clearing out the scanned folder - miscellany edition

not every card that i scan is a dodger card, which makes sense because my collection has a fair share of cards featuring players from other teams.  sometimes, however, i get ahead of myself and scan some stuff without a specific post in mind. other times, i do have a post in mind, but it never comes together.  and then there are some cards i scan because they fit into one of my mini collections.  there are some of each in this post.

2000 skybox dominion scott rolen

i believe that i figured out a long time ago that the dodger catcher lurking on this card is angel pena, so i'll go with that.

1975 sspc elias sosa

sosa was a brave just before he became a dodger. he was part of the deal that brought lee lacy back to la for mike marshall.

1995 upper deck mike blowers

here's another future dodger, as blowers played for the dodgers later in the 90's.  thanks to this card, we know that blowers once caught a foul ball at tiger stadium at 2:55 (or is it 2:56?) in the afternoon.

1997 bowman vladimir guerrero

one of my last remaining player collections.  it was good to see vladdy in this year's archives release.

2001 topps archives jack morris

and 2001 topps archives lou whitaker

both cards are part of my 1978 topps master set.  still waiting for the design to be used in the revitalized archives release.

2002 topps 206 mike piazza team 206 insert

still working on this set

2008 upper deck timeline brandon jones

still working on this set, too.

2014 topps stadium club albert pujols

pujols just recently passed steve garvey on the all-time hits list. i scanned this card because it fits in my 'nob' collection, should i decide to make it an official collection.

1992 megacards babe ruth babe's farewell

this card also belongs in that collection.  it features a cropped version of nat fein's pulitzer prize winning photo, and is a great card to have. i'm glad i scanned it.

alejandro pena was known for a slow delivery

maybe relaxed is a better way to describe alejandro pena's presence on the mound, but the slow delivery thing came in to play last week when i opened my mailbox and found a sase with an atlanta postmark.  inside were four cards that i had sent to pena prior to 2013 spring training.

1984 topps

1985 topps

1986 topps

1987 topps

pena is a pitching coach in the dodgers' system, and he spent some time at camelback ranch during spring training back when i mailed the cards.  he lives in atlanta, which makes sense considering his two stints with the braves.

a few things that i recall about pena - first and foremost, he led the national league in era in 1984, but injuries pushed him to the bullpen. second, he was the winning pitcher in game 1 of the 1988 world series following kirk gibson's walk-off home run in his first world series appearance (pena had been on the dodgers' 1981 postseason staff for the nlcs but didn't pitch in the world series).  conversely, he was the losing pitcher in game 7 of the 1991 world series after allowing gene larkin's walk-off single.  pena did wind up winning a third ring in 1995 as he helped the braves beat the indians in the fall classic that year.

i am very happy to have these cards in my collection, and very thankful for forever stamps - thanks alejandro!

more autograph successes to celebrate

one of the last ttm requests i sent out in 2014 was to former dodger pitcher greg shanahan.  he was featured on a 4-player rookie card in the 1974 topps set, and so i asked him to sign one of my doubles.  he obliged in quick fashion.

i appreciate him staring down the giant pitcher on the card, and i appreciate him signing for me, too.

a few months earlier, i received a return of my 2004 topps dave roberts card signed by the former dodger and current padres bench coach

and, a couple of years before that, i received a return of my 2008 topps allen & ginter james loney card from the former dodger first baseman

i hadn't bothered to show this before because i have another one just like it that reader cory got signed for me at spring training that same year.

i've been holding on to this next one for even longer - i'd say 6 years or so.  it's a royals' team issue print, as far as i can figure, signed by former manager whitey herzog

herzog has a couple of my 1978 topps cards that i don't expect to see back since he signs for a fee - something i didn't realize when i sent the cards to him.  this autograph was given to me by a coworker who attended a work related conference at which herzog was signing.  i've attended the same annual conference in the past, and picked up autographs from ron santo and kent hrbek in the process, but i missed this particular one in kc.  my coworker/friend folded the sheet to more easily carry it around in his coat pocket, but i don't mind - it's the thought that counts.

finally, here is a 1990 topps card signed by alejandro pena

alas, this card was part of a lot of signed cards that i purchased a few years ago.  still, i am happy to have it in the collection.

thanks, as always, to those who take the time to sign cards for us collectors!

dodger stadium playing peek-a-boo

here are some cards that feature dodger stadium in the background.  please enjoy.

1999 topps gary sheffield

i am a fan of the low fence in the outfield corners, although i wish they had left it alone during the most recent renovations. now it's a solid structure as opposed to the way it used to be.  here it is again on chris stynes' 1999 topps card

and that of dmitri young as well.

2000 bowman kevin brown

and 1999 upper deck ultimate victory steve finley

with the outfield murals.  much better than the advertisements that adorn the outfield walls today.

1990 topps hills hit men kirk gibson

gibby is hitting in the same spot as reggie jackson did in the 1980 all-star game or 1981 world series.  either could be pictured on this 2011 topps marquee card

it's either 1980 or 1981 based on the black armband.

here's a 2000 upper deck card of bruce aven

showing the batter's box from a slightly different angle.  looks like angel pena lurking there in the background.

winter is in full force here in the north, so i am looking a bit more longingly at these images of sunny chavez ravine.  four more months...

sunday morning target dodgers - a few players short of a full sheet

today's post features cards from two different sheets issued as part of the 1990 target dodgers 100-year anniversary giveaway.  when i first started showing cards from this set, i wasn't doing it sheet-by-sheet. instead, i posted groups of cards with no care taken from a set organizational standpoint.  my current self regrets that very much.  so, i'm going to finish off the sheets that have, to date, only been partially shown.  here are the remnants of the first one.

boog powell

yes, i've shown this card before - in the evolution series (the 'out of place guy' post).  it's worth showing again in a proper target dodgers post.  powell was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter during his lone season with the dodgers (1977).  he had 10 hits (all singles) in 41 at bats, but his obp was .415 thanks to 12 walks.  powell was released on august 31, 1977 and so didn't get to experience the postseason as a member of the dodgers.  that's ok - he was there plenty with the orioles, including 1966 when the o's swept the dodgers in the world series.

now on to the players from this sheet that haven't made it to the blog before.

randy moore

moore spent the 1936 and part of the 1937 seasons with the dodgers, hitting .218 in a total of 55 games during his tenure.  you'll note that he is in a catcher's crouch on the card, although his position is given as an outfielder.  well, in his 8 big league seasons prior to joining the dodgers, and his first season with the dodgers, moore was used primarily (almost exclusively, really) as an outfielder.  however, the dodgers gave up hall of famer al lopez (a catcher in his playing days) in the trade that brought moore to brooklyn, so, despite him having played catcher in the big leagues only once before joining them, the dodgers used him primarily as a backstop in 1937.

john o'brien

o'brien was a native of new brunswick who played for the brooklyn grooms in 1891.  he was a second baseman who appeared in 43 games that season, and hit .246.  he would later be part of the 1899 trade between louisville and pittsburgh that sent honus wagner to the pirates.

john russell

this is one of the odder cards in the set.  it is an egregious case of mistaken identity.  the card shows former big league catcher john russell, who played for the phillies, rangers, and braves, and most recently managed the pirates a few seasons back.  the john russell who pitched for the dodger franchise did so in the 1917 and 1918 seasons as a member of the robins.  he was 0-1 in 6 games for brooklyn, and later pitched for the white sox in 1921 and 1922.

ray searage

searage signed with the dodgers in april of 1988, but he unfortunately spent the entire championship season at albuquerque.  he did spend most of 1989 and 1990 with the big club, however, pitching effectively out of the bullpen.  he was 4-4 as a dodger and i believe he is currently the pitching coach for the pirates, a job he started while john russell (the guy pictured on the above card, not the actual brooklyn pitcher) was the team's manager.

bill swift

swift pitched for the dodgers in 1941, after spending 8 seasons in pittsburgh and another in boston with the bees.  he appeared in 9 games for brooklyn, posting a 3-0 record with a save and an era of 3.27.

tim thompson

thompson was a good hitting minor league player who didn't make his big league debut until he was 30 when he appeared for the dodgers in 10 games early in the 1954 season.  he hit .154 with one double and an rbi in 14 plate appearances in those games, and didn't return to the majors until 1956 when he was with the kansas city a's.  thompson is known as the first national league catcher to wear glasses.

that's is for the first sheet.  the other players from this sheet are john wetteland and eddie stanky (featured here); pop corkhill and tex carleton and pop dillon (featured here); tom baker and william brennan (featured here); and glenn wright (featured here).

here are some cards from another sheet.  same story - for some reason a few players on the sheet haven't been addressed until now.

jim bunning's 1990 target card was previously shown in the same evolutionary post as boog's, but here it is again

bunning spent the latter part of the 1969 season with the dodgers, making 9 starts and posting a record of 3-1 with a 3.36 era.  the dodgers had beaten bunning twice earlier in the season while he was with the pirates, but traded for him anyway.  they released him following the season, and he was picked up by one of his former teams, the phillies.

walter alston

alston managed the dodgers for just shy of 23 seasons (he retired with two games to go in 1976 to give tommy lasorda a chance to get his feet wet as the team's manager).  in that span, the dodgers won 2040 games, seven national league pennants, and four world championships.  alston was elected to the hall of fame in 1983, and his number 24 was subsequently retired by the team.

don lejohn

if you were to only play in the major leagues for one season, you couldn't do much better than don lejohn did, as far as timing goes.  called up to the dodgers in late june of 1965, lejohn played a fair amount of third base for the club down the stretch as they held off the giants for the national league pennant.  lejohn began his big league career that season with a 5-game hitting streak, and finished it with a pinch-hit strikeout in game one of the 1965 world series.  the dodgers, of course, won the series, and so lejohn earned a ring in his only big league campaign.

jose pena

the dodgers selected pena in the 1969 rule v draft from the reds, and he was a part of their bullpen for the next two-plus seasons.  he posted a record of 6-3 with 5 saves in 55 games during his dodger tenure, and continued to pitch in the mexican league through 1984 with great success.  in fact, pena is a member of the mexican baseball hall of fame.

schoolboy rowe

rowe had won 105 games and pitched in three world series in 10 seasons with the tigers when the dodgers purchased his contract in 1942.  he pitched in 9 games for brooklyn that year, starting two, and finishing with a 1-0 record.  the phillies purchased his contract prior to the 1943 season, and so ended rowe's brooklyn tenure.  rowe was also a decent hitter, with a .263 lifetime average and 18 home runs to his credit.

rube walker

walker joined the dodgers in 1951 after three-plus seasons with the cubs.  he was roy campanella's backup from then through the 1957 season, and then backed up john roseboro for part of the 1958 campaign in los angeles.  he never played in more than 60 games in a season for the dodgers, and his cumulative batting average for the club was .214.  a few years after the end of his playing days, walker's teammate gil hodges added him to his coaching staff with the senators and later the mets.

matt young

the dodgers acquired young from the mariners prior to the 1987 season.  young had shown some flashes of potential with seattle, but they were a bad team and he was pretty inconsistent as a starter.  in 1986, the mariners moved young to the bullpen after a few bad starts, and he saved 13 games.  as such, the dodgers decided to use young exclusively in relief, and he wound up saving 11 games, tying alejandro pena for the team lead.  after the season, however, young was dealt to oakland with bob welch in the three-team trade that netted the dodgers alfredo griffin, jesse orosco, and jay howell.

the other players found on this particular sheet have been featured in earlier 'sunday morning target dodger' posts.  they are:  gary thomasson (featured here); gus getz and bob logan (featured here); jim baxes (featured here); cesar cedeno (featured here); tommy john and hank edwards (featured here); and then there is bill reidy, a double dipper who gets a separate post later today.

they came from outer space

what a great haul of cards i received recently from david at tribe cards as a result of his generous 'tribe cards from outer space' giveaway.  in all the packs david opened last season, he only pulled one steve garvey card (1993 ted williams) and one davey lopes card (1987 topps record breaker), but there were other dodgers and random players i had drafted that were well represented.  like alfredo griffin.

that's his 1988 donruss baseball's best card, and this is his 1990 fleer card

i picked up alejandro pena somewhere along the way, and was rewarded with a 1987 fleer card

here's a 1992 topps stadium club mike sharperson card

and a couple of billy ashley cards - 1994 donruss triple play

and 1994 topps

also from 1994 topps, here's jim gott

james loney was represented by his 2012 topps a&g card

my strategy was to draft dodgers, members of the dodger team of my youth, and middle infielders - hoping for some double play turns.  that meant that i received some non-dodger cards of former dodgers, like this 2012 topps a&g black bordered mini of russell martin

and more yankees - tommy john

and rick rhoden

from 1988 donruss baseball's best.

i also wound up with tim wallach on my list, so received his baseball's best card

as well as that of fellow expo bryn smith

and giant craig lefferts

i can explain bryn smith - here's his regular 1988 donruss card, by the way

as he's a local guy made good and i sometimes think about pulling together a player collection.  but lefferts?  i forgot why i added him to my list until i saw his regular donruss card

featuring the right field pavilion at dodger stadium as a backdrop.

i've got some more cards from this package to show off, and i'll do so later today...