28 December 2010

dave anderson, double dipper

[this is the seventh installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daaleric young, nick willhitechris gwynn, and mickey hatcher.]

dave anderson made his big league debut in 1983 for the dodgers, at a time when the long running infield had largely been replaced.  as a shortstop, he was the first apparant successor to bill russell to emerge from the farm system. here's anderson's 1986 topps card.
in 1984, anderson did, in fact, become the dodgers' primary shortstop.  he played in a career high 121 games, and set personal bests pretty much across the board.  the following year, anderson was part of a 'third base by committee' platoon while mariano duncan took over primary shortstop duties.  in all, anderson spent the first 7 seasons of his career with the dodgers, hitting .232 over 662 games.  he may be best remembered for being the on deck decoy for kirk gibson in game 1 of the 1988 world series.

anderson became a free agent after the 1989 season, and he wound up signing with the giants.  he played in san francisco for two seasons, primarily as a super utility guy as he spent time at each infield position.  here's his 1991 leaf studio card
anderson hit .350 in 1990 with an ops of .819 in the 60 games he appeared.  as a result, he was used more often in 1991, but his average slipped to .248 over 100 games.  in total, anderson hit .279 as a giant.  he became a free agent once again after the 1991 season, and decided to return to los angeles.

here he is on one of his last cards, his 1992 score rookies and traded card:
1992 was anderson's final year in the majors, and he spent it making spot starts and late inning substitutions at short and third for the dodgers, along with occasional pinch running or hitting duties.  on the season, he hit .286 in 51 games, and managed to hit 3 home runs, all of which came in a one week stretch on the road.

here's to you dave anderson, double dipper!

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