sunday evening target dodgers

another sunday, another sheet of cards from the 1990 target set which celebrated the franchise's 100th anniversary.  there are only 13 cards in this post, because the other two cards on the sheet belonged to the double dippers showcased earlier today.

mark belanger

after 17 years in baltimore, the slick fielding belanger became a free agent and signed with the dodgers prior to the 1982 season.  his leaving baltimore opened up the shortstop position, and eventually cal ripken jr took over.  in los angeles, however, bill russell was still the dodgers' every day shortstop, so belanger was limited to 54 games, only 12 of which were starts. while he hit .240 on the season, he was 2 for 2 in his final two career plate appearances, with his final hit being an rbi single against scott garrelts of the giants.  that's the best way for even an out of place dodger to go out.

ralph branca

like frenchy bordagaray and doc casey (the two double dippers from this sheet not included in this post), branca was himself a dodger double dipper.  i enjoyed seeing him on the big screen in the recent billy crystal movie where crystal played a minor league baseball announcer.  i won't bring up bobby thomson.

jackie collum

collum joined the brooklyn dodgers in 1957 following a midseason trade with the cubs.  he only pitched in three games for the dodgers that season (the first of which was against his former team), but stayed with the club as they moved west to los angeles.  in 1958, collum pitched in two games for the dodgers.  he spent the next couple of seasons in the minor leagues before moving on to the minnesota twins in 1961.

bruce edwards

edwards was the dodger catcher in 1946 and 1947, putting up big numbers in the latter.  he hit .295 with 80 rbi that year, and finished 4th in the mvp voting.  in 1948, however, edwards lost his starting job midseason to roy campanella.  he stayed with the dodgers as the backup catcher and sometimes outfielder/third baseman until he was traded to the cubs in 1951.

ned hanlon

hanlon is enshrined in the hall of fame as a manager, and not as a grower of fantastic moustaches as you might have guessed.  he enjoyed prolonged success at the helm of the baltimore orioles in the late 19th century before taking over the reigns of the superbas in 1899.  hanlon managed the club for seven seasons, leading them to first place finishes in both 1899 (with 101 wins) and 1900.  by his final season in 1905, however, the team was in last place and lost 104 games, still the most losses in franchise history.

ken howell

howell was used primarily as a reliever (190 games in relief and 4 as a starter) during his dodger tenure which spanned from 1984 through the 1988 season.  he appeared in the 1985 playoffs, but not the 1988 postseason.  he was traded to the orioles in the eddie murray deal following the 1988 season, but was quickly dealt by baltimore to the phillies where he was used exclusively as a starter for two seasons.  i believe howell is still the dodger bullpen coach, a position he has held since 2008.

charlie manuel

chuck manuel as he was then known was traded by the twins to the dodgers after the 1973 season.  he appeared in 4 games for the dodgers in 1974 (none in the postseason) and 15 in 1975; all 19 appearances were as a pinch hitter.  manuel's final big league appearance came on september 21, 1975 when he ended the game with a strikeout at the hands of jr richard.  he went to japan the following season, and played there for six seasons before returning to the us to begin his managerial career.  manuel, of course, managed the phillies when they eliminated the dodgers in the 2008 and 2009 nlcs.

joe mcginnity

hall of famer joe 'iron man' mcginnity spent one season with the brooklyn superbas - his sophomore season of 1900 - and went 28-8 (his 28 victories led the league for the second year in a row) with a 2.94 era in 44 games (37 starts).  he also threw 32 complete games and a league leading 343 innings, but his nickname originated from his offseason job in an iron foundry rather than his rubber arm.  mcginnity, of course, spent the majority of his career with john mcgraw and the new york giants, winning 30 games a couple of times, and the world series in 1905.  after his big league career ended with 246 wins, mcginnity continued to pitch in the minors, racking up another 200 or so victories.  he retired from playing at the age of 54 and later coached for the dodgers.

lance rautzhan

rautzhan was a member of the team of my youth, pitching for the dodgers in 1977 and 1978.  he pitched for them again in 1979, but had his contract purchased by the brewers in may of that year.  he is best remembered (by me at least) as the winning pitcher in game 3 of the 1977 nlcs - the 'black friday' game as it is known in philadelphia.

pete richert

imagine that - four double dippers on this sheet.  richert did indeed double dip with the dodgers, but i have told that story before, so he's here with the other guys from the sheet.  it is worth noting that richert  once struck out four batters in an inning while en route to striking out the first 6 batters he faced in the major leagues.

joe riggert

riggert was an outfielder who split the 1914 season between the brooklyn robins and saint louis cardinals (only one of those teams is named for a bird, by the way).  as a member of the robins, he hit .193 in 27 games.

ed roebuck

like collum, roebuck was a dodger pitcher who made the move with the team from brooklyn to los angeles.  roebuck, however, had more success with the dodgers than did collum.  he pitched in 7-plus seasons for the dodgers from 1955 to 1963 (he did not appear in the majors in 1959), making just one career start in 322 games with the club.  roebuck is also a member of the fraternity of pitchers who allowed a world series home run to mickey mantle, having joined the club in 1956.

fresco thompson

thompson joined the brooklyn franchise for the 1931 season following a four year stint with the phillies (he had been with pittsburgh and  the new york giants previously).  he appeared in 74 games for the robins, and then just three games for the re-named dodgers in 1932.  he resurfaced in the majors in 1934, back with the giants, but appeared in only one game before being released after declining bill terry's invitation to pinch run - 'i'd like to' said thompson, 'but i just had my shoes shined'.  thompson managed in the minor leagues following his playing days, including in the dodger organization.  in 1968, he became the dodgers' general manager succeeding buzzie bavasi, but passed away only 5 months into his tenure, with al campanis taking his place.