sunday morning target dodgers - the spy who played baseball edition

here are 15 cards from a sheet in the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set.  some pretty interesting stories here, starting with this guy - moe berg

berg was an ivy-leaguer (he attended princeton and columbia) who spent his first year in the majors (1923) with the brooklyn robins.  he hit only .186 as a 21-year old infielder, but later found a niche in the big leagues with other teams as a backup catcher.  he also improved at the plate, and was able to carve out a 14-year major league career with four american league clubs following his one year in brooklyn.  the most interesting part of berg's story, however, is that he was a spy.  berg was fluent in several languages, and was added to the connie mack all-star team that was to make a tour of japan in 1934.  berg may have seemed out of place on such a team that featured babe ruth, lou gehrig, and others, but he was there to spend some time doing some recon for the us government.  other missions berg completed included a trip to switzerland to assess the germans' likelihood of developing the atomic bomb.

dolph camilli

i don't know that i've seen camilli's name spelled with an 'f' instead of the 'ph' before.  anyway, camilli (father of future dodger doug camilli) played for the dodgers from 1938 until july of 1943 when he was traded to the giants (in true rivalry fashion, he refused to report to the club).  during his dodger days, camilli was a two-time all-star and led the league in home runs and rbi in 1941, earning the national league's mvp award - the first dodger to win the award since dazzy vance in 1924.

chuck essegian

essegian had the good fortune to be traded to the dodgers during the 1959 season.  as a result, he was able to appear in the 1959 world series against the white sox, and he made the most of his appearances. after striking out as a pinch-hitter in the dodgers' game 1 loss, he hit a game-tying solo home run in the 7th inning of game 2 which the dodgers went on to win.  essegian pinch-hit again in game 5, drawing a walk in a losing effort, but came up big with his second pinch-hit home run of the series (hitting for duke snider of all people) in the 9th inning of the dodgers' 9-3 series clinching game 6 victory.

chico fernandez

fernandez was signed by the dodgers in 1951 and worked his way through the minors to the point where some thought the good fielding shortstop would eventually replace pee wee reese at the position for the dodgers.  fernandez was called up and debuted in july of 1956 and finished the season with a .227 batting average in 34 games.  the dodgers decided to deal fernandez following the season, and he became the phillies regular shortstop after they acquired him for elmer valo and a few other players.  he went on to play for the tigers, too, before they traded him to the braves on may 8, 1963.  later that same day, the braves dealt fernandez to the mets and he finished out his big league career that year with new york.

ned garvin

garvin joined the superbas late in the 1902 season, earning a win and a loss in his two starts for the club that year.  in 1903, he was 15-18 for brooklyn, and in 1904 he had a record of 5-15 (despite a 1.68 era) before he was picked up on waivers by the new york highlanders with whom he finished out the season.  bill james recognizes garvin as perhaps the "hard-luck pitcher of all-time" due to his consistently poor record and low era.

gail hopkins

local boy hopkins attended pepperdine and ucla in the 1960's but was signed by the white sox rather than the dodgers in 1965.  following a total of six seasons spent in the majors with the chisox and kansas city a's, hopkins joined the dodgers during the 1974 campaign.  he only appeared in 15 games for the 1974 national league champs, hitting .222 with 4 singles in 18 at bats.  he went on to play in japan for a couple of seasons and returned to the states to earn an m.d. and ph.d and practiced medicine in california and illinois for many years. his card features the left field pavilion of dodger stadium in the background, which is nice.

jim lindsey

lindsey had pitched for the indians, cardinals (in two different stints), and reds before joining the dodgers in 1937.  he pitched in 20 games for brooklyn, amassing a record of 0-1 with a 3.52 era.  that was the end of his big league career, although he continued to pitch in the minors for many more seasons.

jesse orosco

orosco had two stints with the dodgers, including that glorious 1988 season.  he is the all-time leader in games pitched with 1,252.  the only active pitcher with at least 1,000 games pitched is latroy hawkins who is right at the 1,000 mark.

phil regan

regan pitched for the tigers, often as a starter, from 1960 through 1965 when he joined the dodgers via trade prior to the 1966 season.  walter alston moved regan to the bullpen, and the pitcher responded with a tremendous season.  regan pitched exclusively in relief, appearing in 65 games and earning a record of 14-1 with what would have been a league-leading 21 saves had that been an official statistic back then.  regan was an all-star that year, as well as the comeback player of the year and reliever of the year, and he wound up pitching in two games of the world series as well.  regan's 1967 season was not quite as spectacular, and he was traded to the cubs just a few games into the 1968 campaign.  he did return to the dodger organization following his retirement as a scout and later as manager of the triple-a dukes in 1996.

packy rogers

rogers hit .189 in 23 games for the 1938 dodgers which was the only time he appeared in the major leagues.  he returned to the minors and eventually managed there for a few seasons following his service during world war ii.

sherry smith

smith had a record of 69-70 over his 7 seasons with the brooklyn robins spanning from 1915 into the 1922 campaign (he did not pitch in 1918 for some reason), but his era as a robin was 2.91 and he twice won 14 games in a season.  he was a big part of the robins' pennant winning teams of 1916 and 1920, and he threw 13.1 innings in game 3 of the 1916 fall classic only to surrender the winning run and take the loss opposite the bosox starting pitcher, babe ruth.  smith was 1-1 in the 1920 series against cleveland, giving up just one earned run in 17 innings of work in the robins' losing effort.

mike strahler

i think of strahler as one of the other guys on charlie hough's 1972 rookie card.  he pitched in parts of three seasons for the dodgers - 1970 through 1972.  in total, he appeared in 31 games as a dodger, earning a record of 2-3 with a save and an era of 2.76.  he made 2 starts for los angeles (both in 1972), one of which turned out to be a complete game victory for strahler in his final dodger appearance.  after  the '72 season ended, strahler was traded to the angels in the frank robinson for andy messersmith deal, and the halos traded him soon after that to the tigers.

dick stuart

stuart could hit. he hit .272 with 192 home runs in his first seven seasons, which were spent with the pirates and red sox between 1958 and 1964.  in fact, stuart led the american league in rbi in 1963 while with the red sox, and drove in 114 the following year.  unfortunately, he was not the best fielder.  in fact, stuart led his league in errors by a first baseman in each of those same seven seasons mentioned above.  after a down year with the phillies in 1965 (in which he finished second with 17 errors and hit just .234), stuart joined the mets for the start of the 1966 season, which is where the photo used on his card above comes from.  he was ultimately released by the mets during the season and was signed by the dodgers.  stuart hit .264 with 3 homers in 38 at bats for the dodgers, and even managed a couple of plate appearances for them in the 1966 world series.

lee walls

walls joined the dodgers following the 1961 season in a deal that sent charlie neal to the expansion mets.  he spent three non-descript seasons with the dodgers as a utility player/pinch-hitter, although i found his final big league appearance to be fairly interesting.  on the final day of the 1964 season, walter alston replaced his starting catcher (john roseboro) following the first inning with rookie jeff torborg.  roseboro had reached base, stolen third, and scored on a wild pitch prior to being removed from the game, but i don't know if his removal had to do with an injury or if it was just because it was the last game of the year and the dodgers were leading the colt .45's 5-0 after one inning of play.  anyway, torborg played through the eighth inning, but was replaced at catcher by walls for the 9th.  it was the first (and only) time walls had caught in a big league game, and it was also the last time he wore a big league uniform - the dodgers released him 10 days later.

robert wilson

wilson joined the dodger organization in 1950, but spent only two days in 1958 on the field in the big leagues.  he may have been up with the dodgers for longer than that, but his actual playing career consists of 3 games over 2 days in saint louis in may of 1958.  on saturday, may 17, wilson made his debut when he pinch-hit for stan williams against the cardinals' larry jackson and stroked a single.  he was replaced at the start of the following inning in the lineup by don drysdale.  the next day, in the first game of a doubleheader, wilson again pinch-hit (this time for clem labine), but struck out against the cards' billy muffett.  in the nightcap, wilson got the start in right field, but was replaced late in the game by gino cimoli following an 0 for 3 performance at the plate.  and that was that for wilson's big league career.

the topps dodgers autograph project - the rest of the 1960's

here we are with the third installment of my topps dodger autograph project summary.  to quickly recap, the lost collector posted a while back about his topps yankee autograph project in which he was able to get at least one card from every topps flagship issue since 1951 signed through the mail by a yankee, free of charge.  i have had to purchase three cards (see the list below), but have otherwise done the same for the dodgers.  

this post covers the last of the cards that came into being before my time - literally.

dick tracewski, 1965

i posted about my successes with tracewski recently.  other 1965 topps cards that i have had signed by dodger players include tommy davis (with fee), frank howard (with fee), john kennedy, joe moeller, and nate oliver.

john kennedy, 1966

you can read about my successes with jek here.  i have also received signed 1966 topps dodger cards through the mail from jim lefebvre (with fee), and jeff torborg.

phil regan, 1967

it took a couple of tries, but i was eventually successful in coaxing regan to sign and return two of my cards.  he also signed a 1968 topps card for me

but don't worry, i have another 1968 card to show as the entry in the project so as to not double up on any player.  regan was 22-10 in his 2+ years with the dodgers, including a 14-1 season in 1966.  he was traded to the cubs during the 1968 season, and wound up leading the national league in saves that year. aside from regan, i have received signed copies of 1967 topps cards from the following dodgers: willie davis (with fee), jim hickman, tom hutton, gene michaels, joe moeller, ron perranoski, and dick schofield.

jim campanis, 1968

the son of trader al signed for me back in 2009.  i posted about it here.  other 1968 topps dodgers to sign and return their cards to me are jack billingham and jim fairey, al ferrara (with fee), nate oliver, and jeff torborg.  i also have a team card signed by walter alston that i purchased somewhere along the way.

jeff torborg, 1969

as i mentioned above, i have had previous success with the former dodger catcher and big league manager.  the 1969 card that he signed from me came from a ttm success that i never got around to posting.  there are a couple of other cards that he signed for me that have yet to see the light of the blog which is too bad, as i like his signature and the fact that he personalized the cards.  other dodgers who have signed their 1969 topps cards through the mail for me include joe moeller, claude osteen, ted savage, bart shirley, and bill sudakis (with fee).

here's a running list of the cards and players that i have showcased in the topps dodgers autograph project so far:

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

the evolution of the closer, part 1

even though they weren't called closers back in joe black's day, i will start the evolution of the dodgers' firemen with the 1952 rookie of the year.

joe black (1952)

joe black pitched in 56 games for the dodgers that year, won 15 and 'saved' 15 others.  he led the league with 41 games finished.  it was quite a season in relief, and was a bit of an anomaly.  or perhaps an indication of what was going to become more of the norm in the future.

clem labine (1953, 1956-1959)

in 1953, the dodgers very much had a bullpen by committee, with clem labine leading the way

labine led the relief corps with 11 wins and a 2.77 era.  he also had 7 'saves', although jim hughes had 9 and appeared in more games (48 to labine's 37).

jim hughes (1954)

hughes clearly took over in 1954. he saved 24 games that year, but it was back to the committee in 1955 with hughes, labine and ed roebuck leading the way. 

ed roebuck (1955, 1960)

roebuck had 12 saves to lead the staff although his era was fairly high at 4.71.  he made one appearance in the 1955 world series, finishing off the dodgers' game 6 loss against the yankees.

clem labine was back at the helm in 1956 with 19 saves and 10 wins and in 1957 with 17 saves and 5 wins.  he had 14 saves and 6 wins with the la dodgers in 1958 to again pace the bullpen.  in 1959, labine again led the team in saves with 9, although there were a total of 9 dodger pitchers, including don drysdale and sandy koufax, who earned at least one save that year.  big d and sandy each had 2!

in 1960, roebuck saved 8 games and had a 2.78 era in his 58 appearances, all in relief.  he also won 8 games.  larry sherry, the mvp of the 1959 world series, pitched in with 7 saves and 14 wins, 13 in relief.

larry sherry (1961)

sherry moved to the top of the bullpen in 1961 with 15 saves in 52 relief appearances. 

ron perranoski (1962-1965)

ron perranoski appeared in 70 games in 1962, saving 20 with an era of 2.85.  he followed that up with a phenomenal season in 1963, winning 16 games and saving 21 in 69 games (129 innings pitched) while posting a 1.67 era. he finished 4th in the league mvp voting that season.  he also earned the save in game 2 of the world series that year, striking out clete boyer to preserve the dodgers' victory. 

perranoski followed that up with 14 saves in 1964 and 17 in 1965.  in 1966, however, he took a back seat to the vulture.

phil regan (1966)

regan appeared in 65 games for the 1966 dodgers, all in relief.  he went 14-1 with a 1.62 era and 21 saves.  his performance earned him an all-star berth and a 7th place finish in the mvp voting.

ron perranoski (1967)

perranoski was back in the saddle in 1967.  he relieved in 70 games and saved 16 of them.  but in 1968, perranoski was not around, and regan was sent to the cubs early on, so jim brewer took over.

jim brewer (1967-1973)

brewer took over the role (making the bullpen the 'brewer-y') with 8 wins and 14 saves in 54 games.  he had 20 saves in 1969 (the first year they became an official stat), 24 in 1970, 22 in 1971, 17 in 1972, and 20 in 1973 when he made the all-star team for the only time in his career.  he finished the game (although it wasn't a save situation with the national league up 7-1) by striking out thurman munson and willie horton.

in 1974, the dodgers would bring in a guy who would turn the closer role on its ear.  stay tuned.

death, taxes and more night owl cards

fitting that on this day, tax day, where one of the two certainties in life is dealt with, i am posting about a third certainty. great cards from night owl. just look at these things!

1995 leaf darren dreifort two photos. two colored backgrounds. text overlapping and in different fonts, colors and directions. if only there were more foil! so distracting that i forget about ranting about dreifort!

2008 bowman chrome prospects scott vanslyke.

when in trouble, when in doubt, spin your helmet when you make an out.

1990 fleer dave hansen.

i needed this card for my dodgers set, so i activated the owl signal. i sent out the call by taping an owl to my searchlight. greg knew what was needed.

1972 topps al downing.

terribly, horribly miscut. but beautiful. who knew there were stars over there? hopefully we'll see this beauty again!

1967 topps phil regan.

looks like the vulture is posing in front of his mom's colonial style home.

thanks again greg! more dodgers headed your way soon.