for cinco de mayo, it's vicente romo, un doble cazo

vicente romo, a native of baja california, found his way to the los angeles dodgers' major league roster - not once, but twice. this makes him a dodger 'double dipper', and he becomes the latest to be profiled as part of this recurring topic. appropriately, today is cinco de mayo!

romo was actually picked up by the cleveland indians back in 1964 from the mexico city tigers. the dodgers selected him in the 1967 rule v draft, and he made his big league debut as a member of the blue in april of 1968. on april 11, romo pitched the 9th inning against the mets, and he face 5 batters. jerry grote greeted him with a single, and then romo made a bad throw on jerry koosman's sacrifice attempt putting runners on first and second. bud harrelson got grote to third with a fielder's choice, and ken boswell plated him with a sac fly. tommie agee grounded into a fielder's choice, and the inning was over. so was romo's initial stint with the dodgers. not too long after that game, he was returned to the indians. let's pretend, however, that romo was featured on a 1968 topps series one card as a dodger, just so his first go-around with the club was documented.

romo appeared in 40 games for the tribe in 1968, and had an era of 1.62. the following season, he was traded to the red sox after appearing in 3 games for cleveland. in boston during the 1969 season, he had 4 complete games (including an 11-strikeout performance against the indians) and a shutout to go along with 11 saves in 52 games.

he was back in beantown for the 1970 season, but was traded to the white sox prior to the 1971 campaign. this transaction resulted in the image that i used for the 1968 card that should have been.

after two seasons in chicago, romo was traded to the padres and pitched for them through the 1974 season. the pads released romo during spring training in 1975, and he returned to his native mexico and the mexican league. in december of 1981, the cardinals came calling and brought romo to spring training. he was returned to the mexican league just before the major league season began, but wasn't there too long, as the dodgers signed him to a big league contract in may of that year. he pitched in 15 games, including 6 starts, for the dodgers in 1982 and had an era of 3.03. after the season ended, coatzacoalcos of the mexican league wound up purchasing his contract back from la.

topps did give romo a 'final tribute' card in 1983 which was nice.

so, the dodgers served as true bookends to romo's major league playing career. as such, they missed out on 31 wins, 51 saves, and 609 innings of solid relief and spot starting pitching.

here's to you, vicente romo, dodger double dipper internacional!

how many cards would a woodson sign, if a woodson could sign cards?

well, in my experience, the answer is 4.  that's because former dodger tracy woodson signed and returned four cards for me a couple of years ago.  first, there is his 1988 donruss card

then the 1988 fleer

followed by 1989 topps (with a shmear)

and finally his 1989 upper deck card

woodson, of course, played third and first for the 1988 world champion los angeles dodgers.  he drove in the game winning run in their pivotal game 4 victory over the a's in the fall classic.  that was the game prior to which bob costas referred to the dodgers' lineup as the weakest world series lineup ever.  woodson couldn't even crack that starting lineup, stacked as it was with jeff hamilton, alfredo griffin, mickey hatcher, john shelby and the like.  he wound up pinch-hitting for frankin stubbs in the 7th.

woodson was given a crack at the dodgers' starting job at third base coming out of spring training in 1987, but he couldn't claim it, and after a couple of months he was sent down and replaced by phil garner and a merry band of misfits.  what i remember most about woodson, however, is that he hit his first big league home run (1 of only 5) off of nolan ryan in his first week as a major leaguer.

thanks tracy!  now if only i knew how many boards the mongols could hoard if the mongol hordes got bored.

15 (or 12 this year) turning 66

happy birthday to the dodgers' first base coach and the second baseman from the infield of my youth, davey lopes.

here's hoping matt kemp gives him some stolen bases for his birthday.

happy bday davey!

the treasure within the 2008 topps dodger factory set and other 'exclusive' cards

in 2008, for the second year in a row, topps issued a dodgers version of their complete factory set.

that's russell martin, hiroki kuroda and andruw jones on the box.  i am turned off by the fact jones is featured, but i looked past that fact and focused on the little yellow triangle in the corner telling me that there was a pack of 5 esclusive dodger cards in the set.

topps had already issued a 55-card 'premium' team set of exclusive dodger cards in 2008

again with andruw on the box!  this set included the dodger stadium card up there in the blog header and in one of my first posts.  i didn't think twice about purchasing this set, so i figured i might as well pick the factory set up as well.

so, here are the five cards topps held out on until the factory sets were issued, and, where applicable, their counterparts from the premium set, just to show how non-exclusive things got back in '08.

gary bennett 

backup catcher extraordinaire.  not such an exclusive card, however, as bennett received a card in the 2008 updates & highlights set.  plus, his card in the 55-card set is pretty similar. 

he played for the dodgers in 2008, which wound up being his final big league season, hitting .190 with a home run.  his lifetime batting average as a met, however, is 1.000 (he went 1 for 1 for the metropolitans in 2001.

esteban loaiza

loaiza pitched in 12 games for the dodgers over parts of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.  he was 2-6 with an era just under 7.00.  topps was really going for the team collector with these cards - i don't think there are too many esteban loaiza collectors out there.  loaiza didn't get a card in 2007 update or 2008 update, so this is fairly exclusive i suppose.  he was included, however, in the 55-card set

with the other standard pitcher's pose.

chan ho park

finally, here's a guy i can remember as a dodger.  twice.  chan ho's return to the dodgers went so well in 2008 that topps gave him a card in 2009, which was nice.  he was not included in the 2008 55-card set.

scott proctor

proctor had a card in the 2007 updates & highlights set and in the 55-card set. 

did you know he was originally drafted by the dodgers, but was sent to the yankees in the robin ventura trade?  i did not.  i did know the dodgers got him back in the wilson betemit trade and that proctor might not have been too happy to be reunited with joe torre whom some felt overused the pitcher in 2006.  still, proctor went undefeated in his dodger tenure - he was 5-0 in la over the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

last, there is mark sweeney

sweeney, like park, got a card in the 2009 topps set.  unlike park, sweeney was also included in the 55-card set. 

like bennett, sweeney finished his career as a dodger in 2008.  he was acquired in a rare trade with the giants during the 2007 season, but didn't show up in the updates & highlights set.  go figure. he wound up hitting .130 in 98 games in 2008 and found himself in the front office the following year.

so, that's it for the 5 exclusive cards in the factory set.  but, there were a couple more dodger cards squirreled away by topps in some other factory sets in 2008.  these were the sets that included rookie cards, and the dodgers featured were

chin-lung hu

who had a card in topps' 2008 series one release and two cards in the 55-card set (here's one of them)

and hiroki kuroda

who also showed up in topps' series 2 set, and in the 55-card set. here's that card, complete with the loaiza factory set pose. 

thanks topps, for your proliferation of exclusivity back in 2008.  and i haven't even got to the blister pack team set yet!

the evolution of the left fielder, part 2

here's part 1 if you missed it.  and, as promised, here are bill buckner's wooly eyebrows.

bill buckner (1974-1976)

billy buck was a part of the dodgers' historical 1968 draft, and he worked his way into the starting lineup as a left fielder after spending most of his time in la playing right field and first base.  as the dodgers' every day left fielder in 1974, buckner hit .314 and was the guy who climbed the left field fence at fulton county stadium when hank aaron hit number 715.  he finished 25th in the league mvp voting and hit a home run in the dodgers' world series loss against the a's.  in 1975, buckner was limited to 72 games in left and the dodgers used 10 other players in left during his absences.  buckner came back in 1976 to play in 154 games and hit over .300 in what would be his dodger swan song.  he was dealt to the cubs after the season with ivan dejesus for rick monday and mike garman.

dusty baker (1977-1983)
dusty baker had been acquired in a trade after the 1975 season, and spent the 1976 season playing center and right field for the dodgers.  after they acquired monday in the buckner trade, baker was shifted to left and stayed there for 7 seasons and all of my youthful years of fandom.  during those 7 campaigns, baker hit .285 with 140 home runs (30 in 1977), two top-ten mvp finishes, four monster nlcs performances, three world series appearances, a world championship, and a gold glove in 1981 for his play in left.  it was a sad day when he became a free agent and an even sadder one when he signed with the giants.

mike marshall (1984)

baker's departure opened up a spot in the lineup for candy maldonado, and mike marshall moved from right field to left field to accommodate candido.  in left for the dodgers in 1984, marshall played in 116 games and was named to the all-star team although he didn't appear in the midsummer classic.  in 1985, marshall moved back to right field, as the dodgers moved pedro guerrero out of the infield.

pedro guerrero (1985, 1987)

guerrero had a monster year in 1985.  he finished third in the league in the mvp voting (his third top-4 finish in 4 years) while leading the league with a .422 obp and .577 slugging percentage.  he was named to the all-star team for the third time (he did not appear in the game) and went 33/87/.320 while splitting time between third base and left field, along with a few stops in center, right and at first base.  still, his 70 starts in left were tops on the club in 1985.  after losing to the cardinals in the nlcs, all eyes were on guerrero heading into 1986.  unfortunately, guerrero forgot how to slide and tore up his knee in a spring training game.  he missed all but 31 games that year, but bounced back in 1987 to reclaim left field from franklin stubbs.  he started 108 games in left in 1987, and hit .338 with a .955 ops that year. named to the all-star team, guerrero lined out in his only at bat.

franklin stubbs (1986)

stubbs became the dodgers' primary left fielder in 1986 by way of guerrero's knee injury, and cesar cedeno's ineffectiveness.  he had played in only 10 games in 1985, but took to a bigger role fairly well.  he established a career high of 23 home runs (15 of which came with the bases empty), although he drove in just 58 and hit only .226 on the season.  some of the other players the dodgers trotted out to left in 1986 included enos cabell, ken landreaux, mike marshall, len matuszek, reggie williams, terry whitfield, and bill russell!

kirk gibson (1988-1989)

kirk gibson came to the dodgers as a free agent and immediately made his presence known in left field.  that's because he left the field of a spring training game after jesse orosco put eye black inside his hat.  gibby served notice that such nonsense was a unwanted distraction and the rest is history.  he may have had a statistically weak mvp season (25/76/.290) but there is no doubt that without him, the dodgers would have not achieved what they did in 1988.  gibson still played more games in left than any other dodger in 1989, but injuries limited him to just 62 games (51 starts) there.  10 other dodgers spent time in left that year, primarily mickey hatcher, who just might have been the mvp of the 1988 world series if not for the bulldog.

kal daniels (1990-1991)

gibson spent most of his playing time in 1990 in center field, while newcomer kal daniels took over in left. he had actually been acquired from the reds in july of 1989, but injuries limited him to just 11 games as a dodger.  in those games, however, he hit .342 and expectations ran high in 1990.  daniels didn't disappoint, hitting 27/94/.296 in 130 games.  in 1991, he played in 137 games, but hit just 17/73/.249 as his balky knees were getting the best of him.  he was eventually dealt to the cubs during the 1992 season, which turned out to be his last in the big leagues. 

eric davis (1992-1993)

davis was acquired by the dodgers in a trade after the 1991 season, and replaced another former red in daniels as the dodgers' everyday left fielder.  the plan to reunite him with friend and fellow hometown product darryl strawberry may have looked good on paper, but it didn't turn out so well in reality.  davis hit just .228 with 5 home runs in 76 games.  he did have 19 stolen bases in 20 attempts, but that was really the only bright spot to his season.  in 1993, he upped his stolen base total to 33 while raising his average a few points and hitting 14 home runs in his 108 games as a dodger.  still disappointed, the dodgers sent davis to the tigers at the end of august.  davis would eventually get healthy and return to his former self with the reds and orioles in the late 1990's.

henry rodriguez (1994)

with davis gone, henry rodriguez took over in left field for the rest of the 1993 season.  he returned in 1994, and played in 104 of the dodgers' 114 games during the strike-shortened season.  he hit 8 home runs, but didn't really show the power he would later provide for the expos. 

in the 11 seasons since dusty baker roamed left, the dodgers had 7 different 'primary' left fielders.  sadly, stability was nowhere in sight after rodriguez was traded early in the 1995 season, as we will see next time.

a 26-inning may day marathon!

91 years ago today, the boston braves and brooklyn robins played a 26-inning game, ending in a tie.  the event was memorialized in this 1961 topps card

featuring pitchers joe oeschger of the braves and leon cadore of the robins.  both pitched all 26 innings, and both had 7 strikeouts, but it should be noted that cadore effectively 'scattered' 15 hits on the day while oeschger gave up only 9 base knocks.  the run oeschger surrendered came in the 5th inning, and cadore gave it back in the 6th.  that was it, and the longest game in major league history was called after 26 frames and just short of 200 at-bats.  wowza.

because nothing beats a vintage double play turn, let's turn two

cookie rojas is not the only 1971 topps card to feature double play action!  here are ken boswell (with 1978 topps dodger vic davalillo sliding in)

 and dal maxvill

caught in the act.  i am making a couple of assumptions, the first of which is that maxvill is involved in a double play attempt and not just avoiding a slide while covering second on a stolen base attempt or a fielder's choice or some other situation.  and, since i am going to try to figure out when these photos were taken, i am also going to assume that these photos were taken on the same day in my attempt to pinpoint the game.

let's start from the end of the season and work backwards.  maxvill played in most of the cardinals' games in 1970, as boswell did for the mets, so i'll use davalillo as my least common denominator - he appeared in only 5 games that the cardinals played in new york during the 1970 season.

on september 12, both davalillo and maxvill appeared in the game for the cards, along with boswell for the mets.  in fact, davalillo pinch hit for maxvill, but he flew out and so did not reach base.

on july 8, davalillo pinch-hit in the 9th inning, but he again flew out.

on july 6, davalillo was used as a pinch-hitter, but boswell never appeared in the game.

on may 28, all three were in the starting lineup.  davalillo walked to lead off the first, and advanced to second on a walk.  he then fouled out in the second inning, and doubled in the 5th.  in the 6th inning, however, davalillo reached first on an error by the mets' third baseman.  he was then erased on a 6-4-3 double play thanks to a julian javier grounder.  i think we may have our play on the boswell card, as he was playing second base at the time.  just for good measure, davalillo flew out in his final at bat of the game.  now let's take a look at mr. maxvill.  bob gibson was pitching for saint louis, so there weren't many base runners.  in fact, the cardinals did not turn any double plays during the game, so let's look at some other possibilities then.  in the first 4 innings, boswell's double in the 2nd accounted for the only mets' base runner.  in the 5th, boswell singled and stole second. perhaps that's boswell sliding in?  i doubt it - boswell wore number 12, and it looks more like a 5 on the back of the mets player (joe foy was number 5 for the mets, and he didn't appear in the game.  the other mets with numbers ending in 5, jerry grote (15) and tug mcgraw (45), did appear in the game, but didn't reach base). boswell was later forced at second with maxvill covering, but it doesn't look to me like maxvill has the ball in his glove. in the 7th inning, cleon jones grounded to first with al weis on base.  weis took second while jones got the sure out at first.  maxvill could have been covering second in case there was a throw from jones, causing weis to slide in.  weis wore number 6 for the mets so it's plausible.

a quick look at the fifth and final possibility eliminates it, as boswell did not play on may 27th. 

i think i will rule that these cards show images from the may 28, 1970 game and that it's al weis sliding in on maxvill's card.  not a double play turn, but a nice card nonetheless.