don't worry, bo also sent some dodger cards

this will be the last post about the cards that bo from baseball cards come to life sent me recently.  it was a great package containing double play cards, tatooine cards, cards featuring memorial patches, and, of course, dodger cards.

i am surprised that i have not yet shown this 1993 topps stadium club orel hershiser card

on the blog previously. its got the bulldog sitting in dodger stadium on a beautiful day for baseball.

this 2002 leaf rookies and stars brian jordan card

also features dodger stadium as a backdrop, with jordan running between the kevin brown and shawn green images on the outfield wall mural.

this 1992 classic best roberto mejia card

however, features vero beach's holman stadium as its backdrop.  that may well be carlos delgado kneeling behind mejia, by the way.  the dodgers lost mejia in the expansion draft to the rockies, but at least he made it to the majors.  that can't be said about the next guy.

1992 upper deck minors ryan luzinski

the dodgers' first round draft pick in 1992 made it as high as triple-a with the dodgers and later the orioles, but never got the call to the big leagues.

1992 upper deck minors todd hollandsworth

how convenient for the dodgers' bakersfield affiliate that they could use the brooklyn dodgers 'b' on their hats and helmets.  holly, of course, was the 1996 national league rookie of the year, but before that, he apparently enjoyed sorting grains of sand.

another dodger prospect of the mid-90's was paul konerko.  here's a 1994 topps stadium club card

celebrating the dodgers' first round pick in the 1994 draft.

originally a catcher, the dodgers moved konerko to first base, presumably because they had mike piazza behind the plate.  konerko is fielding his position on this 1998 pinnacle performers card

as well as this 1998 topps stadium club

they also tried him at third base and even the outfield.  he was, after all, the second best prospect in all of baseball heading into the 1998 season (as ranked by baseball america).  today, i don't think you trade that type of prospect for a closer.

i'll finish up with a couple of dodgers hanging out on tatooine - 1993 score select lenny harris

and jose offerman

one last thank you, bo! that was a fun package to sort through!

sunday morning target dodgers - super bowl sunday edition.

like clockwork, here's another edition of the sunday morning target dodgers featuring 15 more cards from a sheet in the 1990 target 100th anniversary giveaway set.  just because it's super bowl sunday doesn't mean i'm doing anything different or exciting.  i honestly couldn't think of anything different or exciting.  enjoy.

bert abbey

abbey had a record of 9-30 as a major league pitcher when he joined the brooklyn grooms during the 1895 season.  he went 5-2 in 8 games for the club that year, and then posted an 8-8 record for brooklyn the following season, which turned out to be his last in the majors. abbey then returned to coach baseball at his alma mater, the university of vermont.

johnny butler

butler didn't debut in the majors until 1926 when he was a 33-year old infielder with the brooklyn robins.  he hit .269 in 147 games that year, and then played in 149 games for the robins the following season, although his batting average dropped to .238.  he was picked up by the cubs for the 1928 season, and finished his big league career with the cardinals in 1929.

ivan dejesus

the dodgers signed dejesus as an amateur free agent out of puerto rico in 1969.  he appeared in 3 games during the 1974 season as a late season call-up for the dodgers, and then saw some playing time as a backup to bill russell in 1975 and 1976.   in fact, dejesus and rick auerbach filled in for the injured russell during a good stretch of the 1975 season.  ultimately, however, dejesus was expendable, and he was traded with bill buckner to the cubs for mike garman and rick monday prior to the 1977 season.  dejesus later was traded by the cubs to the phillies for larry bowa and a throw-in named ryne sandberg.

harry eisenstat

eisenstat was a brooklyn native who made his big league debut for the local nine in 1935, when he was just 19 years old.  he was 0-1 in his 2 relief appearances that season, but earned his first big league win (against 3 more losses) the following year.  in 1937, his last year with the dodgers, eisenstat was 3-3 in 13 games.  he went on to pitch for the tigers, for whom he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning on the last day of the 1938 season, beating bob feller of the indians who struck out 18 tigers that day.  coincidentally, the indians traded for eisenstat the following year, and he pitched in cleveland for the remainder of his career.

don elston

elston threw 757.2 innings as a major league pitcher, 756.2 of which came as a member of the chicago cubs.  he was acquired by the dodgers from chicago prior to the 1957 season, but was dealt back to the cubbies after pitching just one inning as a member of the brooklyn dodgers.  in that lone dodger appearance, elston took over for sandy koufax and pitched a scoreless 9th inning against the milwaukee braves. in addition to this card, elston also shows up as a dodger in the 1957 topps set which is nice given his short tenure with the team.

jim gentile

i don't think i knew that diamond jim gentile began his big league career with the brooklyn dodgers in 1957.  he also played for the los angeles dodgers in 1958, amassing a .139 batting average in 16 games over those two seasons.  his first big league hit was a home run off of the phillies' robin roberts, which was not a bad way to start.  i knew of gentile more because of his big 1961 season with the orioles in which he hit 46 home runs and earned a spot on the 1962 topps home run leader card with roger maris, mickey mantle, and harmon killebrew.  gentile also hit .302 with 141 rbi that season.

jerry grote

grote came to the dodgers late in the 1977 season as a third catcher and sometimes third baseman.  he remained with the team through the 1978 season, playing in the nlcs and world series both years. in fact, grote was on deck when ron cey scored the pennant winning run in the 1978 nlcs, and so is featured prominently in one of the celebratory photos that i used to make the 1979 topps card that should have been.  grote was also a dodger double dipper, as he returned to the club for the 1981 pennant run after coming out of retirement earlier that year to join the kansas city royals.

joe harris

harris was acquired by the robins via trade with pittsburgh during the 1928 season.  he appeared in 55 games for brooklyn, hitting .236 in what would be his final stint in the major leagues.  his was a career that lasted 10 seasons over 15 years, but had been sidetracked early on when commissioner landis banned him from the game for life due to harris playing in an independent league in ohio during the 1920 season rather than return to the cleveland indians for whom he had played in 1917 and 1919.  harris was obviously later reinstated, and became the first player to hit a home run in his first world series at bat.

butch henline

henline was the player that the robins received in return when they traded burleigh grimes to the giants in 1927. henline came from the phillies, who were the third team in that trade.  he served as the backup catcher for three seasons, hitting .243 in 149 games as a robin.

rube melton

melton kinda sorta looks like ted williams here, don't you think?  he was a pitcher for the dodgers for two years before and after serving in world war ii.  he joined the dodgers in 1943 and had a combined record of 14-21 over the '43 and '44 seasons.  melton spent 1945 and some of the 1946 season in the armed forces, but posted a 1.99 era with a 6-3 record for the portion of the '46 campaign that he did play in.  he pitched in just 4 games in 1947, collecting only a loss to go with a 13.50 era in those appearances.

andy pafko

pafko is best known as the guy who is on the first card in the 1952 topps set, which features him in a brooklyn uniform thanks to a june, 1951 trade with the cubs.  pafko also played for the dodgers in the 1952 season, hitting .287 in a career high 150 games.  he was traded to the braves prior to the 1953 campaign.

jimmy ripple

ripple had played in 417 games and two world series as a member of the new york giants when he was dealt to the dodgers in september of 1939.  he hit .330 for the dodgers in 28 games over the course of the last few weeks of that season, but the club still finished 12.5 games behind the reds in the standings.  ripple returned to the dodgers in 1940, but only appeared in 7 games before the aforementioned reds claimed him on waivers in august.  ripple went on to help cincinnati win the world series that year.

jack smith

smith pitched for the dodgers in 1962 and 1963, although he earned no decisions in his 12 appearances (all in relief) during that time.  he did not appear in the 1963 world series, either, and was soon thereafter lost to the braves in the rule v draft.

carl warwick

warwick began his career in 1961 as a member of the dodgers. he debuted on april 11 of that year, pinch-hitting for wally moon against ken lehman of the cardinals and promptly hit an rbi single into left field.  it turned out to be the only hit warwick would record as a dodger.  he was 0 for his next 10 (although he did draw 2 walks) and was traded to the cardinals on may 30.

bob welch

welch was the dodgers' number 1 pick in 1977, and he made his big league debut a year later.  he famously struck out reggie jackson to save game 2 of the 1978 world series and was a member of the 1981 team that finally beat the yankees in the fall classic.  as a dodger, welch was 115-86 over a 10 year stretch that ended with him being traded to oakland prior to the 1988 season.  i remember seeing him during the introductions prior to game 1 of the 1988 world series that paired the dodgers against the a's and felt sad that he was no longer on 'my' team.  i didn't feel too badly for him, however, as i obviously wanted the dodgers to win.  welch got the start in game 3, which was the only game the a's won in the series, but he got his second ring in 1989 when the a's beat the giants (although welch did not pitch in the world series that year). to cap things off, welch won 27 games in 1990 en route to the cy young award.  sadly, welch passed away during last season at the age of 57.

sunday morning target dodgers

here we are with the last installment of sunday morning target dodgers of the year, and unless i scan some more sheets, it will be the final one - period.  let's find out about 15 more players who suited up for the brooklyn/los angeles national league franchise, courtesy of the target set that was given away at dodger stadium in 1990.

ed chandler

chandler was a major leaguer for about two months in 1947. he debuted three days after jackie robinson, pitching in relief against the new york giants on april 18.  he appeared in 14 other games, including both ends of a doubleheader against the cardinals on june 14. the nightcap that day turned out to be chandler's last appearance in the majors.

pete coscarart

coscarart was with the dodgers from 1938-1941, and was their primary second baseman in 1939 and 1940.  he made the all-star team in 1940 and appeared in the 1941 world series against the yankees.  after that, however, he was traded to the pirates in the deal that netted brooklyn arky vaughn.  coscarart went on to play in pittsburgh for four-plus seasons.

lefty davis

davis spent the first part of the 1901 season with the brooklyn superbas and the second part with the pittsburgh pirates. he had been released by the superbas after hitting just .209 in 25 games, but went on to bat .313 for pittsburgh in 87 games that year.  davis passed away on his 44th birthday.

ben geraghty

geraghty was an infielder with the 1936 dodgers who hit .194 in 51 games.  baseball-reference notes that he missed the 1937 season due to injury, but was traded towards the end of the season to the senators.  after making it back to the majors with the braves in 1943 and '44, geraghty returned to the minors and was a member of the dodgers' affiliate in spokane in 1946.  as a result, he was on the bus that crashed, killing nine members of the team, including player-manager mel cole.  geraghty survived the crash, and became the team's manager in 1947. he later went on to manage for many years in the braves' organization.

harvey green

green's major league experience consists of two games in which he pitched for the dodgers in 1935.  both came against the cubs in chicago in september of that year - on the 12th, he pitched a scoreless 9th inning in a 13-3 loss, and on the 14th, he failed to retire any of the three cubs he faced in what would be a 18-14 dodger loss.

bill hall

hall was 19 years old when he pitched for the brooklyn superbas in 1913.  he appeared in 3 games, allowing 3 earned runs in 4.2 innings of work.

bill harris

a native of new brunswick, harris was given a late-season start by the dodgers in 1957.  it was the first game following their last game at ebbet's field, and came in philadephia against the phillies.  harris pitched 7 innings, allowing 3 runs, and was 1 for 2 at the plate.  unfortunately, the dodgers only mustered up 2 runs (on a 9th-inning homer by sandy amoros) so harris got the loss. interestingly enough, he was replaced on the mound by none other than sandy koufax.  a couple of years later, with the dodgers now playing in los angeles, harris appeared in his second and final big league game - this time as a reliever against the cubs.

lefty hopper

hopper made 2 starts for the 1898 brooklyn bridegrooms.  he was 0-2 with 2 complete games, although he pitched only 11 innings.  he allowed 11 runs, 6 earned in those games, and did not pitch in the majors again.

bob lee

lee was acquired by the dodgers from the angels in a december, 1966 trade.  he showed up as a dodger in the 1967 topps set, although he appeared in only four games for the blue before he had his contract purchased by the reds.  in those four games as a dodger, lee pitched 6.2 innings - all in relief.

phil lewis

lewis was the superbas' shortstop from 1905-08.  he hit .242 in those four seasons, but amassed a whopping total of 120 errors in his first two campaigns. lewis spent the remainder of his baseball career in the minors, playing through 1916.

mike w. mccormick

mccormick was one of the players that the dodgers received in the trade that sent pete reiser to the braves following the 1948 season. mccormick hit .209 for the dodgers in 1949, playing in 55 games.  he appeared in one game of the 1949 world series (he caught the last out of the dodgers' game 2 victory - their only win of the series), and was then released by the club.

walt miller

what we have here is a case of mistaken identity.  the walt miller shown on the card is actually jake miller (his given name was walter) who pitched for the white sox in 1933 (after hurling several years for the indians). the giveaway was the fact that the pictured miller is a lefty, while this card is supposed to feature a right-handed pitcher.  the correct walt miller was a dodger for about a week in 1911, pitching in three games and taking the loss in one of them.

dick siebert

siebert had a couple of cups of coffee with the dodgers - first in 1932 and then again in 1936 - in which he was 2 for 9 with a couple of walks.  he spent most of his career playing first base for connie mack and the philadelphia a's, and was an all-star in 1943.  siebert retired after the 1945 season and returned to the twin cities where he became the head coach at his alma mater - the university of minnesota - and led the golden gophers to the college world series title three times.  siebert coached dave winfield and paul molitor among others during his tenure with the gophers - a tenure that ended with his passing in 1978.  the gophers' baseball stadium is named siebert field in his honor.

ray thomas

thomas' big league career consisted of one game with the 1938 brooklyn dodgers.  thomas replaced the robins' starting catcher merv shea in the july 22, 1938 game against the cardinals in the early going, and wound up getting three at bats. thomas finished the day, and his major league career as it turned out, 1 for 3 with a run scored.

george treadway

treadway was one of the players that the brooklyn grooms received from the orioles in exchange for future hall of famer willie keeler following the 1893 season.  he played for the grooms in 1894 and 1895, hitting .330 in 124 games in '94 but only .259 in 87 games in '95. after spending a short amount of time with the louisville colonels in 1896, treadway was out of the majors due in large part to suspicions about his heritage, according to baseball-reference.

the grounded flight of the bumblebees

i'm working on a trade with matt from bob walk the plank, so i'm pulling together some pirates.  these cards won't be leaving my collection, however, even though they feature the black and yellow.

1984 donruss dave parker

the cobra is giving me the stare down from inside dodger stadium.  i will keep this card in my dodger stadium binder.

1984 donruss lee lacy

the black jersey/yellow pant combo is just not a successful look.

1984 fleer lee lacy

here it is again.  the fact that lacy wears yellow sleeves under the jersey puts it over the top.

1984 fleer rick rhoden

ah, a simple white jersey with the pillbox hat.

1985 donruss rick rhoden

i spoke too soon - there's the full yellow ensemble

1986 donruss highlights rick rhoden

rhoden at the plate!  he was voted the nl pitcher of the month for june of 1986 when he went 5-1 in 6 starts with a 1.99 era, 3 complete games, and 35 strikeouts.  he also kicked ass at the plate that month, going 9 for 19 with 3 doubles, 4 rbi, and 0 strikeouts.  kudos to donruss for putting a photo of rhoden with a bat on the card.  if i had three of this card, i'd keep one, send one to matt, and send the other to nick.

1987 donruss all-stars rick rhoden

now donruss put him back on the mound.  rhoden was an all-star in 1986 - his first time at the game since 1976 when he was with the dodgers.

1987 topps mini leaders rick rhoden

rhoden was second in complete games and fourth in era in 1986, so he received a card in this set.

i'm keeping the lacy and rhoden cards because while i really haven't committed to collecting non-topps base cards of the 1978 topps dodgers, i am not necessarily opposed to the idea either.

finally, i am not sending this 1991 topps gary redus to matt (or to wes for that matter)

because dodger lenny harris is lurking.

don't worry matt - i'll have some different (and hopefully better) pirates in the mail this week.