another dodger double dipper

it has once again been a while since i have looked at a player that played for the dodgers, left the franchise for another, and then returned to wear dodger blue again.  double dippers, i call them.  i was reminded of this when i did the recent 'evolution of the shortstop' post which featured a double dipping maury wills. this post isn't about wills, however - he will have to wait.  this one is about ron perranoski.

[this is the fiftyfourth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, guillermo mota, joe beckwith, jamie hoffmann, babe herman, joe medwick, and juan castro.]

perranoski joined the dodger organization in 1960 when he was traded by the cubs in the don zimmer deal.  he made his major league debut in april of 1961 against the pirates, striking out the first batter he ever faced, and getting the third batter he faced, roberto clemente, to ground into a double play.  here's perranoski's 1961 topps card

perranoski quickly established himself as one of the best relievers in the game - he made only one start in his entire career (in his rookie season) - saving 20 and 21 games (even though the save wasn't an official stat back then) in his second and third seasons, respectively. he led the league in appearances both those years, and even won 16 games in relief in 1963.  his 16-3 record that year led the league in winning percentage, and earned him a 4th place finish in the mvp voting.  obviously, he was a big part in the dodgers' pennant winning season, and in his first world series appearance, perranoski struck out clete boyer to save game 2.

perranoski again led the league in appearances in 1967, but was traded to the twins following the season in the deal that netted the dodgers zoilo versalles and mudcat grant.  as a twin, perranoski twice led the american league in saves (31 in 1969 and 34 in 1970), and even garnered some cy young award votes in 1970.

in 1971, the tigers picked him up on waivers, and so he finished the season in detroit.  here's his 1972 topps card as proof

perranoski remained with the tigers as the 1972 season began.  after a poor showing in the first half of the season (0-1 with a 7.71 era in 17 appearances), the tigers released him.  a week later, the dodgers signed him to a contract, and perranoski returned to la.  perranoski only appeared in 9 games for the dodgers during his second stint with the team, but he was 2-0 with a 2.70 era in those appearances.  unfortunately, topps did not include him in the 1973 set (individually, anyway - he does appear on the team card in the top row, upper left).

anyway, here is what his card that should have been might have looked like.

the dodgers released perranoski at the end of the season, but he wasn't done.  the angels signed him, and he finished out his career with 8 appearances for them in 1973.

of course, perranoski later returned to the dodger organization once again, becoming the pitching coach under tommy lasorda after red adams retired.  unfortunately, he is currently working for the giants in some capacity.

here's to you ron perranoski, you dodger double dipper!