a random sampling of dodger cards

you might recognize ron hunt

and paul popovich

from yesterday's first installment in the dodgers' second baseman evolution series.  the popovich especially, as his 1969 topps card shown above uses the same photo as his 1968 topps card which i used in the aformentioned post.  at least hunt's 1968 topps card at the top of the post is completely different from his 1967 topps issue that i showed yesterday, although his dazed and confused look doesn't make for the best card.

i've got too many cards scanned and ready to go that don't really have a purpose.  here's the guy who caught the last out of the 1981 world series, ken landreaux, on his 1987 donruss card

1987 was landreaux's final big league season (and he was with the dodgers until the end of the year), but neither fleer nor donruss issued a card of him in 1988.  donruss did issue a card of dave anderson in 1988, however

which made sense because he was still very active, although he lost the starting shortstop job that year to newcomer alfredo griffin, seen here on his 1988 score card

griffin hit only .199 in '88, but the dodgers won the world series, anyway.  two dodgers hit home runs in game 1 of the fall classic that year - mickey hatcher (shown here on his 1988 score card)

and kirk gibson (shown on a 1989 o-pee-chee sticker back)

gibby's was more dramatic, of course, and it probably took him ten times as long to round the bases than it did hatcher, who literally sprinted from home to home in the first inning.

another world series hero for the dodgers is tommy davis.  this 1993 ted williams card takes us back to 1963

when davis won the second of his back-to-back national league batting titles, but also hit .400 in the fall classic against the yankees.  he drove in the only run of game 3 in that series with a first inning single off of jim bouton - that was all don drysdale needed to set the dodgers up for a series sweep the next day.

raul mondesi, seen here on a 1995 fleer flair card,

never made it to the world series, but he was the first dodger player to go 30/30, and he did it twice.  he was my favorite dodger for a while, too.

i'll finish up this random post with jason phillips' 2005 topps chrome update & highlights card

phillips was one of jim tracy's 'ja(y)sons' of choice in 2005, along with werth, repko, and grabowski.  he spent time behind the plate and at first base that year, but left as a free agent after the season ended.

was that random enough for you?

the topps dodger autograph project - 2005 through 2008

time for the next installment of the topps dodger autograph project.  these cards were signed free of charge through the mail.

2005 topps, chad billingsley

bills has signed a few cards for me through the mail.  i've also received cards from this set signed by edwin jackson and milton bradley.  however, that billingsley card above (which also features the guy i thought was going to be my baseball jesus, joel guzman) was obtained in a 50/50 ttm/trade event i had with reader cory a couple of years ago.  there are more from that fantastic transaction to be showcased in this and the next post.

2005 topps update & highlights, jason phillips

phillips signed this card for me while he was serving on the mariners coaching staff.  he might still be there, i don't know for sure.  i've also had success with blake dewitt and jose valentin from this set

2006 topps, bill mueller

topps didn't photoshop mueller for the flagship set, but the team was changed to 'dodgers'.  jim tracy and jason phillips are the only other 2006 topps dodgers who have signed for me through the mail.  i recall seeing a mueller ttm success in which the sender asked him a question along the lines of 'what does it take to be a big leaguer?'  mueller's answer was 'you have to fall in love with preparation'.  i like that quote, and have actually used it a couple of times.

i don't have any cards from 2006 topps update & highlights signed

2007 topps, james loney

other ttm successes i have had from this set include chad billingsley, luis gonzalez, juan pierre, and delwyn young.  plus a i have a purchased grady little signed 2007 topps card.

2007 topps update & highlights, andy laroche

i also have a 2007 topps u & h card signed by hong chi kuo from the 50/50 ttm/trade

2008 topps, delwyn young

in addition to delwyn (which was the result of a regular ol' ttm request), i also have a 2008 topps ramon troncoso autographed card from the 50/50 ttm/trade

2008 topps update & highlights, casey blake

although i have had a ttm success with blake directly, the card above came from the 50/50 ttm/trade deal.  in addition to blake, i have a card from this set signed by angel berroa that also came from that deal.  we'll see a couple more next time. 

thanks to all these players for signing my cards!  here's a running list of the topps dodger autograph project:

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

1975 topps - ron cey

1975 topps mini - joe ferguson

1976 topps - bill russell

1976 topps traded - dusty baker

1977 topps - steve garvey

1978 topps - dave lopes

1979 topps - charlie hough

1980 topps - jerry reuss

1981 topps - doug rau

1981 topps traded - ken landreaux

1982 topps - dave goltz

1982 topps traded - jose morales

1983 topps - ron roenicke

1983 topps traded - rafael landestoy

1984 topps - fernando valenzuela

1984 topps traded - mike vail

1985 topps - burt hooton

1986 topps - enos cabell

1987 topps - steve sax

1987 topps traded - matt young

1988 topps - len matuszek

1989 topps - mickey hatcher

1990 topps - kal daniels

1990 topps traded - juan samuel

1991 topps - tim belcher

1992 topps - roger mcdowell

1993 topps - dave hansen

1993 topps traded - tim wallach

1994 topps - jody reed

1995 topps - chris gwynn

1996 topps - todd hollandsworth

1997 topps - brett butler

1998 topps - greg gagne

1999 topps - jose vizcaino

2000 topps - jeff shaw

2001 topps - chan ho park

2002 topps - andy ashby

2002 topps traded - joel hanrahan

2003 topps - jim tracy

2003 topps traded - ron coomer

2004 topps - edwin jackson

2004 topps traded - milton bradley

2005 topps - chad billingsley

2005 topps update & highlights - jason phillips

2006 topps - bill mueller

2007 topps - james loney

2007 topps update & highlights - andy laroche

2008 topps - delwyn young

2008 topps update & highlights - casey blake

the allure of 2006 fleer

all that's missing from these 2006 fleer cards is some 'now with' text. 

i especially appreciate the fact that upper deck didn't adjust the set numbering (set up in team blocks just like the fleer sets of the 80's) to move the old dodgers to their new teams.  this made it easy to identify the milton bradley, jeff weaver and jason phillips cards as ones i wanted to own.

here's to you 2006 fleer!

jason phillips through the mail success (sans marriage proposal)

so it wasn't exactly a marriage proposal former dodgers' catcher jason phillips threw into the stands at safeco last year, but i'm glad all he sent me were my cards back - signed.

first up is his 2005 topps update & highlights card

followed by his 2006 topps base card

not only are the cards sequential, but the pictures are as well.  kind of like the 1993 topps traded/1994 topps mike piazza cards that were such a disappointment to me. 

i remember phillips fondly, as he was the guy the dodgers got in return for kazuhisa ishii during spring training 2005.  jim tracy used phillips as the team's primary catcher over dioner navarro, and sometimes played him at first base over hee seop choi.  he was one of tracy's 'ja(y)son brigade' - along with werth, repko and grabowski - that found substantial playing time in a most disappointing season as the 2005 dodgers defended their nl west crown by losing 91 games.  still, phillips made some good memories during his one year in la, including his first home run as a dodger - a grand slam against the reds that came on a day he went 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored.

here's to you, jason - good luck and thanks! 

the evolution of the catcher

i enjoyed the trip down dodger memory lane so much the first time, i figured i would do it again. so, here's a look at the evolution of the dodgers' catcher position. a quick note - this isn't just the opening day starters (sorry, chad kreuter), but rather the primary catcher over the course of a given season. we'll start in 1948, which seems appropriate enough, since that's when roy campanella took over the tools of ignorance.

roy campanella (1948-1957)campy was a three time mvp and played in the all star game in eight of his ten major league seasons. he was paralyzed in an automobile accident in january of 1958, and so never played for the los angeles dodgers. over 93,000 turned out to the la coliseum for roy campanella night in 1959 - a then record crowd for a major league baseball game. the dodgers retired the hall of famer's number 39 in 1972 - the same day they retired the jerseys of jackie robinson and sandy koufax. roy campanella died in 1993.

campy's accident gave way to john roseboro (1958-1967)

roseboro was an all star in his first full season with the dodgers, and won a couple of gold gloves as well. he hit .251 over his 11 seasons in los angeles, with an ops of .709. he hit just .157 in the 4 world series he played in with the dodgers, although he was a three time world series champion. after the 1967 season, the dodgers traded him to the minnesota twins (with bob miller and ron perranoski) for mudcat grant and zoilo versalles. roseboro died in 2002.

tom haller (1968-1970)haller was acquired by the dodgers from the giants (!) prior to the 1968 season for ron hunt and nate oliver. a two-time all star with the giants, haller made the all star team two more times with the dodgers, setting a career high in hits with la in 1968. he didn't hit with as much power for the dodgers, but did hit for a higher average (.276) than he did over the course of his stay with san francisco (.248). after three seasons as the primary catcher, haller would essentially platoon with duke sims in 1971. the dodgers failed to make the postseason during haller's four seasons with the club, and they sold him to the tigers after the 1971 season. haller died in 2004.

duke sims (1971) as mentioned above, sims platooned with haller in 1971, although duke played slightly more games (74) at the position than haller (67), so he gets a full mention here. acquired from cleveland for alan foster and ray lamb prior to the 1971 season, sims hit .274 with 6 home runs and an ops of .757 in 1971. he stayed with the club through about half of the 1972 season when he was picked up off of waivers by the tigers, and once again, joined tom haller behind the plate. while both haller and sims would go to the postseason with detroit in 1972, their successor was not so lucky.

chris cannizarro (1972) cannizzaro was picked up on waivers by the dodgers from the cubs prior to the 1972 season. he caught in 72 games for the dodgers, but the other games were split amongst the next two catchers to be featured, so cannizzaro gets the nod for this season. kind of like jesse ventura winning against two career politicians as a third party candidate. anyway, chris's time was short lived, and he was released late in the 1973 season after batting just .235 for the dodgers during his stint in la. he was picked up by the padres, and his 1975 topps card may well be the worst card ever. stay tuned to night owl's new blog to check it out.

joe ferguson (1973)ferguson was one of the players selected by the dodgers in their legendary 1968 draft. he made his debut in 1970, and slugged a career high 25 home runs as he became the dodgers' primary catcher in 1973 (although the next guy would supplant him late that same season). as a result, ferguson would also spend time in the outfield, and is perhaps best known for his assist in the 1974 world series when he threw sal bando out at the plate. ferguson had two stints with the dodgers as a player (he was traded away for reggie smith, and the dodgers later gave up jeffrey leonard to get him back), and would then return again as a coach. he currently manages in the atlantic league. btw, baseball almanac tells me that would be craig robinson, foreground lurker.

steve yeager (1974-1980, 1983)as the catcher of my youth, yeager probably could, and should, be considered as part of the longevity story that is usually applied just to the dodgers' infield of garvey, cey, russell, and lopes. he was the primary catcher for their three 1970's pennant winners (and filled in during the 1981 postseason), although he was not a major offensive threat. he was known for his strong arm, and his defense was pretty good. plus, he could call a game well. over the course of his career, yeager threw out 38% of the runners attempting to steal off of him, made just 88 errors and retired with a fielding percentage of .987. after being named the backup in 1981, yeager would reclaim the starting role in 1983 when mike scioscia went down with an injury. after the 1985 season, the dodgers would trade the 1981 world series co-mvp to the mariners for ed vandeberg. with the mariners, yeager appeared in roger clemens' first 20-k game. to his credit, yeager struck out only once that day in two at bats. yeager has managed in the dodgers' farm system, but i think he is now involved in public relations for the team.

mike scioscia (1981-1982, 1984-1992)scioscia took over for yeager in 1980, some might say, but didn't claim the majority of the playing time until 1981. like yeager, scioscia wasn't the biggest offensive threat, but he was a smart catcher who called good games, and man did he know how to block the plate. he also became the first dodger catcher to start an all star game (in 1990) since roy campanella. the dodgers made the postseason three times with scioscia behind the plate, and won two world series, with scioscia hitting a crucial home run in the 1988 nlcs against dwight gooden. good times. some would say that the dodgers' all time leader in games caught went on to play for the padres and rangers, but i choose not to believe that since it doesn't show up in his career stats. of course, the dodgers did allow him to go to orange county and manage a different team - that we know for sure.

mike piazza (1993-1997) perhaps the greatest offensive catcher since roy campanella was inexplicably traded by the dodgers early in the 1998 season. this after winning the rookie of the year and posting 5 top ten mvp finishes in each of his first 5 seasons with the club, leading them to the postseason twice. the should-have-been 1997 mvp (no disrespect to larry walker intended - walker beat piazza in pretty much every offensive category, but he played in coors field and piazza played in dodger stadium and was a catcher for goodness sakes!) had a .331 average with 177 home runs and an ops of .966 over his career with the dodgers. piazza, dubbed by then radio schmuck jimmy kimmel as the 'italian-american superstar slugger, mike piazza' also became only the second person to hit a ball out of dodger stadium. willie stargell was the other. stupid fox.

charles johnson (1998)cj was one of the guys the dodgers got for piazza. he had been one of the heroes for the 1997 world champion marlins, and had finished 11th in the league mvp voting that year. he didn't do much in la, though, hitting just .217 with an ops of .638 in his one (partial) season with the dodgers. perhaps realizing that they had dealt away a huge part of their offense, the dodgers sent johnson to the mets after the 98 season (with roger cedeno) for todd hundley.

todd hundley (1999-2000)hundley had, in fact, hit over 40 home runs as a catcher for the mets before he was injured. while he was out, they traded for mike piazza, and hundley, now without a position, made an ill-fated attempt at playing the outfield. he came to the dodgers and was inserted as their primary catcher for 1999. that year he hit only .207 and had the strange statistic of 24 home runs with just 55 rbi. the following year, he rebounded nicely, hitting 24 home runs again but with 70 rbi and a .284 batting average in just 90 games. he signed with the cubs as a free agent after the 2000 campaign, but would return to the dodgers for the 2003 season when he was traded with chad hermansen for eric karros and mark grudzielanek.

paul loduca (2001-2004)loduca burst on the scene in 2001, putting up career highs in home runs (25), rbi (90) and batting average (.320) in his first full season. of course, we know now that he was using peds. anyway, paulie made us forget all about todd hundley, and to some extent mike piazza, until he followed in piazza's footsteps and got traded to the marlins in 2004. the trade (loduca, guillermo mota, and juan encarnacion for brad penny, hee seop choi, and bill murphy) was lambasted in the press by the la columnists (plaschke) and even mourned by the manager (jim tracy) who traded in his number 12 jersey to wear loduca's number 16. if i recall correctly, the dodgers still won the west in 2004, even if paul depodesta forgot to line up a decent catcher to replace the traded 'heart and soul' of the team.

jason phillips (2005)

i kind of wish that 2005 would have belonged to dioner navarro, but jim tracy didn't see it that way. in fact, if you look at who the primary position players were in 2005, you might think tracy was trying to get fired. anyway, phillips didn't perform that badly, and the mets did agree to take kaz ishii off our hands in exchange for him. a free agent after the 2005 season, phillips signed with the blue jays, allowing the next guy to take over.

russell martin (2006-present)

although sandy alomar, jr started the 2006 season at catcher, martin quickly took over and we haven't looked back since. in his four seasons, martin has a .276 average and an ops of .774. here's hoping russell nathan coltrane jeanson martin rebounds from a subpar year in 2010. after all, next year is his '27' year...

thanks, baseball reference!