earlier today we looked at the position players featured in the 1986 topps set who were members of the dodgers in the eyes of topps in 1978. now it's the pitchers' turn.
charlie hough was in his 7th season as a ranger in 1986
he was also featured on the team leader card
and for good reason even if he weren't the 'dean' of the team. he led the team in wins, era, strikeouts, innings, and complete games in 1985. in 1986, he led the rangers in some of those categories again (wins, era, and complete games), but was overtaken in others (innings, strikeouts) by the guys who hastened burt hooton's retirement - ed correa and bobby witt. still, hough's 17 wins were at that time a career high, and the knuckleballer made the all-star team for the only time in his career. in the midsummer classic, hough pitched a perfect 7th inning to preserve the al's 3-0 lead. he went back to the mound in the 8th and recorded 3 strikeouts. unfortunately, one of his strikeout victims reached on a passed ball. throw in an earlier double and wild pitch, plus an ensuing balk and single, and hough was lifted having pitched an inning and two-thirds while allowing 2 runs (one earned). the al still won the game, however.
hough's two best pitching performances of the season came against the angels. in late september, he faced off against former teammate don sutton, and beat the halos 1-0 on a complete game two hitter. he held the angels hitless in that game through 6 and a third innings. earlier in the season, hough had lost a no-hitter against the angels in the 9th inning. in that game, hough took the no-no into the 9th with a 1-0 lead. after a strikeout to start the inning, jack howell reached on an error by the left fielder and scored on wally joyner's single, bringing an end to the no-hitter and the shutout. then came a passed ball, another strikeout, and an intentional walk, and then another strikeout that should have ended the inning. instead, strike 3 came on a passed ball and joyner was able to score all the way from second to give the angels a win and hough a hard luck one-hit loss.
rick rhoden, like hough, was named to the all-star team in 1986 representing the pirates (he did not appear in the game)
and he also graced the pirates' team leader card
thanks to his service dating back to 1980. rhoden didn't have any close calls with no-hitters, but he did strike out 21 expos over the course of two consecutive starts in late june. overall, he was a 15 game winner with 12 complete games in 1986. heading into the final month of the season, he was 15-7 with a 2.41 era and a viable cy young award candidate. unfortunately, five losses and a no-decision in 6 september starts saw his era jump to 2.84 (still a career best), and rhoden subsequently wound up 5th in the cy young voting. rhoden did win another silver slugger, however, as he hit .278 with a home run (the 9th and final one of his career) and 10 rbi.
tommy john finally got a card as an athletic in 1986
even though he had returned to the yankees during the offseason. topps chose, as they had with davey lopes, not to include john in the 1986 traded set. i guess john's 13 appearances (10 as a starter) were not enough to warrant a spot in the set. john was 5-3 on the season with a 2.93 era.
terry forster was included in the 1986 topps traded set. the flagship set had him in a braves uniform
but he had been released by atlanta at the start of the season, and signed with the angels shortly thereafter
he pitched in 41 games for the angels, compiling a 4-1 record with 5 saves. 1986 turned out to be forster's last in the big leagues, and although the angels made the postseason, forster did not make an appearance in the alcs.
don sutton also pitched for the angels in 1986
he went 15-11 with a 3.74 era over 34 starts in his first full season for the angels. one of those victories, a complete game 3-hitter against the rangers in june (two days after the near charlie hough no-no), counted for the 300th of his career. after helping the angels win the al west, sutton made two appearances in the alcs, including a start. he had an era of 1.86 in those appearances, having allowed 2 earned runs in 9.2 innings of work, but had no record in the series - the last postseason appearance of his career.
now for the retired pitcher, tommy lasorda
lasorda hit near bottom in 1986 as far as his managerial career went. the dodgers posted their worst record to date in his tenure (73-89) and finished 5th in the nl west, 23 games behind the astros. it marked the first time they had ever been as low as 5th place in the division, and they were only a half game ahead of the last place braves!
now for the wrap up. as in 1985, there were 14/27 members of the 1978 topps dodgers featured by topps in 1986. here's the tally of appearances to date:
baker 16 (1971-1986)
burke 2 (1978-1979)
cey 15 (1972-1986)
davalillo 14 (1963-1974, 1978-1979)
forster 15 (1972-1986)
garman 8 (1971-1973, 1975-1979)
garvey 16 (1971-1986)
goodson 6 (1973-1978)
grote 15 (1964-1976, 1978-1979)
hooton 15 (1972-1986)
hough 15 (1972-1986)
john 23 (1964-1986)
lacy 14 (1973-1986)
lasorda 12 (1954, 1973-1974, 1977-1981, 1983-1986)
lopes 14 (1973-1986)
martinez 9 (1971-1976, 1978-1980)
monday 18 (1967-1984)
mota 18 (1963-1980)
oates 10 (1972-1981)
rau 9 (1973-1981)
rautzhan 2 (1978-1979)
rhoden 12 (1975-1986)
russell 17 (1970-1986)
smith 17 (1967-1983)
sosa 10 (1974-1984)
sutton 21 (1966-1986)
yeager 14 (1973-1986)
teams represented so far: 23 (dodgers, indians, colt .45's, pirates, white sox, astros, mets, a's, red sox, angels, expos, cardinals, braves, cubs, orioles, giants, phillies, yankees, rangers, tigers, padres, brewers, mariners)
