sunday morning target dodgers - now with two world series mvps

there have been eight men who, while playing for the dodgers, have been named the most valuable player of the world series. this sheet of 15 cards from the 1990 target dodger anniversary set has two of them, plus 13 others to have worn the uniform of the franchise between 1890 and 1990.  have a look.

max carey

carey was (and still is) one of the greatest defensive outfielders in the history of the game.  he was also one of the best base stealers, too, and his 10 stolen base championships while with the pirates helped cement his hall of fame status.  he joined the robins during the 1926 season when he was 36 years old, but he continued to play for brooklyn through the 1929 season.  in 1932, he returned to the franchise as their manager, replacing wilbert robinson as the team became the dodgers once again. although he led the team to a 6th place finish in 1933 (his last season as the manager) he was still added to the national league's coaching staff for the first all-star game.

bob chipman

according to baseball reference, they called him 'mr. chips'.  chipman was a brooklyn native who debuted for the hometown dodgers in 1941. he pitched in one game that season, two the next, and one in 1943.  in 1944, chipman pitched in 11 games for the dodgers before being traded to the cubs in june for eddie stanky.  he wound up pitching for chicago through 1949, and then spent 3 years with the boston braves.

willie davis

davis is, quite simply, one of the greatest los angeles dodgers ever.  after hitting .318 in 22 games as a rookie in 1960, davis spent the next thirteen seasons as the team's primary center fielder.  as a result, his name sits near or atop the dodger (and especially los angeles dodger) career leader board in many categories.  no other los angeles dodger has had more plate appearances, scored more runs, had more base hits, or boasts a greater war than 3-dog.  i was disappointed that the team did not wear a memorial patch following davis's death in 2010.

tommy dean

dean got his start in the big leagues as a dodger in 1967. he hit .143 in 12 games as a september call-up that year, but was back in the minors for the 1968 season.  dean was traded to the padres early in the 1969 season for al mcbean, and became their regular shortstop in their inaugural season.

phil gallivan

gallivan was a pitcher on the 1931 robins. it was his first year in the majors, and he posted an 0-1 record in 6 appearances. the next season, he was pitching for the white sox who later traded him for a player named george washington.

charlie gilbert

gilbert hit .246 as a rookie for the 1940 brooklyn dodgers. he was traded to the cubs in may of 1941 for billy herman.

pedro guerrero

ah. here's one of the world series mvp's that i mentioned up top. guerrero, of course, shared his award with ron cey and steve yeager in 1981.  he hit .333 with 2 homers, 7 rbi, and an ops of 1.179 in that fall classic against the yankees and all was right with the world. the next year, he finished third in the league mvp voting, and in 1983, the dodgers moved him to third base and he was fourth in the mvp voting.  i've often wondered what might have happened if the dodgers had just left petey in the outfield and not tried to use him as a third baseman, but at the time it didn't seem to affect his offense too much. he was one of the most exciting players in the league, and i was glad he was on 'my' team.

oscar jones

jones pitched for the brooklyn superbas from 1903 through 1905. after winning 19 games in 1903, jones led the league with 25 losses (paired with 17 wins) in 1902, a season in which he threw 377 innings and posted a 2.75 era.

george magoon

magoon was a brooklyn bridegroom in 1898 when he hit .224 in 93 games.  the next year, he was with the baltimore orioles and later played for the cubs, reds, and white sox.

camilo pascual

target put an extra 'i' in camilo's name, which is too bad since they are a company based in the twin cities which is where pascual had his best years. he was a member of the washington senators (as evidenced by the photo on the card) who moved to minneapolis with the rest of calvin griffith's squad in 1961. he won 20 games twice for the twins, and then pitched against the dodgers in the 1965 world series, losing game 3.  the dodgers signed pascual as a free agent during the 1970 season, and while he didn't earn a decision as a member of the club, he pitched well in his 10 appearances as evidenced by his 2.57 era. it's too bad that he wasn't held until the latter series of the 1970 set, as this is the only card of him as a dodger that i know of.

johnny podres

podres was the first dodger to win the world series mvp award.  he won game 3 against the yankees with a complete game performance, and then shut out the bronx bombers at yankee stadium in game 7 to win the dodgers' first world championship. podres then spent the next season in the military.  he returned to the club in 1957 and led the league in era and whip.  podres wound up winning a total of 136 games for the dodgers before pitching for the tigers and, fittingly enough, the padres towards the end of his career.

mike scioscia

scioscia was the dodgers' first round pick in 1976, and he made his big league debut four years later. after that, he was essentially the dodgers' primary catcher through the 1992 season, and appeared to be a front runner to eventually become the team's manager, especially after bill russell was fired in 1998.  no dice, however, as the club went with davey johnson for the 1999 season, and scioscia was soon leading the anaheim angels to a world series title.

harry taylor

taylor pitched for the dodgers from 1946-48, getting most of his action in 1947 when he pitched in 33 games, 20 of which were starts, and had 10 complete games and 2 shutouts. he also pitched in the world series that year. after spending 1949 and most of 1950 in the minors, his contract was purchased by the red sox, and he pitched for them through 1952.

john werhas

werhas played for the dodgers during the mid to late 1960's. he debuted in 1964 and then had a short stint with the club again as a september call-up in 1965. he was called up once more in 1967 for a few games, and was then dealt to the angels for len gabrielson, who was werhas's teammate at usc. overall, werhas hit .183 in 40 games as a dodger.

tom zachary

i knew who tom zachary was at a fairly young age, thanks to the fact that it was he who surrendered babe ruth's 60th home run in 1927.  i did not know, however, that zachary became ruth's teammate the following year (and helped the yankees win the 1928 world series) nor did in know that he also went on to pitch for the dodgers in 1934. he was 5-6 with a 4.43 era, but pitched a bit better in 1935.  in 1936, he made just one appearance as a dodger (allowing 2 runs in a third of an inning) before he was released - two years before the bambino joined the team as a coach.

that's it for this week - i've got another sheet lined up for next sunday...

waiting for a decision on 2014 topps heritage

blissfully unaware of the delays topps has announced for 2014 heritage, i swung through the card aisle on a recent trip to target.  no heritage, obviously, and so i was left to wonder whether i would have bought any had it been there.  up until a few weeks ago i was all in for 2014 heritage.  i am a fan of the 1965 topps design, and i hadn't tried to complete a heritage set since 2001, the first year.  that was somewhat of a disaster as the box i had pre-ordered (before the prices went crazy) never showed up and i was left to fend for myself with all the other people who went bananas over the 1952 topps design and short prints galore.

standing in the card aisle, i got to thinking.  i still haven't finished that 2001 set, in fact, i don't even have a want list posted.  it is such a low priority.  and, i am still trying to finish the 2003 upper deck vintage set (i do have a want list for that one) which shamelessly ripped off the 1965 topps design.  pretty much all i have left are short prints - ichiro, mike piazza, and the like plus most of the 3d cards.

i did pick up a few short prints last year, like mark mcgwire

raul mondesi

alex ochoa

and jay payton

plus the richie sexson 3d card

i would be happy to have the complete set minus the 3d cards which seem to be pretty tough to find.

i also reminded myself that i had decided that the 1965 topps set would be the one set from that decade that i would actually try to complete.  i have my sampler set which would mean that i'm not starting from scratch.  and, to get the ball rolling, here's my 1965 topps want list, and here are some cards from my dodger team set that have been waiting patiently in my scanned folder.

willie crawford/john werhas

first card for willie, second for john

willie davis

and tommy davis

because two davises are better than one.

and finally, wally moon

because, you know, the unibrow.

so, what it all means is that the next time i'm in the card aisle, i may well pick up a pack or two of heritage, but i've got other set building priorities.  i think.

card show recap - dealers 3 and 4 and the assault on my 1974 topps want list

all right.  moving on to the meat of the card show from last week.

before i get there, however, remember to let me know what you think i spent on these cards in the comments.  whoever is closest (or first with a precise guess) gets some cards featuring a team of their choice.

now then.  my primary goal was to complete my 1974 topps set.  i would have gone to dealer 3 first, but he was still setting up shop when i arrived.  this is the guy with the vintage bargain bins.  i have been buying slightly-off vintage from him for 14 years or so.  he also has a half-price vintage box with cards in better shape marked at half off of what i assume to be book.  who knows the last time he updated the prices, though.

i took some cards from there, including a 1974 topps nolan ryan

1974 topps nolan ryan/tom seaver league leaders

1974 topps bobby murcer/pete rose all-stars

1974 topps hank aaron special #2

i didn't need the hank, but i picked it up for a certain calgarian.  the ryan was the most expensive card i bought at the show.

now for those true bargain bins

1961 post johnny podres

1967 topps stan bahnsen/bobby murcer rookie stars

1967 topps john werhas

1968 topps deckle edge frank howard

1969 o-pee-chee jim lonborg

1969 o-pee-chee rick monday
1971 o-pee-chee clete boyer - love the 71 opc backs!

1971 o-pee-chee lew krausse
1971 o-pee-chee rod gaspar
1971 o-pee-chee merv rettenmund
1971 topps willie smith

1972 o-pee-chee mets team - featuring gil hodges

1972 o-pee-chee vida blue in action - look at how often new york shows up on the back

1972 o-pee-chee 1971 nl playoffs bucs champs
1972 o-pee-chee 1971 world series game 1
1974 o-pee-chee ramon hernandez
1975 o-pee-chee yogi berra/roy campanella 1951 mvps

yes, it it miscut, but it is a campy o-pee-chee.  in the most bargainy of all of this guy's bargain bins.  here's the back for you frenchies

ptd in canada!
1975 o-pee-chee joe niekro
1975 o-pee-chee mickey rivers
2 1971-72 o-pee-chee hockey cards for $30 a week habit

yes, i found some vintage o-pee-chee.  that doesn't happen - ever - at these shows.  the podres is the second 1961 post card in my collection (both from this show) and the werhas, while creased, was worth picking up because it took me so long to find one for my collection that i thought there might be a dodger collector out there that would be ok with one that is creased in half.  the murcer rookie was an impulse buy, but the '71 willie smith goes in my set.  not completely sure what i will do with most of these cards, however.  i am not about to start building any more opc sets (i have from 1977 through 1992 and just the variations from prior to '77).

on to dealer 4

i don't recall exactly when it was that i last attended this show, but whenever it was, i talked to this guy about my need for a few 1974 topps washington nat'l variations.  he emailed me later to let me know that he had the ones i needed and that he would bring them to the next show i attended.  i emailed him last week to let him know i was coming, and he brought the cards i needed.  unfortunately, i had already obtained a copy of one of the cards since our last meeting.  that would be the glenn beckert variation

here are the ones that are new to me - nate colbert

cito gaston

dave roberts

and the whole darn 'nat'l lea' team.

i became so so close to finishing that set after these two guys helped me out.

let me know how much you think i spent with dealer 3 and dealer 4 in the comments.  i am looking for individual amounts, not total.  next post coming later this pm.

card show recap - for just a quarter more

i went to the card show yesterday with two goals.  the first was to get my son's twins yearbooks signed by john gordon, the twinkies' retiring radio play-by-play guy ("touch 'em all kirby puckett!") and to find a 1967 topps john werhas card.  the first part was easy.  there were only three or four people lined up when gordo arrived at 1130.  he was nice and added the "touch 'em all" to each of his signatures.

the werhas was a little tougher.  werhas is a high number (514) in that set and has been on my mind for a while as one of the few cards i still need for my 1967 topps dodger set.  unfortunately for me, the vintage bargain bin guy i usually spend most of my time (and money) with was at the national.  the other vintage not-so bargain bin guy was there, but he didn't have a werhas.  i asked a couple other guys who had some stacks of highly priced high numbers, but they were fresh out of werhas. i figured i would be sol. 

then i stopped at a table where a guy had three big boxes of stuff marked at 25-cents per card.  he said he was trying to get out of the hobby and had no qualms about doing so.  the second handful of cards i shuffled through yielded this

it's kinda rough with what looks like some gum staining and tape residue.  after i scanned it, i was able to rub most of the stain above the tree line off, so that's nice.  i spent about $14 at the quarter table and picked up a bunch of 1973 topps high numbers (for the set) including this marvelous bill hands card

didn't realize the twinkies played at wrigley.

i also took a few other vintage cards off the guy's hands along with some early '90's dodgers and a bunch of 1998 topps tek variations that i will try to flip.  i also picked up this gem for a quarter - a 1997 topps karim garcia card, purportedly signed by garcia himself

along with a 2001 upper deck decade 1970's ron guidry insert.

why would i buy a card of louisiana lightnin', the guy who was 3-1 with a 1.69 era against the dodgers in three world series?  i bought it because it features a photo taken during one of those series in dodger stadium.  too bad it doesn't scan well - you'll just have to take my word for it.

that was the story from the quarter box guy.  i did buy a few other cards on the cheap - i got this 1956 topps walter alston card for $1

thanks to the guy who cut the corner off (and put his initials on the back).  i also picked up some 1979 topps singles at a nickel apiece (for the low priority upgrade set) as well as a few 1971 topps singles (also for the set).  this high number (729) set me back $2, but it was the most expensive '71 i purchased.

it's nice to know rich/dick allen wasn't the only one vacillating between first names.

after the show, i headed over to mauer chevrolet (joe's brother's dealership) where dan gladden, jack morris and scott erickson were signing.   i had each of them sign my son's yearbook and morris also signed his helmet.  all three were very nice and personable - even though gladden and morris hinted at having had a pretty rough friday night/saturday morning on the town with their former teammates.  there was probably enough time to get through erickson's line again at the end of the day but i didn't bring any cards (i had forgotten that erickson pitched for the dodgers in 2005, but there's not a card of him in dodger blue that i know of anyway) so i passed.  maybe i should have gone through just to get another look at erickson's wife.  very pretty.

is there anything better than vintage bargain bins?

well, obviously, there is. but vintage bargain bins are still pretty great. i ventured out to one of the local card shows a week or so ago, and spent most of my time digging through cards that were made before i was born. here's what i came up with.

1963 topps nl batting leaders, featuring tommy davis.not bad company for the 3-dog to be in. this was a buck as the front is a bit scuffed, but still, aaron, musial, frobby, and a dodger (and bill white, of course). awesome.

1959 topps danny mcdevitt

one of the few non-yellow 1959 topps dodger cards. 1959 was mcdevitt's 'career' year - he set personal bests in wins (10), complete games (6), saves (4) and strikeouts (106).

speaking of yellow 1959 topps dodgers, here's a 1959 topps charlie neal.1959 was a big year for charlie, too. career highs in runs, hits, doubles, triples (he led the league with 11), rbi and stolen bases. charlie was an all-star, won a gold glove, finished 8th in the mvp balloting and hit .370 in the world series to boot.

1959 topps joe pignatano.joe is a cousin of pete falcone. he was john roseboro's backup in 1959.

1960 fleer branch rickey.technically not a dodger, but still.

1960 fleer wilbert robinson.'uncle robbie' managed the brooklyn robins from 1914 to 1931, winning two pennants. they were the dodgers for one year prior to his taking over as manager, and then renamed the 'robins' after the new manager. when robinson retired, they went back to being known as the 'dodgers'.

1960 fleer dazzy vance.dazzy won 190 games for brooklyn over 12 seasons. he won a world series with st louis in 1934. if you think he looks rough, you should see the zach wheat card from this set.

1960 fleer arky vaughan.best known as a pirate, this hall of famer finished his career with 4 years in brooklyn. he lost 3 years during his time in brooklyn to what i assume to be military service.

1964 topps bob miller.looks like bob is playing catch in the front yard.

1964 topps frank howard.hondo without his glasses. 1964 was his final year with the dodgers, although topps would show him with the blue on his 1965 card.

1964 topps wes parker/john werhas.wes parker stuck, but john werhas appeared in only 40 games over three seasons with the dodgers. to my knowledge, he did not appear on 'batman' or 'the brady bunch'. game, set, match parker.

1965 topps jim brewer.no relation to bernie.

1965 topps johnny podres.1965 was podres' last full year with the dodgers. he was sent to detroit after appearing in just one game for the dodgers in 1966.

1966 topps john roseboro.roseboro is best known for taking over the catching for campanella and for getting struck in the head by juan marichal's bat. he also won his second gold glove in 1966, but went just 1 for 14 in the world series against the orioles that year.

1968 topps hank aguirre.1968 was aguirre's only year with the dodgers. he appeared in 25 games and had 3 saves.

1969 topps nl strikeout leaders bill singer.and two other guys. singer had 227 strikeouts in 1968 and led the league with a 8k/9ip ratio.

now we get to the less-vintage (meaning cards i was alive for)

1976 topps steve rogers.slowly making progress on the 1976 set.

1977 topps roy hartsfield and coaches.i like the variation. i thought i had this and the mariners version, but i didn't. still looking for the mariners version.

1978 topps lou piniella.

a 1978 topps yankee/yankee stadium shot card that is not a) a game action shot or b) taken in front of the 'brut' sign.

and now for something completely modern.

2007 topps chrome chad billingsley blue refractor.blue refractors rule.

2008 donruss threads steve garvey parallel #d to something or other

my inner joe collector came through for this one.

there you have it. i'm ready for more bargain bins.