a memorial patch for umpire nick bremigan

researching black armbands worn by umpires in the 1980's has proven to be a bit difficult (i'm going to post something soon that is my best shot at figuring things out), but when the men in blue wear a specific patch, it makes things easier.  such was the case in 1989, when american league umpires wore a patch with the number 2 on their left sleeves in honor of nick bremigan.  here's the patch on jim mckean's 1990 t&m umpires card

bremiagan was an ump in the american league from 1974 until his death in march of 1989.  he was part of the crew that worked the 1980 world series and the alcs in 1977, 1981 (he was the crew chief), 1983, and 1986.  he also worked the 1985 all-star game, during which he would have been wearing a black armband for bill kunkel (that's part of the upcoming post i mentioned earlier).

bremigan died from a heart attack suffered during spring training - he had worked a game in palm springs the day before he passed.  he was just 43 years old.

sunday morning target dodgers - not sure how ted power wound up with this group, especially that merkle character

this week's sheet of 15 cards from the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary giveaway set features a bunch of guys who played during the early years of the franchise.  and ted power.

doug baird

baird was picked up by the robins on waivers late in the 1919 season.  he appeared in 20 games and hit only .183, but they brought him back in 1920.  he was 2 for 6 in 6 games that year before his contract was purchased by the new york giants for whom he played out the remainder of the season.

glenn chapman

chapman spent one season in the major leagues, and that was 1934 with the dodgers.  he appeared in 67 games for casey stengel's squad, hitting .280 with a home run and 10 rbi.

fats dantonio

dantonio debuted in 1944 with the dodgers, and made it into 3 games, going 1 for 7 at the plate.  he was back with brooklyn in 1945, this time playing in 47 games and hitting .250.  in those 47 games, however, dantonio made enough errors (12) to lead the league in errors by a catcher.  he did not appear in the majors after the 1945 season, but he continued to play minor league ball and eventually retired with a .300 career batting average as a minor leaguer.

bil doak

doak was acquired by the robins during the 1924 season, and he posted a record of 11-5 in the 21 games in which he pitched for them that year.  it looks like he took a couple of years off before returning to the team in 1927 when he was 11-8 in 27 games, and his time with the franchise ended after the 1928 season in which he was 3-8 in 28 appearances.  doak was one of the spitballers who was allowed to continue throwing the pitch after it was outlawed in 1920.  doak may be best known, however, not as a pitcher who twice (1914 and 1921) led the league in era, but rather as the inventor of the modern fielder's glove as he worked with rawlings in 1919 to add a webbing to the gloves of his era.

gil hatfield

hatfield took some time out from his family's feud with the mccoy's to play for the 1893 brooklyn grooms.  no, that's not true - he had spent 1892 managing a minor league team in seattle following a decent few years playing for the giants and a couple of other clubs.  with brooklyn, hatfield was a .292 hitter in his 34 games played.  he returned to the minors in 1894, but finished his big league career in 1895 with the louisville colonels.

bob higgins

higgins was a backup catcher for the dodgers in 1911 and 1912.  he appeared in four games in 1911, hitting .300 (3 for 10), and then made a singular appearance in 1912, finishing his career with an 0 for 2 day.  he continued to play minor league ball into the 1920's and then managed for a couple of years as well.

george hunter

hunter was 4-10 with a 2.46 era in the 16 games in which he appeared as a pitcher for the 1909 superbas.  he also played a few games in the outfield that year, and overall hit .228 in 44 total games played.  he returned in 1910, but only appeared in one game (as a fielder) and did not have a plate appearance, although the timing of his short career was such that he was included in the 1909-11 t206 set.

fred merkle

boner.

all right, i won't let that be the only thing i say about merkle, especially since his famous baserunning mistake didn't occur during his short time with the brooklyn robins.  merkle was traded to the robins by the giants during the 1916 season, and then the cubs purchased his contract from brooklyn early in the 1917 campaign.  in between, merkle appeared in 25 games and hit .221 for uncle robbie's teams.

jimmy pattison

pattison pitched in 6 games for the 1929 brooklyn robins, and that was the sum of his major league career.  he was 0-1 in those games, all featuring pattison in relief, and the team was winless in those contests as well.

ed pipgras

pipgras' major league career spanned a month at the end of the 1932 season.  he first appeared in a game on august 25 against the cubs, pitching a third of an inning in relief while allowing a couple of runs to score.  pipgras pitched in a total of five games for the dodgers that season, including his final appearance on september 25 against the braves. that appearance came with pipgras as the starting pitcher for the only time in his career, and he took the loss with a 5 inning, 8 run (3 earned) performance.

norman plitt

plitt's first taste of major league baseball action came on april 26, 1918 when he pitched the last two innings of a game for the robins against the new york giants.  he allowed a run to score, but also got a hit and drove in a run in his lone at bat, so it wasn't necessarily a bad debut.  unfortunately for plitt, he would have to wait until the 1927 season to get another chance in a big league game.  in '27, the robins used him in 19 games (8 as a starter), and he posted a record of 2-6 with a complete game.  the giants wound up picking him up on waivers, and he finished the season (and his major league career) with john mcgraw's squad.

ted power

power was a hard throwing reliever who began his career with a call-up for the dodgers in september of 1981.  he threw three scoreless innings against the giants in his debut (he struck out jack clark in his last inning of work), and tommy lasorda used him in four other games down the stretch (including two starts).  power was 1-3 in those games, losing both of his starts, and he did not appear in the postseason as the dodgers won the world series.  he was back with the big club in 1982, however, and was 1-1 in 12 appearances, four of which were starts.  after the season ended, power was traded to the reds, and he went on to be a closer for a few different teams over the course of his career.

hap smith

smith was apparently happy to have been acquired by the superbas early in the 1910 season in a trade with the cubs, because the brooklyn team brought him to the big leagues for the first time.  he wound up playing in 35 games, hitting .237, and that was it for his major league career.  it was enough, however, for smith to be immortalized like george hunter in the t206 card set.

tommy tucker

this tucker has a better mustache than this tom tucker, let's get that straight at the start.  this tucker also spent 13 seasons at the major league level in the late 1800's, including a stint with the brooklyn bridegrooms.  tucker played for brooklyn for the first half of the 1898 season, batting .279 in 73 games, before joining the st. louis browns for the second half of the campaign.  he was adept at being hit by the pitch, still sitting third all-time in that category behind hughie jennings and craig biggio, and ahead of don baylor, ron hunt, and everyone else who ever played.

tex wilson

wilson's major league career consists of 3.2 innings pitched in 2 games for the 1924 brooklyn robins.  he allowed 6 earned runs, but did strike a guy out which is nice.  he pitched in the minors for a few more seasons after his time in the majors was over, and i'll assume that's where this photo was taken, if in fact it really is wilson.

i'll look for a sheet with more modern players next week...

i suppose i am a garvey junkie

here are a few more cards that were sent my way from the bayou, courtesy of the junior junkie.  first up is a 1985 fleer super star special card featuring steve garvey and fellow padre goose gossage

goose blew the save in game 4 of the 1984 nlcs, but that was the game in which garvey hit a walk-off home run to force the decisive game 5.  in that game, garvey (the nlcs mvp) drew an important walk to set up a couple of sac flies, and later drove in the game's final run, while gossage recorded the save and the pads were on to the world series. those yellow bp jerseys are hideous, by the way.

here's a 2002 fleer box score pee wee reese card

i am pretty sure that these cards were sold in a box set, and featured only hall of famers.  i recall buying the box from one of the local card shops and then being disappointed that pee wee was the only dodgers in the cooperstown subset.

2011 bowman chrome draf picks and prospects josh lindblom refractor

lindblom has bounced around since the dodgers traded him to the phillies for shane victorino in 2012.  the phillies dealt him to texas prior to the 2013 season in the michael young deal, and then they sent him to the a's for michael choice a year later.  he pitched in one game for the a's last season.

2014 bowman andre ethier

have we seen the last of ethier in dodger blue? i would guess not, unless the dodgers eat a sizable part of that contract ned doled out.

2014 topps allen & ginter hyun-jin ryu

and duke snider

it's nice to see the duke in la dodger gear once in a while.

thanks for the cards tj - from one junkie to another!

half of the infield showed up in my mailbox

thanks to p-town tom at waiting 'til next year.  he sent a 1975 sspc davey lopes card

and a 1977 rc cola can of the penguin, ron cey

i haven't flattened the can yet like i did with the garvey can that mark hoyle sent a while back, but i plan to.  it's cool that the can mentions double plays.

speaking of half of the infield and double plays, the junior junkie also sent me some cards featuring second basemen and shortstops turning two.  there were quite a few that were new to me.

here's a 1991 leaf felix fermin card

with legs of three different people.

1993 topps stadium club was well represented, with cards of carlos baerga

gary disarcina

rico rossy

and craig shipley

how did i not have those cards already?

1994 upper deck collector's choice luis alicea

1995 score jeff blauser

2001 topps stadium club quilvio veras

2014 topps gypsy queen jedd gyorko

gyorko may have been a bust in 2014 (i added him to my fantasy team thinking he could fill in at third until manny machado returned from the dl but quickly dropped his unperforming arse), but at least he had this card to redeem himself in my eyes.

thanks for the cards (and can) guys.  stuff like that is appreciated.

and now for the tale of disappointment that i expected from a repack

hot on the heels of the pleasant repack experience i had recently (and posted about earlier today), i found myself in target a few days later and bought another one.  i again chose one that showed tim lincecum in one of the windows.  i should not have done that.

here's what was inside, starting with that 2008 topps chrome target t205 lincecum

1989 upper deck ellis burks

1994 fleer ultra glenallen hill

1993 leaf kurt manwaring

1992 donruss triple play albert belle

1989 upper deck tim flannery

1981 donruss keith moreland

1990 donruss terry kennedy

2010 topps tyler flowers

1989 topps glossy all-stars mark mcgwire

1981 topps marty pattin

1996 fleer ultra curt schilling

1981 topps andy hassler

1998 fleer metal universe hideki irabu

1981 topps dick tidrow

1992 classic four sport phil nevin

1981 topps steve stone

1994 topps tony gwynn

1991 upper deck dave bergman

1988 fleer mike moore

1988 fleer mike moore

1992 fleer bj surhoff

1988 fleer earnie riles

1992 fleer eric king

1992 leaf kevin reimer

1985 topps whitey herzog

1987 topps bobby valentine

1989 donruss tom brunansky

1989 topps keith hernandez

1982 topps lee mazzilli

1991 leaf jack armstrong

1991 leaf dwight evans

1987 topps terry kennedy

1991 leaf gary gaetti

1991 leaf barry jones

2006 fleer ultra huston street

1991 leaf greg harris

1987 topps rob wilfong

1991 leaf randy milligan

1991 leaf howard johnson

1991 leaf darren daulton

2004 fleer hot prospects omar vizquel draft edition

2010 topps brett anderson

2010 topps cliff pennington

2010 topps angel pagan

2010 topps kansas city royals

2010 topps casey kotchman

2010 topps toronto blue jays

1989 topps glossy all-stars andre dawson

and the last card of the first pocket, 2003 upper deck sp legendary cuts luis aparicio

the other window had this 2012 topps heritage doug fister black border parallel showing

behind it were these cards

1989 topps glossy all-stars ryne sandberg

1991 topps andy hawkins

1991 topps joe boever

1988 score dave engle

1989 upper deck tony armas

1991 donruss jim clancy

1990 fleer award winners ozzie smith

1984 topps darrell brown

1989 donruss bill long

1984 topps rafael ramirez

1991 upper deck brian downing

1987 donruss john shelby

1987 donruss frank viola

1990 upper deck lance mccullers

1991 donruss wayne edwards

2000 ud victory ken griffey jr 

1990 donruss pascual perez

1987 donruss howard johnson

1991 score mike henneman

1990 upper deck bill swift

1989 fleer bob kipper

1991 upper deck norm charlton

1989 score scott terry

1989 upper deck gary green

1993 upper deck jose uribe

1994 topps jimmy key

1991 upper deck alex cole

1992 topps scott aldred

1987 topps pirates leaders

1988 topps john wathan

when's the last time you saw a manager wearing a helmet?

1990 topps traded bobby cox

very poor airbrush job

1995 ud collector's choice ray mcdavid

1989 topps bruce hurst

1991 upper deck brian barnes

1989 topps greg gross

1988 donruss bill buckner

1988 donruss gene garber

1987 donruss brian downing

1988 score mel hall

1988 topps jeff stone

2012 topps addison reed

1989 topps larry parrish

1990 donruss lance johnson

2009 upper deck first edition alex gordon

2009 upper deck first edition jeff samardzija

2009 upper deck first edition alex rodriguez

2009 upper deck first edition josh hamilton

2009 upper deck first edition jj putz

1989 topps glossy all-stars will clark

and the last card of the repack, to put me out of my misery, 1996 fleer ultra frank thomas checklist

i don't think there was even a sniff of a dodger in there.  this repack will probably sour me on buying any more for a few weeks, i would guess.

telling the tale of a most bountiful repack

it had been awhile, so i went for a fairfield repack while at target the other day.  i chose one that had an unopened pack of 2012 topps and a 2001 topps heritage ray lankford

in the front windows.  i've been working on the 2001 heritage set since 2001, which is to say that i haven't been doing much with it since then.  i need to get my list posted, although it's a low priority set so i probably won't.

the two back windows of the package featured a 2010 topps tim lincecum card

and a 2010 topps brewers card of ryan braun and prince fielder.

based on that fact, my hopes were limited.

the 2012 topps pack netted the following:

jordan pacheco
mark kotsay
chris getz
jacoby ellsbury
st. louis cardinals
alfredo simon
andy pettitte/cliff lee timeless talents insert
ichiro golden moments insert

this is interesting because there was another 2012 topps chris getz card already among the loose cards.  speaking of which, here they are

1991 o-pee-chee premier carlton fisk
2014 topps john jaso - this is a series 2 card, so this was a very fresh repack
1990 topps ames all-stars keith hernandez

2011 topps jeremy jeffress
2009 topps allen & ginter james mcdonald - a dodger!
2007 tristar prospects plus trystan magnuson
1993 topps willie mcgee
2012 topps chris getz - told ya
this is where the repack gets streaky
1988 topps uk mini alvin davis
1988 topps uk mini mike schmidt

1988 topps uk mini eddie murray
1988 topps uk mini roger clemens
1988 topps uk mini wade boggs
1988 topps uk mini paul molitor
1988 topps uk mini nolan ryan
1988 topps uk mini dave winfield
1988 topps uk mini ozzie smith
1988 topps uk mini mike dunne
1988 topps uk mini mark mcgwire
2009 ud first edition vladimir guerrero

2009 ud first edition daisuke matsusaka
2009 ud first edition michael bourn
2009 ud first edition john smoltz
2009 ud first edition randy johnson
2009 ud first edition joey votto
2009 ud first edition stephen drew
2009 ud first edition mike aviles
2009 ud first edition randy johnson - second double of the repack
1991 upper deck steve bedrosian
1988 donruss ernie whitt
1988 score george bell
2009 ud first edition jorge posada
1989 topps glossy all-star rickey henderson
1987 topps rick reuschel
1991 topps glossy rookies todd zeile
1991 topps glossy rookies kevin tapani
1991 topps glossy rookies frank thomas

1991 topps glossy rookies robin ventura
1991 topps glossy rookies jose offerman - a dodger that i am pretty sure i need!

1987 topps roger clemens
1987 topps mike diaz
1987 topps mitch webster
2014 topps nl all-star team set clayton kershaw

a dodger that i know i need, and the star of the repack!  that card is worth the price of admission right there.

2011 topps phil coke
2011 topps doug fister
2011 topps carlos quentin
2011 topps paul maholm
2011 topps carlos pena
2011 topps john lannan
2011 topps jj putz
2011 topps leo nunez
2011 topps aaron rowand
2011 topps jonathan broxton
2005 fleer hot prospects alfonso soriano
1987 topps don carman
1987 fleer update john shelby
1984 topps jeff jones
1999 upper deck travis lee checklist
1990 donruss dave stewart diamond king
2000 bowman chrome jason romano
1986 topps rod scurry
2001 upper deck decade the '70s roberto clemente world series highlights
1989 topps terry puhl
1987 topps jorge orta
2014 topps yankees team set david phelps
2001 bowman luke lockwood
1997 fleer flair showcase charles nagy
2004 playoff absolute memorabilia rickey henderson

oh rickey!  how great to find a card of him as a dodger in a repack!

1986 fleer gary roenicke
1986 topps george bamberger
1995 score mark smith
2008 topps mark derosa
1990 donruss mel hall
2013 topps jeff francouer
1988 fleer mike schmidt
1984 topps mike schmidt

1991 fleer ultra robin yount
1991 leaf gary carter
1991 upper deck dennis eckersley
2007 topps update & highlights mickey mantle a life in baseball #4
1991 pacific nolan ryan fireball pitcher
1990 score bill kreuger
1985 topps glossy all-star rod carew
1989 topps david cone
2008 topps shane victorino
2013 topps jered weaver chasing history foil

2010 topps new york yankees 27 world series titles don larsen
2010 topps new york yankees 27 world series titles hank bauer
2010 topps new york yankees 27 world series titles yogi berra

i had not seen cards from this set before.

last, and probably least, there was a 1991 bowman norberto martin

i was really pleased with this repack.  that kershaw card representing some fine repack karma.  good times.  some of you might want to look for some of these cards in some upcoming trade packages...