sunday morning target dodgers - featuring the 'other' mike ramsey. or was the other mike ramsey the 'other' mike ramsey?

here are another 15 players featured together on a sheet of cards from the very large 1990 target dodgers set.  enjoy.

ed albosta

albosta made two starts for the dodgers in 1941 and lost them both.  both games were against the phillies, and both times lefty hoerst was the opposing (and winning) pitcher.  to make matter worse, in all other games in which he pitched in 1941, hoerst was 1-10.  anyway, that was all albosta would do for the dodgers, although he did return to the majors in 1946 with the pirates.  he went 0-6 for pittsburgh, with a couple of those losses coming against the phillies, but not hoerst.

ken boyer

boyer, who was the nl mvp in 1964 with the world champion cardinals, finished his playing career with the dodgers in 1968 and 1969.  he was one of the many to play third base for the dodgers before ron cey arrived to stabilize the position.  boyer didn't homer in any of his 25 games in 1969, but he did hit his last two home runs of his career in the same game in 1968.  after retiring, boyer returned to the cardinals and eventually became their manager.  the team wore a black armband in his honor following his death in 1982.

rocky bridges

bridges was another guy who played some third base for the dodgers, although he spent his time there in 1951 and 1952, his first two years in the majors.  as a dodger, bridges hit .237 in 114 games.  he went on to play for the reds, senators, tigers, indians, cardinals, and angels.  after his playing days were done, he coached for the angels and giants, and managed in the minors as well.  he also signs cards through the mail, much to my appreciation.

dick calmus

calmus was 3-1 with a 2.66 era as a 19-year old dodger rookie in 1963.  he pitched in 21 games (one start), and won a world series ring, although he did not appear in the fall classic.  even so, it was back to the minors for calmus until he was traded to the cubs in 1967.  he made one appearance for chicago that season, then it was back to the minors for good.  calmus was still only 25 when he returned to the dodger organization in 1969, but he was never recalled from albuquerque and called it quits.  with the pitching rich dodgers of the mid-1960's it was too bad that calmus didn't get more of a shot at the big leagues.  at least he made it, though.  and, by the way, i'm still not certain what's going on in the background of his 1964 topps card.

bob clark

clark was a catcher for brooklyn when they joined the national league in 1890.  he was with the bridegrooms for four seasons before that as well.  as a national leaguer, clark hit .219 in 43 games, and was 2 for 3 in the postseason exhibitions that the pennant winning bridegrooms played against the louisville colonels.

babe dahlgren

i did not realize that dahlgren played for the dodgers, but he did - for 17 games in 1942.  he was just 1 for 19 with 4 walks in that span, however, and the dodgers flipped him to the phillies for lloyd waner and one other player prior to the 1943 season.  dahlgren is, of course, much better known as the man who replaced lou gehrig in the yankee lineup.

al gionfriddo

gionfriddo was traded to the dodgers early in the 1947 season by the pirates, for whom he had played since 1944.  he played in 37 regular season games for the dodgers, hitting .177 with no homers and 6 rbi.  gionfriddo was often used as a pinch-hitter, but got some playing time in the outfield as well, and that's where his most memorable play was made.  in game 6 of the 1947 world series, gionfriddo was sent out to left field in the bottom of the 6th inning.  the yankees were trailing 8-5, although they were leading the series 3 games to 2.  with two on and two out, joe dimaggio hit what was going to be a game-tying 3-run home run at worst, and an extra base hit at best, but gionfriddo made a nice catch going back on the ball, and the dodgers lived to play game seven (they lost).  the play is also known for the fact that the stoic dimaggio showed some frustration by kicking the dirt after the catch was made.

andy high

high spent the first 3-plus seasons of his 13-year big league career with the brooklyn robins.  he had the best season of his career as a robin in 1924, hitting .328 while scoring 98 runs in 144 games.  usually a third baseman, he had moved to second base that season and wound up finishing 12th in the league mvp voting.  high was lost on waivers to the braves during the 1925 season, but not before the photo used on his card was taken.  that image does indeed come from the 1925 campaign, as the robins wore black armbands for team owner and president charles ebbetts.  i'll address that memorial further in a future post.

fred lindstrom

lindstrom is probably one of the weaker hall of famers in cooperstown, but he's still a hall of famer as determined by the veteran's committee in 1976.  he had a good 9 year run playing mostly third base for the new york giants in the 1920's and into the 1930's, but joined the dodgers as an outfielder for his final season in 1936. he hit .264 in 26 games for brooklyn before asking for, and receiving his release.

jose morales

there have been 11 people from the us virgin islands that have reached the major leagues, and morales is one of them.  he's also one of three to have played for the dodgers (the others are henry cruz and al mcbean).  morales was known for his pinch-hitting prowess, once setting the record for most pinch-hits in a single season (1976), although that record was broken by john vanderwal in 1995.  morales spent most of his final three big league seasons with the dodgers from 1982-1984.  he had 108 plate appearances as a dodger in 104 games.  of those plate appearances, 95 were as a pinch-hitter as were 24 of his 27 hits as a dodger.

mickey owen

the dodgers traded for owen prior to the 1941 season, and he took over the everyday catching duties from babe phelps.  owen delivered a solid season behind the plate, earning his first of four straight all-star berths as a dodger and helping the franchise get to the world series for the first time since 1920.  it should be noted that his fielding percentage that season was .995 - only 3 errors and 2 passed balls - with 597 chances.  with that said, mickey owen is best known for dropping the third strike that would have ended game 4 of the 1941 fall classic and tied the series between the dodgers and yankees at two games apiece.  instead, tommy henrich reached first base and the yankees subsequently rallied for four runs to beat the dodgers 7-4 and take a 3 games to 1 lead.  they closed things out in game 5.  1955 couldn't come soon enough for owen, whom i imagine to have been (right or wrong) a sort of bill buckner figure, as in mickey owen : dodgers :: bill buckner : red sox.

dave patterson

patterson appeared in 36 games for the dodgers between june 9 and september 27, 1979 - all in relief.  he was 4-1 with a 5.26 era and 6 saves in those appearances which were the most of any reliever on the dodger staff that season.  he was back in triple-a albuquerque in 1980 and '81, and then finished his career with spending the 1982 season at the triple-a level in the oakland a's organization.

jeff pfeffer

pfeffer spent 9 seasons with the superbas/robins, pitching in 226 games for them between 1913 and 1921.  he posted a record of 113-80 with a 2.31 era for brooklyn during that span, and pitched in both the 1916 and 1920 world series for the club.

pat ragan

ragan joined the brooklyn franchise after spending a short time with both the reds and cubs in 1909.  he first appeared for the dodgers in 1911 and stayed with the club into the 1915 season before being claimed on waivers by the braves.  as a dodger/superba/robin, ragan was 37-54 with a 3.26 era.  in 1919, ragan was the player to be named later in the deal that sent jim thorpe from the new york giants to the braves.

mike james ramsey

you may recall from a previous sunday morning target dodgers post that mike jeffrey ramsey also played for the dodgers.  while his tenure was a mere 9 games in 1985, this mike ramsey appeared in 48 games for the 1987 dodgers, including opening day when he was the team's starting center fielder.  the team had been looking to acquire a center fielder (possibly even trading alejandro pena to get one) to replace ken landreaux when ramsey put on a display during spring training and won the job outright.  he went 10 for 28 in his first 7 starts, but hit just .196 over his next 30 games (27 of which were starts), and the dodgers made the deal with the orioles for john shelby.  in 2004, this mike ramsey (not the 'other' mike ramsey) was named the most obscure but memorable dodger following nominations made by the readers (like me) of jon weisman's dodger thoughts.

it comes in colors everywhere

yes, it's like a rainbow.  i guess not technically 'everywhere', but certainly in my mailbox, thanks to daniel from it's like having my own card shop.  his end of a recent trade had this beauty - a 1953 bowman color carl erskine

that's only the second card from the set that i own - here's the other -  and i was pretty surprised to see it arrive in a trade package for a bunch of chrome diamondbacks.  awesome.

the goodness didn't end there, as oisk's teammate gil hodges was along for the ride on this 2002 topps tribute card

hodges did indeed surpass 1250 rbi in his career.  in fact, he had 1254 as a dodger, and an additional 20 in his time with the mets at the end of his playing career.

more color - this time a blue parallel of the silver fox - on a 2004 fleer greats of the game card

and then a 2001 pacific private stock eric karros bat card

plus a 2013 topps chrome clayton kershaw orange refractor

just a great group of colorful cards that daniel sent.

there was one more card in my mailbox, although daniel didn't send it to me.  tom from angels, in order was kind enough to share an address for former dodger pitcher dave patterson with me, and yesterday i received my 1980 topps dodgers future stars card back from patterson.

i now have two signed copies of this card (the other is autographed by joe beckwith).  i sent a third copy to mickey hatcher about three years ago, but never got it back.  i might give it another shot with hatcher since he signed some cards for me earlier this year.

patterson is the only guy on the card not to double dip with the dodgers.  his career in la lasted only one season - 1979 - when he was 4-1 with a 5.26 era in 36 appearances, all in relief.

thanks for the trade daniel. and for the addy tom!  and thanks for signing my card mr. patterson!

on the links with a dodger double dipper

[this is the forty-ninth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, and guillermo mota.]

joe beckwith was drafted and signed by the dodgers in the 1977 june draft.  two years later, he made his big league debut in a game against the expos at dodger stadium.  beckwith wound up pitching in 17 games during the 1979 campaign, all in relief.  he finished the season with a 1-2 record, a couple of saves, and a 4.34 era. he was in the 1980 topps set

and back with the big club that same year, pitching in 55 games - again all in relief - and posting a 3-3 record with a 1.96 era.  things were looking good for beckwith heading into the 1981 season until an eye injury suffered in spring training caused him to experience double vision and miss the entire season.  he was able to return in 1982 after having eye surgery.

a footnote to history - the cubs and dodgers were in discussions about a trade that would have sent mickey hatcher (another double dipper) and beckwith to chicago for old friend bill buckner, but that fell through when beckwith's vision problems surfaced.  instead, the dodgers sent hatcher to minnesota for ken landreaux, and buckner did not join the pantheon of dodger double dippers.

anyway, beckwith returned to the majors in july of 1982, and stayed there with the dodgers through the 1983 season.  he was 5-5 with 2 saves over the course of those two seasons, and got his first taste of postseason action in the 1983 nlcs with 2.1 scoreless innings in 2 games against the phillies.  after the 1983 season, however, beckwith was traded to the royals for three minor leaguers.  here's his 1984 fleer update card

beckwith appeared in a career high 49 games in each of his seasons as a royal, going 8-4 with a 3.40 era in 1984, and 1-5 with a 4.07 era in 1985.  but, although 1984 was the better season for him individually, it was in 1985 that he was able to pitch in the world series for the only time in his career.  beckwith appeared in one game of the fall classic against the cardinals (game 4) and recorded three strikeouts while allowing no runs and just one hit in 2 scoreless innings of work.  it was his final appearance as a royal, as he was released by kansas city the following spring.  he soon after signed on with the blue jays and was assigned to their aaa affiliate where he pitched until the dodgers purchased his contract on july 31, 1986.

back in la, beckwith appeared in 15 games and did not earn a decision.  his first and last outings were by far his worst of the season, allowing multiple runs while recording just one out, and he was released after the season ended.  sadly, there are no 1986 traded or update cards featuring beckwith as a dodger, nor were there any cards made for him in 1987.

i do have, however, a few cards that he signed for me through the mail, including his 1980 topps rookie card

his 1981 topps card

his 1984 fleer card (hello chavez ravine)

and his 1984 topps card

on a personal note, beckwith was the celebrity in my dad's golf foursome in the don sutton celebrity golf tournament that was held on the central coast back in 1980.  he signed the back of the tournament dinner ticket for me

i'll show the front of that sucker in a future post.

here's to you joe beckwith, thanks for double dipping and signing stuff for me!

mickey hatcher, double dipper

mickey hatcher began his big league career with the dodgers in 1979.  in a game i listened to on the radio, hatcher (pictured here on his 1980 topps rookie card)

replaced ron cey at third base in a laugher against the giants.  he came to bat in the bottom of the 7th inning in cey's cleanup spot with the bases loaded.  i recall jerry doggett commenting on the fact that hatcher had the rare opportunity to hit a grand slam in his first major league at bat.  alas, he did not, but he did draw a walk to 'drive in' burt hooton.  he made his first big league start the next day, and had a walk and two singles before making an out.  reaching base the first four times at bat in the big leagues was not a bad way to start a career.  also interesting from that game, all three of the guys featured on the 1980 card appeared in the game, with patterson picking up the victory in relief of beckwith.

hatcher played for the dodgers through the 1980 season, hitting 1 home run with 5 rbi in each of his two campaigns in la.  with rudy law in tommy lasorda's doghouse and the dodgers in need of a center fielder, hatcher was sent to minnesota just before the start of the 1981 season in exchange for ken landreaux.

as a twin, hatcher began to play more regularly and had some good seasons as a result.  in 1983, he hit .317 in 106 games with a career high 9 homers.  the following year, he hit .302 in 152 games with a career high 69 rbi.  here's his 1984 fleer card

love those baby blues!  after 6 pretty solid seasons in minnesota, the twinkies released hatcher right before the start of the 1987 season.  a few days later, the dodgers signed him to a contract.  still, hatcher seemed to be cursed with poor timing - he was traded away from the dodgers prior to the 1981 season, and they won the world series.  then, he was released by the twins before the 1987 season, and they went on to win the world series.  but, as we know now, it all worked out for mickey as he finally got a ring with the dodgers in 1988.

in all, the dodgers missed out on 26 home runs, 260 rbi and 671 hits that hatcher accumulated during his time with the twins, but i would argue that they got the biggest hits of his career.  he hit .277 in 368 games in the four seasons he spent back in la before retiring after the 1990 season (here's his 1990 upper deck card, by the way).

he may well have been the mvp of the 1988 world series had orel hershiser not been so dominant.  his 7 hits, 2 home runs, and 5 rbi led the team, and his 1.137 ops was tops among the dodger regulars in the series (only hershiser and kirk gibson posted a higher ops). 

[this is the sixth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, and chris gwynn.]

here's to you mickey hatcher, you double dipping stuntman!