cards that should have been from the garvey binders

here are a couple more pages from my steve garvey oddball binder.  these two pages features cards that should have been of my favorite player. most i have created, but there are a couple that i have obtained from others - bob lemke and mrmopar.

the last 1969 topps card is the one that bob lemke made, while i lifted the first 1970 topps card from mrmopar.  i am partial to my 1970 topps card that should have been, as well as the 1978 topps record breaker.

the evolution of the dodger second baseman, part 2

when we last saw the dodger second baseman, he (paul popovich) was on his way to the expansion montreal expos, so someone needed to step up in 1969.  that someone was…

ted sizemore (1969-1970)

sizemore (seen with his topps rookie team trophy on his 1970 topps card) actually started the season at shortstop (jim lefebvre was at second), but he moved to second when lefebvre got hurt in mid april.  even though he returned to short when lefebvre came back, walt alston eventually switched sizemore back to second when the club reacquired maury wills to play shortstop.  sizemore played 118 of his 159 games in 1969 as the dodgers' second baseman, and hit .271 as he was named the national league's rookie of the year.  in 1970, he appeared in only 96 games, but made 81 starts at second for the dodgers so he retains his title as their primary second baseman.  he hit .306 that year and was dealt following the season to the cardinals in the dick (rich) allen trade.

jim lefebvre (1971)

look who's back.  lefebvre, who had been the team's primary second baseman in 1965 and 1966 and is a former rookie of the year himself, was back at the position in 1971.  that's lefebvre's 1972 o-pee-chee card, by the way.  he played in 102 games as the dodger second baseman in '71 (98 starts) and hit .245 with 12 homers.

lee lacy (1972)

once again, lefebvre began the season as the team's second baseman, but hit a rough patch in early may and gave way to bobby valentine.  soon thereafter, lee lacy (shown on his 1973 o-pee-chee card) was called up from the minors, and he went on to lay claim to the position.  lacy made 58 starts at second - about a dozen more than valentine and 20 or so more than lefebvre.  he hit .259 and scored 34 runs, but didn't play much in september, as the dodgers called up another guy to play some second.

dave lopes (1973-1981)

lopes (shown on a very crooked 1979 kellogg's card) made 11 starts during the last month of the 1972 season, and i guess alston saw enough.  he handed the position over to lopes in 1973, giving him 133 starts that year.  he dabbled in the outfield from time to time, but otherwise held the position through the 1981 world series.  along the way, he led the league in steals twice, won a gold glove, made four all-star teams, and helped the dodgers to four pennants and a world series title.  he was the second baseman on the team of my youth.

steve sax (1982-1988)

like lopes, sax held the dodgers' second base position until they won a world series title.  lopes, however, was traded prior to the 1982 season while saxy left after the 1988 campaign as a free agent.  before that happened, he was the fourth dodger second baseman to win the rookie of the year award, and he made three all-star teams, including the 1983 squad as alluded to on the 1984 topps glossy all-star card above.  in 1986, sax finished second to tim raines in the batting title race, hitting a career high .332 (raines hit .334).  he twice led the national league in errors while with the dodgers and much was made about his difficulties throwing to first base, but he was still my favorite dodger after steve garvey left town.  besides, i don't think of him defensively - my lasting steve sax memory is of him hitting the first pitch of the 1988 season into the left field bleachers at dodger stadium.

willie randolph (1989)

the yankees and dodgers essentially traded second baseman for the 1989 season, although both signed with their new teams as free agents.  with sax gone to the bronx, the dodgers signed willie randolph (seen on a 1989 fleer update card).  randolph appeared in 145 games in 1989, including 139 starts at second.  he hit .282 and was selected to the all-star team.  however, the dodgers traded him to the a's early in the 1990 season for stan javier.

juan samuel (1990-1991)

following the 1989 season, the dodgers traded mike marshall and alejandro pena to the mets for samuel.  they moved him back to his original position of second base (the mets were using him as their center fielder), and he made 101 starts there for the dodgers in 1990.  the following year, samuel started 150 games at second for the blue, and didn't sniff the outfield.  he made the all-star team that year as well, hitting .271 with 74 runs scored and 23 steals.  samuel began the 1992 season as the team's second baseman, but was released in july.  eric young was called up to take his roster spot, but there was another player who actually played second more than anyone else that year.

lenny harris (1992)

yes, i am using cards from 1992 fleer ultra for both samuel and harris in this post.  it's what i had handy.  deal with it.  the second baseman position in 1992 looked something like this:  samuel, 29 starts; mike sharperson, 33 starts; eric young, 35 starts; harris, 65 starts.  harris had been the team's primary third baseman in 1991, and he played some third as well as short and outfield in 1992 as well.  overall, harris hit .271 while fielding at a clip below league average for second basemen.  many thought that young would be the dodgers' second baseman of the future, but they weren't convinced as he was left unprotected in the 1993 expansion draft and was taken by colorado.  as a result, the dodgers worked out a deal with the rockies to acquire one of their later draft picks to fill the hole at second.  that set into motion events that would lead to one of the worst (thanks to hindsight) trades in dodger history.  stay tuned...

the evolution of the shortstop - from reese to russell

only three positions left to address in these evolutionary posts - first, second, and short.  let's check the 6 in dodger history.

for me, dodger shortstops begin with…

pee wee reese (1941-42, 1946-56).  aside from the time he spent serving our country in world war ii, pee wee was a mainstay at short for the dodgers.  here's his 1954 bowman card

pee wee came over from the red sox organization in 1939, but only appeared in the majors as a dodger. during his time as the team's primary shortstop, he appeared in over 2000 games, scored over 1200 runs, had over 2000 hits, and reached base another 1100 or so times by walks.  he helped lead the team to 7 world series (all against the yankees), and hit .272 in 44 postseason games, the most by any dodger.  pee wee went with the team to los angeles, but shifted to third base in 1957, opening up the shortstop position for

charlie neal (1957)

i know that's neal's 1955 bowman card, but i hadn't shown it yet on the blog.  neal played shortstop in 100 games during the dodgers' final season in brooklyn.  he hit .270 with 12 homers, but was moved to second base when the team went west.  that means that neal replaced two dodger legends in the field in two consecutive years.  it also meant that the team had a new primary shortstop in los angeles...

don zimmer (1958-59)

yes, i know that's don zimmer's 1955 topps rookie card that i am using to mark the los angeles dodgers' first primary shortstop.  actually, pee wee reese was the first dodger to play shortstop in la, but zimmer replaced him in the team's second game and wound up playing in 114 games at the position in 1958.  the following year, zimmer appeared in 88 games (70 starts) at short so he gets the positional nod here over the other dodger to start 70 games at the position in '59, maury wills.

maury wills (1960-66)

how awesome is that 1962 bell brand maury wills card, by the way?  wills actually took over at short in june of 1959 and helped the dodgers get to the world series (and win) for the first time since 1955.  he manned the position for 7 and a half seasons before he was dealt away to the pirates.  during those years, wills earned an mvp award and led the league in steals six straight years.  he also set a record that will never be broken (unless the owners get really greedy and expand the season) by playing in 165 regular season games in 1962.  with wills traded to the pirates after the 1966 season, the door was opened for one of the players obtained in return to be the dodgers' shortstop

gene michael (1967)

although he only appeared in 83 games (66 starts) as the dodgers' shortstop in 1967, michael gets the nod over nate oliver, dick schofield, bob bailey, and tommy dean as the most used shortstop on the dodger roster in 1967.  he hit just .246 with 7 rbi, and his contract was purchased by the yankees after the season ended.  michael went on to be their primary shortstop for several years, while the dodgers went out and picked up someone else to fill the void.

zoilo versalles (1968)

i guess versalles had impressed the dodgers in the 1965 world series, as they traded bob miller, ron perranoski, and john roseboro to the twins to get him and mudcat grant.  unfortunately, versalles hit only .196 as the dodgers' everyday shortstop in 1968, and was taken by the san diego padres in the expansion draft after the season.  time for the dodgers to right the wrong that they had done a couple years earlier

maury wills (1969-1971)

yes, maurice morning wills returned to the fold by way of trade during the 1969 season.  an honorable mention goes out to ted sizemore, who started the season as the dodgers' shortstop, but moved to second base when wills was acquired, and wound up winning the nl rookie of the year.  wills was able to secure his spot as the team's primary shortstop in '69 by appearing in 104 games at the position, about 60 more than sizemore.  wills held on to the spot through the 1971 season in which he finished 6th in the league mvp voting.  while he was still with the dodgers in 1972, he was no longer the everyday shortstop, giving way to a converted outfielder...

bill russell (1972-1983)

ropes brought stability back to the shortstop position, holding on to the spot for 12 seasons.  he was named to three all-star teams during that run, and helped the dodgers win 4 pennants and 1 world series.  he was the shortstop of the team of my youth.  but, all good things must come to an end, and russell was eventually replaced as the everyday shortstop in 1984.  i'll get to that next time.

show 'em if you got 'em

i've got quite a few cards sitting in my scanned folder.  most are dodgers, double plays, or memorial cards waiting for their post.  some are miscellaneous cards from random years and teams.  with a lot of those, i am left scratching my head, kind of like bob kennedy on his 1965 topps card, 

as to why i scanned them.  i would guess that kennedy's card got scanned due to his 'head coach' designation.  the cubs went a few seasons without a manager, apparently.  just a group of rotating head coaches.  wrigley wax wrote all about it a while back.

speaking of managers, here's the pilots' skipper, joe schultz, on a 1969 topps card.

i am pretty sure i scanned this one for a dinged corners post on foreheads. night owl had the same idea. good thing i also sent an ivan calderon scan along.

and then there is a proliferation of 1970 topps in the scanned folder.  lots of gray bordered goodness.

matty alou

bob bailey

 dick bosman

bosman looks as though he is posing a few hundred feet in front of the giant green screen at universal studios in hollywood.  i think it is situated behind the 'war of the worlds' plane crash set.

chris cannizzaro, before he was a dodger

check out those relatively tame padres uniforms!

ron clark

johnny edwards

john gelnar

ralph houk

looks like elston howard in the background

speaking of howard, here's frank howard

alex johnson

he joined the angels in 1970 and led the american league in batting average.

hal lanier

denny lemaster

frank linzy

barry moore

lowell palmer!

recognized as perhaps the coolest card in topps history

gary peters

dave ricketts

another one of the best looking cards of the 1970 set, thanks to the specs and all the colors

del unser

he's got bats.  and he know how to use them.

there are a few stray 1971 topps in the folder, too.  like bob bailey

that's the second bailey.  he played for the dodgers for a couple of seasons, but i don't think i was planning a post-dodger career post.

les cain

i certainly scanned that card thanks to his use of 'sugar' in his signature.  that and the fact that he's from the central coast of california (slo town).  not sure which, really.

john o'donoghue

perhaps the scrubby tree in the background was worth giving this card a scan?

last but not least, a jim wynn card

because why not scan a toy cannon card?

lefebvre years

today marks the fifth anniversary of this blog.  and, since i often associate numbers with dodger players, here is the guy that i think of when number 5 comes up.  jim lefebvre on his 1970 topps card.  

yes, i know that johnny oates wore the number during my formative dodger fan years (1977-1979), but lefebvre was my dad's guy, so i knew more about him than the dodgers' backup catcher at the time.

it's been a fun ride, and i am looking forward to this, the garvey year.  i have quite a few recurring post themes to finish up, plus a bunch of cards in the scanned folder to get posted.  and then there is the garvey binder that needs to be showcased.

by the way, the appropriate gift for a fifth blogging anniversary is cardboard.

through the mail success with a no-hitter battery

just over two weeks ago was the 43rd anniversary of bill singer's no-hitter.  it was the first no-hitter by a los angeles dodger not named sandy koufax, and it was the first of three no-hitters to be caught by jeff torborg.  singer beat the phillies 5-0 on july 20, 1970, allowing one batter to reach via a hit-by-pitch and another via an error by singer himself.

singer and torborg are reunited in this post, as i show some through the mail autograph successes.  singer signed a copy of his 1970 card for me through a private signing - either hall of fame sports or chris potter, i don't recall which.

torborg also signed his 1970 topps card, but he did so the old fashioned ttm way, free of charge.

torborg also signed his 1971 topps card

and 1968 topps card as well.

no danny ozark in the background in '68, unfortunately.

thanks for signing my cards!

four bucks for forty

quite a while ago, i sent some cards to bill buckner to be signed, happily paying his $10/auto fee.  for some reason, the results of that request have sat in my scanned folder for about three years.  enough, i say!  here are the cards from my billy buck ttm success!

1970 topps

1972 topps

ah, the rookie cup.  i actually had another one of these cards signed before this batch (along with a 1978 topps card), but traded it as part of the spring training/padres series auto deal with reader cory.

1973 topps

and 1975 topps

it was good to see buckner in dodger duds earlier this month as part of the old-timers game.  even though he was not officially a part of the 1977 or 1978 dodgers (the teams of my youth), i was still a fan.

thanks bill!