i see you jerry reuss!

as you know, one of my mini collections is cards featuring dodger stadium in the background.  with those cards, sometimes you get the pavilion roof, sometimes you get the old field level scoreboard, and sometimes you get dodger lefty jerry reuss lurking in the background, as is the case with this 1986 donruss joe price card.

what i found interesting about this card is that reuss is on the visitor's side of the field during pre-game, which isn't that common - these days, anyway, from what i've seen at the ballpark.  i emailed him to ask what he was doing, and he was kind enough to let me know that he was headed back to the right field line to do his sprints to centerfield, which were part of his routine in between starts.

here's another from 1986 donruss (sadly without a reuss cameo) of dave lapoint

i remember lapoint as a cardinal, probably because of the 1982 world series, but he pitched for nine teams, including the no-cals.

one more from '86 donruss - here's junior ortiz in dodger stadium

and he's looking happy to be there.

this is a 1989 donruss all-stars rafael palmeiro card

with raffy taking a cut from the dodger stadium left-handed batter's box

and here is hall of famer barry larkin's 1990 upper deck card

with the old low railing behind him

a couple of weeks ago i wrote a post dedicated to the murals that adorned the dodger stadium outfield wall during the late 1990's and early 2000's.  here are a few more cards with some of those mural images in the background

2000 upper deck joe mcewing

that's part of the mike scioscia heroes mural behind little mac

2002 topps tim salmon

with salmon patrolling right field at dodger stadium in front of pee wee reese's retired number mural

2003 fleer ultra matt clement

with the 40th anniversary of dodger stadium mural in the background.  that's kevin brown's face (representing the 2000 season), and shawn green's arms (representing the 2002 campaign).  big kudos to fleer for making a similar card in the '03 ultra set:

that's kevin brown himself on the mound with his face looking on from the mural.  if only fleer had made a similar card of shawn green in right field in front of his image…

i'll finish off this chavez ravine centric post with this 1995 upper deck collector's choice lance parrish card

featuring no lurking dodgers, but instead a dodger usher with some nice shades.

it's been a couple of years since i've been able to get to dodger stadium for a game, so i appreciate having these cards in my collection to remind me of how great the stadium is.

sunday morning target dodgers - reese, reis, and reuss

i don't know how target assembled the set as far as which players appeared on which sheet, but there are a couple of common threads on this week's sheet - by name and by way many of the players came to be a part of the franchise.

this week's sheet of players from the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set starts off with number 1.

pee wee reese

reese was the dodger shortstop from 1940 through 1956 except for three seasons (1943-1945) during which time he served in the armed forces.  he was a 10-time all-star and a 7-time world series participant who sits atop the dodger all-time career leaderboard in war, walks, and runs scored, and is second to zack wheat in a number of other categories.

bobby reis

as a robin/dodger, reis played everywhere but catcher and shortstop.  his big league career began with the robins in 1931, and he played exclusively third base at that time, hitting .294 over six games.  he was back up in 1932, but played in just one game going 1 for 4 at third.  reis returned to the big leagues in 1935 with the dodgers, but this time he found himself on the mound 14 times, including 2 starts.  reis put together a record of 3-2 with 2 saves, a 2.83 era and an 11-inning complete game to boot.  he also played in the field in about three dozen other games that year.  reis was traded to the boston braves for the 1936 season, where he maintained his two-way play for three seasons.  his photo, by the way, comes from 1932 when he played for the jersey city skeeters.

jerry reuss

reuss came to the dodgers at the start of the 1979 season from the pirates in exchange for rick rhoden.  i was a fan of rhoden, and so i wasn't too excited with this development especially when reuss went 7-14 in his first season with the dodgers.  then came his 1980 season, complete with an 18-6 record, 2.51 era,  all-star berth, league-leading six shutouts, complete game victory in must-win game 161 against the astros, and most importantly his no-hit performance against the giants.  i was a reuss convert.  reuss also pitched well in 1981, helping the dodgers win the division series against the astros and eventually the world series over the yankees with complete game clinchers in each series, and he stayed with the team into the 1987 season.  don't forget to check out his website for some cool photos and other stuff.

bob bailey

bailey was a hot prospect for the pirates in the early 1960's, but he failed to live up to the lofty expectations, later becoming half of the haul (gene michael was the other half) that the dodgers received from the pirates in the maury wills trade prior to the 1967 season.  he played for the dodgers for two seasons, hitting .227 (73 for 322) in both 1967 and 1968, and his contract was purchased by the expos following the 1968 season. bailey was the first baseman in their inaugural game, and became the first expo to get a hit and the first to drive in runs.  in fact, bailey had his best offensive years with the expos as he realized some of the potential that the pirates had hoped for.  after several seasons in montreal, bailey eventually found his way to the reds, where he was a member of their 1976 world championship team, although he did not play in the postseason.

mark bradley

bradley was a late-season call up for the dodgers in 1981 and 1982. he was their first round pick in 1975, and appeared in a total of 17 games for them in those two aforementioned seasons.  bradley's last game as a dodger was their final game of the 1982 season, when joe morgan and the giants dashed their postseason hopes.  he was traded to the mets prior to the following season.

augie galan

galan was acquired by the dodgers from the cubs during the 1941 season.  he remained a dodger through the 1946 season, playing mostly outfield, and was a national league all-star in 1943 and 1944.  it appears that he enjoyed a crossword puzzle as well as playing baseball.

ray lamb

lamb was a reliever who pitched for the dodgers in 1969 and 1970.  he even found his way on to a topps card in 1970, sharing space with bob stinson.  he was 0-1 with a save and a 1.80 era in 10 games during his debut season, and then 6-1 with a 3.79 era in 35 games the following year.  lamb was traded to the indians in the duke sims deal after the 1970 season, and he spent three seasons in cleveland working as a reliever and a sometimes starter.  he is the only dodger to wear number 42 after jackie robinson, doing so in the 1969 season.

vic lombardi

lombardi pitched for the dodgers from 1945 through 1947.  he won 10, 13, and 12 games in those seasons with his era consistently around 3.00.  following the 1947 world series, in which lombardi made two starts, he was traded to the pirates in the dixie walker deal that netted the dodgers, among others, preacher roe.

al mamaux

mamaux was part of the trade between the robins and pirates prior to the 1918 season that saw casey stengel head to pittsburgh with burleigh grimes going to brooklyn.  mamaux had won 21 games twice for the pirates, but his high during his six seasons with the robins was 12 in their pennant-winning 1920 season.

norm sherry

norm was the older brother of larry sherry, the dodger pitcher.  together they formed a rare fraternal battery from 1959 to 1962 - the span of norm's dodger career.  norm is probably best known as the guy who suggested to sandy koufax that he relax and not try to throw so hard prior to the 1961 season.  koufax took his advice and went on to dominate the league for the remainder of his career, while norm wound up with the mets in 1963.

eddie stack

stack pitched for the dodgers and superbas in 1912 and 1913.  he was 11-9 with a 2.99 era in that span, but was traded to the cubs during the 1913 campaign.

jigger statz

arnold john 'jigger' statz played in the major leagues for eight seasons beginning in 1919, the last two of which he spent in brooklyn with the robins.  while he hit .264 over those two seasons, bringing an end to his major league career, he found tremendous success in the pacific coast league with the los angeles angels.  statz had spent time with the angels while bouncing up and down from the big leagues, but he returned to the club for good in 1929 and wound up setting pcl records in a number of categories.  as such, statz is a member of the pcl hall of fame.

chuck templeton

templeton debuted for the dodgers on september 9, 1955 in chicago.  he retired all six of the cub batters he faced that day, but the dodgers lost despite his perfect relief effort.  he appeared in three more games during that midwestern road trip, allowing runs in each of those appearances while taking the loss in his last appearance of the season thanks to the fact that he walked the only batter he faced (stan musial) to lead of the bottom of the 12th innning.  templeton returned to the majors in 1956, taking the second loss of his career in his first start of the season which just happened to take place in saint louis.  he finally got to pitch in brooklyn his second time out in 1956, going four innings as the starter in what turned out to be a 7-5 dodger win over the cards.  he was sent down to the dodgers' saint paul affiliate in the summer of '56, and did not return to the majors.

chuck ward

ward was part of the trade i referenced earlier between the pirates and dodgers.  not the bob bailey/maury wills trade nor the preacher roe/dixie walker trade nor the jerry reuss/rick rhoden trade, but rather the burleigh grimes/casey stengel trade.  ward, who had succeeded honus wagner as the pirates' shortstop, accompanied grimes and mamaux to the dodgers in january of 1918, and appeared in 111 games as a backup shortstop and third baseman over the next 5 seasons.  he apparently has some connection to rutgers university, but i failed to uncover exactly what that connection was.

the fifteenth brooklyn-ite on the sheet is john anderson, who double dipped with the franchise and so gets his own post later today.

more from the garvey oddball binder - 1984 union oil dodgers most memorable moments sheets

here are some more sheets from my steve garvey oddball binder.  these come from the 1984 union oil dodgers most memorable moments set.  similar to the 1982 volpe portraits, these were available at your local southland 76 station (murph was the proprieter in the commercials, i believe).  there are some good moments captured in these sheets, including bob welch's strikeout of reggie jackson in game 2 of the 1978 world series and roy campanella night at the coliseum in 1959.  

garvey shows up on 5 of the 16 sheets in the set, and those are the ones in the binder.

30-home run quartet

in 1977, garvey, dusty baker, reggie smith, and ron cey became the first four teammates to hit 30 home runs in the same season.  topps didn't make a card (so i did), but seven years later, union oil came through with a sheet.

1977 nlcs

garvey shares space with teammates cey, baker, bill russell, davey lopes, vic davalillo, tommy john, manny mota, and don sutton.  cey is front and center on the sheet, but dusty baker was the series mvp with 2 homers and 8 rbi.  the majority of the text on the back pertains to game 3 of the series (black friday as it's known in philadelphia) wherein the dodgers used a bunt single by davalillo, a double by manny mota, and an infield single by davey lopes to tie the score, all with two outs.  an error and a bill russell single later, and the dodgers had taken a two games to one lead in the series.

the 10th player

this sheet is a tribute to dodger fans, with garvey, cey, sutton, mota, jerry reuss, and joe ferguson appearing on the front.  the fan tribute is centered around the end of the 1980 season when the dodgers were three games out of first with three to play.  as luck would have it, the astros were coming to town. the dodgers swept the series behind some big home runs by ferguson, garvey, and cey, but lost game 163 as the astros advanced to the postseason for the first time.

1981 world championship

garvey shows up on this one as part of the three-steves celebration - jumping in the air after the dodgers' game 6 win with steves howe and yeager.  also appearing on the sheet are series co-mvp's cey, yeager, and pedro guerrero.  tommy lasorda and nlcs hero rick monday round out the sheet commemorating the dodgers' first world championship since 1965, and first reached by beating the yankees since 1963.

record setting infield

this is, quite obviously, my favorite sheet.  it's all about the infield.

more garvey goodness to come; stay tuned.

all i see are all-stars

with the all-star game tonight, it seems appropriate to show this 1992 trak auto sheet of stamps that honors every dodger all-star from 1962 through 1992

as you can see, it was available for purchase at trak auto stores, either on its own or with a case of valvoline motor oil.

the full sheet of stamps is in one of my steve garvey binders, because i can't find this particular stamp all by its lonesome

1977 was a big year for dodger all-stars, but not as big as 1962, 1975, or 1978 when the dodgers had seven players on the national league squad, or even a few years when they sent 6 players.  garvey represented the dodgers in eight straight all-star games, and was the mvp of the 1974 and 1978 contests.  here is a better look at the stamps for the stretch of games in which garvey, as a dodger, was the starter for the national league at first base.

you may have noticed that the only dodger to get his mug shown twice on the whole sheet is tommy lasorda.

as a member of the padres, garvey returned to the all-star game in 1984 and 1985 as the first base starter for the national league, making his final all-star appearance in the '85 midsummer classic, which was the last time the all-star game was held in minneapolis.  here's a 1986 donruss all-stars pop up card which commemorates his appearance in that game, complete with underside of the metrodome's roof in view

garvey, at age 37, was a participant in the home run derby prior to that all-star game - the first home run derby prior to the all-star game - and hit 2 out.  dave parker won the derby with 6.  it wasn't the same back then.

anyway, happy all-star game day!

get your head in the game

here's the penultimate 1979 post raisin bran steve garvey's baseball tips card as we head into spring training.  this week, the garv extolls the virtues of mental preparation

what are the chances that franklin stubbs is going through the same mental checklist that garvey mentions as he awaits the outcome of the pitch on his 1986 donruss card?

or, maybe he's just thinking 'please don't hit a ground ball to sax'.

jim hughes is clearly not concerned with any game action

probably because there was no game action on 1953 topps cards

meanwhile, jose vizcaino 

has picked up the 'pull up your pants' sign from the third base coach on his 1998 upper deck card.  if only he were more focused on the game at hand, perhaps his pants wouldn't have needed a boost.

jerry reuss, shown here on his 1982 donruss card,

can't help but smile as he plans his next hot foot treatment instead of thinking about the next batter's tendencies against left-handed pranksters with a dutch boy haircut.

it's easy to let your mind wander while sitting on the bench, especially in spring training, as bill russell

demonstrates on his 1982 donruss card.  perhaps he is trying to think of something fun to do in vero beach later that evening, or maybe he is practicing giving the official scorer the evil eye.

i suppose the manager can at least try to play some role in helping the players maintain their focus during the game, although on his 1972 topps card, it appears that walter alston

has emerged from the dugout to see which way the wind is blowing as he has a golf game to get to as soon as the baseball game is over.

only one more tip to go, and pitchers and catchers report this week!

the 1981 postseason, as it should have been in 1982

who can tell me when topps started putting postseason summary cards in their sets?  there was the mickey mantle/hank aaron world series combo card in the 1958 set, highlighting 'world series batting foes' from the 1957 fall classic, but it wasn't until 1960 that there were cards that recapped the previous season's championship (the dodgers over the white sox, of course).  then, topps ran this subset - sometimes one card for each game, and sometimes one card for each series after the start of divisional play - all the way through the 1978 set, except for 1966.  and guess who played in (and won) the 1965 world series?  the los angeles dodgers, that's right.

the dodgers (and twins) were for some reason denied by topps an appearance on seven or maybe eight glorious cards.  cards that might have featured koufax, drysdale, killebrew, jim kaat, and lou johnson.  topps skipped the subset in 1979 (again penalizing the dodgers) and 1980, before bringing it back for a last hurrah in 1981.  after that, we would wait until 1998 for the return of postseason cards.  that, of course, means that topps ignored two more dodger world championship teams - the 1988 dodgers (who were recognized by fleer and, oddly enough, o-pee-chee) and the 1981 dodgers.

this post is here to right that wrong, so here are the 1982 topps postseason cards that should have been.  first, the world series recap card

there we have the three steves - garvey, yeager, and howe - in the aftermath of the final out in game 6 at yankee stadium.  kenny landreaux has just caught bob watson's fly ball in center field, and a 10-year old kid in california could not have been happier.

but, before we get to the world series, we must revisit the dodgers' triumph in the first divisional series, made possible by the players' strike.  the divisional champs in each 'half' of the season squared off, with the dodgers facing the houston astros.  the dodgers lost the first two games of the five game series, but came back to beat the astros thanks to strong pitching performances by burt hooton, fernando valenzuela, and jerry reuss.  here, reuss celebrates following his game 5 shutout to advance the dodgers to the nlcs against the expos.

that photo comes from the 1982 dodgers police set, and it's a bit frantic.  i found a better photo online, from jerry reuss's flickr account (thank you mr. reuss), but it's in black and white and there was too much to colorize for me to bother.

still, it does include steve garvey, as well as the astros' dave roberts who struck out to end the game (the out was recorded at first base as mike scioscia did not catch the final pitch cleanly).

and so, it was on to montreal to face the expos who had dispatched the phillies, also in five games.  actually, the dodgers and expos split the first two games of the series, played in los angeles.  then, the expos took the first game at home.  the dodgers rallied to win game 4 and force the decisive game 5.  i think we all know what happened next - rick monday took steve rogers deep to break a 1-1 tie in the top of the 9th, and fernando and bobby welch shut down montreal in the bottom of the inning.  welch, in fact, makes an appearance in the first photo i used for the nlcs recap card

but, after a quick reconsideration, i went with a different photo

that's pedro guerrero standing on deck.  i don't think he is employing steve garvey's advice, either.

i had mo sign a copy of this card through hall of fame sports' dodger days in 2010.

i like it very much.

as for the world series, the dodgers dropped the first game against the yankees, who had defeated the brewers and the a's (cards for those series are not shown).  graig nettles made some big plays at third base for the bronx bombers, so he gets the card.

in game 2 then following night, the dodgers were shut out, and goose gossage earned his second save of the series.

the series shifted to los angeles, and in the bottom of the first inning of game 3, ron cey hit a 3-run homer to put the dodgers on top, and he later scored their 5th run of the game as well.  it was his defensive play in the 8th inning, however, that is commemorated on the game 2 card that should have been.

with the dodgers up 5-4, fernando allowed the first two yankee batters to reach on singles.  bobby murcer pinch hit for rudy may, but his sacrifice attempt was popped up, and the penguin dove to record the out.  he then threw to first base to double up larry milbourne.  the next batter grounded out, and the yankee threat was eliminated.

looking to tie the series at two games apiece, the dodgers were down in game 4 6-3 when tommy lasorda sent jay johnstone to the plate in the bottom of the 6th inning.  pinch hitting for tom niedenfuer, johnstone hit a two-run home run to bring the dodgers to within a run of the yankees.  his curtain call makes the front of the game 4 card.

the dodgers tied the score later in the inning and went on to win the game 8-7.  many consider johnstone's home run to have been the turning point of the series.

in game 5, the dodgers turned to jerry reuss, and he did not disappoint.

he allowed only a second inning run and pitched a complete game, 5-hitter.  losing pitcher ron guidry allowed only 4 hits over 7 innings, but two of those hits were the back-to-back home runs that pedro guerrero and steve yeager hit in the bottom of the 7th to give the dodgers the lead.

it was all over but the shouting as the teams returned to new york for game 6.  the score was tied 1-1 until the 5th inning, when cey drove in davey lopes with a two-out single.

the dodgers went on to score two more runs in the inning, and the game was pretty much over, and the three steve party shown up top was an inevitability.

because of the oddity of it all, i also made a card featuring the co-mvp's of the series - guerrero, yeager, and cey.

it's a nice photo - in fact, it's used on yeager's 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams 1981 card.  the world series photos all came from sports illustrated, and the mvp photo was found online.  as was this last one.  

i'll end the post by noting (again) that steve garvey was originally told that he - not yeager - was one of the mvp's.  here's a screen capture of garvey with petey and the penguin (as well as commissioner bowie kuhn and announcer bob uecker) before someone told him of the mistake.

as for the cards, i didn't bother with backs - i think i would have gone with the game box scores and composite stats like the topps subsets did prevously - but i might get around to it someday.  until then, i'm just glad that these cards that should have been are finally seeing the light of day.

here's to the team of my youth, even if topps, donruss and fleer all ignored their 1981 triumph in 1982.