sadly, dick allen's card from the 1990 target dodgers 100th anniversary giveaway set features him as a member of the chicago white sox. that was the team to which the dodgers traded allen (for tommy john), and the team with which allen subsequently went and won the most valuable player award. still, allen leads off this week's trip through a sheet of 15 cards in the set, although the 15th card (of double dipper vito tamulis) gets a separate post later on.
dick allen
allen had played for one year in saint louis as the cardinals' first baseman following his best years in philadelphia before joining the dodgers for the 1971 season. the dodgers moved him back to third base, and he hit .295 over 155 games with 23 home runs and 90 rbi. the dodgers, of course, had steve garvey and ron cey waiting for a chance to play third base, but it was al campanis' desire to bring frank robinson to los angeles that
may have spurred the consummation of the allen for john deal prior to the 1972 season.
willie crawford
crawford was a local standout athlete when he signed a contract with the dodgers in 1964 as a 17-year old. he debuted for the big club that same season, shortly after turning 18. at 19, crawford was playing the world series, getting a hit in one of two appearances against the twins. he was in the majors for good in 1969, and stayed with the dodgers through the 1975 season. with a .268 average in 989 games as a dodger, crawford was traded to the cardinals prior to the 1976 campaign for ted sizemore. oddly enough, sizemore was one of the players the dodgers had given up in order to get dick allen prior to the 1971 season. crawford did return to the dodgers for spring training in 1978, but was cut by the team before he had a chance to become,
like sizemore, a double dipper.
tommy davis
davis was another local prospect signed by the dodgers, but he was a brooklyn-ite, signed while the club was still playing in ebbets field. davis didn't make it to the majors until the dodgers were in los angeles, first appearing in one game during the 1959 season before becoming a regular sometime during the 1960 season. davis led the league in batting average in both 1962 and 1963, setting the dodger franchise record for rbi (153) in 1963. his career was sidetracked by a broken ankle suffered in 1965, and davis wound up as
a bit of a journeyman after being traded by the dodgers in november of 1966.
al ferrara
the bull, as ferrara is known, played for the dodgers from 1963-1968, although he didn't appear in the majors during the 1964 season. the only world series that ferrara played in was the 1966 fall classic, in which the dodgers were swept by the orioles. he did manage to get a hit in his lone at bat, however. ferrara was also one of the many dodger players to get some side work on tv, appearing in episodes of gilligan's island and batman, among others. he was selected by the padres in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season, and became the team's first pinch-hitter when he substituted for longtime friend and teammate johny podres in the friars' second game.
burleigh grimes
ol' stubblebeard is back. he was a pitcher for the robins from 1918-1926, and later succeeded casey stengel as the manager of the dodgers in 1937. the photo on the card above must come from grimes' two-year stint as the dodger skipper. grimes was inducted into the hall of fame as a pitcher (he won a total of 270 games, with 158 as a dodger) in 1964.
luke hamlin
hamlin was a pitcher who won 20 games for the dodgers in 1939. he was 20-13 that year, following campaigns in which he was 11-13 and 12-15 for the dodgers despite posting consistent era's around 3.60. goes to show how little a win-loss record tells you. hamlin was 17-16 for the dodgers in 1940 and 1941 combined, and was dealt to the pirates in the arky vaughan trade in december of '41.
fielder jones
jones played for the bridegrooms and superbas from 1896 through 1900. he hit over .300 (with a high of .354 in 1896) in four of those years, batting .285 in the other. at first i thought that perhaps his nickname was ironic, because he made 144 errors in his career, including 14 in his rookie year, but that is actually his first name.
rafael landestoy
landestoy
bookended his career with stops in los angeles. he was a rookie on the 1977 nl champion squad and then returned to the club for the 1983 and '84 seasons. he played for houston and cincinnati in between.
cy moore
moore began his big league career with the robins in 1929, and pitched for the franchise through the 1932 season when they became known as the dodgers again. he was 4-8 over those four seasons in 76 games, in which moore started only 6. he finished his career with two seasons in philadelphia.
ray moore
no known relation to cy, ray moore pitched for the dodgers in 1952 and 1953. he amassed a record of 2-3 in 15 games as a dodger, and he went on from there to find greater success in the bullpens of the white sox, senators, and twins. with the chisox, moore faced the dodgers in the 1959 world series, giving up one of chuck essegian's pinch-hit home runs.
bob ramazzotti
ramazzotti played in 62 games as a 29-year old rookie in 1946, but didn't make it back to brooklyn until 1948. he appeared in only 4 games that year, and was on the field for the dodgers in only 5 games in 1949 before he was traded to the cubs.
willie randolph
randolph joined the dodgers in what turned out to be a swap of free agent second basemen - steve sax went to the yankees following the 1988 season, with randolph leaving the bronx to sign with the dodgers. randolph hit .282 in 144 games for the dodgers in 1989, making the all-star team in his return to the national league. in 1990, he began the season as the dodgers' second baseman but was traded to the a's in may in exchange for stan javier. it worked out well for willie, as he was able to return to the postseason for the first time since 1981.
ellie rodriguez
rodriguez began his big league career in 1968 with the new york yankees, but was taken by the royals in the expansion draft and became the first catcher in team history the following spring. that year he was also the first royal all-star, although he did not get into the game. after stints in milwaukee and anaheim, rodriguez was dealt at the end of spring training in 1976 to the dodgers in a rare trade between the clubs. rodriguez wound up playing in 36 games, spelling steve yeager behind the plate. he had an obp of .400 which is probably partially due to hitting in front of the pitcher - he was walked 19 times in 90 plate appearances. rodriguez was released by the dodgers in may of 1977 without having appeared in a game.
mack wheat
mack wheat stands beside dave sax as probably the most forgettable dodger teammate brother in history. zack's younger brother hit .191 in parts of five seasons with the robins from 1915-19, while zack hit .300 in that span, including a league-leading .335 in 1918. mack was picked up by the phillies following the 1919 season, and had his best campaign in 1920 when he hit .226 with 20 rbi.
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