13 March 2012

this time, i niedenmor - not fuer

i love tom niedenfuer's name.  more than once i am sure i have recounted the fantastic letter to the editor of the la times that ran sometime after the 1985 nlcs in which the author suggested that 'there is a certain pitcher we niedenfuer games'.  awesome.

truth be told however, niedenfuer was a pretty good reliever for the dodgers in the early 1980's.  in fact, prior to the 1985 nlcs, niedenfuer had not allowed an earned run in 6 postseason innings, spanning from the 1981 nlds through the 1983 nlcs.  his 1983 season was outstanding, as he won 8 games, saved 11 and posted an era of 1.90 which was complemented by his whip of 0.887.  

he's also a good through the mail signer, and i have had a few successes with him over the last three years.  unfortunately, i erred and sent him what apparently was my lone copy of his 1984 fleer card.  he signed it of course, but now i am left with a gap in my collection.
i've added it to my nefarious 9 over there on the right.  can't you help a blogger out?

while i wait for the answer to this non-rhetorical question, here are some other cards mr. niedenfuer returned to me - his 1982 fleer
1984 topps
1985 topps
1986 donruss
1986 fleer
with a dodger stadium photo that fleer re-used in 1987
1986 topps
and a similarly posed 1987 topps
and finally, his 1987 donruss
niedenfuer was traded early in the 1987 season to the orioles for brad havens and john shelby.  he actually saved 18 games (a full third of the orioles' victories) for baltimore during their abyssmal 1988 season.  eventually, niedenfuer ended up in saint louis of all places to finish out his career.

thanks tom - and please let me know if you have an extra 1984 fleer card for me.  you will be rewarded!

4 comments:

Johngy said...

I was just writing a future post about Tom. I once sent him a few cards and asked him if he wanted any extras. He accepted and I sent him a bunch more free. I did not ask for anything even to be signed. He sent back 1 signed card of each of his cards I sent him.
Years later, I sent him a ball to sign and asked if he could have his wife sign it, too. Judy Landers was the object of one of my teenage crushes.
I will check to see if I have an extra unsigned TN card for you.

Captain Canuck said...

nice post title... well played.

MrMopar said...

My brother went to HS with him in Redmond, WA. I would later go to HS with Aaron Sele in Poulsbo, WA. Our brother/MLB pitcher connection!

I am sorting through about 40,000 Dodgers right now to get singles. I'm sure I have a small pile of those, as I do just about every other 1981-1995 Dodger card!

Johngy said...

Sorry. I do not have that card.