sunday (maurice) morning (wills) target dodgers

this particular sheet of 15 players from the 1990 target dodger stadium giveaway set is a pretty interesting one.  i'll kick it off with maury wills, whose middle name if you didn't already know is 'morning'

i haven't done wills' double dipper post yet - i'll get to it someday - but he played for the dodgers from 1959 through 1966, and then again from 1969 through 1972.  he won the nl mvp award in 1962 after stealing a record 104 bases that year (since surpassed by lou brock and rickey henderson), and helped the dodgers win four pennants during his first tenure with the team.  for me, his most interesting record is 165 games played in 1962.  i don't see that being broken.

babe birrer

birrer, who debuted for detroit in 1955 (he's wearing his tiger duds in the photo used for this card), finished his major league career with 16 appearances for the 1958 los angeles dodgers.  he had no record, although he recorded what would have been a save in his final big league game if that stat had been around in 1958.  birrer's role with the dodgers looks like it was as a long relief/mop up guy, so he wound up getting some at bats and made the most of them - in 8 plate appearances, birrer was 4 for 7 with a double and a walk.

dan brouthers

first baseman dan brouthers had a fantastic mustache.  he also may well have been the best player in the late 19th century.  he spent two seasons of his hall of fame career with the brooklyn grooms (1892 and 1893) and led the league in hits (197), rbi (124), and batting average (.335) in his first season with the franchise.  as a member of the brooklyn grooms over two seasons, he reached base at a .438 clip, and his career on-base percentage of .423 is the 14th best all-time.

jack coombs

coombs, who had won 31 games for connie mack's a's in 1910, 28 in 1911, and world series titles in each of those seasons, joined the brooklyn robins for the 1915 season.  he wound up pitching for the robins through the 1918 season, posting a record of 43-43 in that span.  he won 15 games in his first season with the club, however, and was 13-8 in 1916 with a 2.66 era, helping the team win the national league pennant.  he was the starter and winning pitcher in game 3 of the series against the red sox - the only game the robins won.

tony cuccinello

cuccinello was the dodgers' second baseman from 1932 through 1935, although he saw some playing time at third base as well.  he was named to the all-star team in 1933, and pinch hit for carl hubbell in the 9th inning.  unfortunately, lefty grove struck him out to end the game.

bob fisher

fisher broke into the major leagues with the 1912 brooklyn dodgers.  he hit .233 in 82 games while playing short, second, and third.  in 1913, he played in 132 games, exclusively at shortstop, and hit .262.  fisher moved on to the chicago cubs, and later switched to second base playing alongside a young shortstop named rogers hornsby on the saint louis cardinals in 1918.

johnny frederick

frederick roamed the outfield for brooklyn from 1929 through 1934.  he never played in fewer that 100 games, and led the league with 52 doubles as a rookie in 1929.  frederick also had 10 homers in his rookie season, giving him a record 82 extra base hits as a rookie - a record that stood until albert pujols broke it in 2001.  injuries ate into frederick's playing time in the outfield, and he was often used as a pinch hitter.  in 1932, frederick hit 6 pinch hit home runs, a record that was eventually broken by the dodgers' dave hansen in 2000.

charlie fuchs

fuchs was 1-0 for the dodgers in 1944, the final season of his 3-year big league career.  he pitched in 8 games for brooklyn, posting an era of 5.74.

brad gulden

gulden appeared in three games for the 1978 dodgers, going 0 for 4 at the plate.  with steve yeager, joe ferguson, and johnny oates all on the roster, there was not much room for another catcher, and gulden was dealt to the yankees prior to the 1979 season for gary thomasson.  gulden was recalled by the bronx bombers following the death of thurman munson in august of 1979, and wound up playing in 40 games that year for the yankees.  gulden's last year in the majors was 1986, when he appeared in 17 games for the giants.

kirby higbe

higbe had been an all-star for the phillies in 1940 before joining the dodgers, and he promptly pitched brooklyn to the world series in 1941 by winning a league high 22 games.  higbe won 29 games over the next two seasons, and then spent two years in combat with the us army.  when he returned from service, he won 17 games for the 1946 dodgers, and was again named to the all-star team.  unfortunately, when higbe entered the game, he was greeted by a ted williams home run.  higbe was one of the players who signed dixie walker's petition asking that the dodgers trade jackie robinson in 1947, and wound up being traded away to the pirates early in the season as a result.

lerrin lagrow

the dodgers acquired lagrow from the white sox early in the 1979 season, and he posted a 5-1 record with 4 saves for them the rest of the way.  lagrow moved on to the phillies for the 1980 season, but was released in july and so did not get to pitch in the world series that year.

harry lumley

lumley spent his entire 7-year major league career with the brooklyn superbas, playing outfield for them from 1904-1910.  in 1904, he led the league as a rookie in both triples (18) and home runs (9), a feat no one has managed since.  lumley had a big year in 1906 as well, hitting .324 with 9 homers and a league leading .477 slugging percentage.  lumley became the team's player/manager in 1909, but after losing 98 games he returned to just player status in 1910.

dick nen

nen had 1 hit in 7 games as a rookie september call-up for the 1963 dodgers, and it was a game-tying, 9th inning home run against the saint louis cardinals.  nen spent all of 1964 in the minors, and then was included in the trade with the senators prior to the 1965 season that netted the team claude osteen.

john tudor

tudor was acquired by the dodgers late in the 1988 season in exchange for pedro guerrero.  he was 4-3 with a 2.41 era for the blue down the stretch, and made a start in both the nlcs and the world series for the club.  his world series start was cut short after four outs due to injury, but he retired all four batters he faced.

dixie walker

i mentioned walker above as the initiator of the player petition aimed at forcing the dodgers' hand to trade jackie robinson prior to the 1947 season. he was also a great ballplayer, hitting over .300 in each of his full seasons with the dodgers, including a league leading .357 in 1944.  walker also led the league with 124 rbi in 1945.  even with his petition, walker remained with the dodgers through the 1947 season before being traded to the pirates following the world series.

thank god, the police

any fans of fletch out there? aside from the fact that fletch f. fletch hated tommy lasorda, i am a fan of the movie.  i even kind of like fletch lives.  anyway, the title of this post refers to the point where chief karlin (the number one drug pusher from here to oxnard) shows up near the end - but not to help fletch or the lovely gail stanwyck.  anyway, it's a lame way to say that this post is about some dodgers police cards.

starting in 1980, the lapd sponsored a stadium giveaway of oversized cards.  i recently picked up a few sets from a seller who advertised a lot of 6 sets.  it turns out that one of the sets he advertised he no longer had.  he didn't seem to think that it was a big deal.  he eventually gave me a partial refund, but i won't be buying from him anymore.

enough of that - here's the header card from the 1986 set - a nice team shot in dodger stadium of the 1985 western division champs

the dodgers didn't do much in 1986, so the header card of the 1987 set is just an aerial shot of dodger stadium

for the most part the cards all feature photos of the players at home in chavez ravine.  take fernando valenzuela, for example.  here are his 1987

1989

and 1986

cards.  all feature photos from pretty much the same angle.  thanks to the stirrups, we can see that they are not from the same game.

bob welch also has some repetitious cards in the 1986

and 1987 sets

i appreciate the red uniform number on the cards in 1986 and 1987.  not sure why the went away from it in 1989.

speaking of which, john tudor gets a night card in the 1989 dodgers police set

just like on his 1989 topps card.  both cards feature in-game action from dodger stadium which makes sense since all of tudor's starts at home in 1988 as a dodger were night games.  he did pitch on the road in a day game at philadelphia, but like i mentioned before - these sets tend to feature the players in the home whites.

well, fast forward to 1991, and we get barry lyons in the away grays.

lyons joined the dodgers in september of 1990, and appeared in three games.  the first two were on the road, and the third was at dodger stadium.  i'm surprised (and pleased) that there was a photo of lyons in dodger blue at all.  he was included in the set because he returned to the team in 1991, although he only made 9 appearances before being released in june of that year.  it is worth nothing that lyons had only one hit as a dodger, but at least it was a home run against the giants.

pretty sure that's the only dodger card of lyons, so unlike fletch i am genuinely thankful for the police that showed up.  although i wasn't facing incineration while wearing another man's suit at the time.

2012: some trade oddities

there are two dodger short prints in the 2012 topps archives release.  one is a sandy koufax card and the other is brett butler.  i am still in need of the koufax, but tom from waiting 'til next year was kind enough to send me the butler

the rest of the package was made up mostly of oddball cards, which was great.  there were a lot of cards that i had not seen before, like this brett butler card from 1992 topps kids

it's pretty cool, actually.  the cartoon guys in the dugout remind me of the bazooka inserts from the mid-2000's. i wonder if the artist consciously drew a guy sleeping in the dugout because tommy lasorda was supposedly known to nod off now and then during a game.

there aren't a whole lot of bill madlock as a dodger cards aside from his regular issue donruss/fleer/topps cards from 1986 and 1987.  here's a 1987 sportflics card featuring the two-time national league batting champ

same goes for john tudor, who was with the dodger for a short time (only 15 appearances over 1988 and 1989).  here's his 1989 sportflics card

there are even fewer tudor as a dodger cards as he was not even featured in the flagship releases of donruss, fleer, or topps in 1990. both fleer and topps included him in their update/traded sets that year, but by that time, tudor was back with the cardinals.

how about a 1989 score young superstars tim belcher card?

and a 1990 topps toys 'r' us john wetteland card?

both of them supremely oddball.  and, both were cards missing from my collection.

here's a 1988 fleer baseball's exciting stars card of orel hershiser

the bulldog is just sitting on a milk crate in dodger stadium.  no big deal.  his pose belies the excitement that one might anticipate from a card touting 'exciting stars'.

and then there is this 1990 fleer baseball mvp card of hershiser

this was a set that didn't actually feature mvp's exclusively, although hershiser did win that award in the 1988 nlcs and world series.  still, one might have expected kirk gibson (the 1988 national league mvp) to make an appearance in the set.  he did not.

finally, there was this 1991 topps mike scioscia glossy all-star insert

i had no idea this card existed prior to seeing it in the package.  i am assuming it was a rack pack insert just like the glossy all-star cards had been dating back to 1985 (i believe).  always nice to have another scioscia card in the collection.

thanks tom for a really odd (in a good way) trade!

two two tudor - ttm triumphs

today i will feature some more through the mail goodness, this time courtesy of the guy who traded places with pedro guerrero during the 1988 pennant chase - john tudor.  i recall being surprised that the trade was made and even more surprised when the trade was described as 'addition by subtraction' (i was naive to guerrero's effect on team chemistry).  still, it was hard to ignore the acquisition of one of the best lefties in the bigs.

at the time of the trade, tudor had a 2.29 era in 21 starts.  with the dodgers, he made 9 starts and had a 2.41 era.  his whip did rise from 1.12 to 1.30, but he still pitched pretty well.  he made a start in the 1988 nlcs (5+ innings, 4 earned runs) in game 4 - the 12 inning dodger win that saw mike scioscia hit a game tying two-run blast off of dwight gooden in the 9th and kirk gibson hit the game winner off of roger mcdowell in the 12th.  he also started game 3 of the 1988 world series, but left after just 1.1 innings pitched due to injury.

tudor returned to the dodgers in 1989, but was able to make only 6 appearances due to injury.  he rebounded with a great 1990 season for the cardinals, going 12-4 with a 2.40 era but retired after the season.  he and dean chance are the only non-hall of famers to throw 10 or more shutouts in season, post world war ii (the others are bob gibson, sandy koufax, juan marichal, bob feller, and jim palmer).  today also happens to be his 57th birthday, but i'm the one on the receiving end.  on to the cards.

here's what i consider to be his best dodger card, his 1989 topps

it's a dodger stadium card, and a night card, and a nice mid-delivery shot to boot.  he also signed a 1989 fleer

a 1989 upper deck

and a 1990 upper deck card.

that card is kind of the yang to the '89 topps' yin.  still dodger stadium, but under bright sunshine and he's getting the ball back from the catcher.

and, lest we forget that tudor started out his career in the northeast, he also returned a 1981 topps

and a 1984 donruss.

i wish i had sent him one of his fantastic o-pee-chee variations to sign.

oh well, happy birthday and thanks john tudor!

i heart (cards from) halos

rwh from i heart halos recently sent me a bunch of dodgers in return for some cards featuring those angels of anaheim - it was an interleague/freeway series trade!

here are some highlights:

2006 bowman chrome nomar garciaparra xfractor 182/250

can't top the checkerboard! reminds me of vans and junior high. so sad to see nomar making spot starts. the twinkie announcers were talking like he was dead over the weekend.

1995 upper deck collector's choice se darren dreifort rookie class
little d was the personification of 'tremendous upside'. injuries suck.

1982 donruss ken landreaux once traded for rodney cline carew, this man caught the final out of the first dodgers' world championship of my lifetime.

1986 topps terry whitfield
i always wondered why the dodgers brought whitfield back from japan instead of re-signing dusty or reggie or even rick monday. i also wondered what that guy off his right hip was wearing and what he was doing in the dugout.

1989 topps mini leaders john tudor i believe tudor led the league in being traded for pedro guerrero.

1990 topps mini leaders jay howell this set is even less attractive in mini style.

2009 topps walmart black angel berroathis card is bad ass. like shaft playing shortstop.

2008 upper deck timeline chin-lung hu not as dark as the walmart card, but it scans that way. another need from my timeline quest taken care of.

2007 topps finest jason schmidt refractor 109/199

hm. stick with the blue refractors, especially for the dodgers.

thanks rwh! see you in the fall classic!

call me a variation(wax)aholic

a while back, captain canuck posted a lament about finding 1971 o-pee-chee cards. at that time, i had exactly two in my collection - al downing and duke sims, both of whom were "recently traded to dodgers". there is another dodger variation in the set - alan foster, who was traded from the dodgers to the indians. now, if you have read this site before, you may know how much i like these o-pee-chee variations.

so, i asked brian if he had a double of foster - he did not, but he offered to send it to me anyway. well, i received it the other day, and, like the game of ball, it is glorious.
side note number one: a reader contacted me a while back looking for information on 1971 o-pee-chee variations, which got me thinking, maybe i should go for all 13 variations, not just the dodger related ones. so, i have added them to my want list, minus some i found a couple weekends ago.

side note number two: i found out last night that i am a canadian citizen, thanks to yesterday's amendment to the canadian citizenship act, so these o-pee-chee cards are even better, eh?

brian also included some junk wax, which i thought about posting on craigslist for thousands of dollars, but i couldn't resist ripping some 91 fleer. there were a bunch of great cards, surprisingly enough. check these out:

1991 o-pee-chee premier (so it's not the topps sister set, that's ok)

bobby ojeda.
gregg olson.
alex cole.
junior!bernard gilkey.
pete incaviglia

1991 score

dan pasqua (in old-timey uniform)
jim leyritz.
steve avery.
chuck finley.
scott chiamparino.
darren reed.
mark lee.
adam hyzdu.
glenn wilson.
les lancaster.
kurt stillwell. a double play! stillwell must have the highest double play photo to card ratio of any player ever.stan belinda.
1958 world series sportflic thingy.
geno petralli.
shawon dunston.
alejandro pena. as a met.
luis salazar.

1991 fleer. avert your eyes.

detroit tigers sticker.
dave lapoint.
terry leach.
bj surhoff.
trevor wilson.
randy veres.
bert blyleven. bert belongs.
jeff robinson.
jack mcdowell.
bryan harvey.
bo jackson. bo knows junk wax.

joe klink.
dwayne henry.
howard johnson.
jerry reed.

1991 topps

david cone.
dennis rasmussen.
mike marshall. as a red sock.the mets kept him for only half a season.

kirk mccaskill. the pride of kapuskasing ontario.
chuck cary.
frank white.
terry mulholland.
curt schilling.
bert blyleven. i'll show this one since it's not dandelion yellow.rich garces. el guapo.
dennis cook. loogy. as in 'lefty one out guy'.mike simms.
dave martinez.
dave rohde.
nelson liriano.

1989 score. this was a grocery pack. keep that in mind.

jose lind.
lenny dykstra.
larry sheets. what was he on in 1987?
tony gwynn. i used to love going down to san diego to see the padres play the dodgers. i secretly rooted for tony gwynn, even in those games.rafael ramirez.
bob ojeda.
claudell washington.
1983 sportflic thingy.
craig biggio.
goose gossage.
manny lee.
paul zuvella. turning two!dave meads. in dodger stadium!rich gedman.
darrin jackson.
terry steinbach.
mark davis.
scott bankhead (young superstar insert)
glenn hubbard.
andy allanson.
chili davis.
terry kennedy.
harold baines.
greg gross.
1935 sportflic thingy.
craig biggio. i guess i'll show it the second time around.goose gossage. ditto.manny lee. sorry manny. you'll have to show up 5 or 6 times before i bother.
roger clemens.
steve jeltz.
orel hershiser. 23-8. 15 complete games. singing hymns on the tonight show.doug jennings.
jose rijo. in dodger stadium.
cecil fielder.
jose deleon.
andy hawkins.
1942 sportflic thingy.
jamie moyer.
jim gott.
chris bosio.
mark clear.
gary ward.
greg cadaret.
mike 'enough' aldrete. once bought beer for me and my friends.dave leiper.
tracy jones.
larry parrish.
mike birkbeck.
john tudor.

1989 topps.

steve ontiveros.
andres galarraga (all star)
gregg jefferies (record breaker)
checklist.
scott lusader.
chili davis.
terry puhl. the pride of melville saskatchewan. terry mcgriff.
andy benes.
jeff robinson.
wes gardner.
mike greenwell (all star)
wil tejada.
jim gott.
tom lasorda. pre-slimfast.frank viola (all star).
brian fisher.
allan anderson. i believe he skipped a start to ensure that he would lead the league in era.
cecilio guante. the legend continues!
ricky jordan.
mark gubicza.
garry templeton.
andre dawson (record breaker).
greg walker.
jack mcdowell.
denny walling. men are from mars, women are from venus, denny walling is from neptune (nj).
ron gant.
dion james.
dave eiland. i show this only because topps gave him a card after making only 3 starts for the yankees, but didn't bother with a regular issue card for don sutton (they did give him a box bottom card).
thanks captain. that was a lot of fun.