bring the wood!

so, the preseason officially kicks off today with the dodgers' first 'game' as they're taking on their camelback co-inhabitors, the white sox. i wonder if joe torre will borrow a page from saints coach sean payton and encourage his players to 'bring the wood'.

don't worry, though, that's what i will do here now for you. and it won't be wood as in a baseball bat, but rather wood as in the wood paneling of the 1962 topps set. here are a few of the cards i have managed to pick up over the past few months, as i have been targeting dodger cards from this set as i peruse the vintage bargain bins at the local show.

i guess i need to mention, lest mattr remind me, that 1962 was the year the dodgers frittered away the pennant, and lost the third game of the tiebreaking series to the giants by allowing 4 runs in the top of the 9th.

now that that's out of the way, here's the team card

kind of lopsided, although i don't think topps was airbrushing players out back then.

andy carey

it's hard to tell, but i would guess that andy is wearing a white sox or a's jersey since the dodgers' unis also had the piping around the neckline, and 1962 was his only year with the team. the dodgers were pretty familiar with him, though, as he played against them in 4 world series' as a member of the yankees.  in addition to 1962 being andy's only season in la, it was his last in the big leagues.

jim gilliam

gilliam had moved to third base late in the final game against the giants, and his replacement at second, larry burright, committed the error that allowed the 6th run to score for the giants.

tim harkness

harkness, a rookie first baseman, was a 9th inning replacement in that game for

frank howard

actually, harkness replaced ron fairly at first, and fairly moved to right field with hondo sitting out the top of the 9th.  i assume this was all done for defensive purposes.

ron perranoski

the future dodger pitching coach was brought in to stop the bleeding after stan williams (who had won the day before, but in less than impressive fashion) had given up a sacrifice fly, and two walks (one intentional).  perranoski induced the ground ball that was miffed at second, before striking out bob nieman to end the giants' half of the inning.

john roseboro 

junior had a nearly identical season to his 1961 campaign except in the home run category.  otherwise, the numbers are eerily similar.

norm sherry

roseboro's backup.  norm would leave the dodgers after the 1962 season and join the expansion mets.  in fact, he was purchased by the mets a mere 8 days after the dodgers lost their final game to the giants.

larry sherry

norm's brother.  larry was one of the heroes of the 1959 world series, winning 2 of the games against the white sox.  he saved 11 games for the dodgers in 1962, but walter alston decided not to use him in the last game against the giants most likely because sherry gave up 2 runs in one-third of an inning in the first game of the playoff series.

daryl spencer

spencer spent the final month or so of the 1962 season as a pinch hitter.  after the dodgers lost the first game of the three game playoff, spencer was called upon to pinch hit (for duke snider) against gaylord perry in the 9th inning of a tie game.  the dodgers had wills and gilliam on first and second, so obviously the bunt was in order.  spencer delivered and, after an intentional walk to load the bases, ron fairly hit a sacrifice fly to win the game and allow the dodgers' pennant hopes to die the next day instead.

sandy koufax

sandy wasn't in the bargain bin, but the guy gave hime to me at a good price. so what if he's off centered.  sandy missed a good two months of the season, which i think was really his breakout year, due to an injured finger.  he started and lost the first game of the playoffs, going just one inning and giving up three runs. 

so, like i said, 'bring the wood'!  except let's have an ending like 1963, not 1962.