sunday morning target dodgers - the final edition

one of the first things one notices about the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary giveaway set is that there is no order to the sheets. the card numbers are seemingly randomly assigned to them, and so there is no first or last sheet to the set.  fittingly, i've been scanning and posting the cards in a unorganized manner, so there is really no rhyme or reason as to why this is the last sheet to be posted. there are no big names that i've been saving, just 15 men who wore the uniform of the franchise at some point during their first 100 years in the national league.  let's have a look.

joe bradshaw

bradshaw played in two games for the 1929 brooklyn robins.  that was it as far as his big league career went. two games, four innings pitched, two runs allowed.  i do not know why he is wearing what seems to be a new york giants uniform in the picture on his card, nor do i even know whether that photo is indeed bradshaw or not.

larry burright

burright shared time with jim gilliam as the dodgers' second baseman in his rookie season of 1962.  he appeared in 115 games and hit .205.  after the season, burright was traded to the mets for travelin' bob miller.

george crable

crable was a pitcher for the 1910 brooklyn superbas who, like bradshaw up top, saw action in only two big league ball games.  according to baseball reference, he started (and completed) one, and then relieved in the other, but somehow pitched only 7.1 innings and earned no decisions.  i'll venture a guess that his complete game was a rain shortened tie.

pea ridge day

henry clyde was his given name, but day grew up in pea ridge, arkansas, and so was dubbed pea ridge. true to his arkansas roots, day would apparently give a hog call following a strikeout of an opposing batter.  he brought his arm to the brooklyn robins in 1931 following a couple of seasons with the cardinals and one with the reds in the 1920's.  he was 2-2 for the robins in 22 appearances, but his career was ended due to arm problems and day turned to the bottle.  in 1934, day took his life by slashing his own throat.

bert delmus

baseball reference spells his last name 'delmas', but either way, this guy was a member of the 1933 brooklyn dodgers and he hit .250 in 12 games.  he played nothing but second base, so i don't know why his position is listed on the card as the generic 'inf' for infielder.  he didn't field particularly well - 3 errors in 34 chances - and all 7 of his hits were singles.

alex ferguson

ferguson finished off his 10-year major league career by pitching in 3 games for the 1929 brooklyn robins.  he was 0-1 with a 22.50 era in two innings pitched over those three games, and so it was likely easy to see the end of the line.  ferguson had previously pitched for the yankees (in two separate stints), red sox, senators, and phillies. he started two games for the senators in the 1925 world series, and in doing so, he became the pitcher with the highest regular season era (6.18) to start a postseason game.  this record has since been surpassed by oliver perez in 2006 (6.55).  this is a bit misleading, as ferguson began the 1925 season with poor performances for the red sox and the yankees before joining washington and amassing a nice 3.25 era in his seven appearances for the senators down the stretch.

tom fitzsimmons

in four games for the 1919 brooklyn robins, fitzsimmons was 0 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.  that is the sum total of his major league career.

john grim

grim was a member of the brooklyn grooms/bridegrooms/superbas from 1895 through 1899.  he caught a total of 310 games over that span, while also playing some first base and outfield.

bob hall

hall played for the phillies in 1904 and then began the 1905 season with the new york giants. after playing in one game for them, the giants loaned him to the brooklyn superbas for the remainder of the season. while the giants went on to win the world series, hall appeared in 56 games for the 8th place superbas, hitting .236 along the way.

joe klugman

klugman hit .165 for the 1924 robins, appearing in 31 games and playing mostly second base.  the following year, he hit .329 in 38 games for the indians. go figure.

tom lovett

lovett was an original brooklyn national leaguer, playing for the club in 1889 during their final season in the american association, and staying on in 1890 as they joined the senior circuit.  he won 30 games in 1890, and had a nice 2.78 era to boot.  the following season, lovett was 23-19 with a 3.69 era.  after sitting out the 1892 season, lovett returned to brooklyn for the 1893 campaign, but was only 3-5 in 14 games with an era over six.

gene mccann

mccann was a pitcher on the 1901 and 1902 superbas.  he went 3-5 in 9 appearances over those two seasons, which were the only two of his big league career.  mccann later managed in the minor leagues for several years and then became a scout for the yankees.

lefty o'doul

o'doul began his big league career in 1919 as a pitcher with the yankees.  arm troubles forced him to reinvent himself as a position player, and he began the second phase of his major league career in 1928 with the giants, but the robins acquired o'doul from the phillies following the 1930 season.  it was in 1929 that o'doul hit .398 for philadelphia to lead the league, and he had hit a robust .383 for them in 1930 (fourth best in the league) so brooklyn certainly had high hopes despite the fact that o'doul was 34 years old heading into the season.  o'doul did not disappoint - he hit .336 in 1931 for the robins and then led the league with a .368 batting average in 1932 for the dodgers.  he finished 3rd in the mvp voting that year, but was traded to the giants during the following season.  o'doul retired with a .349 batting average (4th all-time) but is not in the hall of fame due to having only seven seasons as a position player.

ray schmandt

schmandt played for the robins from 1918 through 1922.  he was 0 for 1 in the 1920 world series, but hit .270 overall for the robins during his five seasons with the club.

henry schmidt

schmidt is the only player in major league history to win at least 20 games in his only big league season.  coming from oakland of the california league where he won 35 games in 1902, schmidt joined the superbas for the 1903 campaign and went 22-13 in 40 appearances. of those 40 games, schmidt started 36 (completing 29 - 5 by shutout), and finished the other four as a reliever.  he also appeared in another game as an outfielder, logging an assist on his only fielding chance from that position.  following the season, schmidt decided that he preferred to pitch on the west coast, and he rejoined his oakland ballclub (who had moved to the pacific coast league) and promptly won 26 games in 1904.

it's fitting that this sheet of obscure brooklyn/los angeles ballplayers is the last in the set to be featured here.  these sorts of sheets were my favorite for the simple reason that i learned something new about my favorite franchise and its players.  i hope you did, too.

sunday morning target dodgers - the penultimate sheet edition

so far, i've shown 1,060 cards from the 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary giveaway set.  that means that there are only two more sheets of 15 cards to show.  here's the next to last sheet:

ed goodson

when i started following the dodgers in 1977, i recognized that ed goodson had the unenviable job of being a backup first baseman on the team for which steve garvey played.  goodson played in the field in only 17 games for the dodgers in '77 (13 at first, including one complete game in which garvey only appeared as a pinch hitter, and 4 at third).  however goodson did play several games at third base for the blue in 1976 after being acquired along with dusty baker from the braves.  still, he was used primarily as a pinch-hitter in his two seasons with the club, hitting .273 in 62 plate appearances in that role in '76, but just .182 in 45 pinch-hitting plate appearances in '77.

dixie howell

not to be confused with another dixie howell who played at the same time, the dodgers' howell was originally signed by the team in 1938.  he didn't reach the big leagues until 1947, however, following a trade with the pirates.  he eventually returned to brooklyn in a 1952 trade, and played for the dodgers in 1953, 1955, and 1956.  howell did not appear in the world series in any of those seasons, and he hit just .250 in 24 regular season games for the dodgers.

lyn lary

as lary's 12-year big league career was coming to a close, he played for three teams during the 1939 season. he began the year with the indians and finished it with the cardinals, but in between, he played in 29 games for the dodgers.  he hit .161 with a double, triple, and a single rbi for the man who holds the yankee season record for rbi (107) by a shortstop.

al lopez

hall of fame catcher al lopez caught more games than anyone else up until bob boone broke his record in the late 1980's.  of his 1.918 games caught, close to 750 came with the robins/dodgers from 1928 through 1935.  he played in a total of 762 games for the franchise over that timeframe, but spent a few complete games in the infield and had some other appearances as a pinch-hitter.  he hit .279 for brooklyn overall, and hit the last 'bounce' home run in major league history in 1930 while with the robins.

lee magee

magee's given last name was hoernschemeyer, which is longer than hollandsworth and would have been the longest surname in franchise history.  however, he opted for magee.  playing for brooklyn towards the end of his career, magee began the 1919 season with the robins, and hit .238 in 45 games. he was traded to the cubs in june after the robins' organization heard rumblings of his association with gamblers and rumors of magee betting against his team while he was with the reds in 1918. following the 1919 season, magee did admit that he had bet on a game (he claimed he bet on the reds while other evidence showed he had bet against them and did indeed try to throw the game) and he was banned.  a few months later, the black sox scandal was brought to light.

mike a. marshall

marshall, or general soreness, never faced the other mike marshall, although their careers did overlap in 1981.  this mike marshall was one of the dodger prospects that i, along with legion other dodger fans, were anxiously awaiting in 1981.  he had hit .373 in triple-a albuquerque with 34 homers and 137 rbi that year (good enough to win the pcl triple crown), and received a september call-up.  yes, even though he was a first baseman and i was a huge fan of steve garvey, i wanted to see marshall in the majors.  i figured the dodgers would move him to the outfield anyway, which they eventually did.  however, they also let garvey go after the 1982 season.  whatever, marshall stayed with the dodgers through the 1989 season, after which he was traded to the mets.  he had struggled with injuries throughout his career (even reportedly sitting out a game due to general soreness), but did lead the 1988 dodgers with 82 rbi.  my lasting mike marshall memory comes from 1988.  i was at the dodger/met game on august 24 that year.  orel hershiser was 17-7 going into the game, and the mets were the best team in the national league. me and some friends were able to wrangle tickets a few rows up from the dodger dugout from another friend's dad (a longtime season ticket holder) and headed to the game.  marshall hit an rbi double off of future dodger bob ojeda in the fourth to score the first run of the game.  hershiser was dealing zeroes through seven, and it was feeling very much like a playoff game.  leading off the top of the 8th, mookie wilson hit a fly ball to right that i believe marshall misplayed.  wilson wound up on third with a triple, and the mets scored two runs that inning and beat orel and the dodgers 2-1.  it turned out to be the second of hershiser's eight straight complete games as well as his last loss of the regular season, and it was during his next start (in the 5th inning, to be exact) that the bulldog began his record breaking scoreless streak.

russ meyer

meyer pitched for the dodgers from 1953-1955, and he appeared in both the '53 and '55 world series.  in the latter, meyer threw 5.2 innings of scoreless relief in game 6.  he was 32-13 for the dodgers during the regular season over those three years, despite an era of 4.47.

dee moore

moore's big league career began in 1936 with the reds. he pinch-hit in a couple of games, but in his first appearance as a defensive player in a major league game, moore was not catching, but pitching.  he threw five innings in relief (allowing an unearned run) and later was the starting pitcher in the reds' final game of the season, pitching two scoreless innings.  moore didn't pitch in the majors again after that, and after being out of the big leagues for a few years, he found himself with the dodgers for the start of the 1943 season.  he hit .253 in 37 games for brooklyn as a catcher and third baseman before the phillies selected him on waivers.

walt moryn

the pride of saint paul, minnesota, moryn was signed by the dodgers in 1948 and eventually got to play in his home town when the dodgers moved their triple-a affiliate from montreal to the saintly city.  he was called up to the show by the dodgers in 1954 and again in 1955, although he didn't see playing time in the world series in '55.  following the 1955 season, moryn was traded to the cubs where he was an all-star in 1958.

john purdin

purdin pitched for the dodgers in 1964 and 1965, and then again in 1968 and 1969 after being held in the minors in 1966 and 1967.  the second appearance of his career, his first career start, resulted in a two-hit shutout of the cubs on september 30, 1964, and he earned his second win a few days later on the last day of the season.  purdin won two games again in 1965, but his era jumped from 0.56 to 6.75, and his next two seasons were spent in the minors. purdin spent all of 1968 with the big club, winning (again) two games - this time with a more respectable 3.07 era.  1969 was his last season in the majors, and purdin was held decision-less for the first time, appearing in only nine games for the dodgers.  purdin wound up with the white sox (and was included in the 1971 topps set), but he never returned to the majors after the 1969 season.

vicente romo

there was no romo-mania in 1968 when romo made his big league debut with the dodgers, or in 1982 when he returned to the club to fulfill his double dipper destiny. i wrote about the adventures of romo here, if you are interested in learning more.

harry smythe

smythe began the 1934 season with the yankees, but was acquired by the dodgers in late may. with brooklyn, he pitched in 8 games, winning one and losing one.  smythe then returned to the international league where he continued his previous success, and ultimately was elected to the il hall of fame.

joe vosmik

after spending the entire 1930's playing in the american league, vosmik brought his .311 lifetime average to brooklyn where he promptly hit a respectable .282 in 116 games.  in 1941, however, vosmik was batting just .196 after appearing in 25 games and was released by the dodgers.

hank webb

acquired from the mets for rick auerbach, webb pitched in 5 games for the 1977 dodgers (which means i created a 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update card that should have been for him). in 8 innings of relief work over the course of those 5 games, webb allowed only two runs but earned no decisions.  webb's son, ryan, was acquired by the dodgers in april, but was released soon thereafter and is now pitching for the indians.

whitey witt

witt was the third outfielder in the yankee outfield of the early 1920's, playing alongside babe ruth and bob meusel until earle combs came along in 1925.  he was released by the yanks on july 4, 1925, and was later signed by the brooklyn robins.  witt played in 63 games for brooklyn in 1926, hitting .259 with just 2 extra base hits.

i'll have the final sheet of the set next week. stay tuned...

sunday morning target dodgers - uncle robbie pays a visit

it must be sunday because here's another 15 cards from a sheet in the 1990 target dodgers 100th anniverary giveaway set. let's get right to it.

doyle alexander

alexander was part of the dodgers' hugely successful 1968 draft class.  he was taken in the 9th round and was pitching in the major leagues three years later.  after going 6-6 with four complete games for the 1971 dodgers, alexander was traded to the orioles in the frank robinson deal.  he may be best remembered for being traded by the braves to the tigers in 1987 for john smoltz.

lloyd brown

brown began his career with the robins in 1925, but found better success with the senators later on. in his lone year with brooklyn, brown was 0-3 in 17 appearances (five starts). from 1928-1932, brown was 58-49 for the senators, and he also pitched for the browns, red sox, indians, and phillies during his big league career.

hal gregg

gregg pitched for the dodgers from 1943-1947.  he won 18 games for the club in 1945 after losing 16 the previous season.  overall, gregg was 37-41 as a dodger during the regular season, and 0-1 in postseason play (he pitched in three games during the 1947 world series) before he was traded to the pirates in the trade that  also sent dixie walker to pittsburgh.

roy henshaw

the dodgers traded for henshaw in 1937 after he had gone 21-11 with a 3.68 era for the cubs over the previous three seasons. with the dodgers, however, henshaw was just 5-12 with a 5.07 era in 42 appearances.  as a result, he was dealt to the cardinals after the season ended in the deal that brought leo durocher to brooklyn.

george kelly

'high pockets' kelly belongs to that list of hall of famers (greg maddux and rickey henderson are recent examples) who are not typically remembered for their time with the club, but ended their career playing for the dodger organization.  for kelly, that was 1932, and he joined the dodgers after spending the 1931 season in the minors.  kelly hit .243 in 64 games for brooklyn, and netted his 1000th career rbi while doing so.  he was elected to the hall of fame in 1973 by the veteran's committee, although he is often cited as the least worthy hall of famer.

ken lehman

lehman was a september call-up in 1952, and struck out the first batter he ever faced in the big leagues (sam jethroe).  he was 1-2 in his four appearances that month, and impressed folks enough that he was added to the dodgers' postseason roster.  he appeared in one world series game against the yankees, and pitched two scoreless innings.  lehman returned to the majors in 1956, pitching in 25 games for brooklyn, but he appeared in just 3 games for them in 1957 before the orioles purchased his contract.

eddie miksis

speaking of the orioles, i think of miksis as one because his 1958 topps card (which featured him as an oriole) was one of the first '58 cards i ever owned.  anyway, miksis started his big league career as a dodger in 1944 when he was just 17.  he hit .220 in 26 games that year, and then returned to the majors in 1946 after a stint in the navy, but hit only .146 in 23 contests.  miksis improved in 1947, hitting .267 and appearing in the world series. he remained with the dodgers into the 1951 season until he was traded to the cubs in the andy pafko deal.

earl naylor

naylor, who had spent a couple of years with the phillies earlier in the decade, appeared in three games for the 1946 dodgers, although he did not play in the field. he pinch-ran and scored a run in his dodger debut, and then was used as a pinch-hitter twice - he grounded into a double play and struck out.

wilbert robinson

uncle robbie, who had a 17-year playing career as a catcher, was the manager of the brooklyn baseball club from 1914 through 1931.  as the team had no official nickname, it took on the name 'robins' during robinson's tenure in reference to the manager.  his robins teams won more than 90 games three times, twice claiming the national league pennant.  for his career, robinson won 1399 games as a manager (1375 with brooklyn and 24 with baltimore when he was a player-manager in 1902) and lost 1398 (1341 with brooklyn and 57 with baltimore).  he was elected to the hall of fame in 1945, and is one of seven brooklyn/los angeles managers so honored for their managerial careers.

dave sax

the older brother of steve sax, dave sax made his big league debut in september of 1982 - the year after his younger brother first played in the majors.  he appeared in just two games that year, going 0 for 2 and seeing action in left field in his second game (most likely due to the fact that it was the 16th inning and tommy lasorda was running out of players - luckily steve garvey hit a walk-off homer to win the game in the bottom of the 16th).  sax was back with the dodgers in 1983 and finally saw some action behind the plate at his regular position, and at the same time that his brother was playing second base.  unfortunately, he was 0 for 8 with an rbi during his stints with the dodgers that year, and didn't make it back to the majors until 1985 with the red sox.

joe simpson

simpson was a september call-up for the dodgers in each season from 1975 through 1978, although he did get a couple of midseason call-ups during that time as well.  he hit .188 in 71 games for the dodgers during that time, and had his contract purchased by the mariners prior to the 1979 season.  simpson is best known these days as one of the braves' broadcasters, as he's been performing that function since 1992.

milt stock

stock joined the robins in 1924 following 11 years with the giants, phillies, and cardinals.  he hit .242 as the team's third baseman his first year, and then moved to second base in 1925 and hit .328.  at one point that year, stock had four consecutive 4-hit games, which is considered to be a record.  stock finished his playing career with just three games in 1926 for the robins, and he went on to manage in the minors and eventually coach in the majors, including for the dodgers in 1949 and 1950.

bill sudakis

sudakis was a third baseman who was drafted by the dodgers in 1964 and made his debut for them in 1968. he was their primary third baseman in 1969, and his 14 home runs were second best on the team that year. in 1970, billy grabarkewitz got most of the playing time at third, and so the dodgers had sudakis play other positions, including catcher - a position that sudakis had not previously played at the big league level, and had only played for a handful of games in the arizona instructional league. it was also curious because he had bad knees.  the mets picked sudakis off of waivers prior to the 1973 season, and he went on to spend time with them, the yankees, the rangers, the indians, and the angels before retiring after the 1975 season.

elmer valo

the owner of one of my favorite non-dodger baseball cards was himself a dodger in 1957 and 1958.  acquired in a trade with the phillies, valo played in 81 games for the brooklyn dodgers in their final season.  in fact, he was the second to last dodger batter at ebbetts field, grounding out before gil hodges struck out to end the 8th inning on september 24, 1957.  the following year, valo played in 65 games for the los angeles dodgers in their first season. it was the second time that valo had played for a team that relocated while he was on the roster (he had previously played for the philadelphia/kansas city a's), and wouldn't be the last (he would later play for the washington senators/minnesota twins).

sandy vance

another member of the dodgers' 1968 draft class, vance pitched in 30 games as a major leaguer - all with the dodgers in 1970 and 1971. he was 7-7 as a rookie in 1970 with two complete games and a 3.13 era.  in 1971, however, he was just 2-1 with a 6.92 era. vance continued to pitch in the minors through 1973, but was unable to return to the majors.

there are only two sheets left in the 1990 target set to show, so we are definitely close to the end.  i'll have one of those sheets next week.  stay tuned….

sunday morning target dodgers - an mvp and - hey, isn't that the cartoon rooster?

this sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary giveaway set features a good mix of players from throughout the franchise's history.  have a look.

don bessent

the dodgers took bessent from the yankees in the early 1950's, and he made his big league debut for brooklyn in 1955.  he was 8-1 with a 2.70 era in 24 games (22 of which were relief appearances) for the dodgers that year, and then pitched in 3 world series games against the yankees, and sported a perfect era while doing so.  in 1956, bessent lowered his regular season era to 2.50 over 38 games, all as a reliever.  he again pitched in the fall classic against the yankees, and was the winning pitcher in game 2.  bessent moved to los angeles with the team, but 1958 was his final season in the big leagues due to a shoulder injury.

bruce caldwell

caldwell played in 18 games for the 1928 cleveland indians (he's a member of the indians in the photo used for his card), and next appeared in the majors for the 1932 brooklyn dodgers.  he played in only 7 games for the dodgers, and had just one hit in 13 plate appearances for the club.

jake daubert

daubert played for the superbas/dodgers/robins from 1910 through 1918, and was the team's first baseman in each of those seasons.  in 1913, daubert led the national league with a .350 average, and was voted the league's most valuable player as a result. he led the league with a .329 average the following year, and his .316 average in 1916 was the second highest in the league. that year, daubert helped the robins win the pennant, although he hit only .176 in the world series against babe ruth and the red sox (he was 0 for 5 against ruth in game 2).  daubert left brooklyn for cincinnati in 1919, and won a world series ring with the reds that year thanks in part to the black sox scandal.

tim flood

flood spent two seasons with the superbas - 1902 and 1903 - during which he hit .231 over 221 games. i do not believe that he played ball in his suit and tie.

mike garman

garman was a reliever on the team of my youth. acquired in the rick monday trade, garman pitched for the dodgers in 1977 and part of 1978 (before he was traded to montreal).  he had a 2.73 era with 12 saves during the 1977 regular season, and then threw 5.1 scoreless innings over four games in the 1977 postseason, earning a save in the nlcs game 3 'black friday' game against the phillies.

tim leary

in 1987, leary's first season with the dodgers, he posted a record of 3-11. in 1988, leary again had 11 losses, but this time, he also had 17 wins. used almost exclusively as a starter in '88, leary responded with a 2.91 era, 9 complete games, and 6 shutouts.  it was enough for him to be named the sporting news' comeback player of the year in the national league.  leary also won the silver slugger award that year, due in part to his .269 batting average, as well as his key 11th-inning walk-off pinch-hit single against the giants on august 13, 1988.  leary was bumped from the starting rotation once the world series rolled around due in large part to orel hershiser pitching on short rest, but he did relieve in two fall classic games, including a stellar scoreless three innings in game 1.

danny mcdevitt

mcdevitt pitched for the dodgers from 1957 through 1960.  he was originally used primarily as a starter, but the team eventually came to use him more in relief towards the end of his tenure with them. in 1959, mcdevitt won 10 games, but he did not pitch in the world series against the white sox that year.

bernie neis

neis was a rookie with the robins in 1920 when they won the pennant.  he had hit .253 during the regular season, but was 0 for 5 in the world series.  neis remained with the robins through the 1924 season before going on to play for the braves, indians, and white sox.

ivy olson

olson was the robins' shortstop on both of their pennant winning teams - 1916 and 1920. he was acquired by the club late in the 1915 season, and he remained with them through the 1924 campaign. in between, he played in 1053 games for brooklyn, and had 1100 hits as well. his 164 hits in 1919, in fact, led the league. olson hit .250 in the 1916 world series (he was 1 for 2 with a walk, a strikeout, and two sacrifices against babe ruth) and .320 in the 1920 fall classic.

claude osteen

what a great shot of osteen in dodger stadium, with the left field pavilion and old (pre-diamond vision) scoreboard.  osteen came to the dodgers from the senators in the frank howard trade, and he remained until he was dealt to houston for jimmy wynn after the 1973 season. during those 9 seasons with the dodgers, osteen posted a record of 147-126 during the regular season, with three all-star selections and two 20-win seasons.  he threw a shutout in the 1965 world series against the twins, and took a hard luck loss in the 1966 world series against the orioles, allowing just a solo home run to paul blair that allowed the o's to win the game 1-0.

johnny peacock

peacock was acquired by the dodgers during the 1945 season from the phillies in exchange for ben chapman (who would later manage the phillies and berate jackie robinson during the 1947 season). peacock was needed due to mickey owen having joined the navy in may of '45.  peacock played in 48 games for the dodgers that year, hitting .255.  it was the last big league action of peacock's career.

goody rosen

goody rosen played for the dodgers for 5-plus seasons, garnering some mvp votes in 1945 (he finished 10th).  there's a little more to rosen's story, but i'll save that for a future post.

john shelby

t-bone was traded to the dodgers early in the 1987 season as the team needed a center fielder. kenny landreaux had moved to one of the corner spots, and mike ramsey, who had started the season in center, was hitting just .232 after 38 games.  shelby showed up and hit .277 with 21 home runs in 120 games for the dodgers over the remainder of the season. in 1988, he cooled off a bit, hitting .263 with 10 home runs, but he solidified the position enough to help the club win the world series, and the second ring of his career.

gordon windhorn

this guy makes me think of the looney toons cartoon rooster, but the rooster's name is foghorn leghorn, not gordon windhorn.  besides, i know about windhorn because he's got a card in the 1962 topps set that lists him as a member of the kansas city a's while showing him in dodger duds.  those duds, by the way, are more suited to a baseball card than the shirt he's wearing above.  and what exactly is he doing in that photo - talking into his dick tracy wristwatch communicator?  it's curious that this was the best photo available considering that windhorn spent the majority of the 1960 and 1961 seasons in the dodger minor league system, as well as 34 games at the big league level with the dodgers in 1961.  during that time, windhorn hit .242 and slugged his only two career home runs - the first of which was an 11th-inning walk-off pinch-hit job against the phillies.

pete wojey

wojey pitched in 14 games for the 1954 dodgers. he was 1-1 with a save in those appearances, with a decent 3.25 era.  he spent all of 1955, however, in the minors and was traded to detroit after the season ended.  he had been 34 when he finally made his big league debut with the dodgers, and he was 37 in 1957 when he pitched in his fourth and final game for the tigers.