sunday morning target dodgers - release the loudenslager!

this week's sheet from the 1990 target dodger set features 15 guys who were pretty much unknown to me.  let's learn about them together!

ben chapman

chapman was the one guy on this sheet that i knew about, but i can't say that i knew he suited up for the brooklyn dodgers in 1944 and 1945.  nor was it because he was an outfielder for the yankees in the 1930's, playing alongside babe ruth and lou gehrig as a part of the 1932 world championship team.  he moved on to the senators, red sox, and indians later in the decade, and then split the 1941 season between the senators and white sox.  after that, chapman managed in the minor leagues for a couple of years, but reinvented himself as a pitcher and returned to the majors with the dodgers in 1944 and part of 1945.  chapman was 8-6 with a 4.26 era for brooklyn, who traded him to the phillies in june of 1945.  the next season, chapman became the manager of the phillies, and in 1947 exposed himself as one of the most vocal opponents of jackie robinson and integration of the major leagues with a vicious heckling display when the dodgers visited philadelphia early in the season.  unfortunately for chapman, this is the only reason i knew of him.  quite a poor thing to be known for.

chuck corgan

corgan suited up for the robins in 1925 and again in 1927 for a total of 33 games, hitting .221 as a major leaguer.  he also played professional football, and was a member of the new york giants in 1927. shortly after the football season ended that year, corgan was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1928 at the age of 25.

jud daley

daley hit .250 in 80 games as an outfielder with the 1911 and 1912 dodgers.

rowdy elliot

elliot finished his 5-year major league career (which spanned 11 seasons) with 41 games as a member of the 1920 brooklyn robins.  although he was a member of that pennant winning team, elliot did not appear in the world series against the indians, but he did catch the majority of the 26 innings that the robins and braves played on may 1, 1920.

pete gilbert

gilbert played in 6 games for the 1894 brooklyn grooms, going 2 for 25 before he was released by the club.

chris haughey

i don't really remember how i celebrated my 18th birthday. i was in college, so i can probably guess, but it was nothing like the way chris haughey spent his 18th.  on october 3, 1943, haughey turned 18 and made his major league debut as a member of the brooklyn dodgers.  he pitched 7 innings in relief against the reds on that final day of the 1943 season, taking the loss while allowing 3 earned runs.  haughey was soon serving in the military, and never did return to the majors after that birthday debut.

al hollingsworth

hollingsworth, whose surname matches that of todd hollandsworth in number of letters and the most in team history as far as i can tell, was very nearly a dodger double dipper.  he was acquired by the dodgers during the 1939 season and pitched in 8 games for them, with another appearance as a pinch-runner.  near the start of the 1940 season, his contract was purchased by the senators, for whom he appeared in 3 games. the senators returned hollingsworth to the dodgers, but he was sent to triple-a, and didn't make it back to the majors until 1942 as a member of the saint louis browns.

bert inks

i suppose inks' name joins the likes of rick waits, dave sells, and davey lopes as a name that doubles as a complete sentence, if you accept 'inks' as a verb.  he joined the grooms in 1891, fresh out of the university of notre dame, and went 3-10 in his 13 games (all of which he started). he was back with brooklyn in 1892, appearing in 9 games before joining the washington senators for the remainder of the season.

tom kinslow

what a wonderful mustache this grooms' catcher sported! kinslow appeared in about 65 games a year during his run with the grooms which lasted from 1891 through 1894.  he hit .271 during that time, with his 1892 season (66 games, .305 average, 11 triples) being his best.  kinslow was traded to the pirates in 1895.

charlie loudenslager

loudenslager played in one major league game. it occurred on april 15, 1904 with the brooklyn superbas.  loudenslager struck out in both of his plate appearances that day, but was perfect in the field (he had one assist in his lone chance at second base).  loudenslager played in the minors for several seasons (i'm thinking this photo comes from his days with the rochester bronchos of the eastern league) and later served in world war i.

bill mccabe

mccabe broke in with the chicago cubs in 1918, and remained with the team until the robins purchased his contract during the 1920 season.  his 41 regular season games with brooklyn that year would be his last in the majors, but he did get to appear in the 1920 world series as a pinch-runner in game 6.

terry mcdermott

mcdermott was the dodgers' first round pick in the 1969 draft. he worked his way up to double-a in 1972, and earned a late season call-up with the dodgers. in 9 september games with the club, mcdermott  hit .130 as a pinch-hitter and first baseman. he returned to the minors the following season, and spent the next few years in triple-a, unable to crack the big league roster.

george mohart

mohart pitched for the robins in 1920 and 1921. he was 0-1 in 15 games during that time, and did not appear in the 1920 world series.

gordon slade

slade began his career with the robins in 1930, and remained with the club through 1932 before being included in the trade that sent dazzy vance to the cardinals in 1933.  he played primarily shortstop, and hit .238 during his time in brooklyn.  slade finished his career with the reds in 1934 and 1935, which is where the photo used for his card comes from.

adonis terry

terry's days with the brooklyn club dated back to 1884 when the team was in the american association. he was still with the franchise when they joined the national league in 1890, which was the point of this 100th anniversary set.  terry won a career high 26 games for the national league champion grooms that year, but was just 6-16 the following season, and found himself released in 1892.

maybe i'll be back next sunday with some more recognizable names...