it's 5 o'clock somewhere

time for a brewski bruske

1997 score jim bruske, that is.  not too hoppy.  i'll even have a second, as bruske was a dodger double dipper.

[this is the eighty-fourth 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, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, guillermo mota, joe beckwith, jamie hoffmann, babe herman, joe medwick, juan castro, ron perranoski, clyde king, paul waner, hughie jennings, ron negray, broadway aleck smith, george smith, johnny cooney, jim fairey, frenchy bordagaray, doc casey, waite hoyt, luis olmo, clyde sukeforth, willie keeler,  harry howell, germany smith, johnny allen, marv rackley, bobo newsom, maury wills, dazzy vance, ray hayworth, zack taylor, john cronin, art herring, brian falkenborg, bill reidy, john anderson, vito tamulis, and wally hood.]

bruske was an outfielder converted to a pitcher in the minor leagues by the indians.  he didn't make it to the majors until he was 30, and his big league debut didn't go so well - he allowed five runs (three earned) while getting just one out for the dodgers against the phillies in august of 1995.  the next day, however, he returned to the mound and pitched 2 perfect innings.  in all, bruske pitched in 9 games for the dodgers that season. he earned no decisions, but did record a save on the final day of the campaign against the padres.  he allowed runs in just two of those 9 appearances, and finished the season with a 4.50 era.  the dodgers brought him back in 1996, and this time he pitched in 11 games, 9 of them being scoreless appearances.  he again had one bad outing (a 5-run inning of work against the pirates) that sunk his era - 5.68 on the season.

bruske moved on to the padres for the 1997 season - here's his 1998 pacific crown collection card

bruske earned his first big league win in his first appearance for the padres.  he threw a career-high 5 (scoreless) innings in relief against the giants on june 23, and came away with the victory.  bruske finished the season 4-1 in 28 games for the pads with a 3.68 era.  the dodgers were impressed, apparently, because they claimed him on waivers shortly after the season ended.

back in la in 1998 (here's bruske's 1998 pacific online red foil parallel)

bruske was 3-0 with a save through 35 appearances when the dodgers traded him back to the padres for a minor leaguer in late july. a month later, the padres traded bruske to the yankees where he made (and won) his only career start in the final game of the season.  having pitched for both the 1998 national league champions (the padres) and the 1998 american league and world series champions (the yankees), i wonder if bruske received playoff shares from both clubs, even though he did not appear in the postseason.

bruske didn't pitch in 1999 and wound up his big league career in 2000 with the brewers, although he ended his professional career with a stint in the dodger organization at triple-a las vegas.

i'll raise a glass to you, jim bruske - a dodger double dipper!

a haphazard canada day post

july 1 snuck up on me this year - i blame the weather.  it doesn't seem like july here yet.  anyway, enjoy some cards featuring teams from north of the border.  like this 1998 fleer ultra orlando cabrera card

or this 1998 pacific crown collection mike lansing card

both of those feature double play turning expos, and the lansing also features british columbia native larry walker.  happy canada day guys!

here's a blue jay turning two (or at least trying to).  it's maicer izturis and his 2014 topps card

he's got lyle overbay bearing down on him in a game from may 2013.  izturis threw to first too late to get curtis granderson, but it still goes in my double play binder.

this 1989 upper deck neal heaton card is in my dodger stadium binder

that is most likely joey amalfitano in the background there.

i am running short of expo and blue jay cards in the scanned folder, but i did have this 1979 topps blue jays team card at the ready

it's actually the thin-stock send in version of the card.  roy hartsfield, as you might recall, was a dodger coach in the early 1970's.

eric gagne is one of two canadians to win a cy young award (fergie jenkins is the other).  here is the montreal native's 2002 upper deck superstars card

 and another one from 2004 upper deck

looks like it was game over there.

russell martin was born in toronto but grew up in quebec.  this canadian made his big league debut on cinco de mayo, as noted on this 2006 topps update & highlights rookie debut insert

 here's a crookedly scanned 2007 topps chrome refractor of the former dodger backstop

who is one of three canadians to win a gold glove (larry walker and joey votto are the others).

here's martin again on perhaps my least favorite dodger card of the last several years.  it's from 2010 topps, and it's his 'when they were young' insert

i'll take these types of cards if they show jim hunter with his dog, or sal bando in little league, but i don't need to see big leaguers in footsie pajamas.

take us home bc native and only canadian to win the american league mvp award, justin morneau.

happy canada day, eh?

double play battle - tony fernandez vs. mark lemke

i've recently obtained a number of cards of former all-star and gold glove winner tony fernandez and former, well, ballplayer mark lemke featuring each of them turning double plays. let's have a look.

1994 pinnacle fernandez

vs. 1994 pinnacle lemke

despite an appearance by double play wizard omar vizquel, the landscape card wins.  lemke 1, fernandez 0.

1994 score fernandez

vs. 1994 score lemke

which also comes in a gold rush parallel form

fernandez looks more graceful on his card, so he gets the nod.  fernandez 1, lemke 1

1996 fleer fernandez

which also has a tiffany parallel

vs. 1997 fleer ultra lemke

i give this one to lemke because he is not a yankee.  fernandez 1, lemke 2.

1998 pacific crown collection fernandez

vs. 1997 upper deck collector's choice lemke

both landscape cards (well, the pacific card is, sort of), but the lemke is so much cleaner, and the outfield fence appears to be level.  not really fernandez's fault, but oh well.  final score is tony fernandez 1, mark lemke 3.

that means we get to see a bonus mark lemke double play card - it comes from 1997 pacific

and features beautiful dodger stadium (at least its old outfield railing) in the background.

way to go, lemke!

turning two with the viz

dodger double dipper jose vizcaino turned a double play or two in his time.  i've recently picked up a few prime examples for my collction,

this is his 1999 topps stadium club card

it comes from his second stint as a dodger, and features a cub player sliding in while showing off the harry caray memorial patch

many of vizcaino's double play cards come from his time with the north siders.  here's a 1992 leaf card

which may well be the same play shown on his 1992 topps stadium club card

on the road at candlestick.

back at wrigley, here's his 1993 donruss card

1993 fleer flair card

1993 donruss triple play

1994 fleer

and 1994 pinnacle

with a play from tatooine.

here's vizcaino's 1994 upper deck card

on which he is digging out from underneath a lemke/blauser/treadway type

on to new york, here's jose trying to break up two again on his 1995 score card

and then exacting revenge on the braves on his 1994 score rookies & traded card

finally, a stop in san francisco, where el viz turns two under the watchful eye of jeff kent on his 1998 pacific crown collection card

until next time, this has been turning two with the viz!

an overdue greg maddux hall of fame post - with final tributes!

greg maddux was only 8-7 as a dodger in two partial-season stints and he won't be wearing a dodger cap on his hall of fame plaque, but his final tribute cards are all dodger goodness.

here's his 2009 topps heritage card

with his final season and career stats on the back

maddux was 2-4 with a no decision for the dodgers in 2008.  he rejoined the blue in august, so the sept. 14 and sept. 27 highlights mentioned above came as a dodger.  the 9/14 game was the no decision game, as the dodgers eventually lost 1-0.  the 9/27 game was the final game of maddux's career, so at least he went out a winner in the regular season.  maddux also pitched four scoreless innings for the dodgers in the 2008 postseason, which were his final big league appearances.

here's his 2009 upper deck card

with a few seasons' worth of stats on the back

it is true that maddux beat the pads on 9/1/08, but they turned the tables on him a week later.

here's his 2009 upper deck first edition card

which is pretty much the same as his regular upper deck card

here's his 2009 topps card

which is somewhat spoiled by the airbrushing.  however, it has his full career stats on the back, like a true final tribute should

it is worth noting that maddux's final win put him ahead of roger clemens on the all-time victories list, so he did achieve a major milestone with the dodgers.  he also collected his final career base hit in dodger blue, driving in what proved to be the winning run in that 9/1 game against the padres.

maddux will be joined in cooperstown by former teammate tom glavine, seen here on a 1995 upper deck collector's choice se card

featuring a dodger stadium backdrop, and by frank thomas, whose 1998 pacific crown collection didn't quite make the cut for my jackie robinson day anniversary patch posts

speaking of those posts, i mentioned that the white sox wore a nellie fox patch on the road instead of the jackie patch.  thomas' 1998 upper deck card gives us a good look at that patch

i probably should have looked for some glavine and thomas final tributes for this post, but i did not.  maybe some other time...

42

the dodgers retired jackie robinson's number 42 back in 1972 at the same ceremony in which roy campanella and sandy koufax had their numbers retired.  17 years ago today, all of baseball retired the number shown on the 2012 topps manufactured patch card shown above.

players in 1997 who were currently wearing the number - either by choice or assignment - were allowed to continue to wear it.  i went digging through my collection to see if i could find cards of these players wearing both the number 42 and the jackie robinson anniversary patch.  let's have a look.

angels - no player wore 42 in 1997, however mo vaughn wore the number when he joined the team in 1999.

a's - buddy groom wore 42 in 1997.  this 1998 pacific online red parallel lets us see the '4' in '42' plus the patch, although the sun is pretty bright on the patch

astros - jose lima wore 42 in 1997.  i have this 1998 pacific card of lima, but it unfortunately shows neither his number or the patch

blue jays - no player wore 42 in 1997.

braves - no player wore 42 in 1997.

brewers - scott karl wore 42 in 1997.  his 1998 pacific card shows both his number and the patch, which is awesome

cardinals - no player wore 42 in 1997.

cubs - no player wore 42 in 1997.

dodgers - no player wore 42 in 1997 (retired in 1972).

expos - no player wore 42 in 1997.

giants - kirk rueter wore 42 in 1997.  his 1998 upper deck card showcases the patch, plus we get just a part of the '2' in '42'

indians - mike jackson wore 42 in 1997.  like lima, his 1998 pacific card shows neither the patch nor the number, but it's all i've got.

mariners - no player wore 42 in 1997.

marlins - dennis cook wore 42 in 1997, but i unfortunately do not have a 1998 (or 1997) card showing him with the patch or the number.

mets - butch huskey wore 42 in 1997.  here's his 1998 topps stadium club card showing the patch

orioles - lenny webster wore 42 in 1997.  it's hard to see, but he is wearing the patch on this 1998 pacific invincible gems of the diamond card

padres - no player wore 42 in 1997.

phillies - no player wore 42 in 1997.

pirates - jason schmidt wore 42 in 1997.  here's his 1998 upper deck card with the patch and the '4' in '42' visible

rangers - marc sagmoen wore 42 in 1997, but i don't have a card to show.

red sox - mo vaughn wore 42 in 1997.  his 1998 donruss card provides a good view of the patch.

reds - no player wore 42 in 1997.  10 years later, ken griffey jr would ask the commissioner for permission to wear the number on april 15 leading the way for today's celebrations in which all field personnel wear the number.

rockies - no player wore 42 in 1997.

royals - tom goodwin wore 42 in 1997.  he was traded to the rangers in midseason, so i don't have a royals card to show.  i do have his 1998 topps card which shows the patch, and goodwin as a ranger

goodwin wore number 24 with the rangers, i assume due to the fact that sagmoen had 42.  i also assume that goodwin could have gone back to 42 later in his career (except for his second stint with the dodgers) but he didn't.

tigers - fernando hernandez wore 42 in 1997, but i don't have a card to show.

twins - no player wore 42 in 1997, but butch huskey wore the number when he joined the team in 2000.

white sox - no player wore 42 in 1997.

yankees - mariano rivera wore the number in 1997.  his 1998 topps card is a beauty, showing both the full number and the patch

rivera was, of course, the last active player to wear 42 exclusively, and i am sure will become the only player other than jackie robinson to have that number retired in his honor when the yankees get around to it.