the topps dodgers autograph project - the early los angeles years

in case you missed the first installment, i am taking the lost collector's yankee project and putting my dodger spin on it.  so now we are into the los angeles years.  all of these autographs were obtained through the mail, and were free of charge. 

joe pignatano, 1958 topps

i've posted this one before.  pignatano was a brooklyn native who played in a handful of games as a hometown boy done good before moving to the west coast with the team.  he stayed with the dodgers until his contract was purchased by the a's prior to the 1961 season.  other players who have signed their 1958 topps cards for me include don zimmer.  that's it.

fred kipp, 1959 topps

kipp also went west with the club, having made an appearance with the team in 1957.  1958 was his big year in the majors, as he went 6-6 in 40 appearances.  he pitched in 2 games in 1959, and then was traded to the yankees prior to the 1960 season.  i have a few other 1959 topps cards that were signed through the mail - carl erskine, dick gray, and bob lillis.

chuck essegian, 1960 topps

essegian joined the dodgers for the latter part of the 1959 season.  he came from saint louis in exchange for dick gray, the man who had hit the first home run in los angeles dodger history.  essegian hit some home runs, too, as it turned out.  in the 1959 world series against the white sox, he had not one, but two pinch hit home runs.  the first one came in game 2 of the series with the dodgers down a game and trailing by a run in the 7th inning.  essegian''s blast tied the game, and a couple of batters later, charlie neal put them ahead to stay with his second home run of the game.  some other former dodgers who have signed their 1960 cards for me through the mail include roger craig (with fee), don demeter, and bob lillis.

bob aspromonte, 1961 topps

i posted this one not too long ago - it's the most recent 1961 topps card i have had signed through the mail.  others in my collection include don demeter, don newcombe (with fee), and joe pignatano.

norm sherry, 1962 topps

sherry debuted in the big leagues with a bang.  on april 12, 1959, he was the dodgers' starting catcher against the cubs.  on the mound that day was sandy koufax, the pitcher whom sherry suggested should just relax and take something off of his fastball to be more effective.  while koufax only lasted three innings that day, sherry played the whole game.  he was hit by a pitch in his first big league at bat, and then hit a two-run single his next time up.  sherry didn't appear in another game until september, but he was back in la each season from 1960 through 1962.  he even occasionally caught his brother larry.  i chose to feature sherry's card simply because i had not yet posted it on the blog.  other 1962 topps cards that i have received signed through the mail include tommy davis (with fee), willie davis (with fee), frank howard (with fee), wally moon (with fee), ron perranoski, pete richert, and daryl spencer.

ed roebuck, 1963 topps

same goes here for roebuck.  i've had his 1963 card  sitting in my scanned folder for a while now, but have never gotten around to showing it off.  roebuck was a member of the world champion brooklyn dodgers in 1955 (his rookie season) and he threw a couple of scoreless innings in the fall classic that year.  he also pitched in the 1956 world series.  unfortunately, roebuck did not pitch in the majors in 1959 due to injury, and so he missed out on another opportunity to pitch in the world series.  roebuck had a big year in 1962, winning 10 games and saving another 9.  he was traded to the senators in july of 1963, however, and eventually finished his career in philadelphia three years later.  the other 1963 cards i have signed through the mail include joe moeller, wally moon (with fee), and don zimmer.

ken mcmullen, 1964 topps

this is another card that i was saving for a different post - most likely mcmullen's double dipper post - but it fits here as part of the topps dodgers autograph project.  mcmullen first appeared in the big leagues in 1962, and he played in a total of 109 games for the dodgers between then and 1964.  after the 1964 season, he was traded to the senators in the claude osteen/frank howard deal.  he had his best years in washington and then in california with the angels before returning to the dodgers in a reserve role.  mcmullen gets the nod to represent 1964 over the other signed ttm cards in my collection, including willie davis (with fee), pete richert, and dick tracewski.

here's a running list of the cards and players in my topps dodgers autograph project.  only a few that were not free, and a different player for each year.

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen