sunday morning target dodgers - russell and yeager, but not that russell or yeager

happy mother's day!  here are some more cards from a sheet of 15 that was part of the 1990 target dodgers giveaway set.

bob aspromonte

aspromonte was a brooklyn native who signed with the dodgers in 1956, and actually got an at bat that same year as an 18-year old.  he next appeared in the big leagues for the los angeles dodgers in 1960.  after playing in 68 games for the dodgers over the 1960 and '61 seasons, aspromonted was picked by the houston colt .45's in the expansion draft, and he went on to play for that franchise for several seasons.  in fact, he was their franchise's inaugural third baseman, first batter, first batter to get a hit, and  first batter to walk.

ike boone

boone played for brooklyn from 1930-1932.  he appeared in 59 games over that span, hitting .268 with 3 homers and 15 rbi.  in his two full seasons in the majors (with the red sox in 1924 and 1925), boone had hit .337 and .330, respectively. that's not too surprising i suppose, since his career minor league batting average was around .370 over 13 seasons.

eddie brown

brown - nicknamed 'glass arm' for some reason, played for the robins in 1924 and 1925.  he hit .308 in 114 games the first year, and .306 in 153 games the next.  in 1926, brown was playing for the braves, and he hit .328 while leading the league with 201 hits.

george culver

culver had a 9-year major league career, spent mostly in the bullpen.  the dodgers picked him up towards the end of spring training in 1973, and culver pitched in 28 games for them that year - his second-to-last in the majors.  he was 4-4 with 2 saves and a 3.00 era through august 1, but was put on waivers and claimed by the phillies a few days later.

sid fernandez

el sid was thought to be the next fernando valenzuela by some dodger fans in 1983. he was a lefty, but whereas el toro was from mexico, fernandez was from hawaii.  he made two appearances (one start) for the dodgers in '83, going 0-1 with a 6.00 era.  after the season, the dodgers traded fernandez to the mets in the deal that netted them bob bailor and carlos diaz.  fernandez had his best seasons with the mets, helping them to a world championship in 1986.

mickey hatcher

hatcher was a dodger double dipper - you can read all about it here - who seemed to have some bad luck before helping the dodgers win the world series in 1988.  in march of 1981, the dodgers traded hatcher to minnesota, and then went on to win the world series.  six years later, the twins released hatcher, and then they, too, went on to win the fall classic.

johnny hudson

they called him…mr. chips, supposedly because he was a good person to have around when the chips were down according to baseball reference. hudson was a member of the dodgers from 1936-1940, and he appeared in the first night game at ebbets field, which was also the second of johnny vander meer's consecutive no-hitters (hudson was 0 for 1 with a strikeout) in 1938.

chief meyers

meyers was a catcher who had two top-five mvp finishes for the new york giants in 1912 and 1913. he joined the dodgers in 1916, and helped them win the pennant.  meyers was 2 for 10 against babe ruth's red sox in the world series that year, and he returned to the robins for the 1917 season.

fred norman

this may well be the only dodger card of fred norman featuring him in a dodger uniform.  he's still wearing his dodger jersey on his 1971 topps card, but his team affiliation is noted as the cardinals, as he pitched in one game for saint louis in 1970 after they claimed him on waivers from the dodgers late that september.  he had only made his dodger debut earlier that season, and his 1970 topps card shows him wearing a jersey that i believe to be from the kansas city a's (his previous major league team) although he is listed as a dodger. i believed that, but i was wrong - he's wearing his spokane indians minor league jersey on his 1970 topps card (thanks eric).

phil ortega

i can't believe i haven't featured a dodger card of phil ortega on the blog before.  i included him in a post about the frank howard to the senators trade that took place following the 1964 season, but he was a senator on his 1965 topps card that was featured in that post.  ortega was 7-13 with the dodgers over parts of five seasons prior to the aforementioned trade.

jim russell

jim (not bill) russell was with the dodgers in 1950 and 1951. he hit .216 over that span, although that average is somewhat skewed by his 0 for 13 season in 1951.

dick scott

scott pitched for the dodgers in 1963, although not in the world series.  he made an appearance in nine games for the dodgers that year, and he recorded a couple of saves.  after the season, scott was traded to the cubs (that explains his jersey in the photo that was used for the card), and 1964 turned out to be his last in the majors.

don stanhouse

stan the man unusual  was the closer for the american league champion baltimore orioles, when the dodgers signed him to a free agent contract for the 1980 season.  it was a bust of a signing, as stanhouse pitched in just 21 games for the dodgers, amassing an era of 5.04 in 1980.  he didn't pitch at all during the second year of the contract in 1981, and he attempted a comeback with the orioles in 1982.  the dodgers were on the hook for over $400k a year through 1984, however, and some feel that the failed free agent signings of stanhouse and dave goltz made the dodgers gun shy on the free agent market for a few years - until they signed kirk gibson in 1988.

sammy strang

strang was with the brooklyn superbas in 1903 and 1904.  he was their primary third baseman in 1903, hitting .272 in 135 games that year, but he was moved to second base in 1904, and played in only 63 games while hitting .192 in doing so.

joe yeager

joe (not steve) yeager did indeed play both the field and pitch while with the brooklyn franchise from 1898 through 1900.  he was 12-22 on the mound in 1898 when he completed 32 of his 33 starts (he also pitched as a reliever in 3 games) with an era of 3.65, and he also played some shortstop, outfield, and second base. in 1899, yeager played more games at short (11) than he did at pitcher (10), but in 1900, he pitched in two of the three games in which he played.

that's it for this week - take your mom to brunch if you can!

o-pee-chee on parade

here are a few dodger o-pee-chee cards, celebrating the occasion of the final variation being posted over at oh my o-pee-chee! today.

the back of wes parker's 1971 card is somewhat inexplicably included in the blog's header.

his card is not a variation (here's the front)

but i wanted to show the cool 'sunburst' photo on the backs of (most of) the 1971 cards, and i chose parker's mug for some reason.

here's ron fairly from the years before variations, 1969 to be exact

a bunch of rick monday's former teammates wanted to show their support for his 1977 o-pee-chee variation, and here they are.  from 1981, we have burt hooton

who had a variation of his own in 1985;

steve howe

who did not have any variations even though he bounced around in the mid 1980's.  he either switched teams during the season (1985), or signed as a free agent after missing the previous season(s) due to suspensions (1987, 1991);

bill russell

and reggie smith

sporting their 'vedette' banners;

don stanhouse

sporting don sutton's hair and phil garner's mustache;

steve yeager

looking forward to his shameful 1986 o-pee-chee variation (i really wanted yeager to remain a dodger for life);

and here's a 1982 ron cey in action card (with the man of the hour, rick monday, lurking in the background)

one year before receiving a team variation of his own (one of three appearances the penguin made on the blog);

while dave lopes' 1983 card

is one year past his trio of variations, although i think his 1985 variation is the best of lopes' five o-pee-chee variants.

it's been fun (and sometimes tedious) covering the wonder of o-pee-chee cards through the years.  i will miss writing about minute changes in photo cropping and cool team variations and wacky airbrushing and odd text variations and even cards that weren't variations.  i hope you all enjoyed it.

now, back to timeless teams!

let's play the 1981 donruss memory game!

hey kids! do you 'remember' what time it is?  that's right! it's time to play the 1981 donruss memory game!  brought to you by 1981 donruss - the 'first edition collector series'!

now, here's your host, tommy lasorda!

hi everybody! and welcome to the game. let's find out who bleeds dodger blue and who is most likely a giants fan.  player number 1 and player number 2 are here to reveal the cards one at a time, looking for a match.  the matches will have the same (pretty much) background.  ok? we're looking for backgrounds that match.  speaking of matches, i like to match a red wine with my pasta.  ready? let's go.

player number 1, which card should we turn over first?

third card, second row? ok let's see what we get.

nice. steve yeager sitting in the dugout.  now remember, somewhere else on the board, there's a card with the same background.  probably has one of those outlet cover thingys in the picture.  pick another card.  last card, last row?  ok...

nope.  that's steve howe with a blue background.  no match.  we'll reset the board and give player 2 a shot.

player 2 wants the first card turned over.

hey - there's dave lopes.  did you know that his fleer card in 1981 called him 'davy'?  what the heck is a 'davy'?  pick another card.  first card, third row?

joe ferguson for the match!  see that bearded redheaded guy? he's in both photos! that's not a coincidence.  so, one match for player 2.  let's see if player 1 can make a match.  first row, third card coming up.

don stanhouse with a blue background!  i was blue when i realized that stanhouse wasn't going to deliver in the bullpen, i'll tell you that!  i'm also blue when the pizza guy won't deliver.  anyway, player 1, you should get a match here if you can remember where we saw the other blue background.

that's right, it was the last card.  steve howe and don stanhouse make a match.  we're tied at one apiece.

player 1 wants second row, last card.

that's bobby castillo.  fleer called him 'robert' in 1981.  i don't think anyone called him robert.  second row, second card?

hey, it's rick sutcliffe.  he's the guy that totally destroyed my office that one time.  that's not a match, by the way.  close, though.  castillo's background shows the slope of the bleachers, while sutcliffe's background has that triangular piece of the building across the street in right field.  player 2, whaddaya say?  top row, last card coming up.

well, if it isn't jerry reuss. and he's got that triangle building thing in the background.  i think i smell a match...

good for you.  you remembered where rick sutcliffe was.  not too impressive, given that we just saw him in the last round.  player 2 leads 2-1.  pick a card player 1.  bottom row, card number 2 on its way.

rudy law.  get back in my doghouse.  note the background is not in wrigley field!  i thought those donruss photographers never left wrigley.  it's actually dodger stadium's first base side railing.  next card is row 3, card 2.

 nope, that' wrigley behind derrel thomas.  player 2, back to you.  bottom row, card three it is.

hey - look at happy hooton!  he looks disinterested at best.  his pose matches sutcliffe's, but it's the background we're matching.  where have we seen the slope of the bleachers before? what? bottom row, first card?  what's the matter with your memory, player 2?

 that's steve garvey, sitting in the dugout.  player 1, how's your memory?

 yeah, that's still the garv at bottom row, first card.  how about the match?

ding ding! steve yeager for the match.  and we are tied at 2 matches apiece.  we were tied at 2 games apiece against the yankees back in 1978.  of course, we were also ahead 2 games to none at one point.  let's move on - player 2?  oh, you've got your memory back.  second row, last card

that's bobby castillo.  that means  you want...bottom row, third card.  yes.

 burt hooton for the match.  good job.  3-2 in favor of player 2.  player 1?  top row, second card is...

rick monday.  mo! saved that flag back in 1976.  good guy.  now find a match.  just wish he would give the score once in awhile during his broadcasts.  second row, first card?

nope, that's garvey's second card in the set.  he actually has three cards in the set if you count the error on the back of the card with the dugout photo.  some mistake in the number of home runs he hit or something.  anyway, player 2, do you remember where the other card with the dodger stadium railing was?

 right. first things first.  there's garvey's card again.  where's the match?

you got it! rudy law for the match.  player 2 is up 4-2.  player 1, you need to make something happen.  pick a card.  third row, third card? as you wish.

reggie smith.  he didn't have a candy bar, but he was the mvp of the team - just ask don sutton.  ok, where's his match?

you got it, player 1.  rick monday's card is so similar to reggie's, i thought they were doubles.  unfortunately,  that only leaves two cards unturned, so player 2 is going to win 5-3.  looks like he is going to the big dodger in the sky someday, and you, player 1, can kiss my cannoli.  now let's see the last two cards.

derrel thomas, we've seen him before.

and it's gary thomasson matching up with thomas.  if you look closely, you'll see the same guy in a white shirt sitting in the stands to the left of the railing.  he's behind thomas's back

 but just next to thomasson's left shoulder.

well, that's all the time we have for today.  come back next time when we play another round of the 1981 donruss memory game!