the topps dodger autograph project - the late 1970's

now we're in my wheelhouse - the dodgers of the late 1970's!  as usual, all of these cards were signed through the mail for free.

ron cey, 1975 topps

cey is easily one of the best ttm signers out there. i've had a number of successes with him; maybe too many.  i also have 1975 topps cards signed by other former dodgers, including bill buckner, manny mota, doug rau, ken mcmullen, and joe ferguson (world series card).

joe ferguson, 1975 topps mini

while not necessarily part of this project, i figured i would show it since i have it.  you'll have to take my word for it, but that is a mini.  fergie has signed through the mail for me a few times which is all kinds of awesome.  i also have 1975 topps minis signed by ron cey, al downing, jim wynn, and manny mota.

bill russell, 1976 topps

ropes is another good ttm signer whom i have hit up several times.  i also have signed 1976 topps cards from these other dodgers:  ron cey, davey lopes (with fee), al downing, joe ferguson, john hale, burt hooton, charlie hough, tommy john (in person proxy via trade), lee lacy (in person), leron lee, ken mcmullen, manny mota, doug rau, stan wall, and rick rhoden (with fee).

dusty baker, 1976 topps traded

as i mentioned in the last post - i don't consider the traded sets to be part of the 'project', but i'll show them if i have them.  johnnie b used to be a reliable ttm signer, but i haven't seen any successes from him lately.  it used to be he would sign and return cards in january or february, so maybe there's hope.  i asked him to sign at a spring training game a few years ago, and he said that he would when he got back to his dugout.  sadly, i never made it over to that side of the field.  so, i'm happy to have the few cards that he signed for me through the mail in my collection.  this is the only 1976 topps traded card i have signed in my collection.

steve garvey, 1977 topps

the garv.  how stoked was i when i learned that my favorite player signed through the mail.  very stoked.  1977 was his big power year (33 home runs), and i have learned to love this card - even with the scratch on the printing plate and the candlestick background.  other 1977 topps cards signed for me through the mail by former dodgers include bill russell, ron cey, tommy john (in person proxy via trade), davey lopes (via trade), rick rhoden (with fee), elias sosa, ellie rodriguez, and stan wall.

dave lopes, 1978 topps

i consider myself extremely fortunate that lopes signed and returned both of my 1978 topps cards (this one and the nl championship card) when i first began my humble 1978 topps dodger autograph project. they remain the only successes i have had with the former dodger second baseman/current dodger first base coach.  of course, i have some other 1978 topps cards signed by members of that dodger team, all except ed goodson.  most of those cards were obtained through the mail free of charge.

charlie hough, 1979 topps

knuckleballer (and closer) from the team of my youth, charlie hough is another good ttm signer.  i have a few of his cards in my autograph collection, including some of his non-dodger issues.  other dodgers from the 1979 topps set who have signed for me include dusty baker, pedro guerrero (with fee), bill russell, bob welch (with fee), ron cey, bobby castillo (with fee), joe ferguson, steve garvey, tommy john (in person proxy via trade), rudy law, doug rau, and lance rautzhan.  i also have a card signed by steve yeager that i picked up on the 'bay.

that's it for the 70's.  here's the list of each year's representative card (so far):

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

1975 topps - ron cey

1975 topps mini - joe ferguson

1976 topps - bill russell

1976 topps traded - dusty baker

1977 topps - steve garvey

1978 topps - dave lopes

1979 topps - charlie hough

lee lacy's abbreviated atlanta adventure

[this is the thirty-second installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, and jesse orosco.]

leondaus lacy was drafted by the dodgers in 1969 and made his big league debut for them three years later.  here he is on his 1975 topps card, with dodger stadium serving as the backdrop 

unfortunately for lacy, dave lopes was coming onto the scene at the same time, and lacy wound up as the odd man out.  still, he carved out a niche for himself as a valuable utility player, spending time at second, third, short and all three outfield positions for the dodgers during his first go-around with them.  during that same time, lacy appeared in 266 games and posted a .274 batting average in over 800 plate appearances.

after the 1975 season, a season in which lacy appeared in over 100 games for the first time and posted a line of 7/40/.314, he was packaged with jim wynn, jerry royster, and tom paciorek in a deal with the braves that sent dusty baker and ed goodson to los angeles as documented by this 1976 topps traded card

in atlanta, lacy was installed as the everyday secondbaseman, and was batting .272 in late june when the dodgers re-acquired him (along with elias sosa) for reliever mike marshall.  he had played in only 50 games for the braves before al campanis brought him back.

back in los angeles, lacy spent most of his time over the remainder of the 1976 season filling in as an outfielder.  he stayed with the dodgers through the 1978 season before leaving for pittsburgh as a free agent, and, after 3 failed attempts with the dodgers, lacy finally earned a world series ring with 'the family' in 1979.

here's to you lee lacy, a dodger double dipper!

the 1978 topps dodgers who were, in fact, dodgers in 1976. at least according to topps.

the dodgers did indeed 'get dusty baker from braves' as his 1976 topps traded card proclaims.

as i mentioned yesterday, dusty hit only four home runs in his debut season as a dodger, but he perservered and rebounded very nicely in 1977.

the penguin was going nowhere in 1976

that is to say, the dodgers weren't in need of a new third baseman, nor were they interested in losing the one they had, despite the fact that topps used a hatless photo of cey on his 1976 card, with the team name conveniently obscured.  cey hit only two fewer home runs in 1976 (23) than he had in 1975 (25), but his rbi total was down by 21.  still, he made the all-star team again, although he lost the starting vote to pete rose.

steve garvey didn't miss out on starting the all-star game in 1976

in fact, he tripled in the game's first run after rose led off the national league's first inning with a single.  he then scored the winning run two batters later on a george foster groundout.  like cey, garvey's power numbers were down in 1976 - even more significantly so.  he managed just 13 home runs with 80 rbi.  he still had 200 hits and hit .317, however, and finished 6th in the nl mvp vote.  he also stole a career high 19 bases and continued his consecutive games played streak by playing in all 162 games.

one of the guys who lacked playing time thanks to garvey's streak was ed goodson, featured as a dodger on a topps card for the first time in 1976

goodson was acquired from the braves in the dusty baker trade, but was airbrushed into a dodgers' hat in time for the flagship set's printing.  it's as if topps knew goodson wasn't going to play much first base as a dodger, as they show him as a third baseman even though he spent most of his playing time as a first baseman the previous two seasons.  topps was right, though, as walter alston used goodson mostly as a third baseman.  he made only 3 appearances at first base, along with 2 as an outfielder. two of his three home runs hit in 1976 were as a pinch-hitter.

burt hooton's first full season with the dodgers came in 1976

after winning 18 games for the dodgers following the trade from the cubs in early 1975, hooton went 11-15 in 1976.  his era rose to 3.26 and his whip was up a tick to 1.16, but his record was more due to the fact that 8 of his losses came in games in which hooton allowed 3 earned runs or less.  in total, he made 33 starts, and had 8 complete games with 4 shutouts, including a pair of two-hitters.

charlie hough was still in the dodger bullpen in 1976

he appeared in 77 games and had 18 saves to go along with his 12 wins.  he also threw 9 wild pitches.  hough averaged about 2 innings per appearance, and had 2 5.2-inning stints in 1976.

it was nice of topps to make a card for tommy john in 1976

especially with dodger stadium as the backdrop for the photo.  john had missed the entire 1975 season thanks to his ligament replacement surgery.  he came back in april of 1976, and wound up pitching 207 innings.  his record was 10-10, but he also posted a 3.09 era with 6 complete games and 2 shutouts. for his troubles, john was awared the 'hutch' award, given to the player who embodies the 'fighting spirit' of fred hutchinson.  he also was named the national league's comeback player of the year.

lee lacy was a comeback player of a different sort in 1976

shown above as a dodger in the 1976 base set, lacy got the traded treatment later in the year thanks to the deal that sent him to the braves in the dusty baker deal

however, lacy was traded back to the dodgers during the 1976 season with elias sosa for dr. mike marshall.  lacy's season was pretty evenly split between the two teams, as were his stats except that all three of his home runs were hit for the braves.

i suspect one of the reasons the dodgers re-acquired lacy was that davey lopes appeared in only 117 games for the dodgers in 1976

still, he led the league in stolen bases for the second straight year, guaranteeing him a second card in the 1977 set, so long as topps continued to make cards for league leaders.  speaking of extra cards, lopes was given a record breaker card in the 1976 set thanks to his streak of successful stolen base attempts.

it's too bad that his record breaker wasn't card number 1 in the set.  that way, lopes' cards would have bookended the set.  he also sat atop the pyramid on the nl stolen base league leader card

at least topps had him turn his head for the photo.  i like how they used the shortstop logo (with a ball) on the card.  check out bill russell's card below to see what i mean.

manny mota's 1976 topps card was a preview of 1981 donruss

thanks to a dark photo and wrigley field as a backdrop.  for the fourth year in a row, mota's playing time diminished.  he appeared in 50 games in 1976, and played in the field in only 6 of them.  he hit an even .300 as a pinch-hitter (12 for 40 with 6 walks and a sacrifice fly).

the bell curve of doug rau's career peaked in 1976

he won a career high 16 games and had a personal best 2.57 era in 32 starts.  he threw 8 complete games and had 3 shutouts with a couple of 3-hitters.

rick rhoden got a card of his very own in 1976

he deserved it, too, as he was 12-3 with a 2.98 era in 26 starts.  he had 10 complete games and 3 shutouts with two of those being 3-hitters like rau.  rhoden was named to the all-star team for the first time in his career, and pitched a scoreless inning in the game.  after allowing a single to mickey rivers, rhoden got carl yastrzemski to ground into a double play and then retired rod carew to end the inning.

here's bill russell, who came back from injury to play in 149 games for the dodgers in 1976

russell played pretty well, hitting .274 with 5 homers.  he made the all-star team for the second time in his career, and grounded into a double play in his only at bat.

don sutton did not make the all-star team in 1976.

but he did win 20 games (21 to be exact) for the first and only time in his career.  20 of those wins came as a starter, and the other came in his only relief appearance of the season.  it looks like he was used in relief around the all-star break as a way to get him some work and avoid a longer layoff.  anyway, his 21-10 record, along with his 3.06 era, 15 complete games, 4 shutouts, a 2-hitter, and 161 strikeouts were good for a third place finish in the cy young voting.  it was his fifth straight season in which he placed in the top 5 in the voting for the award.  although he never won the cy young, he did win the lou gehrig award in 1976 for his sportsmanship on and off the field.  i guess in the clubhouse didn't count, or else steve garvey didn't get a vote. 

finally, we have steve yeager showing off his neck that bill russell's bat tried to puncture later in the season

that injury, suffered in the on-deck circle, led yeager and dodger trainer bill buhler to come up with the catcher's throat protector.  while he wasn't tinkering in the workshop, yeager was playing in 117 games behind the plate for the dodgers.  he hit 11 home runs on the year, but more importantly threw out 40% of the runners who tried to steal against him.

here's the evolutionary tally so far:

23/27 members of the 1978 topps dodgers featured by topps in 1976

total appearances:

baker 6 (1971-1976)
cey 5 (1972-1976)
davalillo 12 (1963-1974)
forster 5 (1972-1976)
garman 5 (1971-1973, 1975-1976)
garvey 6 (1971-1976)
goodson 4 (1973-1976)
grote 13 (1964-1976)
hooton 5 (1972-1976)
hough 5 (1972-1976)
john 13 (1964-1976)
lacy 4 (1973-1976)
lasorda 3 (1954, 1973-1974)
lopes 4 (1973-1976)
martinez 6 (1971-1976)
monday 10 (1967-1976)
mota 14 (1963-1976)
oates 5 (1972-1976)
rau 4 (1973-1976)
rhoden 2 (1975-1976)
russell 7 (1970-1976)
smith 10 (1967-1976)
sosa 3 (1974-1976)
sutton 11 (1966-1976)
yeager 4 (1973-1976)

teams represented so far:

17 (dodgers, indians, colt .45's, pirates, white sox, astros, mets, a's, red sox, angels, expos, cardinals, braves, cubs, orioles, giants, phillies)

the evolution of the center fielder

i'll start this ode to the trail of dodger center fielders with the silver fox, the duke of flatbush, or as his parents named him, edwin donald snider.

duke snider (1949-1958)

in his 10 seasons as the dodgers' primary center fielder, snider hit .306 with 326 home runs, 1035 rbi, over 1000 hits and 3000 total bases, and had an obp of .386 and an ops of .950.  he helped the dodgers to five world series appearances over that stretch and hit 4 home runs in two different fall classics.  he is the gold standard as far as dodger center fielders go, and don demeter had the unenviable task of replacing him when the duke moved to right field in 1959.

don demeter (1959)

(this, by the way, is the copy of demeter's 1958 card that topps sent me from the mcg promotion.  i should have taken one of those multi-card trades and bought a better copy on the bay for $4).  demeter's lone season in the center field spotlight resulted in a .256 batting average and 17 home runs.  the dodgers made the world series, though, and demeter had 3 hits and scored a couple of runs as the dodgers won their first world championship in los angeles.  demeter returned to back-up status in 1960 as tommy davis debuted.

tommy davis (1960)

tommy davis had actually debuted in 1959, getting a single at bat under his belt before the season ended (he struck out pinch-hitting for clem labine against marshall bridges).  in 1960, though, he played in 110 games,  hit .302 with 11 home runs and 44 runs driven in, and finished 5th in the rookie of the year voting.  he shared the center field position in 1960 with the two previous occupants as well as another rookie, willie davis.  the 3-dog would take over the 8 spot in 1961.

willie davis (1961-1973)

willie davis became the holder of most los angeles dodger records during his tenure, virtually all of which was spent as their primary center fielder.  he leads all la dodgers in career war (war, offensive war, and defensive war) as well as at bats, runs, hits, total bases and triples.  in his 13 year run in center for the blue, he amassed over 2000 hits and nearly 1000 runs scored.  the dodgers traded davis to the expos for reliever mike marshall in december of 1973, one day before they acquired the toy cannon to replace him.

jim wynn (1974-1975)
wynn was an all-star in both of his seasons with the dodgers, and may have been the actual mvp in 1974.  he hit 32 home runs and drove in 108.  he also walked 108 times and scored 104 runs.  he hit only .188 in the world series against the a's that year, and is probably best remembered among dodger fans for having joe ferguson cut in front of him in game 1 to catch reggie jackson's fly ball before nailing sal bando at the plate.  wynn was traded to the braves after the 1975 season, and in return, the dodgers got their next center fielder, dusty baker.

dusty baker (1976)

yes, baker played center in 1976 before moving over to left field.  he had played mostly right field for the braves the previous two years, but made the transition fairly easily - just 1 error in 83 games in center.  his offensive production dipped quite a bit, though, as he hit only 4 home runs after hitting no fewer than 17 in his previous four seasons.  the move to left field the following year coincided with the return of baker's power, and opened a spot for another newcomer in center, rick monday.

rick monday (1977)

monday is the guy i remember as the center fielder, since the 1977 team is the one i first followed closely.  he was acquired from the cubs for bill buckner and ivan dejesus (the dodgers also got mike garman in the deal).  he was coming off a career year - 107 runs scored and 32 home runs - when he was traded.  like baker before him, his offensive production declined as he hit just .230 with 15 long balls.  he hit .286 in the nlcs against the phillies, but just .167 in the fall classic against the yankees.  in 1978, monday began the season as the center fielder, but in may they acquired bill north from the a's, and monday began to play a bit more in right and as a pinch hitter.

bill north (1978)

north made 82 starts for the dodgers in center, while monday made 74, so north gets the nod as the dodgers' official center fielder for 1978.  acquired for glenn burke, north hit .234 in 110 games as a dodger, scoring 54 times and stealing 27 bases (he was caught 8 times).  he was pretty quiet in the post season, going hitless in the nlcs and managing just 1 hit in the world series.  monday wasn't too much better - he managed two hits in each series.  north headed north to san francisco as a free agent after the season, meaning that the dodgers would once again have a new primary center fielder in 1979.

derrel thomas (1979)

thomas had joined the dodgers as a free agent prior to the season, and wound up making 93 starts in center.  he also played at every infield position at some point during the season.  in all, he hit .256 and scored 47 runs in 1979.  his value clearly was as a utility player, so the dodgers allowed a rookie to take over in center in 1980.

rudy law (1980)

law debuted in 1978, but didn't appear in the majors again until 1980.  he won the center field job after a good showing in spring training, and he went on to set a dodger rookie record with 40 stolen bases that year.  he found his way into tommy lasorda's doghouse and was made made expendable when the dodgers acquired their next center fielder, kenny landreaux, prior to the 1981 season.

landreaux brought some stability back to center field for the dodgers, so we'll let him kick off part 2, coming soon.

1976 topps traded reggie smith - the card that should have been

the dodgers' reggie, reggie smith, was acquired in a trade with the cardinals in the middle of the 1976 season. since it wasn't an offseason deal, neither reggie nor the main player going to the cardinals, joe ferguson, were featured on a traded card that year. but, since i can, here is the 1976 topps traded reggie smith card that should have been. this was a good trade for the dodgers. smith would go on to have several solid years for them, finishing 4th in the mvp voting in both 1977 and 1978, when he had an obp of .427! ferguson, on the other hand, would return to the dodgers in 1978 at the expense of rafael landestoy and jeffery (one flap down) leonard.

in 1980, reggie was injured a couple of times, including in an argument with teammate derrel thomas. his injuries limited his ability to play the field, so he made mostly pinch hitting appearances in 1981. he did make the postseason roster and won his first world series ring that year, though.

in 1982, he did the unthinkable and signed with the giants as a free agent. after one year in san francisco, he spent 2 tumultuos years in japan, but we'll save all of that for his final tribute post.