dennis lewallyn, double dipper?

it's true.  denny lewallyn, in addition to being a member of the 1977 and 1978 national league champion los angeles dodgers, was also a dodger double dipper. 

i will admit that i don't recall denny lewallyn as a dodger, even though he pitched for both the 1977 and 1978 teams. he started one game and pitched in four other late season games in 1977, and then appeared in one game in july of 1978. those appearances are enough to warrant a 1978 topps burger king dodgers/update card that should have been,

complete with a back

lewallyn actually began his big league career with the dodgers in 1975. he appeared in 6 games over the '75 and '76 seasons. his 1975 debut consisted of two perfect innings against the astros, and his first win came via a 7-inning shutout performance against the padres on october 1, 1976. he had his best season in 1977, earning a decision or a save in all 5 games in which he appeared. he had 3 wins, 1 loss and 1 save in 17 innings of work. after the season, he was purchased by the minnesota twins. the twinkies, however, returned him to the dodgers in march of 1978 so he never appeared for them in a big league game.

lewallyn cemented his double dipper status with the one aforementioned appearance as a dodger in 1978, but then also pitched in 7 more games for the dodgers in 1979. after spending the bulk of the 1980 season in the minors, he was dealt to texas for pepe frias, where he pitched in 4 games and was largely ineffective. in august of 1981, he was picked up by the indians who used him in 7 games. those 7 appearances, and his previous big league work, were enough to garner a 1982 topps card

even though he appeared in just 4 games for the tribe in 1982 and was out of the bigs by the end of april.

i usually don't feature cards on here that i don't own, but lewallyn also had a number of minor league cards that i was able to find online and didn't want to pay the price to obtain them.  here are his 1978, 1979, and 1980 tcma minor league cards:

and a mid-70's (1976?) venezuelan league sticker/card

with his name misspelled.  i am disappointed that i could not find a photo of him in a twins uniform from his brief spring training stint with the club.

in all, lewallyn had a big league record of 4-4 with all but one loss coming as a dodger.

here's to you denny lewallyn, double dipper with a 1978 topps burger king dodger update card that should have been!