i actually enjoy it when a sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger set features 15 players (in this case 14 because wally hood was a double dipper who gets a separate post) i know very little (or in this case nothing) about. off to baseball-reference!
morrie aderholt
aderholt played for the dodgers in 1944 and 1945 after some success with their farm team in montreal. he had played in the infield for the washington senators in a few games in each season from 1939 through 1941, but the dodgers used him exclusively in the outfield. he left brooklyn during the 1945 season after being claimed on waivers by the braves, and finished his playing career by hitting .333 in boston over the remainder of that campaign. aderholt returned to the senators' organization as a minor league manager and then scout until he died of a heart attack at the age of 39 in 1955.
ray berres
berres began his major league career by playing in 39 games for the dodgers in 1934. he returned to the big leagues in 1936 as the dodgers' primary catcher, playing in 105 games and hitting .240. berres went on to become a successful pitching coach for the chicago white sox, serving in that capacity from 1949-1966, and again from 1968-1969. he passed away in 2007 at the age of 99.
oyster burns
this card reminds me of those upper deck 'draw your own card' inserts from the mid-1990's. burns was an original brooklyn bridegroom, playing for the 1890 team in its first season as a national league franchise. he led the league with 13 home runs and 128 rbi that season as the bridegrooms won the pennant. burns' brooklyn career actually began in 1888, and it lasted into the 1895 season. in all, he hit and even .300 as a member of the brooklyn franchise.
mal eason
eason's card feels like a lesson in
pointillism. eason completed 38 of his 53 starts for the superbas over his two seasons with the franchise (1905 and 1906), but compiled a record of just 15 wins and 38 losses. eason also pitched for the chicago orphans (later known as the cubs), the boston beaneaters (later the doves, rustlers, and then the braves), and the detroit tigers.
dutch jordan
jordan was with the superbas in 1903 and 1904, his only two seasons in the major leagues. his career average was .208, with an ops of just .518. immediately following his playing days, jordan became a minor league manager.
jim korwan
baseball-reference notes that korwan's nickname was 'long jim', but they don't say why. his tenure with the brooklyn franchise consisted of a single game for the 1894 grooms. he pitched 5 innings in relief on april 24, 1894, giving up 14 runs (8 earned) for an era of 14.40. he trimmed his career era in half (to 6.92) three years later by pitching for the cubs in a handful of games in 1897 to the tune of a 5.82 era. two years later, korwan died from tuberculosis at the age of 25.
lew riggs
riggs was an all-star third baseman for the reds in 1936 and won a ring with them in 1940. the following year, he was in brooklyn playing third for the dodgers. he hit .305 that season, helping brooklyn win the pennant although they lost the world series to the yankees. riggs suited up for the dodgers again in 1942, and then went off to war. he returned to the club for a single game in 1946 to wrap up his playing career.
sergio robles
that photo of robles is as grainy as
the bigfoot photo, but there is evidence that robles existed and even played for the dodgers. he came close to being a double dipper, as he was originally drafted by the dodgers but was traded to the orioles in the frank robinson deal before he could reach the big leagues. after cups of coffee with the o's in 1971 and 1972, robles eventually found his way back to los angeles in 1976. he appeared in five september games as a late inning replacement behind the plate, going 0 for 3 at the dish. his last two games featured him catching dodger closer charlie hough, and to his credit, robles allowed only two passed balls while trying to tame the knuckleball.
andy rush
rush was a member of the 1925 brooklyn robins, pitching in four games and earning a record of 0-1 with a 9.31 era. that was the sum total of his major league experience.
george shoch
shoch had a fantastic mustache, and he played for the grooms/bridegrooms from 1893 through 1897. those were the final five seasons of his 11-year career, and he hit .281 in 381 games for brooklyn during that span.
gene snyder
snyder was traded by the phillies to the dodgers after the 1958 season as part of the package in exchange for sparky anderson. his only big league experience came the following season as he pitched in 11 games for the world champion dodgers. snyder earned his only big league win in his major league debut (a relief appearance against the cardinals), and then suffered his only big league loss in his very next outing (a relief appearance against the reds).
dutch stryker
stryker, the second 'dutch' on this sheet, pitched in two games for the 1926 brooklyn robins. he posted a 27.00 era as a robin which was somewhat tempered by the fact that he earned no decisions in either game. his only other big league experience came in 1924 as a member of the boston braves. i believe stryker is shown here in a boston uniform as that's the only way i know of that the black armband makes sense. i'll address that in a separate memorials post somewhere down the line.
eddie wilson
wilson was a mid-season call-up for the dodgers in 1936 who hit .347 in 52 games over the latter part of the season. he started the 1937 season with the dodgers, but was sent down a couple of weeks into the season after a slow start. he returned to the majors later in the season, but did not duplicate his previous success, and finished his big league career with hitless pinch-hit performance on the final day of the 1937 season.
hank winston
winston pitched in one game for the 1933 philadelphia a's and then waited until 1936 to get another taste of the big leagues. he made it into 14 games for the dodgers in '36, going 1-3 with a 6.12 era. unfortunately for winston, that was all she wrote as far as a big league playing career was concerned.
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