the continuing evolution of the out of place guy

i left off the last time with don stanhouse.  definitely out of place as a dodger.  his former teammate, mark belanger also joined the dodgers in the early 80's - 1982 to be exact.

after 17 years of playing shortstop for the orioles, belanger was displaced by cal ripken jr and so he headed west for his final season.  he took his 8 gold gloves and hit .240 for the defending world champs in 54 games.

a couple of years later, prior to the 1985 season, the dodgers traded for al oliver

oliver was just 2 years removed from leading the league in hitting when the dodgers signed him.  he hit .253 for them until they sent him to toronto in july of '85 for len matuszek.  when i think of oliver i think of him as a pirate or an expo.  not a dodger.  he was out of place, even though it was for just a short time.

in '86 the dodgers picked up a couple of veterans to play third base - enos cabell and bill madlock.  i don't consider them out of place simply because they stuck around for more than one season.  but, there was another third baseman in the mix in '87:  phil garner.  the dodgers traded for garner during the 1987 season, and scrap iron took to the dodgers like a fish out of water.

he hit a buck-ninety after joining the dodgers in mid-june, pinch hitting and playing some second base, short and of course some third base.  in fact, he was their primary third baseman for the last part of the season.  he signed as a free agent with the giants for the 1988 season, ending his turn as the dodgers' out of place guy after just 70 games.

after the dodgers' 1988 world championship, the dodgers and yankees essentially traded second baseman, although steve sax and willie randolph were both free agents

randolph spent 1989 as the dodgers' second baseman, and he did so admirably.  he hit .282 and made the all=star team.  donruss even made him a 'diamond king' in 1990.  speaking of 1990, the dodgers traded randolph to the a's in may of that year since they had juan samuel to play second.

the dodgers then acquired another short-timer for the 1990 season in hubie brooks

brooks was the dodgers' right fielder in 1990 and didn't do too badly - he tied his career high of 20 home runs and drove in 91, but the dodgers signed darryl strawberry for the 1991 season, so brooks was sent packing.

they replaced brooks as the out of place guy for the 1991 season with a hall of famer - gary carter!

carter had been with the giants in 1990 after bottoming out with the mets in '89.  he caught (as mike scioscia's backup) but also played some first base for the dodgers.  he hit .246 with 6 home runs and was re-acquired by the expos for a farewell tour in time for the 1992 season.

in the ensuing seasons, the dodgers employed the services of a few different players who didn't stick around long - todd benzinger, jody reed, jeff treadway, roberto kelly, mike blowers, darren lewis, and otis nixon to name most of them.  but the next truly out of place guy was bobby bonilla.

acquired in the mike piazza trade, i don't think the dodgers could get rid of bobby bo quickly enough.  they really wanted sheffield and were ready to commit to 19 year old adrian beltre at third base.  still, bonilla matched beltre's production although just barely.  bonilla was traded to the mets after the season ended and steve phillips went nuts.

coming soon, the out of place guys of the 2000's!