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.

ely come, ely go

it was way back in may of 2010 that i was struck with 'ely-mania' thanks to a string of quality starts from john ely, one of the two pitchers the dodgers received from the white sox in exchange for juan pierre.  the wheels fell off of the bandwagon shortly thereafter, as ely went 1-8 after beginning his career with a 3-2 record in his first 6 starts.  here is a 2010 topps update 'peek' (not 'peak') performance autograph of ely

which calls attention to his june 1 start against the diamondbacks.  he allowed only two hits in his seven scoreless innings of work that day, but had a no-decision in the dodgers' 1-0 victory - a victory courtesy of a 10th-inning matt kemp walk-off home run.

here is another card featuring ely that i have had sitting around for a while - a 2010 bowman 'topps 100' card

i don't know what 'topps 100' means, but i am showing this card today because ely was traded, with little fanfare i might add, to the houston astros back in december.  ely was 4-13 over three seasons with the dodgers and now heads to the american league.  the other pitcher the dodgers acquired in the pierre deal, jon link, left the organization after the 2011 season and spent last year in the orioles' and marlins' minor leagues.

ely is not the only former dodger for whom i have had scanned cards sitting around, waiting for a post such as this.  so, let's take a look at some other now-former dodgers.  like andrew lambo, for instance, and his 2010 bowman 'bowman expectations' card

lambo was one of the players (james mcdonald being the other) that ned sent to the pirates at the 2010 trade deadline for octavio dotel.  pittsburgh has become a sort of dumping grounds for ned and former dodger prospects, with andy laroche and delwyn young also sent to the pirates, and ivan dejesus jr and jerry sands (more on him later) winding up there after being included in a deal with the red sox.  anyway,  lambo and mcdonald for what? six weeks of dotel? dotel was then traded to the rockies for minor leaguer anthony jackson, who is four or five years older than lambo.  lambo was suspended for violating mlb's drug policy while with the dodgers, but i don't recall it being for peds.  he still has some time to pan out.

eric stults, seen here on a 2008 topps update & highlights gold card

hasn't been with the dodgers since 2009.  he spent 2010 in japan before returning to the majors in 2011 with the rockies.  he started last season with the white sox, but was picked up by the padres on waivers in may.

more recently dismissed by the dodgers is russ mitchell, whose lone baseball card appearance in dodger blue (as far as i know) came courtesy of 2011 topps heritage

four of mitchell's 14 hits for the dodgers over the 2010 and 2011 seasons were home runs, but he was released by the team last spring.  he quickly signed on with the miami marlins, but was released by them after a month or so.  he then signed with the giants, but was again released prior to making it back to the big leagues.  in december of 2012, mitchell signed a free agent deal with the rockies, so we'll see what happens this spring.

mike macdougal, on the other hand, has yet to sign with a team for the 2013 season.  here he is on his 2011 topps update card

as well as his diamond collection parallel thingy

macdougal pitched well for the dodgers in 2011, going 3-1 with a 2.05 era in 69 appearances.  he was released after only 7 appearances in 2012, however, as his era was over 7.  he signed on with the cubs and then the nationals, but didn't get back to the majors with either team.

rubby de la rosa, seen here pitching in dodger stadium on his 2011 topps update card

and cognac parallel

along with jerry sands on his 2011 topps update card

and 2012 topps heritage card

were part of the big dodgers-red sox blockbuster trade from last year.  specifically, they were the players to be named later in the deal, but were known at the time of the trade.  de la rosa apparently fits into the red sox' plans, but sands was traded to the pirates in the joel hanrahan (another former dodger farmhand) deal.   i'm not sure how this will turn out for sands, as the pirates seem to have a lot of outfield depth already.

i'll end this post of departed dodgers with a 2008 upper deck x autographed card of ramon troncoso

troncoso pitched for the dodgers in every season from 2008 through 2011, but spent all of 2012 at aaa after clearing waivers.  his best season by far was 2009 when he appeared in 73 games and posted a 2.72 era.  he also had 3 scoreless appearances in the nlcs that year.  if he returns to the postseason in 2013 it won't be as a dodger, because after the 2012 season, troncoso signed a free agent deal with the white sox.

that's all for this edition of recent dodgers turned former dodgers.  i'm sure there will be more to come, right ned?

your attention, please

pitchers

and catchers

please report to spring training.

damn, i need some rod barajas dodger cards.

'these are a few of my favorite things'

a 2000 bowman chrome randey dorame 'fa-so-la-ti-doe'. 

get it? favorite things? dorame? as in doe-ray-me-fa-so-la-ti?  sound of music?  okay, okay - enough.  i recently completed one trade with dodger fan michael, and he has already sent me a second package that i need to recompense.  he sent the card above along with some other cool and shiny (but not all shiny) cards.  like a 2010 topps chrome john ely orange refractor

and a regular 2010 topps chrome john ely refractor

here's a 2010 topps 206 of russell martin

he has an oval head.  i guess now i can go back to thinking of orel hershiser when i think of 55 rather than russell martin.  or sammy hagar.

another martin - 2009 topps ticket to stardom

more like ticket out of town.

yet another russell martin card - 2010 topps

i hope martin does well in the bronx, but by most accounts his time is limited as the yankees have a couple of stud prospects who also wear the tools of ignorance knocking at the door. i wonder if he regrets not taking ned's final offer knowing that his competition here is rod barajas and dioner navarro.

2010 topps national chicle manny ramirez

kind of an odd perspective in the painting.  something about the helmet is not quite right.  here's another manny - 2010 topps finest

now i can go back to thinking of gretzky when i think of 99.

2010 bowman dpp jake lemmerman

i don't know too much about lemmerman except that he went to duke and he was the dodgers' 5th round pick last year.  maybe that's enough.

finally, a 2010 topps 206 vladimir guerrero

is vlad riding off into the sunset?  hard to believe, based on last year's performance, that manny has a deal for 2011 and big daddy vladdy does not.  hopefully that changes soon.

thanks michael!  i am working on getting another package ready to send.

i was joe collector

color me disappointed, as i am joe collector discontinued his monthly box breaks.  it had taken me a while to get the dodgers claimed, so i was bummed.  still, i did manage to get some good cards for the few months that the boys in blue belonged to me.  here's some stuff from the last two monthly group breaks.

2010 topps 206 chad billingsley

chad kind of sums up my mood regarding the end of the breaks.  hatless and morose.

andre ethier

we have evolved from the hands behind the back, but still not too happy.

rafael furcal

still not pleased, but at least some color is creeping back in.

hey, here's the back of a furcal mini! 

jeff had to send the original pull back to topps due to some printing damage.  topps replaced it quickly, and jeff got it to me with the next month's bounty.

clayton kershaw

ok, i am happy with the cards and that furcal mini. 

hiroki kuroda bronze parallel

boring parallels make me feel indifferent, like hiroki here.

jackie robinson

ok, happy again.

the final break included a box of 2010 topps chrome.  i got most of the dodgers, including

john ely base

and auto!

plus matt kemp doing his ken griffey jr impersonation

and jon link

i still have a ways to go to get my link collection up to night owl standards, though.

thanks jeff for hosting the breaks!  they will be, and already are, missed.