johnny allen wasn't gone for long, but it was long enough to become a dodger double dipper

[this is the seventieth 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, and germany smith.]

to be a double dipper, one must have appeared in a major league game for the dodgers (or other incarnation of the franchise), left the franchise (usually spending some time playing for another team), and then have returned and appeared in another big league game for the team.  that's how most become double dippers.  there are some who missed out on the label because they played, left, and returned, but didn't get to play for the dodgers a second time (eg. ramon martinez, willie crawford, tommy lasorda among others) or they were drafted by the dodgers but didn't play for them before leaving, but eventually returned to the club (guys like scott proctor, ted lilly, shane victorino, and ron coomer).  and then there are those who play, leave, and return without having actually played for anyone else (joe moeller and denny lewallyn come to mind).  johnny allen fits that bill.

here's allen's 1990 target card.  pretty sure it's the only card i have of him.

by all accounts an ornery cuss, allen twice led the american league in winning percentage - he was 17-4 (.810) as a rookie with the 1932 yankees, and 15-1 (.938) for the 1937 indians.  he suffered an injury during the 1938 all-star game, and his career began to decline as a result.  prior to the 1941 season, after a couple of subpar years with the tribe, allen was picked up by the st. louis browns.  the browns waived him after he had a 2-5 start and a 6.58 era to start the season, and the dodgers claimed him.  he finished out the 1941 season with brooklyn, going 3-0 with a 2.51 era.  he pitched for the dodgers again in 1942, going 10-6 with a 3.20 era, 5 complete games, and a shutout, but his temper and antics (including an incident in which he took a run at an umpire that resulted in a 30-day suspension) may have been too much for the dodgers as they traded him to the phillies in december of 1942 for rube melton.

the dodgers had a change of heart, however, and in april of 1943, they purchased his contract and brought him back into the fold.  at least until july, when they traded him away once again, this time to the new york giants, and this time for good.

germany smith - twice a bridegroom, never a dodger

[this is the sixtyninth 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, and harry howell.]

germany smith, seen below on his 1990 target card

was a member of the brooklyn grays (later the bridegrooms) from 1885 through 1890.  the first five years of that stretch, the team was a member off the american association but in 1890 they graduated to the national league and smith was their shortstop.  unfortunately, he made like alfredo griifin and hit below .200 (.191 to be exact) that year.  despite a .276 average in the 1890 world series, he was no longer with the franchise in 1891, having moved on to cincinnati.

smith spent 6 seasons in cincinnati, hitting .300 in 1895 and .287 in 1896.  in 1897, smith returned to brooklyn and hit .201.  at least he was regarded as a good fielder, but i will think of him as another double dipper.

sunday morning target dodgers - double dutch and some nice 'staches

another sunday, another sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger sga set.  here are 13 more brooklyn franchise players with the 14th and 15th cards from the sheet to be shown later on today.

don crow

crow was a backup catcher with a sweet 'stache that played for the dodgers in 4 games during the 1982 season.  he was, like teammates ron cey and tom niedenfuer, a washington state alumni.  in fact, in the last of his four big league games, he caught niedenfuer and came to bat in the same inning as cey.  overall, crow was 0 for 4 as a big leaguer.

bob giallombardo

giallombardo spent just over a month in the big leagues with the 1958 dodgers.  he was 1-1 in his 6 appearances (5 starts) and posted a 3.76 era.  he got his lone major league hit in his final big league at bat - a single off of curt simmons of the phillies.

jose gonzalez

gonzalez was an active dodger when this set was produced, so i don't know why they spelled his name with an 's' instead of a 'z'.  anyway, he was a fairly highly touted prospect when he first came up to the dodgers in 1985 as i recall.  he played for the blue off and on from 1985 through 1989, going back and forth between la and albuquerque, but spent the entire season with the team in 1990.  in july of 1991, after hitting .227 in 379 games as a dodger and going 0 for 28 on the season to that point, he was traded to the pirates for mitch webster.

dutch leonard

during his four seasons with the dodgers (1933-1936), leonard was used by the dodgers primarily as a reliever.  he was 18-23 with a 3.50 era and what would have been 14 saves (including a league leading 8 in 1935) had that been an official stat back then.  as a youngster, i was confused about the dodgers' dutch leonard, not realizing that he was not the same dutch leonard who appeared on a 1979 topps card because of his 0.96 era in 1914.  after leaving the dodgers, leonard became a starter and all-star for the washington senators.

harry mcintire

here's another spelling error, i believe, as baseball reference has his last name spelled 'mcintire'.  either way, this guy was a pitcher for the superbas who lost 20 or more games in 3 of his 5 seasons with the team.  in 1906, his second year with brooklyn, mcintire once threw 10-2/3 innings of no-hit ball against the pirates before allowing a hit and losing the game 1-0.

bob miller

miller was a well-traveled hurler who pitched for the dodgers from 1963 through 1967, leading the league in appearances in 1964 and pitching in both the 1965 and 1966 world series.

wes parker

parker also played on those world series teams with miller, hitting .304 with a triple and a home run against the twins in the dodgers' 1965 victory.  however, parker is better remembered for his defensive prowess. he won gold gloves at first base in each season from 1967 through 1972, his last season in the big leagues and posted a career fielding percentage of .996 as a first baseman.  he was so well regarded as a fielder that he was voted to the rawlings' all-time gold glove team in 2007.

dutch reuther

two players nicknamed 'dutch' on one sheet!  just like the rubes last week!  this dutch (whose last name is spelled differently by baseball reference) pitched for the robins from 1921 through 1924.  he won 21 games for brooklyn in 1922.  he was a career .258 hitter who appeared as a pinch hitter in the 1925 world series although he did not pitch in the series that year, and finished his career as a member of the 1927 yankees.

fred sington

sington played for the dodgers in 1938 and 1939 following four years with the senators.  he hit .358 in 17 games with the blue in 1938 with an ops of 1.115.

harry stovey

stovey finished his storied playing career with a 48 game stint as a member of the 1893 brooklyn grooms.  when he retired, he had 122 home runs to his name, enough to be the all-time leader in that category at the time.  i expected a more elaborate mustache from this man.

dick tracewski

tracewski played in the dodgers' infield from 1962 through 1965, winning two world series rings along the way.  he was traded to the tigers shortly after the 1965 fall classic, and won a third ring with the 1968 detroit team.  tracewski was a long time tiger coach, and even managed the team for a couple of games between les moss and sparky anderson in 1979.

stan wall

wall was a member of the team of my youth, pitching for the dodgers in 1977 (and the two previous seasons as well).  you can read more about him here, after you enjoy that tremendous mustache.

ricky wright

another fine mustache!  wright debuted as a reliever for the dodgers in 1982, but his second appearance a few days later came as a starter.  he was the winning pitcher in that game thanks to a strong 6 innings against the reds.  he helped his own cause with an rbi double, and was further aided by a three-run home run off the bat of steve garvey.  in 1983, wright was one of the pieces (dave stewart was the other) that was sent to the rangers in exchange for rick honeycutt.

dodgers for indians

the dodgers have made a few trades with the indians that i can recall off the top of my head.  they acquired pedro guerrero from cleveland, sent rick sutcliffe and jack perconte to the tribe for jorge orta, traded franklin gutierrez for milton bradley, and shipped carlos santana off for casey blake.  well, several months ago, i made my first trade with indian fan baseball dad.  it's taken me a long time to get to this trade post, but i finally made it.

the most unusual card in the return package was this 1993 topps commanders of the hill tom candiotti card

the candy man pitched for the indians (twice), but signed with the dodgers as a free agent after a short stint in toronto.  according to baseballcardpedia, these cards were available on military bases and were sold with the purchase of a fountain drink.  that explains the coca-cola logo on the back.  very cool - i had not seen these before.

i had seen these before - 1982 donruss burt hooton

and 1983 donruss terry forster

but it is always nice to get cards featuring two pitchers from the team of my youth!

1995 fleer rudy seanez

not quite 6 years of blogging, and i had not shown a 1995 fleer card until just now.  not sure if that is good or bad.

1999 topps stars adrian beltre - one star

and two stars

good thing topps stopped at four stars, otherwise you'd be in beltre's nose

2002 upper deck prospect premieres james loney

the dodgers' first round pick in 2002 still hasn't turned those doubles into home runs (11 doubles/1 home run so far in 2014), but he hit a huge home run for the dodgers in the 2008 nlds.

2005 leaf steve finley

finley also hit a memorable grand slam for the dodgers - his walk-off job won the nl west title for the dodgers in 2004

2009 upper deck x manny ramirez x5 insert

2008 seems like so long ago, but manny absolutely destroyed the competition after joining the dodgers.

2014 topps hanley ramirez target red parallel

believe it or not, this was the first 2014 topps card i owned.  that's how long it's been since this trade.  thanks baseball dad!

everything's shinier in texas

how else to explain the nice package of shiny dodger cards i received from the play at the plate dude a while back?

brian sent some cards from 1997 fleer flair showcase, including one with hideo nomo at the bat

one with raul mondesi looking annoyed with his own antics

one with eric karros looking exasperated by the shortcomings of my scanner

and one with mike piazza seeing red on the back

he also sent a mondesi

and a nomo

from the 1997 upper deck ud3 set, and another karros from the 1998 upper deck spx set

more karros from 1999 fleer brilliants

as well as an adrian beltre rookie from the same set

those cards are brilliantly shiny

as are topps gold label cards.  these are from 1999, and we get karros

and beltre again

this particular beltre card, from 2002 donruss originals, is not shiny

nor is this 2013 panini pinnacle clayton kershaw card

but they are appreciated nonetheless.

this matt kemp card, also from 2013 panini pinnacle, is clear and shiny

while this adrian gonzalez museum collection parallel from the same release is kind of a mess when scanned

back to some really shiny stuff, brian also sent a trifecta of purple refractors from 2013 topps chrome - adrian gonzalez

andre ethier (stupid scanner)

and paco rodriguez

thanks brian!

2002 was a pretty good year for some final tributes

when the 2001 season ended, it took with it the careers of many players.  not all of those players, such as jose canseco, knew at the time that they had played their final big league game, but some did.  there were at least three players that i recall had announced their impending retirement during the season.  harold baines may have done so as well, but i don't think he made it into any 2002 card releases.  the three i am referring to, of course, are tony gwynn, mark mcgwire, and cal ripken jr.

all three of them were included in a number of card sets in 2002, which made me pretty happy.  lots of final tributes to collect.  unfortunately, some of the cards were short prints or some other sort of shenanigans, so i don't have them all.  here are the ones that i do have

2002 donruss - gwynn

thanks to donruss for putting the complete stats on the back

i'm not sure if donruss took a page out of topps' book or vice versa, but numbering the card to match gwynn's jersey number was a nice touch

ripken jr

also numbered to match the jersey number

cal had more hits than tony, but played in a lot more games too.

no big mac in 2002 donruss, which is weird because he was in this next set

2002 donruss fan club - gwynn

again with the complete career stats, and again card number 19

here's big mac

and his full career stats.

donruss didn't give him the card number/jersey number tribute, though.

ripken jr

card number 8 again

one of my favorite cal ripken jr. final tribute is from 2002 fleer maximum

that's a great photo for a final tribute

but they didn't bother with the full year-by-year career stats.

both gwynn and ripken had cards in the 2002 fleer tradition set, but i believe they were both short prints.  i don't own them anyway, but i do have mcgwire's card from the set

here's the back

all three are also in 2002 fleer ultra.  here's gwynn (i only have the gold medallion edition parallel)

mcgwire

ripken

there's no mention of mcgwire's retirement on the back of his card like there is on gwynn's and ripken's.  still, i am pretty sure everybody knew mcgwire wasn't coming back in 2002.

no mcgwire in 2002 leaf certified, but there were cards for gwynn

and ripken

the 2002 topps flagship set had a great final tribute for gwynn

and featured his total career stats on the back, of course

there's a lot of red on the back, too.

here's mcgwire's card from the set

he gets the hero number from topps

and a lot of red on his card back, too.

for some reason, topps did not make a card for ripken in 2002 which boggles the mind.

they didn't include him in their fantastic 206 release, either.  gywnn's card from that set is one of the best, however.

just like the ripken fleer maximum card, it's the salute photo that belongs on a final tribute card.  plus, the back notes his retirement

even though it's light on the stats.

there are three mcgwire cards in the set - two feature him as a cardinal

with a variation of the second card showing him as an athletic

all three cards mention his retirement.

as a side note, i decided to collect the 206 set when it first came out.  i don't know what happened to my want list, but i will be posting it soon, just in case anyone has any of these to spare.

2002 topps heritage again left ripken off the checklist.  gwynn's card is a short print, so i only have big mac's card

mcgwire is the only one of the three to be included in the 2002 topps opening day set

and the same goes for the 2002 topps stadium club set

upper deck gave cards to all three, however, in their 2002 flagship set, although they are mostly checklists; pulling a strategy from topps (1975 al kaline and 1978 brooks robinson for example).  here's gwynn's

mcgwire's

and ripken's

at least they are all in the set.  the only one to get a regular card in the set is big mac

and it has all the stats on the back, too

no mcgwire in 2002 upper deck piece of history, but gywnn is there

as is ripken.  ripken's base card is a short print, but i do have an insert from the set of cal

don't worry about mcgwire, though.  upper deck put out a mcgwire-centric subset as part of their 2002 ud prospect premieres set.  here's one of the four cards in the subset

mcgwire was also included in the 2002 upper deck sp legendary cuts set, but i don't have that card.  i do have tony gwynn's card from the set

but there was not a ripken card made for this set.

finally, we have 2002 upper deck vintage.  the final tribute lineup is identical to the upper deck flagship - gwynn only got a checklist

but he's on a motorcycle!

mcgwire got a regular card

with a back that matches the late series 1971 o-pee-chee cards

plus a checklist that is more about albert pujols than mcgwire

and ripken gets a card with a nice camden yards view

that's a lot of cards from a lot of sets for three big careers.  only two hall of famers, though.