sunday morning target dodgers - featuring an honorary member of the infield

another sunday, another 15 cards from a 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set sheet given away at dodger stadium in 1990.  enjoy.

rick auerbach

auerbach filled in for the injured bill russell for the first three months of the 1975 season.  he first appeared as a dodger during the 1974 season, although the team acquired him from the brewers in april of 1973.  auerbach spent the rest of that season in albuquerque and had his contract purchased by the brewers in september. a month later, the dodgers purchased his contract back, and he made the big league roster for the 1974 season and even appeared in the postseason that year.  very nearly a dodger double dipper, auerbach stayed with the dodgers through the 1976 season and was traded to the mets for hank webb prior to the 1977 campaign.

billy cox

cox was the dodgers' third baseman from 1948 through 1954.  this 'boy of summer' was acquired in a trade with the pirates following the 1947 season that was prompted in part by the aversion some dodgers had to playing with jackie robinson. unfortunately for cox, he was traded to the orioles prior to the dodgers' world championship season of 1955.

tim crews

along with tim leary, tim crews was part of the return package that the dodgers received from the brewers in exchange for greg brock.  crews was part of the dodger bullpen from 1987 through 1992, although he did make 4 spot starts over that span.  he also had 15 saves in a total of 281 appearances as a dodger.  following the 1992 season, crews signed with the indians as a free agent, but died in a boating accident during spring training.  both the dodgers and indians wore memorial patches for crews (the indians' patch also honored steve olin who was also killed in the accident) during the 1993 season.

fred frankhouse

kudos to frankouse's parents for not naming him frank.  fred frankhouse pitched 10 seasons for the cardinals and braves before joining the dodgers prior to the 1936 season. used primarily as a starter, frankhouse was 13-10 the first season with the dodgers, and then flipped that record the next.  1938 was his last season with the club, and he posted a 3-5 record while pitching mainly out of the bullpen.

harry harper

harper pitched for the senators from 1913-1919, showing some success with decent era in most of those seasons.  he also led the league in losses in 1919 with 21, thanks in part to the poor team for which he played and his career worst (up to that point) era of 3.72.  harper was traded to the red sox for the 1920 season, and then dealt again to the yankees in the waite hoyt deal prior to the 1921 season.  after sitting out the 1922 campaign, harper joined the robins in 1923 and made a solitary start for them.  he lasted 3.2 innings against the giants on may 8, allowing 6 earned runs, as his big league career came to an end.

tommy holmes

holmes was the national league home run champion in 1945 as a member of the boston braves.  he hit 28 homers that year, and also drove in 117 runs, both career highs.  while he still hit for average in the next three seasons, he never approached those power numbers again.  in fact, holmes had hit a total of 38 home runs over the next 6 seasons before signing with the dodgers in 1952.  he failed to hit any home runs as a dodger, although he played in only 31 games during that '52 season.  holmes hit .111 for the dodgers during the regular season, and then was 0 for 1 in his final appearances as a dodger during the 1952 fall classic.

charlie irwin

irwin finished his 10-year big league career with a season and a half as a member of the brooklyn superbas. acquired after being released by the reds during the 1901 season, irwin played third base and hit .253 over the remainder of his career.

von joshua

joshua was a dodger double dipper whose last appearance in his first go-around as a dodger came with him making the final out in the 1974 world series. the second time, the dodgers brought joshua back to the majors from the mexican league in 1979.  overall, joshua appeared in more games with the dodgers than any other team for which he played, although his best season was probably his 1975 campaign spent with the giants.

brickyard kennedy

according to baseball reference. kennedy's nickname was actually 'roaring bill', not brickyard.  strange.  he pitched for the grooms/bridegrooms/superbas from 1892 through 1901, winning as many as 25 games in 1893 and more than 20 four times.  he was 177-149 for brooklyn overall before spending the 1902 season with the new york giants and the 1903 campaign with the national league champion pittsburgh pirates. in fact, kennedy's final major league appearance came with the pirates in the inaugural world series, starting (and losing) game 5.

bill krueger

krueger's dodger career consisted of three appearances over the course of two seasons.  he was acquired by the club from the a's during the 1987 season and made 2 relief appearances as a dodger in september.  he re-signed with the dodgers for the 1988 campaign, but began the year in albuquerque.  krueger was eventually called up and was given the july 4 start against the cardinals, his lone big league appearance of the season.  krueger allowed 3 runs in 2.1 innings of work that day and was sent back down to triple-a. the dodgers traded him to the pirates for jim niedlinger following the end of the regular season.

paul minner

in 1946, and then again in 1948 and 1949, minner was a pitcher on the dodgers' roster.  he appeared in a total of 58 games and posted a record of 7-5 with a 3.16 era.  you can learn much more about minner in this post, courtesy of another dodger blogger.

joe pignatano

pignatano, a brooklyn native, debuted with the dodgers in 1957 - the team's last year in brooklyn.  he remained with the team as they moved to los angeles, and served as the team's backup backstop through the 1960 season.

ron roenicke

roenicke was dodger #3 on the 1982 topps steve sax/mike marshall rookie card.  he was also an outfielder on the team who played in 212 games for the dodgers from september of 1981 through july 18, 1983 when he was released.  roenicke went on to play for the mariners, padres, giants, phillies, and reds before rejoining the dodger organization as a minor league manager and later a big league coach. he is currently the manager of the milwaukee brewers, adding one more manager to the list who played for tommy lasorda.

joe shaute

shaute pithed for the robins/dodgers from 1931-33 after spending 9 seasons with the indians.  he was 21-19 for brooklyn in that span, with a 4.32 era compiled over 100 appearances.  while with the indians, shaute struck out only 402 batters in 1,447 innings pitched, but babe ruth accounted for over 30 of those k's according to baseball reference.

bobby valentine

bobby v was the dodgers' first round pick in their vaunted 1968 draft.  he made his big league debut just over a year later, and would appear in 5 games as a 1969 september call-up.  he returned to the majors in 1971 and 1972, playing all over the outfield and everywhere in the infield except for first base.  after hitting .274 in 119 games in 1972, valentine was included in the trade that sent frank robinson to the angels.  valentine was just 23 and was hitting .302 when he tore up his knee in may of '73 after getting his spikes caught in the angels' outfield fence. the injury plagued him for the remainder of his playing career that included post-anaheim stints in san diego, new york, and seattle.  valentine never played for lasorda in the majors (he did in the minors), but he did go on to manage in the majors and according to reports, would have been tommy's choice to guide the dodgers instead of davey johnson had valentine not already been managing the mets.  we also have valentine to thank for making tommy a coach on the 2001 national league all-star team which brought us the fantastic footage of tommy getting upended in the third base coaches box by a wayward bat.

sunday morning target dodgers - putting the 'l' in 'gcrl' and the last brooklyn dodger

another sunday, another sheet from the 1990 target giveaway set marking the dodger franchise's 100th anniversary of national league existence.

this sheet is a pretty good one - we'll start with the second baseman on the team of my youth, and the dodgers' current first base coach, davey lopes

lopes helped the dodgers to 4 pennants during his tenure as their second baseman.  he led the league in steals in 1975 and 1976 - the last dodger to do so.  maybe dee gordon will break that streak this year.

hank aguirre

nice dodger stadium background there!  aguirre spent the entire 1968 season with the dodgers and seemed to pitch well following a solid decade with the tigers.  for the blue, he had a 0.69 era in 25 appearances, including 39 innings of work, but was released by the team during the offseason.  he wound up signing with the cubs and pitched for a couple more seasons.

roy campanella

campy is one of a very small group of players to have won 3 mvp awards.  he won his over a 5-year span during his 10-year tenure as the dodgers' catcher that came to an end when he was paralyzed from injuries sustained in a car accident following the 1957 season.  he entered the hall of fame in 1969, and his number was retired by the dodgers right about 42 years ago at the same time that jackie robinson and sandy koufax had their numbers retired.

george dockins

the card says that dockins was an infielder, but he was actually a pitcher.  dockins pitched for the cardinals in 1945, but had his contract purchased by the dodgers in 1946.  he reached the big leagues with the club in 1947, appearing in four games.  he had no record with an era of 11.81.

dave foutz

not often you see a necktie on a baseball card.  foutz was with the brooklyn franchise starting in 1888,  two years before the bridegrooms joined the nl, and so was an original national league brooklyn-ite.  he stayed with the team as a player through 1896.  he also was a pitcher, but spent most of his time with brooklyn as a first baseman and outfielder.  oh, he was also the team's third manager, leading the team from 1893 though 1896 when both his playing and managing careers came to a simultaneous end, reportedly due to difficulties with asthma. sadly, he died at the age of 40 shortly thereafter.

john hale

that's a pretty good photo used on hale's card.  hale was an outfielder on the dodgers from 1974 until late in the 1977 season when the dodgers put him on waivers and he was claimed by the blue jays.  two weeks later, the mariners purchased his contract, and he spent 1978 and 79 with the m's.  as a dodger, he started out with a bang.  he was 4 for 4 in his first big league appearances in 1974 - his first big league at bat came against jr richard, and resulted in a double for hale.  hale was the team's fourth outfielder in 1975 behind bill buckner, jim wynn, and willie crawford, but wasn't able to crack the starting lineup even with the departure of those three because of the arrival of their replacements - dusty baker, reggie smith, and rick monday.

joe judge

judge had spent 18 seasons with the washington senators, including their two pennant winning teams, before joining the dodgers for the 1933 season.  as a dodger, judge played in 42 games and hit just .214.  he was released by the team and returned to the american league as a member of the boston red sox.

mike kekich

another dodger stadium backdrop!  kekich is best known by me as one of three 'other' dodgers featured on jim lefebvre's 1965 topps rookie card.  truth is, he spent 9 years in the majors, mostly as a yankee.  he debuted for the dodgers in 1965 as a 20-year old and was 0-1 in 5 appearances.  he returned to the big leagues in 1968 and went 2-10 in 25 games.  following the season, he was dealt to the yankees for andy kosco.

bob kennedy

bob kennedy ended his big league playing career with 19 appearances for the brooklyn dodgers in 1957.  in fact, he made the final out in the dodgers' last game as the brooklyn dodgers, a fly out to end the 1957 season.  like kekich, i remember kennedy more for a 1965 topps card - the one that shows him as 'head coach' because the cubs used a group of coaches rather than a manager for a season or two.

rudy law

law debuted with the dodgers as a september call-up in 1978.  he returned to the majors in 1980 as the club's primary center fielder and stole 40 bases.  unfortunately, the dodgers went out and traded for ken landreaux and so law spent the team's 1981 championship season in the minors.  law was traded to the white sox prior to the 1982 season, and made the postseason that year with chicago.

ramon martinez

martinez debuted during the dodgers' memorable 1988 season, but didn't appear in the postseason.  he soon became the team's ace, winning 20 games in 1990.  his 1314 strikeouts as a dodger are good for 8th all-time in franchise history, but he should be passed by clayton kershaw here in the next few weeks.

chappie mcfarland

mcfarland earned this card by making one start for the brooklyn superbas in 1906.  he pitched a complete game, but unfortunately it was a loss in which he allowed 8 earned runs.  that game was not only the sum of his brooklyn career, it was the end of his big league career that had begun in 1902.

johnny mitchell

mitchell spent the 1924 and 1925 seasons with the brooklyn robins.  he hit .256 as one of the team's shortstops, playing in a total of 161 games as a robin.

howie schultz

schultz broke in with the dodgers in 1943, playing first base.  he played in over 300 games for the dodgers at that position until he was replaced by jackie robinson in 1947.  the dodgers dealt him to the phillies early on in the 1947 season.  after retiring from baseball following the 1948 season, schultz went on to play in the nba with his hometown minneapolis lakers.

tracy woodson

woodson played for the dodgers from 1987 into 1989.  he was a member of the 1988 world champions, getting into four of the five world series games that year against the a's.  in fact, woodson drove in what wound up being the game winning run of the dodgers' game 4 4-3 victory that put them up 3 games to 1.

sunday morning target dodgers

the undisputed star of this week's sheet (although not the only hall of famer) is sandy koufax.

over the last 6 seasons of koufax's career, his record was 129-47 with a 2.16 era.  he struck out 1713 batters, threw 1632.2 innings, hurled 115 complete games, and weaved 4 no-hitters.  he also won an mvp award, three cy youngs, and two world championships.  has there ever been a better or more impressive run for a pitcher?

jim barbieri

barbieri spent half of one season in the big leagues.  he was called up in july of 1966, and stayed with the dodgers for the remainder of the season, including the world series.  he hit .280 during the regular season, but was 0 for 1 in the fall classic.  still, he became the first player to have appeared in the little league world series and the major league world series, and he also got a card in the 1967 topps set.

ed brandt

brandt pitched for the braves from 1928 through 1935 (he was a teammate of babe ruth's that last year) before joining the dodgers for a single season in 1936.  as a dodger, he was 11-13 in 38 appearances, and was traded to the pirates after the season ended.  a few years after his retirement, brandt died at the age of 39 after being hit by a car while crossing the street.

tommy corcoran

corcoran played shortstop for the bridegrooms during the 1890's - from 1892 through 1896 to be exact. his best season out of the 18 he played came for brooklyn in 1894 when he hit .300 and scored 123 runs.

henry cruz

cruz obviously played for the white sox, but before that, he was a dodger.  in fact, he played more games as a dodger from 1975 through 1976 than he did as a member of the white sox from 1977 to 1978.  in 102 games with the blue, cruz hit 4 homers with 19 rbi and a .225 average, while in 69 games with chicago, he hit 4 homers with 15 rbi and a .235 average.  there are a couple of cards of cruz in a dodger uniform - he's got an sspc card from 1975 (or 1976 depending on how you catalog it), and he shows up on a 4-player rookie card in 1976 topps as well.  oddly enough, cruz is one of two players from the virgin islands to show up on this sheet.

jay johnstone

johnstone was a dodger double dipper, but i have already told that tale.  instead of rehashing that, i will note that all three of his home runs in 1981 came as a pinch hitter, which is not really a surprise.  the first two came in consecutive at bats, however, which is interesting but not as impressive as del unser and lee lacy hitting home runs in three consecutive pinch hitting appearances.

john kennedy

kennedy was acquired by the dodgers as part of the big trade with the senators following the 1964 season.  good timing on his part, as he played for the national league champions in both 1965 and 1966, winning a world series ring in '65.  kennedy saw action in both postseasons with the dodgers, and was traded to the yankees following the 1966 series.  interestingly enough, this john kennedy was born on may 29, 1941 - 24 years to the day after president john f. kennedy was born.

bill madlock

madlock was a 4-time national league batting champ who joined the dodgers for the pennant run in 1985.  he helped the team reach the nlcs that year, hitting .360 after joining the club, and then hit .333 with 3 homers and 7 rbi in the championship series against the cardinals. unfortunately, madlock wasn't able to direct tommy lasorda to not pitch to jack clark with first base open, and the dodgers lost the series.  madlock returned to the team for the entire 1986 season, but was released by the team following a slow start in 1987.

al mcbean

mcbean is the second player on this sheet to hail from the virgin islands.  he is from st. thomas, while cruz is from st. croix.  anyway, mcbean was a dodger for parts of two seasons - 1969 and 1970.  he joined the dodgers following a one game stint as an original padre in 1969 and went 2-6 in 31 games for the blue.  in 1970, he appeared in just one game for the dodgers before being released which was strange because he threw a scoreless inning in that game.  he signed with the pirates following his release, and returned to pittsburgh where he had pitched for the first 8 seasons of his career.

joe orengo

orengo came to the dodgers in a midseason swap with the new york giants back in 1943.  the dodgers gave up dolph camilli in the deal, and later in the season they wound up sending orengo to the saint paul saints, who would become the dodgers' aa affiliate the following year.  in between, he appeared in 7 games as a dodger,  hitting .200 in 19 plate appearances.

doug rau

dougie was a pitcher on the team of my youth, and i saw him pitch in person quite a few times.  he won at least 13 games every season from 1974 through 1978, and helped the dodgers to the postseason in three of those campaigns.  unfortunately, an arm injury effectively ended his career in 1979, although he did return to the majors for a short stint with the angels in 1981.  he's probably best known for trying to convince tommy lasorda to let him stay in the game during an argument (warning - tommy and rau and even davey lopes all have potty mouths) on the mound in the 1977 world series.

mike vail

like cruz earlier, vail is obviously not shown wearing a dodger uniform.  i suppose this can be forgiven, as vail appeared in only 16 games for the dodgers after he was acquired during to the 1984 season.  he was just 1 for 16 in those games, but at least his lone hit was a walk-off single against the cardinals on july 6.

gus weyhing

weyhing joined the brooklyn superbas during the 1900 season and was 3-4 in 8 games pitched.  until former dodger mike morgan came along, weyhing held the distinction of having pitched for the most number of teams (11).  which reminds me, i need to get to my travels of mike morgan post someday.

hoyt wilhelm

so we start and end the post with hall of famers.  wilhelm ended his hall of fame career with the dodgers in 1972.  he managed 1 save in his final season, which was ended when the dodgers released him - just a few days shy of his 50th birthday.

you may have noticed that there were only 14 cards featured in this post - that's because, once again, one of the players featured was a double dipper.  he'll get a separate post later on.

i found another way to love the 2012 topps update adam kennedy card

remember how much i love(d) this card?  the 2012 topps update adam kennedy card?

in addition to the base, there was the black bordered version

and the blue bordered version from wal-mart.

the gold bordered version, numbered to 2012.

the gold sparkle version

and the version from target with red borders

there is the silk version

and, i also have a base version signed.

outside of a printing plate, i thought i had them all.  i was wrong.  a week or so ago, i stumbled across this - an orange bordered parallel

it's numbered to 210, and apparently was part of a factory update set.  is nice, no?  at any rate, it completes the 9-pocket page for this particular card.  thanks to the person who bought a factory set of this and broke it up.  i would expect that giants and orioles fans might go for the singles, too, but i'm not pursuing any more of the orange cards from the set.  although if you have some dodgers to trade, i am open to it...