the dodgers' tim crews memorial patch

tim crews was a reliever for the dodgers from 1987 through 1992, coming over from the brewers with tim leary in exchange for steve garvey's replacement, greg brock.  he pitched effectively enough - he had a 3.05 era for the club through the 1991 season - but after a subpar 1992 campaign, the dodgers allowed him to leave via free agency.  here's his 1992 o-pee-chee card.

crews signed with the indians, along with another dodger teammate turned free agent, bob ojeda.

it was during spring training in 1993 that crews, along with ojeda and fellow cleveland pitcher steve olin, took a boat ride looking for gators on little lake nellie that ended with crews and olin dead, and ojeda severely injured.  the boat, with crews behind the wheel, had hit an unlit dock, killing olin instantly.  crews died a while later at the hospital.

the dodgers wore a patch in crews' memory for the 1993 season - his number 52 in a black circle.  this was similar to the memorial they wore during the 1978 world series following jim gilliam's passing.  it shows up on a lot of 1994 cards, including cory snyder's 1994 topps card

darryl strawberry's 1994 topps card (this is the gold parallel version)

also has the patch on display, as does his 2005 topps retired card (also the gold parallel version)

since topps recycled the photo.  here's a different photo of darryl with the patch visible on his 1994 topps finest card

later in the season, the dodgers also lost don drysdale and roy campanella, and honored them with a memorial patch on their right sleeves.  i'll address that particular memorial in a separate post, but you can see it, along with the crews patch, on tom candiotti's 1994 donruss card

with a photo taken on a sunny day in dodger stadium.

both patches are again on display (along with a tremendous mustache) on brett butler's 1994 topps stadium card

with just the crews patch (and no mustache) visible on the back

for a while, i had this 1994 upper deck collector's choice card

pegged as the representative for the crews memorial in my binder, but i also considered tim wallach's 1994 topps stadium club card

as well as the rainbow foil parallel

and even thought about jody reed's 1994 fleer flair card

ultimately, i decided that the best card to represent the tim crews memorial patch in my collection is eric karros' 1994 bowman card

crews left behind a family, as did olin, as well as a lot of affected teammates and club personnel.  they were the first active major leaguers to pass away since thurman munson died in 1979.  the indians also wore a patch to honor crews and olin, and i'll show some examples of that later today.

more dime box dodgers by proxy

here are even more cards from nick at dime boxes.  i don't usually scan so many cards from trade packages, but there were a lot of cool dodgers in addition to all those double play cards (i will scan and show any and all double play cards that are new to my collection).  here's a case in point - i couldn't scan brett butler's 1992 o-pee-chee card

without scanning his 2012 topps archives short print card

that's not a bad job by topps.

another unfamiliar looking card was this 1995 topps national packtime raul mondesi card

mondy's regular 1995 topps card is one of my all-time faves, but this one is not too bad.

staying in 1995, here is a jeff treadway card from that year's score set.

until i saw this card, i thought that the only dodger treadway cards were the 1994 police issue and the 1994 stadium club card.

in fact, there are more cards of sean pierce, such as this 2003 topps card,

in a dodger uniform than there are of treadway, even though pierce never made it out of high-a ball.

and how about this 2003 topps total card of troy brohawn?

i think it goes without saying that this is the first time brohawn has been featured on the blog.  brohawn pitched for 3 of the 5 nl west teams in his career (he never made it to the padres or rockies), and the dodgers were the last.  he was 2-0 for the blue in 2003 with a 3.86 era.  unfortunately, he couldn't get back to the big club in 2004 and his career came to an end.

here's a 1995 score select checklist featuring jeff bagwell, frank thomas, ken griffey jr, and the strongest man in socal, mike piazza

one of the few photoshopped combo cards that you will see.

finally, here is a 1998 pinnacle performers card of mike piazza

pinnacle performers was one of pinnacle's final card sets to be released, and this particular card would have been one of piazza's last cards as a dodger.  in fact, it includes the o-pee-chee like 'traded to mets' text, totally ignoring the week he spent with the marlins.

thanks again nick!  still one more post today, though...

why don't we slide

hey - we are another week closer to spring training, and that means it's time for the next installment of steve garvey's baseball tips, as brought to you by post raisin bran back in 1979.  or is it the other way around?  either way, let's learn about sliding.

if only pedro guerrero had followed garvey's sound advice...

when it comes to sliding, there are lots of good examples on baseball cards.  one of my favorites is the 1977 topps 'turn back the clock' card featuring maury wills

on it, wills is sliding in to third base at dodger stadium during a game against the giants, presumably from the 1962 season when he set the record for most steals in a season.  that was also the year dodger stadium opened.  thanks to the field level scoreboard and the giants' third baseman, we should be able to pinpoint the play.  except for the fact that from 1961 through 1969, number 42 for the no-cals was pitcher bobby bolin.  the only other giants to wear that number during will's career during the dodger stadium era were also pitchers who were on the 1972 giants.  very strange.  unless that's a 12 on the back of the giant player, which would mean that it's jim davenport which makes complete sense.  and, the giants had 10 hits and 2 errors on october 3, 1962 when maury wills stole his 104th base of the season.  he stole third off of the battery of don larsen and ed bailey.  so, the photo topps used is the actual photo of his 104th stolen base.  i guess it's just a shadow that made me see 42 instead of 12.  glad that's sorted out.

there's no mistaking who's at third base on stan javier's 1992 topps card

that's former dodger mariano duncan.  there's a lot going on on that card - two umpires, including the first base umpire who is doing some lunges, and it looks like eddie murray is checking things out down the right field line as javier is kicking up some dust.

it doesn't have as much going on as chris gwynn's 1992 upper deck card, though

i first wrote about this card and identified the game the photo came from a while back.  it's one of my favorites, even if gwynn isn't sliding too gracefully.  it's actually a double play turn at third base, which doesn't get much airtime.

another thing those last two cards have in common, besides sliding dodgers, is that i have had both of them signed through the mail - here's the gwynn

and here's the javier

javier also signed a 1992 fleer ultra card

and a 1991 upper deck card

gwynn also signed his 1991 upper deck card

as well as his 1989 upper deck card

and 1990 upper deck card

plus his 1991 topps card

1992 fleer card

and the 1992 o-pee-chee

and 1992 topps combo

thanks to these two guys (and you too, maury) for showing us some sliding techniques.  and thanks for signing my cards!

steady eddie murray gets a proper send off

[this is the thirty-ninth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, and joe ferguson.]

eddie murray was one of my favorite non-dodgers.  he burst on to the big league scene at the same time i was starting to collect cards, so i took a great interest in following his career as it progressed in baltimore.  then, in december of 1988, i heard that the dodgers had acquired steady eddie in a trade.  hearing that news made me forget about the loss of steve sax, and besides, the dodgers were the world champs so who was i to complain about anything.  i also remember being surprised at some of the comments that murray made after the trade was confirmed.  he said something along the lines of 'i thought this was going to happen a few years ago' which was news to me.  there was no mlbtraderumors back then to get this type of gossip.  imagine if the dodgers had had murray at first in 1985.  1986 and 1987 might have been different, too.  ah, what might have been...

murray's first season with the dodgers was disappointing, but then again, so was the entire team.  his .247 batting average was (by 30 points) the lowest of his career.  still, he drove in 88 runs and hit 20 homers and played in 160 games.  the dodgers even stuck him over at third base a couple of times - the first time murray had ever played the hot corner in the big leagues.  t's also worth noting that murray's first home run as a dodger was a 9th inning grand slam that broke a tie against the giants.

here's murray's 1990 leaf card, which at one time was one of my 'nefarious 9'

1990 was a great year for murray, as he led the major leagues with a .330 batting average.  of course, that was also the year in which he didn't lead the national league in batting thanks to willie mcgee being traded from the cardinals to the a's.  murray finished fifth in the league mvp voting thanks to 96 runs scored, 95 runs driven in, 26 homers and that high batting average.

in 1991, murray's average dropped to .260, although he still drove in 96 runs and made the all-star team for the first time as a dodger and the last time of his career.  i was always kind of perplexed that topps gave murray an all-star card in 1991 even though he wasn't on the team in 1990.  but, after what they did to steve garvey in 1985 and 1986, i wasn't going to look a bonus dodger card in the mouth.

after the season, the dodgers were only interested in keeping murray with a one-year deal, so he took two years from the mets and headed east as his 1992 o-pee-chee card would indicate

murray left the dodgers with 398 career home runs, so the met fans got to see him join the 400 home run club, or so this 1992 upper deck card would have you believe.

actually, murray hit his 400th on the road in atlanta, and from the left side of the plate.  it was one of only 16 long balls that murray hit that year, the lowest total of his career to date.  he did hit a career high 37 doubles and drive in 93 runs, though, so he was still productive.  the following year, he would drive in 100 runs for the last time in his career.

after the season, murray moved on to cleveland where he hit .323 in 1995 over 113 games, and collected his 3000th career hit along the way.  during the 1996 season, the tribe sent murray back to baltimore, and he swatted his 500th career home run as an oriole.

i figured murray would retire with his 501 home runs after the season ended, but instead, he signed with the anaheim angels.  he hit three more home runs during his stint there which lasted into august.  after being released by team disney, murray was picked up by the dodgers who were just a couple of games out of first in the nl west.  murray was used exclusively as a pinch hitter, and was 2 for 7 with 2 walks and 3 rbi in his final big league appearances.

topps didn't give him a card in 1998, but donruss did, in their preferred set.

upper deck also gave eddie his due - both in their flagship set and in the collector's choice set.  here's his  collector's choice 'final tribute'

on the back we get all of murray's stats, as a final tribute should provide.  we also get a photo of murray from his time in anaheim

i posted murray's 1998 upper deck flagship card in one of my early final tribute posts on this blog, and i wasn't too kind to upper deck because they had him with the angels.  i since learned that there was a second murray card in the 1998 set, one that did things right.

i'm still not sure why upper deck included an angels card for murray in the set, but i suppose the halo collectors out there appreciate it.  and, to further appease those fans, the photo on the back of murray's dodger card is from his anaheim days.  we also get his full career stats, just like a final tribute should provide.

there was no doubt where eddie murray was headed after his career, but leaf gave us this shiny card in 1998 just in case we weren't sure

murray made it into the hall in his first year of eligibility, although he (obviously) went in as an oriole.  that's ok - i'll take all the eddie murray as a dodger cards as i can get.

here's to you, eddie murray - one of my favorite dodger double dippers! 

3 of nine

a couple of weeks ago, i was informed by my page-a-day calendar that there have been 9 major league players whose last names begin with the letter 'c' that have also hit 300 home runs.  three of them played for the dodgers during their careers.  a fourth, jose canseco, made a stop at dodger spring training one year during what turned out to be a glorified book tour.

the legit 300-hr dodgers from this list are:

ron cey

of course.  the penguin hit 316 home runs during his career, 228 of which came with the dodgers.  he is currently second on the la dodger all-time home run list behind eric karros.

next, the kid.

gary carter hit 324 homers in his career, 6 of which came with the dodgers in 1991.  his 324 total is the same as lance parrish's career tally.  parrish hit one more as a catcher (299 to carter's 298) according to my quick googling.  should lance parrish (whose 'most similar' player on his baseball reference page happens to be hall-of-famer gary carter) have received more hof consideration?

the third membef of this group is rocky colavito

colavito had finished the 1967 season with the white sox and was then purchased by the dodgers towards the end of spring training in 1968.  during his time in la, he hit 3 of his 374 career home runs before being released by the blue in july.  all three were hit in chicago, and came over a two day span in may.  he hit two home runs on may 7th off of joe niekro and then former dodger phil regan. the next day, he hit a bomb off of jack lamabe.  and that was the extent of his national league home run hitting.

those weren't the last home runs he would hit, however as the yankees got five long balls after they signed colavito for the remainder of the season, his last in the big leagues.

because colavito joined the dodgers so late in the spring, topps wasn't able to switch his team affiliation.  it's a shame that he doesn't have a regular card as a dodger (and his 1990 target card shows him in an indian uniform) so i went ahead and slightly tweaked his 1968 card into what should have been

it still seems weird.  just for the record, here's the full list of 'c' 300 hundred home run hitters:

jose canseco - 462

joe carter - 396

orlando cepeda - 379

norm cash - 377

rocky colavito - 374

jack clark - 340

gary carter - 324

vinny castilla - 320

ron cey - 316

mike cameron needs another 25 so the next guy to join the list is likely miguel cabrera who needs 30.

achtung baby

the 1991 dodgers were up 1 game over the braves with 4 left to play in the season.  they lost 3 in a row and were knocked out of the playoffs on the next to last day of the season by trevor wilson and the giants.  about a month and a half later, u2 released 'achtung baby'.  i understand that achtung means 'attention' or 'look out'.  so, in that sense, 'achtung baby' could refer to the atlanta braves who were 9.5 games out at the all-star break, but came back and won 8 of their last 9 games to overtake the dodgers and win the west. however, i will suggest that u2 was warning me to look out for just how bad the dodgers were going to be in 1992.

jose offerman seems like a good representation of the 1992 dodgers.

the 1992 dodgers were the worst la dodger team of all-time.  they lost 99 games that year.  5 pitchers lost 10 or more games, including their 'closer', roger mcdowell.  they had only one player with more than 6 home runs (eric karros), darryl strawberry had ongoing back problems and eric davis was a bust.  the only bright spots were karros (the nl rookie of the year who made the team out of spring training essentially because kal daniels couldn't handle first base defensively and todd benzinger was working his way back from a calf injury), and pedro astacio, who had 4 shutouts in his 11 starts.

offerman, meanwhile, made 42 errors as the dodgers' shortstop.  'nuff said.

there's a song on the album called 'so cruel'.  it ends thusly: 'to stay with you I'd be a fool.  oh, sweetheart, you're so cruel.'  that tears it - i'm a fool for the dodgers.