on the road with mike morgan

mike morgan pitched for 12 different teams in 13 different stops (he double dipped with the cubs) over the course of 22 big league seasons.  those 12 different uniforms morgan wore were a record until octavio dotel made it to 13 in 2012.

morgan began his career as the 4th overall pick in 1978, and he was rushed to the majors less than two weeks later by a's owner charlie finley who obviously wasn't paying attention when the rangers made the same mistake with david clyde earlier in the decade.  morgan pitched a complete game in his big league debut as an 18-year old, but took the loss.  he lost his other two starts that season, and was 2-10 for the a's in 1979.  so, by the time this 1980 topps future stars card featuring morgan

was released, he was 2-13 as a major league pitcher, and he had also pitched in his last big league game for the franchise.  as an aside, kirk gibson was taken by the tigers with the 15th pick in that draft, and cal ripken jr was taken with the 22nd pick of the 2nd round.  i point this out not to disparage mike morgan, as he had a decent big league career, but rather to note that the team that drafted ahead of the orioles in the second round was the dodgers, who passed on ripken (then a third baseman) to take a different high school shortstop named clay smith.

anyway, morgan spent all of 1980 in the minors, and was traded to the yankees following the conclusion of the season.  he made it back to the majors in 1982, going 7-11 for the bronx bombers in 23 starts and 7 relief appearances.  he was traded to the blue jays after the season ended (with fred mcgriff!), but we were still treated to this 1983 fleer card showing him in yankee apparel.

topps also had him as a yankee in their 1983 set, but included him as a blue jay in the 1983 traded set

with the jays in '83, morgan was 0-3.  he pitched in 16 games, 4 of which were starts.  he spent all of 1984 back in the minors, and was taken by the mariners in the rule v draft prior to the 1985 season.  morgan took his 9-27 career record to seattle, where he made 2 starts (he was 1-1 in those starts) in 1985 before becoming a fixture in the rotation for both the 1986 and 1987 seasons.  he lost 17 games in both of those campaigns, however, leading the league in that category in 1986.  still, he won 11 and 12 games, respectively, kept his era below 5.00, and threw his first 3 career shutouts with the m's.  morgan was still a mariner on his 1988 donruss card

even though he was traded to the orioles in december of '87.  they got things updated in the 1988 donruss baseball's best set (also known as the halloween set)

morgan spent just that one season with the orioles, going 1-6 in 22 games, 10 of which were starts.  he had a cumulative record of 34-68 and had pitched for 5 different teams when dodger gm fred claire traded mike devereaux to the orioles in march of 1989 to acquire the 29-year old morgan.

the dodgers used morgan primarily as a starter to begin the 1989 season, and he responded nicely to his first taste of national league play.  morgan was 6-8 with a 1.79 era at the all-star break, but lost his first three starts of the second half with his era jumping to 2.61, and so was sent to the bullpen for the remainder of the season.  he finished with a record of 8-11 and a (by far) career best 2.53 era.  here's his 1990 upper deck card, featuring him dealing in dodger stadium.

over the next two seasons, the dodgers used morgan almost exclusively as a starter (he had one relief appearance against 66 starts in that span).  morgan was 11-15 in 1990, leading the league with 4 shutouts, and posted the first winning record of his career in 1991, going 14-10 with a 2.78 era and an all-star berth to boot.  morgan got to pitch the 9th inning of the midsummer classic, retiring hall of famers kirby puckett, carlton fisk (by strikeout), and roberto alomar in order.  he was also the national league player of the week for the last week in june, thanks to two complete game victories.  as a dodger, morgan was 33-36 with an era just over 3.00, and he decided to sign with the cubs as a free agent.

morgan went on to have one of his best seasons in 1992, going 16-8 with a 2.55 era in 34 starts.  he pitched for the cubs for a total of 3-plus seasons before being traded to the cardinals in june of 1995.  here's his 1993 bowman card

as i mentioned above, morgan had two different stints with the cubbies. the first time around, he was 30-34 in 85 starts.  from there, he was 9-14 for the cardinals between june of 1995 and august of 1996 when he was released.  the reds took a chance on morgan for the last month of the '96 season, and he posted a 2.30 era in 5 starts for them, although he was just 2-3 in those games.  he stayed with cincy in 1997, going 9-12, and was signed by the twins for the 1998 season.  morgan was traded to the cubs during the 1998 season after pitching in 18 games (17 starts) for the twins in his first american league (non-interleague) action since joining the dodgers in 1989.  he was 4-2 for the twinkies, but 0-1 for the cubs down the stretch.  still, morgan got his first taste of postseason play with those 1998 cubs, pitching a perfect 1.1 innings over two appearances in the nlds against the braves.  from there, it was on to texas for the 1999 season where the 39-year old went 13-10 in 34 appearances, 25 of which were starts.

at this point in morgan's career, he was 134-180, having pitched for 11 teams, and his days of being primarily a starter were behind him.  he signed with the diamondbacks, his record breaking 12th team, for the 2000 season, and stayed with them through the 2002 campaign - the last of his career.  here's his 2001 topps card

because the diamondbacks used morgan primarily as a reliever, he pitched in more games (120) wearing their hideous uniforms than any other - the dodgers were second at 107.  he had a record of 7-6 with 5 saves for arizona, and also picked up a world series ring in 2001 (he threw 4.2 scoreless in the fall classic against the yankees, although he did allow an inherited run (turned out to be the winning run) to score in game 3).

so, there you have it.  mike morgan was 141-186 for 12 different teams.  he won more games (33) for the dodgers than any other team, and also had his lowest cumulative era (3.06) in dodger blue.  so, here's a signed 1991 donruss card that i picked up at the local monthly card show a couple of years ago.

it was signed during his fleeting tenure with the twins, which ended with that trade with the cubs.

i suppose i'll do one of these for dotel, since he spent all of a month or so with the dodgers.  stay tuned...

revisiting the august a busch memorials

back in the very early stages of compiling cards for my memorials mini-collection, i showed these two cards as examples of the august a. busch jr memorials - initials on the home and away jerseys, and a black armband on the bp jerseys.

since then, i've come across better examples in my collection.  it's tough to top the 1991 upper deck ken dayley card for the armband, although i like this 1991 topps debut '90 card of ray lankford

and this 1991 bowman bryn smith is interesting as well

first of all, he's suttoning, but he's also wearing a lefty's mitt.  smith, of course, was a right-handed pitcher.

1991 upper deck also features good examples from bernard gilkey

and felix jose

but the card that kicks dayley out of the binder is this 1991 bowman ozzie smith card

as for the initials memorial, this 1991 fleer ozzie smith card gives us a better view than the dipino card up top did, as we see the 'jr' after the 'aab'.

that card also features a dodger stadium backdrop, so it's already in a different binder.

the memorial is visible, at least partially, on a bunch of other cards i've come across.  such as, 1991 donruss jose oquendo

1991 topps stadium club rex hudler

1991 international playing cards all-stars lee smith

1991 upper deck vince coleman

1991 upper deck jose deleon

and 1991 upper deck pedro guerrero

but those are mostly just partials.  fortunately, this 1991 o-pee-chee premier card of the former dodger displays the initials in their entirety.

plus, there's whitey herzog hanging out in the background.  petey goes into the binder.

as for the late august a. busch, he was the grandson of the founder of the busch brewery, and had presided over the cardinals since 1953 until his passing late in 1989.

double plays through the mail

i mentioned in the post earlier this morning that reader mark sent along some double play cards.  before we get to them, here is a 1970-72 fleer cloth sticker that was also included in one of the trade packages he sent.

i was thrown at first because all of the fleer stickers i have seen from that era have the 'la' logo on its side (along with a border surrounding the logo sticker), but a closer look tells me that the sticker here was likely removed and reapplied in its proper orientation.  it's pretty cool.  thanks mark.  and thanks for these new-to-me double plays.

1991 donruss ron oester

1991 fleer ultra greg gagne

i can't believe i haven't found this gagne in a dime box up here in twins territory.  same for this 1999 topps pat meares.

yes, i consider pretty much any 2nd base bag straddle to be a part of a dp turn.

just like this 1992 donruss jody reed card

although this 1992 donruss curtis wilkerson is easier to recognize as a double play turn

here's a nice 1992 upper deck card of tony phillips

on which he appears to have upended cal ripken jr who was just trying to complete the twin killing.

there's a dp turn on the back of bill doran's 1993 donruss card

as well as the front of marcus giles' 2007 topps opening day card

i've got some more stuff that mark sent to showcase later today.  stay tuned...

an armband for tony c

former red sox outfielder tony conigliaro was a local boy made good.  he was born and raised in massachusetts, and in 1964, at the age of 19, he was playing for the red sox.  he set a teenager home run record that year with 24, and would reach 100 career home runs at a younger age than any other american league player in history.  the only person younger than tony c to have done so was mel ott.  he was also the youngest player (20 years old) to lead the league in home runs when he hit 32 to pace the al in 1965.

conigliaro suffered a horrific beaning in august of 1967 that damaged his left eye.  he missed not only the remainder of the season, but the entire 1968 season as well.  remarkably, he was able to return to the majors in 1969 and hit 20 home runs, earning comeback player of the year honors.  the following season, he hit a career high 36 homers, but was traded to the angels after the season ended.

his injury caught up to him in 1971, as he hit only .222 with a mere 4 home runs that year.  the angels held on to him though, hoping that he would return to form, but he never did appear in the majors for them after 1971.  after the halos finally released him in 1974, he returned to the red sox for one last try in 1975.  after hitting just .123 with 2 homers, the red sox released conigliaro in september.  in 1982, conigliaro suffered a heart attack and later a stroke, and spent the next 8 years in a persistent vegetative state until his death in february of 1990, 24 years ago today.  

thanks to the massive number of baseball cards produced in 1991, there are plenty examples of the black armband that the red sox wore in 1990 to honor conigliaro.  here's a 1991 donruss wade boggs all-star card

and boggs' 1991 upper deck card shows the armband on the front

and back

as does larry anderson's

this 1991 o-pee-chee premier roger clemens card was a front runner for the memorial binder

and this one that i received from tom at the angels, in order from the 1991 international playing card company all-stars set is nice, too

but then i remembered dwight evans' 1991 topps card.

talk about a no-doubter.

it is worth noting that conigliaro's 'most similar by ages' players listed on baseball reference include mickey mantle and frank robinson for his second and third seasons.  bryce harper is the most similar for his rookie season, but mantle was the comp before harper came along.  tony c was the real deal.

bo goes lurking for catchers

more cards from my most recent trade with bo of baseball cards come to life fame.  he offered up some dodger and non-dodger cards that featured lurking catchers.  like this 1990 upper deck jay howell card with mike scioscia by his side

the back of the howell card features a nice shot of the dodger stadium field level scoreboard in the background

scioscia makes another guest appearance on robby thompson's 1991 donruss card

as well as on tom candiotti's 1993 upper deck card

and the back of todd hundley's 1991 upper deck card

i will address the black armband on the umpire's sleeve in a different post.

we've seen this card before, but scioscia is also breaking up two on tom foley's 1989 upper deck card

the back of which earns it a spot in a third collection of mine, cards that feature dodger stadium

not to be ignored, dodger catcher mike piazza makes a cameo on todd worrell's 1995 donruss card

and it looks like carlos hernandez is doing the same on ray lankford's 1996 leaf card

thanks again bo!  more cards to come...

recap the repack

out of boredom (is there any other reason?) i picked up a fairfield 100 card repack recently.  it's pretty cool to pull a pete rose out of a pack in 2013.

even if he's rocking the double chin.

here are the cards that i was dealt, so to speak.

1978 topps jose baez
1977 topps steve luebber
1978 topps tom paciorek

there are my three vintage cards right out of the gate.  a former dodger farmhand (and cousin of manny mota), a random twin, and a former dodger.  speaking of which...

1988 score mike morgan (he's shown with seattle at this point in his career)
1992 donruss hensley meulens
1994 classic julio santana
1989 upper deck andre dawson
1989 upper deck gene nelson
1989 upper deck john cerutti
1988 topps padres leaders (tony gwynn and benito santiago - in dodger stadium!)

1987 donruss ken howell

1980 topps miguel dilone
1980 topps dick davis
1988 donruss eric show
1988 donruss todd worrell
1988 donruss shawn hillegas - with the don mcmahon memorial patch

1988 donruss curt ford
1987 donruss scott mcgregor
1987 donruss scott mcgregor
1988 donruss greg swindell
1988 donruss greg swindell
1988 donruss billy hatcher (in dodger stadium)

1988 donruss chris bando
1994 upper deck trot nixon
1990 score jose alvarez
1990 score carlos martinez
1990 score tim laudner
1990 score george brett
1990 score domingo ramos
1990 score bill ripken
1990 score bert blyleven
1990 score todd burns
1990 score shawon dunston
1990 score jim presley
1997 upper deck sp edgar renteria
1994 topps steve dreyer
1997 fleer sports illustrated todd hundley
1997 upper deck sp mark mcgwire
1994 topps mark mclemore
1997 topps stadium club donne wall
1997 upper deck sp geronimo berroa
1993 topps gregg olson
1989 donruss mvp will clark
1995 upper deck collector's choice todd hollandsworth
1993 upper deck eddie taubensee
1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition jose valentin
1992 fleer eddie murray

1990 upper deck eddie murray - this is the back

1991 donruss highlights eddie murray

1992 upper deck eddie murray (400 home run club)
1988 topps mark mcgwire record breaker
1988 topps eddie murray
1985 topps don aase
1981 fleer larry christenson

on to the second part of the rack pack

1989 topps bazooka jose canseco
1989 topps cap'n crunch andre dawson
1987 topps rookies ruben sierra
1987 topps rookies rafael palmeiro
1996 fleer ultra gold medallion edition julian tavarez
1987 topps rookies pete incaviglia
1987 topps rookies dave magadan
1987 topps jim dwyer
1987 topps mike lavaliere
1997 topps randy myers
1997 upper deck collector's choice paul wilson - hey mets fans.  before you get too excited about matt harvey and zach wheeler, remember the wilson, bill pulsipher, and jason isringhausen hype.

1987 topps ed lynch - giving pete rose a run for his double chin money

1992 topps tracy jones
1992 topps john olerud
1991 upper deck mike devereaux
1988 fleer mike sharperson

1992 topps ben mcdonald
1988 fleer lee tunnel
1996 upper deck collector's choice tyler green
1987 topps ronn reynolds
1989 donruss roberto kelly
1988 donruss harry spilman
1993 topps stadium club bob wickman
1993 topps bj surhoff
1993 topps tim raines
1992 leaf milt thompson
1989 topps mike gallego
1990 topps kmart howard Johnson
1986 topps shawon dunston
1988 topps mike bielecki
1988 topps willie hernandez
1990 upper deck gerald perry
1990 upper deck todd burns
1988 fleer bill ripken - one year away from f*ck face.  can someone explain to me why beckett referred to the 1989 fleer bill ripken card as 'rick face'?  when i saw that in the price guide back then, i assumed that they switched out a 'd' for the 'r'.  wouldn't it have made more sense to say 'puck face'? or 'duck face'?  whatever.  here's the 1988 card with a harmless number 3 on his bat knob.

1990 upper deck jeff reed
1986 topps wayne krenchicki
1984 milton bradley championship baseball pete rose - as seen up top
1987 topps wayne krenchicki
1993 fleer ultra frank seminara
1990 upper deck glenn braggs
1987 topps eric davis
1990 fleer dickie thon
1990 upper deck steve searcy
1989 fleer tim jones
1992 fleer ultra mike gallego
1986 topps dwight gooden (record breaker)
1988 fleer jeff ballard
1990 upper deck scott sanderson
1991 donruss matt williams
1992 fleer ultra dale murphy

2008 topps michael barrett

that's it.  until next time i have some cash to waste.