a mcmemorial mcpatch for ray a kroc

raymond albert kroc was, among other things in his lifetime, a milkshake mixer salesman when in 1954 he met the mcdonald's brothers and recognized the potential for expansion that their hamburger business offered.  kroc eventually bought the brothers out of the business and took the restaurant worldwide.  in 1974, he used some of the money he had made from his mcdonald's empire and bought the san diego padres.  after he died of heart disease in january of 1984, the team added his initials to their left sleeves in tribute.

here's a 1985 topps steve garvey card that shows the memorial worn in 1984, the first year the padres appeared in the postseason

and it shows up on garvey's 1985 topps record breaker, too.

it's there on eric show's 1985 topps card, too

and carmelo anthony's 1985 donruss card offers a really good look at it

but i've got this 1984 star steve garvey card in the memorial binder as the 1984 example of the memorial

thanks to the fact that it's garvey and he's wearing a mcdonald's wristband.

the padres wore the memorial again in 1985, perhaps inspired by the chicago bears who had begun wearing george halas' initial on their uniforms following his death in october of 1983 and continued to do so the following year.  in fact, the 'gsh' on the bears jerseys has never been removed since it was first added over 30 years ago.  anyway, here are some examples of the memorial from the 1985 season.

1986 leaf dave dravecky

and 1986 topps mario ramirez

the ramirez card is in the binder, too.

the pads wore the memorial in 1986 as well, and there are some 1987 cards that show it fairly well.

1987 fleer garvey

1987 topps tony gwynn

with dodger catcher alex trevino lurking

1987 topps carmelo martinez

1987 donruss garry templeton

1987 donruss randy asadoor

and 1987 donruss ed wojna

those last two cards feature a nice dodger stadium, so they are both in that binder, but i have the wojna card in the memorial binder, too.

although the padres did not wear the memorial beyond the 1986 season, it has shown up on a few cards since then, like this 1992 fleer ultra tony gwynn commemorative series card

and this 2013 topps archives gwynn card

and, when the padres wear their 1984 throwbacks, the memorial makes a return as well, as evidenced by yorvit toerralba's 2010 topps update card

kroc, who once apologized to fans over the stadium loudspeaker for the padres' poor play, was a benefactor to many charities, including those involved in the research and treatment of various diseases, including alcoholism.  he also oversaw the development of the ronald mcdonald house charities and was a member of the inaugural class in the san diego padres hall of fame.

the evolution of the dodger second baseman, part 2

when we last saw the dodger second baseman, he (paul popovich) was on his way to the expansion montreal expos, so someone needed to step up in 1969.  that someone was…

ted sizemore (1969-1970)

sizemore (seen with his topps rookie team trophy on his 1970 topps card) actually started the season at shortstop (jim lefebvre was at second), but he moved to second when lefebvre got hurt in mid april.  even though he returned to short when lefebvre came back, walt alston eventually switched sizemore back to second when the club reacquired maury wills to play shortstop.  sizemore played 118 of his 159 games in 1969 as the dodgers' second baseman, and hit .271 as he was named the national league's rookie of the year.  in 1970, he appeared in only 96 games, but made 81 starts at second for the dodgers so he retains his title as their primary second baseman.  he hit .306 that year and was dealt following the season to the cardinals in the dick (rich) allen trade.

jim lefebvre (1971)

look who's back.  lefebvre, who had been the team's primary second baseman in 1965 and 1966 and is a former rookie of the year himself, was back at the position in 1971.  that's lefebvre's 1972 o-pee-chee card, by the way.  he played in 102 games as the dodger second baseman in '71 (98 starts) and hit .245 with 12 homers.

lee lacy (1972)

once again, lefebvre began the season as the team's second baseman, but hit a rough patch in early may and gave way to bobby valentine.  soon thereafter, lee lacy (shown on his 1973 o-pee-chee card) was called up from the minors, and he went on to lay claim to the position.  lacy made 58 starts at second - about a dozen more than valentine and 20 or so more than lefebvre.  he hit .259 and scored 34 runs, but didn't play much in september, as the dodgers called up another guy to play some second.

dave lopes (1973-1981)

lopes (shown on a very crooked 1979 kellogg's card) made 11 starts during the last month of the 1972 season, and i guess alston saw enough.  he handed the position over to lopes in 1973, giving him 133 starts that year.  he dabbled in the outfield from time to time, but otherwise held the position through the 1981 world series.  along the way, he led the league in steals twice, won a gold glove, made four all-star teams, and helped the dodgers to four pennants and a world series title.  he was the second baseman on the team of my youth.

steve sax (1982-1988)

like lopes, sax held the dodgers' second base position until they won a world series title.  lopes, however, was traded prior to the 1982 season while saxy left after the 1988 campaign as a free agent.  before that happened, he was the fourth dodger second baseman to win the rookie of the year award, and he made three all-star teams, including the 1983 squad as alluded to on the 1984 topps glossy all-star card above.  in 1986, sax finished second to tim raines in the batting title race, hitting a career high .332 (raines hit .334).  he twice led the national league in errors while with the dodgers and much was made about his difficulties throwing to first base, but he was still my favorite dodger after steve garvey left town.  besides, i don't think of him defensively - my lasting steve sax memory is of him hitting the first pitch of the 1988 season into the left field bleachers at dodger stadium.

willie randolph (1989)

the yankees and dodgers essentially traded second baseman for the 1989 season, although both signed with their new teams as free agents.  with sax gone to the bronx, the dodgers signed willie randolph (seen on a 1989 fleer update card).  randolph appeared in 145 games in 1989, including 139 starts at second.  he hit .282 and was selected to the all-star team.  however, the dodgers traded him to the a's early in the 1990 season for stan javier.

juan samuel (1990-1991)

following the 1989 season, the dodgers traded mike marshall and alejandro pena to the mets for samuel.  they moved him back to his original position of second base (the mets were using him as their center fielder), and he made 101 starts there for the dodgers in 1990.  the following year, samuel started 150 games at second for the blue, and didn't sniff the outfield.  he made the all-star team that year as well, hitting .271 with 74 runs scored and 23 steals.  samuel began the 1992 season as the team's second baseman, but was released in july.  eric young was called up to take his roster spot, but there was another player who actually played second more than anyone else that year.

lenny harris (1992)

yes, i am using cards from 1992 fleer ultra for both samuel and harris in this post.  it's what i had handy.  deal with it.  the second baseman position in 1992 looked something like this:  samuel, 29 starts; mike sharperson, 33 starts; eric young, 35 starts; harris, 65 starts.  harris had been the team's primary third baseman in 1991, and he played some third as well as short and outfield in 1992 as well.  overall, harris hit .271 while fielding at a clip below league average for second basemen.  many thought that young would be the dodgers' second baseman of the future, but they weren't convinced as he was left unprotected in the 1993 expansion draft and was taken by colorado.  as a result, the dodgers worked out a deal with the rockies to acquire one of their later draft picks to fill the hole at second.  that set into motion events that would lead to one of the worst (thanks to hindsight) trades in dodger history.  stay tuned...

roberto alomar and the art of the double play

yes, it's double play dump time, but this post is different.  these are all roberto alomar double play turns that i welcomed into my collection over the past few months.

this 1994 fleer card

might look familiar, as it features the same play shown on his 1994 topps card.  if you ask me, sandy could have slid harder.

here's a 1993 score select card

with george brett sliding in.

i contend that this 1992 fleer ultra alomar award winners (gold glove) insert is, in fact, a double play turn

i base this on the fact that the umpire seems to be looking intently to make sure that roberto has touched second base.  that means that i believe alomar to be airborne on the card, even though it's tough to tell.

this one is much easier - 1992 topps stadium club

as is this 1992 score impact player insert

here we have a couple of cards from 1994 sportflics - first alomar's base card

and second, a starflics subset card

i have no idea whose glove that would be in the foreground.  it's not a second baseman since alomar played second base exclusively as a blue jay.  it's not a first baseman's glove, and if it were the pitcher covering first, i doubt that they would be wearing a batting glove.  very strange.

here's alomar's 1995 sportflix card (i don't know why the went to the 'flix' instead of the 'flics'in '95)

it's nice when these things scan well enough to see what it is that i want to see.  in this case, the double play turn.

this next card is from 1994 upper deck sp.  it's a holo view insert or something like that.

i am guessing that alomar made the pivot before landing on scott cooper on this 1995 bowman card

that's the thing about a lot of dp turns - what goes up must come down.

getting tired of seeing alomar yet?  let's mix things up with a card of alomar turning two as a member of the baltimore orioles.  this is a 1997 score hobby reserve card

it's almost a tatooine card too, if it weren't for that grass in the lower right corner.

this 1997 topps stadium club may not be a dp turn since kenny lofton is sliding headfirst

in fact, based on the game logs i found from '96 when the indians hosted the orioles, i am pretty well convinced that this is not a dp turn.

this one is, though.  from 1999 fleer ultra

as is this 2000 fleer ultra

and this 2001 fleer ultra

good on fleer to produce dp cards three years in a row for collectors like me.  you probably noticed that alomar moved to the indians during that timeframe, essentially replacing carlos baerga (although he was traded from cleveland to the mets in 1996) as omar vizquel's dp partner.  alomar and vizquel made some pretty incredible plays together.

alomar followed in baerga's footsteps once again when the indians dealt him to the mets after the 2001 season.  here's a 2003 fleer focus jersey edition card of alomar turning two in mets gear.

i probably have a few more alomar dp cards yet to share, but that's all the alomar i can handle in one sitting.

a spin around dodger stadium

no surprise - fleer is going to lead this tour around chavez ravine.  let's start with a 1982 fleer jim bibby

with the scoreboard in right center field over his left shoulder.  now we are moving clockwise as the scoreboard is over bill dawley's left shoulder on this 1985 fleer card

this 1982 fleer silvio martinez card gets us to the right field corner,

with the visitor's bullpen just at the edge of the card oner his right shoulder, and the field level scoreboard at the other edge over his left shoulder.  that's the same scoreboard that gary woods is hanging out near on his 1982 fleer card

always nice to see the friendly dodger stadium ushers and their straw hats!

mike lacoss is playing catch in front of the dugout seats on his 1982 fleer card

as is his teammate (and future dodger) mike vail

those seats are long gone, and may be best remembered as the location where mike brito would stand with his radar gun and cigar during games.  brito, by the way, is the scout who signed fernando and yasiel puig, along with at least a couple dozen other major league players.

next up is reggie jackson's 1981 donruss card (one of them, anyway) which gets us to the camera well next to the dodger dugout

i am guessing that this photo is from the 1980 all-star game which was played at dodger stadium.

jose oquendo's 1985 fleer card gets us further up the line to the end of the camera well

and juan eichelberger's 1982 fleer card features the start of the field level scoreboard on the third base side

here's the end of that scoreboard on frank pastore's 1982 fleer card

this card is almost identical to bob welch's 1983 fleer card - with ray knight playing the role of ron cey.  john smoltz has a very similar looking card, too.

i can't let this post go by without using some dodger cards, so here is chan ho park's 2000 topps card with the low rail down in the left field corner

with a touch of the dodger bullpen gate also visible.

this 1994 mother's piazza card of (who else) mike piazza shows the other end of the bullpen with the left field pavilion and the diamondvision board

dave anderson's 1989 upper deck card picks up where piazza's card left off (note the 370 sign on the outfield wall)

and we'll end up in right-center with tony gwynn on a 1992 fleer ultra insert card

gwynn, who played right field as you all recall, has gone to his right to catch a ball up against the outfield fence in dodger stadium.  this is likely from april 12, 1991 as the dodgers hosted the pads on opening day.  these banners (seen better on this other gwynn card from 1992 fleer ultra)

were put up to commemorate the dodgers' world series titles on the opening day games that i attended, at least.  i don't recall seeing them otherwise.

so there you have it, a virtual tour of dodger stadium.  now here's an aerial shot courtesy of the good year blimp 1988 fleer

i am quite thankful for fleer and their use of photos from dodger stadium in their sets.  much like i imagine a cubs fan appreciates 1981 donruss or a yankee fan appreciates every topps set from the 60's and 70's.