.  he played in all 162 games, including 160 starts in center, and led the league in singles with 164.  overall, he hit .293 but the team underachieved, so ned and frank mccourt made some changes. 

out went grady little, in came joe torre, and for no good reason whatsoever, in came andruw jones.  pierre moved to left to make room for jones, who stunk it up pretty badly.  i still don't know how he managed to make 55 starts in center.  saner ideas prevailed, and the bison wound up being the dodger's primary center fielder in 2008.

matt kemp (2008-present)

matt kemp is my baseball salvation.  so far in his career, he is averaging 23 home runs and 86 rbi with a .285 batting average over 162 games - and he's only 26!  there has been no doubt as to who the center fielder for the dodgers is the past two years, and i hope kemp reigns in center longer than the duke. 

so, there you have the end to 60+ years of dodger center fielder evolution.  maybe next i'll look at the third basemen the dodgers have employed over the years.  that should take about a dozen posts.