05 August 2014

brian falkenborg was a dodger double dipper, with no cards as a dodger

this 2000 bowman chrome card of brian falkenborg is one of the very few cards made for the 6'-7" right-handed reliever.
a second round pick of the orioles in 1996, falkenborg pitched in two games for the o's in 1999, but missed all of 2000 to an elbow injury that required tommy john surgery.  falkenborg didn't return to the majors until 2004, when he began his first of two stints with the dodgers.

[this is the seventyninth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daaleric young, nick willhitechris gwynn, mickey hatcherdave anderson, don zimmerrafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike madduxjon garland, chan ho parkvicente romogene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moellerdioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirleyrandy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaverted sizemore,  orel hershisertom goodwinjoe fergusoneddie murraymatt lukeken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grotedon suttonralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessensguillermo motajoe beckwithjamie hoffmannbabe hermanjoe medwickjuan castroron perranoskiclyde kingpaul wanerhughie jenningsron negray, broadway aleck smithgeorge smith, johnny cooney, jim faireyfrenchy bordagaraydoc casey, waite hoytluis olmoclyde sukeforthwillie keeler,  harry howellgermany smithjohnny allenmarv rackleybobo newsom, maury wills, dazzy vance, ray hayworthzack taylorjohn cronin, and art herring.]

falkenborg pitched in 6 games for jim tracy's dodgers in 2004, earning his first big league win along the way.  here's a photo from getty images showing him from that season.
falkenborg took his 1-0 career record with him to san diego after the 2004 season, and then went to saint louis following his august, 2005 release from the padres.  he stayed with the cardinals for the 2006  and 2007 campaigns which is when this photo, also from getty images, was taken.
the dodgers re-acquired falkenborg as a free agent following the 2007 season, and he was 2-2 in his 16 appearances for joe torre's squad.  here's a getty images photo from his return stint.
falkenborg was claimed by the padres on waivers in august, 2008, and he finished out the season with the friars.  after that, he moved on to japan, where he is still pitching today.

with falkenborg cementing his double dipper status in 2008, i was hoping that he would have received a card in the 2008 topps dodger premium 55-card team set, but no dice.  so, i made one for him - the 2008 topps brian falkenborg card that should have been:
falkenborg ended his dodger career having earned all three of his big league wins while wearing dodger blue.  he has since maintained a sub-1.50 era in the japanese leagues, so who knows - maybe a return to the majors is yet possible.  even if it's not, i'm glad to have documented his two dodger stints.

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