two sundays into the new year, and i still haven't run out of sheets of cards from the 1990 target dodger set to show off. i think i have enough to go for about 20 more weeks at which time i will have shown the entire set. not sure if i'll make it that long, though. here are this week's players:
bob barrett
barrett was 0 for 1 with a ribbie in his lone appearance for the robins in 1925. he had been acquired from the cubs in may, played in that one game, and was sent to the minors. he remained in the minors for the entire 1926 season, but returned to brooklyn in 1927. that year, barrett hit .259 in 99 games. he finished his big league career in 1929 with the red sox.
mace brown
the dodgers purchased the contract of mace brown from the pirates in april of 1941 and dealt him to the cubs in august of that same year. in between, brown appeared in 24 games for the dodgers pitching exclusively in relief. he was 3-2 with a 3.16 era in those games. like barrett, brown finished his playing career as a member of the red sox, and later became their pitching coach and then a scout. it was in the latter role that he discovered and signed hall of famer jim rice for the bosox.
gino cimoli
cimoli began his career in 1956 with the dodgers, and was an all-star for brooklyn in 1957. he moved with the club to los angeles in 1958 (where he struck out as the first batter in a west coast major league baseball game), but was traded to the cardinals after that season as part of the wally moon deal. as a dodger, cimoli had hit .269 in 324 games. he also played for the pirates, braves, a's, orioles, and angels during his 10 year career.
ron davis
i don't remember ron davis as a dodger, probably because he only pitched in four games for them during the latter part of the 1987 season. to me, ike's dad is a yankee, as he pitched for them from 1978 through 1981 when he faced the dodgers in the world series. after i moved to minnesota, where davis pitched from 1982 into 1986, i came to know him as 'whiplash', as in the pain that twins' fans suffered as they followed a davis pitch approaching home plate and then being swatted into the outfield seats. that's a bit of an exaggeration, as davis averaged 1 home run/9 innings pitched over his career, which is cole hamels-ish. davis gave up no home runs as a dodger, but did walk 6 in his four innings of work for the blue.
art decatur
decatur was used as both a starter and a reliever for the robins from 1922 through 1924. he also made one relief appearance in 1925 before he was traded to the phillies. overall, decatur was 16-16 for brooklyn, with a 3.31 era.
jack fournier
fournier was the robins' first baseman from 1923 into the 1926 season. he finished 9th in the league mvp voting in 1924 when he led the league with 27 home runs. the following year, he led the league with 86 walks and had a career high on-base percentage of .446. he was regarded as a poor fielder, and his high error totals supported the reputation.
tom haller
haller was a two-time all-star for the giants when the dodgers traded for him following the 1967 season. he was an all-star again in 1968, hitting .285 in 144 games for his new team. haller remained with the dodgers until he was dealt to the tigers in december of 1971. along the way, he hit .276 and caught in over 440 games as a dodger. haller later became the giants' general manager, and was responsible for the signing of reggie smith.
billy herman
herman was a hall of fame second baseman who established himself with the cubs during the 1930's. he joined the dodgers via a trade made between the two clubs during the 1941 season, and played second in brooklyn through the 1943 season. after missing two years due to military service during world war ii, herman returned to the dodgers in 1946, but was traded to the braves near the end of the season. he eventually returned to brooklyn to coach the dodgers from 1952 through 1957.
hy myers
myers played for brooklyn beginning in 1909. he had a second cup of coffee with the club in 1911, and then became a regular in 1914. he was a fixture in the robins' outfield through the 1922 season, after which he was traded to the cardinals for john fournier, profiled above. for brooklyn, myers hit .282 and twice led the league in triples. he helped the club win two pennants, and was responsible for the only run that the team scored off of babe ruth in the 1916 world series thanks to his first inning solo home run.
al oliver
oliver, the man who wore number 0 for the dodgers, brought his .305 career batting average to los angeles following a february, 1985 trade with the phillies. as a dodger, oliver fairly quickly lost his left fielder job and was used mostly as a pinch-hitter after the first month of the season. he was traded to the blue jays in early july after compiling a .253 batting average in 35 games.
john ryan
ryan was a catcher who played for the 1898 brooklyn bridegrooms, hitting .189 in 87 games. he played in a total of 13 seasons, although the last two each consisted of a single at bat while coaching for the washington senators.
frank skaff
skaff broke in with the 1935 dodgers, and hit .545 (6 for 11) in the 6 games in which he played. he did not appear in the majors again until 1943 when he hit .281 for the philadelphia a's. skaff later became the manager of the tigers in 1966, following the deaths of chuck dressen and interim manager bob swift.
roy spencer
spencer finished his 12 year career with the dodgers in 1937 and 1938. he hit .222 as a dodger in 67 games during that span.
terry whitfield
whitfield had spent three years playing in japan where he had helped the seibu lions win a couple of championships before the dodgers signed him as a free agent for the 1984 season. prior to that, he had found success with the giants, hitting .289 as a member of their outfield from 1977 through 1980. as a dodger, whitfield hit .242 as a reserve outfielder and pinch-hitter from 1984 into 1986. he was announced as a pinch-hitter in the 9th inning of game 3 of the 1985 nlcs, but was pinch-hit for when the cardinals made a pitching change. that was as close as whitfield got to postseason mlb action in his career.
pat zachry
zachry was acquired by the dodgers from the mets in december of 1982 in exchange for jorge orta. he had been a starter for his entire career until the mets moved him to the bullpen during the '82 season, and the dodgers left him there (aside from one spot start in 1983 in which he was the winning pitcher) for the next two years. zachry relieved in a total of 97 games for the dodgers, posting a record of 10-7 with 2 saves in that role. he was traded to the phillies following the 1984 season in exchange for al oliver, which marks the second time a pair of players on this particular sheet of cards were traded for each other. i really wish i knew what, if anything, the people who put these sheets together took into account when doing so.
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