sunday morning target dodgers - i didn't know jacklitszch

the secondary title of this post should make sense about half way through.  here are 15 cards from a sheet that was part of the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set given out at dodger stadium 25 years ago.

lady baldwin

i almost went with 'dude looks like a lady' for the secondary title, but there are so many people on this sheet that i didn't know of (thanks baseball reference) that the other title won out.  baldwin, given name charles, was a member of the 1890 brooklyn bridegrooms.  that was their first year as a national league club (hence the 100th anniversary set in 1990), and he pitched in 2 games for them. he had also been used as an outfielder occasionally earlier in his career (even as he won a record 42 games in 1886), but he was soley a pitcher for brooklyn.  after appearing in those two games, in which he was 1-0 with a 7.04 era, he joined buffalo in the players league for the remainder of the season.

win ballou

ballou was a member of the 1929 robins. he had previously pitched for the senators and browns before joining brooklyn.  for the robins, he was 2-3 in 25 games and his big league career came to a close. he continued to pitch in the pacific coast league, however, and thus we have the photo used for his card above.

boom-boom beck

our first dodger of the day, beck was known as walter until one day in 1934 when casey stengel tried to remove him from a game. instead of handing the ball over to his manager, beck threw it into right field where it caromed off of a tin facade, making a fair amount of noise. supposedly, dodger outfielder hack wilson had not been paying attention and thought that it was a batted ball, so he tracked it down and threw the ball in to the infield.  anyway, boom-boom pitched for the dodgers in 1933 and 1934, losing 20 games in '33.  he had to wait until 1939 to appear in the majors after the '34 season, but he did make it back, this time with the phillies.

greg brock

the usurper.

i thought about leaving it at that, but brock deserves better.  he was the heir apparent at first base when steve garvey left town, and his gaudy numbers from albuquerque in 1982 (44 homers, 138 rbi, and a .310 average) gave dodger fans hope.  brock hit 20 homers in his rookie season, but drove in only 66 and hit just .224.  he finished 7th in the rookie of the year voting, breaking the 4-year hold the franchise had on the award.  the dodgers did make it to the nlcs in his rookie year, and again in 1985 with brock at first, but he was eventually traded to the brewers after the 1986 season.

red downs

downs played in 9 games for the 1912 dodgers. he hit .250 in 34 plate appearances, before he was claimed by the cubs in may.

bones ely

ely had a sweet mustache, let's get that settled up front. he was an infielder with the 1891 brooklyn grooms who appeared in 31 games and hit just .153 in them. a couple of years later, he returned to the majors as a shortstop with the cardinals and after that, with the pirates - eventually becoming known as the man that honus wagner replaced at short for pittsburgh.

roy evans

it's too bad evans played for the superbas in 1902 and 1903 - well before the time of roy rogers and dale evans, because i'm sure he would have been called trigger if he had played during the heyday of the king of the cowboys.  or maybe not.  as it is, evans was 10-15 for brooklyn with an even 3.00 era during his time on their staff.

fred jacklitzch

it is true - i didn't know jacklitzsch before this, just as i didn't know about any of the guys above except for greg brock.  but, thanks to bbref.com, not i do.  jacklitzsch (which is more difficult to spell that grudzielanek or yastrzemski, in my opinion), even when baseball reference spells it without the 'z', played for brooklyn in 1903 and 1904. he caught, but also played second, first, and the outfield, hitting .257 in 86 games for the club.

frank kane

i believe that this photo of someone is blurry for a reason. the only frank kane that comes up in baseball reference's database was an outfielder for the 1919 new york yankees who also played in the federal league for the 1915 brooklyn tip-tops.  this set has nothing to do with brooklyn's federal league team.  there is no frank kane or kahn or cain or cane listed in the dodger franchise player roster.  i looked at the back of the card, and it says that kane did indeed play for brooklyn (the robins, not the tip-tops) in 1915.  apparently target didn't know jacklitszch about this guy and added him to the set erroneously.

john kelleher

after first appearing in the majors at the age of 18 with the 1912 cardinals, kelleher got his next opportunity as a member of the 1916 brooklyn robins. he appeared in 2 games, and was 0 for 3 at the plate. he did not appear in the postseason.  he next showed up in the majors with the cubs in 1921.

lou koupal

koupal spent 1928 and the first part of the 1929 season with the robins. he was 1-0 in 17 games in 1928, and 0-1 in 18 games in 1929.  his record, and departure from the club by way of a trade with the phillies, may have had something to do with a 2.41 era in '28 and a 5.36 era for brooklyn in '29.

curly onis

onis is the rare player (roy gleason is another) to have a career 1.000 batting average in the major leagues.  he appeared in just one game during the 1935 season, getting a single in his only at bat.  he is further distinguished by having a higher career batting average than fielding average, as he made an error on one of his two chances in the game, ending with a fp of .500.

bill sayles

sayles' two-year big league career came to an end with 5 games with the 1943 brooklyn dodgers. sayles earned no decisions in those games, but compiled a 7.71 era with 10 walks and 5 strikeouts.

tommy tatum

tatum had a cup of coffee with the 1941 brooklyn dodgers (he appeared in 8 games and was 2 for 12 at the plate) before serving in world war ii.  he returned to the dodger organization in 1946, and earned a call-up to the big club in 1947.  however, after playing in 4 games and going hitless in his 6 at bats, he was lost to the reds who purchased his contract.

earl yingling

believe it or not, earl here is not the only major league player to have the surname 'yingling'.  from the looks of it, however, he may have been the only one to not have any eyes.  yikes.  yingling pitched for the dodgers in 1912, and the superbas in 1913, posting a record of 14-19 and a 3.11 era in his 51 games for the franchise.

that's all for this week - hopefully next week's sheet will have a few more recognizable names.