sunday morning target dodgers - the barber, steady eddie, and a hitless wonder

you know the drill.

we begin with a hall of famer - dave bancroft

bancroft was the shortstop for the 1928 and 1929 robins.  he had previously spent five-plus years with the phillies, three-plus with the giants, and four with the braves before signing with brooklyn in october of 1927.  considered one of the finest fielding shortstops of all-time, bancroft was near the top of the defensive categories for shortstops in 1928 when he played in 149 games at short - the most in the league.  he appeared in 102 games for the 1929 robins before returning to the giants to close out his career in 1930.

bill bergen

bergen averaged about 90 games per season for the 8 campaigns in which he was a catcher on the brooklyn roster, yet he never hit above .190 in any season.  in fact, he hit above that mark only once in his career, and it was in 1903 in his last of three seasons with the reds. following that career year, bergen joined the superbas and was able to stay in the league thanks to his defensive abilities.  bergen holds the record for longest hitless streak by a position player at 0 for 44 (tied recently by craig counsell, himself a former dodger), and has the lowest career batting average (.170) of any player with more than 2000 plate appearances.

tony brewer

brewer began his career on an 0 for 10 skid in august of 1984 before getting an rbi double in a game against the phillies.  he then went 0 for 20 before collecting his next hit - a pinch-hit single against the astros on september 24.  following an 0 for 3 game after that, he went 2 for 3 with a home run in the last game of the season, which also turned out to be the last game of brewer's big league career.

ron fairly

fairly spent the first 11-plus seasons of his 21-year big league career with the dodgers; playing not too far from where he had played his college ball under former dodger rod dedeaux at usc. debuting in 1958, he played in 1,306 games as a dodger, spending time at every outfield position and first base.  he hit an even .300 in the four world series in which he appeared, although his 1965 series performance was the best of his career - he hit 2 home runs, 6 rbi, and a .364 average against the twins as the dodger right fielder in that fall classic.  fairly was traded to the expos during the 1969 season in the deal that brought maury wills and manny mota to the dodgers (back to the dodgers, in wills' case), and he went on to play for the cardinals, a's, blue jays, and angels as well.

tim harkness

harkness was 4 for 8 with 3 walks and two doubles in his first 11 plate appearances in the major leagues.  those appearances came as a member of the 1961 dodgers during a september call-up.  back with the dodgers in 1962, harkness hit .258 with a couple of doubles and home runs over 92 games. after the season ended, the dodgers traded him to the mets for bob miller.

cleo james

james began his big league career in 1968 with the dodgers, appearing in 10 games and going 2 for 10, primarily as a pinch-hitter. the cubs picked james in the 1969 rule v draft, and he went on to play for them into the 1970's.

ray lucas

lucas had pitched in 10 games over three seasons with the new york giants prior to pitching for the dodgers in 1933 and 1934.  he appeared in two games in '33, and then 10 in '34. he earned the only decisions of his career in 1934 - a win and a loss - while making his only two starts as well.

sal maglie

maglie was known as 'the barber' thanks to his tendency to pitch high and tight (and thus deliver a close shave) to batters who crowded home plate. he began his career with the new york giants, and was part of their 1954 world championship team prior to joining the dodgers during the 1956 season. he went 13-5 for the dodgers, even pitching a no-hitter against the phillies, as the team won the national league pennant by one game over the milwaukee braves. in the world series, maglie was on the losing end of don larsen's perfect game.  maglie remained with the dodgers and pitched well for them in 1957, but he was claimed on waivers by the yankees in september, and thus ended his dodger tenure.

ralph miller

miller pitched for the bridegrooms in 1898. he was 4-14 in 23 games. he completed 16 of his 21 starts, and walked (86) twice as many men as he struck out (43). he moved to the baltimore orioles in 1899, and that was the end of his big league career.  miller was the first major leaguer to live to be 100 years old, and so it was thought that he was the last surviving ballplayer from the 1800's when he died in 1973. however, charlie emig, himself a centenarian, lived into 1975.

eddie murray

the hall of fame first baseman finished his career with a short stint as a dodger in 1997.  before that, however, he had spent three years in los angeles with much success.  joining his hometown team in 1989 as a free agent, murray hit 20 home runs with 88 rbi. his batting average was just .247, but the following year, he hit .330 to lead the major leagues, although willie mcgee won the national league title thanks to his .335 average at the time he was traded from the cardinals to the a's.  murray left the dodgers after the 1991 season just two home runs shy of 400. he achieved that milestone in 1992 with the mets.

ed palmquist

back-to-back ed(die)s! palmquist gave up home run number 16 to roger maris as a twin in 1961, but before that, he pitched for the dodgers. making his debut in 1960, palmquist had an era of 2.54 in 22 games of relief for the dodgers. the following year, he appeared in five games as a dodger before he was traded to minnesota in may.

duke sims

duke sims had a hairy chest.  he also joined the dodgers by way of a trade with the indians prior to the 1971 season. after hitting .274 in 90 games for the dodgers that year, sims began the 1972 season by hitting .192 in 51 games and was picked up on waivers by the tigers in august.

tuck stainback

george tucker stainback came to the dodgers in 1938 via a midseason trade with the phillies. he had previously played for the cubs, and actually began the 1938 season with the cardinals.  over the next season and a half, stainback hit .289 in 103 games for brooklyn. they sent him down to the minors to start the 1940 season, however, and his contract was eventually purchased by detroit later that year.

elmer stricklett

sometimes referred to as the inventor of the spitball (there seems to be some conflicting information on that topic, so i don't know whether he was or not), stricklett appeared in one game for the 1904 chicago white sox before joining the brooklyn superbas for the 1905 season.  he was 9-18 that year, and 14-18 the next for brooklyn.  in 1907, his final big league season, stricklett went 12-14 despite a 2.27 era for the superbas. stricklett was eventually blacklisted from the major leagues after spurning an offer from the superbas to return from the 'outlaw' california league for the 1909 season, instead returning to the team for which he played during the 1907 and 1908 seasons. he attempted to return to brooklyn in 1912 after being reinstated, but did not make it back to the majors, thus finishing his career with a 35-51 record and a 2.84 era.

ed wheeler

wheeler had 12 hits (all singles) in 96 at bats for the 1902 brooklyn superbas. he also made 19 errors in 128 chances while playing third, short, and second base.  that was his only year in the major leagues.

more to come next week. i hope.

sunday morning target dodgers - with a couple of barneys

it's time for another sheet from the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary set. here are 15 more players to have worn the brooklyn/los angeles uniform.

raleigh aitchison

aitchison was 0-1 for the 1911 dodgers despite having an era of 0.00.  he allowed two unearned runs in his lone outing that year and took the loss.  he was back in the majors in 1914, when he was 12-7 with a 2.66 era for the robins, but in 1915 - his last season in the big leagues - he was 0-4 for brooklyn with a 4.96 era.

ed appleton

appleton was a teammate of aitchison's in 1915. in fact, their photos on these cards may well have come from the same team photo. anyway, appleton was 4-10 for the robins in 1915, and then 1-2 in 14 games for them in 1916. he did not appear in the 1916 world series against the red sox.

rex barney

barney broke into the majors in 1943 as an 18-year old pitcher for the dodgers. he made it back to the big leagues to stay in 1946, and was a member of the dodger pitching staff for the next five seasons.  his best season came in 1948 when he won 15 games and threw a no-hitter against the giants, although his greatest thrill in baseball may well have been when he struck joe dimaggio out with the bases loaded in the 1947 world series.  after retiring as a player, barney became the public address announcer for the baltimore orioles, and held that position until he passed away in 1997.

bob barr

barr's big league career consisted of 2 road games during the 1935 season. he pitched a total of 2.1 innings for brooklyn in those games, allowing 3 runs (one earned).

john corriden

this one is interesting.  that is a photo of john 'red' corriden, who played in the major leagues from 1910-1915, although not for brooklyn. he did join the dodgers as a coach from 1941-1946, and that timeframe is certainly from where this photo originated.  however, corriden's son, also named john, did play for the dodgers in 1946.  while the elder corriden was an infielder, the son played the outfield, although not in the major leagues.  in his lone big league appearance, john corriden was used as a pinch-runner, and he scored a run.

jack doyle

doyle, a native of ireland, was the superbas' first baseman in 1903.  he hit .313 that year, with 91 rbi. after a slow start to the 1904 season, doyle's contract was purchased by the phillies.  doyle later scouted for the cubs.

kid elberfeld

eberfeld (nicknamed 'the tabasco kid') had already been a major league manager (new york highlanders in 1908) and a minor league manager (chattanooga lookouts in 1913) when he joined the robins in 1914.  in his last term as a major league player, eberfeld appeared in 30 games for brooklyn, hitting .226 with a double and an rbi.

johnny enzmann

enzmann (nicknamed gentleman john) was a teammate of eberfeld's in 1914.  while it was the last big league season for eberfeld, it was enzmann's first, and he was 1-0 in 7 appearances.  enzmann didn't return to the majors until 1918, however, when he was a member of the cleveland indians.

barney koch

koch appeared in 33 major league games, all with the 1944 brooklyn dodgers.  he played shortstop and second base, and hit .219 in 101 plate appearances.

joe koukalik

there's already been an irishman on this sheet, and now we have a guy who was born in austria.  koukalik pitched in one game for the 1904 superbas. he took the loss, although he pitched a complete game (8 innings) and allowed just one earned run.

hack miller

miller made his debut with the 1916 brooklyn robins. he was 1 for 3 at the plate, with his lone (and first) hit being a triple.  he didn't appear in the world series that year, but did win a ring in his next big league season - 1918 - with the red sox.

chink outen

outen was a catcher on the 1933 dodgers, and he appeared in 93 games for the club. he hit 4 homers, including an inside-the-park job, and drove in 17 runs. he had an extended minor league career, but just the one season in the majors.

lou rochelli

rochelli, like barney koch above, spent just one season (one week, really) in the majors -  1944 with the dodgers.  he played in 5 games and was 3 for 17 with a triple.  after serving in the armed forces following his big league experience, rochelli returned to the dodger organization and managed in their minor league system for several years.

jack ryan

ryan pitched in 3 games for the 1911 dodgers. he started one and finished two others, and was 0-1 with a 3.00 era.

joe schultz

also known as 'germany', schultz spent the first part of the 1915 season with the robins.  before they traded him to the cubs, he appeared in 56 games and hit .292.  during his career, he played for seven of the eight national league clubs (he was never a giant), and he later scouted for the pirates. his son, joe schultz, was the manager of the pilots in their lone season.

sunday morning target dodgers - featuring the 'other' sandy

it's sunday again.  here are another 15 players from a sheet of cards featured in the 1990 target 100th anniversary dodger giveaway set.

sandy amoros

amoros is known throughout dodgerdom as a hero of the 1955 world series.  in game 7, he was inserted   into the lineup in the 6th inning after don zimmer had been lifted for pinch-hitter george shuba. jim gilliam shifted from left field to second base, and amoros entered the game in left.  with the dodgers ahead 2-0, billy martin walked and gil mcdougald singled to start the yankees' half of the inning. the next batter, yogi berra, hit a ball down the line that amoros was able to catch by stretching his arm out after running from left-center. he then threw the ball to pee wee reese who relayed it to gil hodges to force mcdougald for a double play.  it is largely believed that the fact that amoros wore his glove on his right hand made the catch possible.  amoros stayed with the dodgers through their move to los angeles until he was dealt to the tigers during the 1960 season. he later returned to his native cuba, but fell on hard times after refusing fidel castro's request to manage a cuban team.

jack fimple

fimple was a backup to steve yeager and mike scioscia in 1983, 1984, and 1986. he played a bit down the stretch in '83, and actually started a couple of games in the 1983 nlcs against the phillies.  i still believe that he hit a home run that year with a broken finger on his hand. i don't think i would have remembered that if it had not happened, but who knows.

mudcat grant

jim 'mudcat' grant pitched (and hit a home run) against the dodgers in the 1965 world series as a member of the minnesota twins, and he must have made an impression because they traded for him just a couple of years later.  with the dodgers for the 1968 season, grant posted an era of 2.08 in 37 games (4 starts). unfortunately for the dodgers, grant was lost to the expos in the expansion draft that followed that season.

kent greenfield

greenfield pitched in six games for the 1929 brooklyn robins - the last six appearances of his 9-year career. he had begun the season in boston with the braves, but joined the robins on waivers near the end of june.  in his six games for brooklyn, greenfield posted an era of 8.31, allowing 8 runs in 8.2 innings of work.

chris gwynn

gwynn was a dodger double dipper. he was also the younger brother of tony gwynn, and after his second tour of duty with the dodgers ended in 1995, gwynn signed with his brother's team for the 1996 season.  his last appearance as a major league player came in game 3 of the 1996 nlds, wherein gwynn singled as a pinch-hitter and was driven home by his big brother.

phil haugstad

haugstad made his big league debut in september of 1947. he pitched in 6 games for the dodgers, and went 1-0 with a 2.84 era. he made one appearance in 1948, and then didn't return to the majors until 1951 when he went 0-1 in 21 appearances for the dodgers. haugstad finished his career with the reds in 1952.

fred heimach

heimach had pitched in the majors for nine seasons when he joined the robins in 1930. he had been a member of the 1928 world champion yankees (he's wearing the pinstripes in the photo used on his card), although he did not appear in the world series.  heimach wound up pitching for brooklyn for four seasons, winning 9 games in both 1931 and 1932, but failing to post a victory in 1930 or 1933.

charlie kress

kress was traded to the dodgers by the tigers in june of 1954. he played in 13 games for brooklyn, going 1 for 12 with 2 rbi at the plate. you can see that he also played for the reds, and he was at one time a member of the white sox, as well.

mike j. mccormick

there was a mike mccormick that played for the dodgers, but it's not this guy.  baseball reference lists this mccormick as being actually named 'mccormack', which is probably correct. anyway, this player spent just one year in the majors - 1904 - and he spent it as a member of the brooklyn superbas. as the team's primary third baseman that year, mccormick/mccormack hit just .184 in 105 games.  he was only 5'-3", which would make him shorter than freddie patek, who is always my bellweather for vertically challenged ballplayers.

otto miller

miller spent his entire 13-year big league career with the superbas/robins/dodgers, beginning in 1910.  miller caught for both the 1916 and 1920 pennant winning teams, although he hit poorly in each of the world series.  he played in 927 games for the club, and later became a coach following his playing days.

buster mills

mills debuted as a cardinal in 1934, but spent most of the 1935 season in the minors.  the dodgers purchased his contract from saint louis, and he spent most of the last month of the '35 season with brooklyn.  he hit .214 in 17 games as a dodger, but went on to hit .295 in 1937 (he spent 1936 back in the cardinals' organization) as a regular in the red sox outfield.

bobby morgan

morgan played for the dodgers in 1950, 1952, and 1953.  in each of those seasons, he hit exactly 7 home runs.  he appeared in both the 1952 and 1953 world series, but was held hitless in his 2 at bats. after the 1953 season, morgan was traded to the phillies.

jim peterson

peterson pitched for the a's in 1931 and 1933, and then made the majors with the dodgers in 1937.  he pitched in only 3 games for brooklyn, however, and allowed 5 runs in 5.2 innings of work.

bart shirley

shirley was a double dipper, sandwiching stints with the dodgers around a run with the mets in 1968.  he also graces the 1966 topps grant jackson rookie card that always seems to run a pretty penny.  i like this card of shirley because he's standing in a young dodger stadium with some nicely pulled stirrups.

danny walton

it's interesting that walton is listed as an outfielder on his card.  sure, that's where he spent most of his time during his 9 years in the big leagues, but he also played some third base, first base, and even catcher.  for the dodgers, however, walton was only used as a pinch-hitter.  during the 1976 season, walton got 17 plate appearances for the dodgers (he was announced but not used as a pinch-hitter in an 18th game).  overall, he was 2 for 15 with a walk and a sacrifice fly.

we'll have to wait and see what random selection of players show up on next week's sheet...

sunday morning target dodgers

here we are with the last installment of sunday morning target dodgers of the year, and unless i scan some more sheets, it will be the final one - period.  let's find out about 15 more players who suited up for the brooklyn/los angeles national league franchise, courtesy of the target set that was given away at dodger stadium in 1990.

ed chandler

chandler was a major leaguer for about two months in 1947. he debuted three days after jackie robinson, pitching in relief against the new york giants on april 18.  he appeared in 14 other games, including both ends of a doubleheader against the cardinals on june 14. the nightcap that day turned out to be chandler's last appearance in the majors.

pete coscarart

coscarart was with the dodgers from 1938-1941, and was their primary second baseman in 1939 and 1940.  he made the all-star team in 1940 and appeared in the 1941 world series against the yankees.  after that, however, he was traded to the pirates in the deal that netted brooklyn arky vaughn.  coscarart went on to play in pittsburgh for four-plus seasons.

lefty davis

davis spent the first part of the 1901 season with the brooklyn superbas and the second part with the pittsburgh pirates. he had been released by the superbas after hitting just .209 in 25 games, but went on to bat .313 for pittsburgh in 87 games that year.  davis passed away on his 44th birthday.

ben geraghty

geraghty was an infielder with the 1936 dodgers who hit .194 in 51 games.  baseball-reference notes that he missed the 1937 season due to injury, but was traded towards the end of the season to the senators.  after making it back to the majors with the braves in 1943 and '44, geraghty returned to the minors and was a member of the dodgers' affiliate in spokane in 1946.  as a result, he was on the bus that crashed, killing nine members of the team, including player-manager mel cole.  geraghty survived the crash, and became the team's manager in 1947. he later went on to manage for many years in the braves' organization.

harvey green

green's major league experience consists of two games in which he pitched for the dodgers in 1935.  both came against the cubs in chicago in september of that year - on the 12th, he pitched a scoreless 9th inning in a 13-3 loss, and on the 14th, he failed to retire any of the three cubs he faced in what would be a 18-14 dodger loss.

bill hall

hall was 19 years old when he pitched for the brooklyn superbas in 1913.  he appeared in 3 games, allowing 3 earned runs in 4.2 innings of work.

bill harris

a native of new brunswick, harris was given a late-season start by the dodgers in 1957.  it was the first game following their last game at ebbet's field, and came in philadephia against the phillies.  harris pitched 7 innings, allowing 3 runs, and was 1 for 2 at the plate.  unfortunately, the dodgers only mustered up 2 runs (on a 9th-inning homer by sandy amoros) so harris got the loss. interestingly enough, he was replaced on the mound by none other than sandy koufax.  a couple of years later, with the dodgers now playing in los angeles, harris appeared in his second and final big league game - this time as a reliever against the cubs.

lefty hopper

hopper made 2 starts for the 1898 brooklyn bridegrooms.  he was 0-2 with 2 complete games, although he pitched only 11 innings.  he allowed 11 runs, 6 earned in those games, and did not pitch in the majors again.

bob lee

lee was acquired by the dodgers from the angels in a december, 1966 trade.  he showed up as a dodger in the 1967 topps set, although he appeared in only four games for the blue before he had his contract purchased by the reds.  in those four games as a dodger, lee pitched 6.2 innings - all in relief.

phil lewis

lewis was the superbas' shortstop from 1905-08.  he hit .242 in those four seasons, but amassed a whopping total of 120 errors in his first two campaigns. lewis spent the remainder of his baseball career in the minors, playing through 1916.

mike w. mccormick

mccormick was one of the players that the dodgers received in the trade that sent pete reiser to the braves following the 1948 season. mccormick hit .209 for the dodgers in 1949, playing in 55 games.  he appeared in one game of the 1949 world series (he caught the last out of the dodgers' game 2 victory - their only win of the series), and was then released by the club.

walt miller

what we have here is a case of mistaken identity.  the walt miller shown on the card is actually jake miller (his given name was walter) who pitched for the white sox in 1933 (after hurling several years for the indians). the giveaway was the fact that the pictured miller is a lefty, while this card is supposed to feature a right-handed pitcher.  the correct walt miller was a dodger for about a week in 1911, pitching in three games and taking the loss in one of them.

dick siebert

siebert had a couple of cups of coffee with the dodgers - first in 1932 and then again in 1936 - in which he was 2 for 9 with a couple of walks.  he spent most of his career playing first base for connie mack and the philadelphia a's, and was an all-star in 1943.  siebert retired after the 1945 season and returned to the twin cities where he became the head coach at his alma mater - the university of minnesota - and led the golden gophers to the college world series title three times.  siebert coached dave winfield and paul molitor among others during his tenure with the gophers - a tenure that ended with his passing in 1978.  the gophers' baseball stadium is named siebert field in his honor.

ray thomas

thomas' big league career consisted of one game with the 1938 brooklyn dodgers.  thomas replaced the robins' starting catcher merv shea in the july 22, 1938 game against the cardinals in the early going, and wound up getting three at bats. thomas finished the day, and his major league career as it turned out, 1 for 3 with a run scored.

george treadway

treadway was one of the players that the brooklyn grooms received from the orioles in exchange for future hall of famer willie keeler following the 1893 season.  he played for the grooms in 1894 and 1895, hitting .330 in 124 games in '94 but only .259 in 87 games in '95. after spending a short amount of time with the louisville colonels in 1896, treadway was out of the majors due in large part to suspicions about his heritage, according to baseball-reference.