sunday morning target dodgers - you can call him shirley

here's another sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger 100th anniversary giveaway set. enjoy.

luis alcaraz

alcaraz showed plenty of pop in the minors, hitting 22 homers in 1967 at albuquerque, which would have been unusual for middle infielders of the time.  however, when he reached the majors as a september '67 dodger call-up, he slugged just .250 with one extra base hit.  1968 was worse - he slugged .217 in 41 games for the dodgers with a double and two home runs.  his contract was purchased by the royals after that season, and he played in kansas city for a couple more years.

bill antonello

antonello was a brooklyn native who made his way to the big leagues with the dodgers in 1953. he appeared in 40 games for the club, hitting .163 with a home run, triple, and a double to his credit. although he was with the team all season, antonello did not appear in the 1953 world series.

steve bilko

bilko had played parts of six seasons in the majors before he joined the los angeles angels of the pcl in 1955.  he had hit 21 homers for the cardinals in 1953, but really found his power stroke in the pcl, as he hit 37, 55, and 56 home runs in 1955, 1956, and 1957, respectively.  the reds purchased his contract for the 1958 season, and then traded bilko to the dodgers in june of that year.  over the course of the remainder of the season, bilko hit .208 with 7 home runs for the dodgers. he spent the 1959 season back in the minor leagues, and was then drafted by the tigers in the rule v draft following the '59 season.

carl erskine

erskine was a pitcher for the dodgers for 12 seasons - from 1948 into 1959.  he helped the club win their first world series title in 1955, although he pitched better in other fall classics.  in the 1953 world series, erskine set a record by striking out 14 yankees in game 3. he had won 20 games during the regular season that year, and finished 9th in the mvp voting. erskine has two career no-hitters to his credit, throwing one in 1952 and the other in 1956.

george fallon

fallon was 2 for 8 with the 1937 brooklyn dodgers in what was his first taste of the big leagues. he returned to the majors in 1943 with the cardinals, and played for saint louis through the 1945 season. he had a couple of at bats in the 1944 world series with the cards, and so earned a ring following their defeat of the crosstown browns.

pete mikkelsen

mikkelsen spent the last four years of his nine year major league career with the dodgers. he pitched out of their bullpen from 1969-1972, compiling a record of 24-17 with 20 saves in 155 appearances. i previously lamented the fact that, despite his regular presence in the bullpen each of those years, topps never put him on a baseball card as a dodger.  i'm glad to have this card.

bobby mitchell

mitchell did get a card from fleer in 1982, even though his dodger career consisted of 13 plate appearances in 19 games over the previous two seasons.  he was included in the trade that sent bobby castillo to the twins following the 1981 season, and played for two years as a twin.

paul richards

richards was 0 for 8 as a member of the 1932 brooklyn dodgers, appearing in 3 games that season. he got his first big league hit the following year, although he was a member of the new york giants then.  richards went on to play for the a's and tigers as well, and he was detroit's starting catcher in the 1945 world series in which they defeated the cubs in 7 games.  in fact, hit was his 3-run double in the first inning that put game 7 out of the cubs' reach.

don ross

in between stints with the tigers in 1938 and again from 1942-45, ross spent some time with the brooklyn dodgers. he appeared in 10 games for the club in the 1940 season, hitting .289 with a home run and a couple of doubles.

steve shirley

shirley spent about a month in the majors. the dodgers called him up in june of 1982, and he appeared in 11 games between june 21 and july 30.  he was 1-1 in those games with a 4.26 era, and in one of them he was allowed to bat.  on june 25 against the astros, shirley relieved bob welch in the 2nd inning, and when the pitcher's spot came up in the top of the 4th, tommy lasorda let shirley hit. in his only career at bat, shirley singled off of mike lacoss, so he is among the very few players to have a career batting average of 1.000.  later in the game, shirley was relieved by terry forster, himself one of the best hitting pitchers in the history of the game.  shirley went on to pitch in japan for a couple of seasons before returning to the states where he pitched in triple-a for several organizations (including the dodgers) through the 1988 season.

jerry stephenson

stephenson appeared in 3 games for the 1970 dodgers, pitching 6.2 innings and posting an era of 9.45 after putting up some pretty good numbers (18-5, 2.82 era) in triple-a spokane.  not good, but enough to earn him a card in the 1971 topps set for which i am thankful.  i'm guessing the photo used for the card comes from 1971 spring training (stephenson pitched in the dodger organization through 1973), as that was the year the team added the shoulder and neck piping to their jerseys.

stuffy stewart

stewart was a member of the 1923 brooklyn robins, appearing in 4 games and going 4 for 11 at the plate with a double and a home run. despite being a prolific base stealer in the minor leagues, stewart did not attempt a steal with the robins, nor had he tried to swipe a bag in his previous big league appearances with the cardinals or pirates (as far as baseball reference knows).  when he returned to the majors in 1925 as a senator, however, stewart did start to steal.

bert tooley

tooley spent 1911 and 1912 in the major leagues with the dodgers. in fact, he was their primary shortstop in 1911.  following the 1912 season, he was sent back to newark of the international league where he played through the 1915 season.

george watkins

watkins finished up his seven year big league career, and the 1936 season, with the brooklyn dodgers. he had begun the 1936 campaign with the phillies, but joined brooklyn in may.  in 105 games for the dodgers, watkins hit .255 with 4 homers and 43 rbi.

les webber

webber pitched for the dodgers from 1942 into the 1946 season.  he led the league in saves (although not an official category) in 1943 with 10.  overall, webber was 22-18 with a 3.89 era for the dodgers, and he had a 2.30 era in the 1946 season when he was claimed on waivers by the cleveland indians.

sunday morning target dodgers

there is an obscure rule here at garvey cey russell lopes that anytime an older gentleman with suspenders appears on a baseball card, he leads the post.  that rule is in full effect today, as we review another sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger sga set.

mickey o'neil

o'neil was a catcher who appeared in 75 games for the 1926 brooklyn robins, hitting .209.  he had previously spent seven seasons with the boston braves, and finished his career in 1927 with the senators and new york giants.  he later coached for the indians, scouted for the pirates, and for many years managed in the minor leagues.

orel hershiser

the bulldog had some great seasons for the dodgers (1985, 1988), and some great postseasons for the blue and the indians, too.  he was 7-0 in postseason play before losing game 1 of the 1995 world series to greg maddux and the braves, but got some redemption in game 5 as he outdueled maddux for the win. as a dodger in the postseason, hershiser was 4-0 in 8 games (7 starts) with a save and an era of 1.71.  he threw 4 complete games for the dodgers in the postseason, two of which were shutouts.  he was a dodger double dipper, too.

george hildebrand

hildebrand's big league career consisted of 11 games played for the superbas in 1902 in which he hit .220, as well as 22 years spent as an american league umpire, from 1913 through 1934.

ron hunt  

hunt was one of the players the dodgers received from the mets in the tommy davis deal prior to the 1967 season, but was dealt to the giants for tom haller after just one season in la.  he is best known for his prowess in being hit by pitches, having led the league in that category in each of his final 7 seasons.  with the dodgers in 1967, he was hit by a pitch 10 times, good enough for second in the league.  when hunt retired, he held the modern record for hbp (243) until don baylor passed him in the late 1980's.

fred ivy johnston

johnston appeared in four games for the 1924 robins, and was 1 for 4 at the plate.  that is the sum total of his major league career.

earl mattingly

like johnston, mattingly's big league career was quite brief - he pitched in 8 games for the 1931 robins, going 0-1 despite a 2.51 era in those appearances.

lew mccarty

mccarty began his big league career in 1913 as a member of the brooklyn superbas.  he stayed with the team until he was traded to the new york giants during the 1916 season, amassing a .260 average in 238 games for the franchise prior to the trade.  who did brooklyn receive from the giants in exchange for mccarty you might ask?  none other than fred merkle.

ray moss

moss spent the first 5+ seasons of his career with brooklyn, from 1926 to 1931.  he pitched in 100 games for the team, posting a record of 21-15 with a 5.00 era.  he finished his career in 1931 with 12 games pitched for the boston braves, and after retiring he founded the golden gallon chain of convenience stores.

george pinckney

pinckney (or pinkney as baseball reference knows him) was an original national league brooklyn bridegroom player.  he was with the club for a few seasons prior to their joining the national league in 1890 as well.  as the franchise's 'first' third baseman, he hit .309 and scored 115 runs in 126 games for the club in 1890.  known as somewhat of an 'iron man', pinckney once played in 5,152 consecutive innings for brooklyn, a record eventually broken by cal ripken, jr.

stan rojek

rojek made it into one game for the dodgers in 1942 (he pinch ran in the bottom of the 9th in a game against the giants and scored the tying run to force extra innings) before serving in the military during world war ii.  following his service, he returned to the dodgers for the 1946 and 1947 seasons, playing shortstop behind pee wee reese.  the pirates purchased his contract following the 1947 season, and rojek went on to have his best season, hitting .290 while leading the league in games played and at bats.  he finished his career with short stints in saint louis - with the cardinals for part of 1951 and the browns in 1952, and was dealt back to brooklyn following the '52 season.   unfortunately, rojek never made it out of the dodgers' minor league system after his return to the franchise and retired as a player after the 1955 season.

larry see

see was the dodgers' third round pick in 1980, and he reached the majors as a september call-up in 1986.  in 13 games with the dodgers that year, he hit .250 with a pair of doubles and two rbi.  he had began his professional career as a third baseman, but played only first base when in the field for the dodgers, who really could have used a third baseman back then.  see was back in the minors in 1987 when the dodgers traded him to the rangers for jose mota, manny's son.  see made it back to the big leagues in 1988 for 13 games with texas, but hit just .167.

larry sherry

back-to-back larrys!  this half of the sherry brothers spent six seasons in the dodger bullpen, posting a record of 34-25 with 39 'saves' from 1958 through 1963.  he was, of course, the mvp of the 1959 world series, winning 2 games in relief while 'saving' the other two dodger victories.  following the dodgers' world series win in 1963 (sherry did not pitch in the series), he was dealt to the tigers for sweet lou johnson.

dave stewart

stew made his big league debut in 1978 for the dodgers, and struck out the first batter (jim beswick) that he faced.  he didn't return to the majors until 1981, however, but went 4-3 with 6 saves and helped the team reach the postseason.  he did not pitch well in the division series against the astros that year (he was 0-2 with a 40.50 era) but did make two scoreless appearances against the yankees in the world series.  in 1982, the team used stewart as a starter for a while, but ultimately decided to keep him in the bullpen.  he was pitching well again for the dodgers in 1983 (5-2, 2.96 era) when he was traded to the rangers for rick honeycutt.  the rangers made him a starter, and he responded with a 5-2 record and a 2.14 era in his 8 starts that year.  unfortunately, he struggled for them in 1984 and 1985 and was traded to the phillies.  he eventually wound up in oakland where everything came together.  all told, stewart is a three-time world series champion.

al todd

todd didn't reach the big leagues until 1932 when he was 30 years old, however, he went on to have several productive seasons as a catcher with the phillies, pirates, dodgers, and cubs.  he spent one year with the brooklyn dodgers, 1939, and hit .278 in 86 games while sharing time behind the plate with babe phelps.  his 86 rbi for the pirates in 1937 still stands as that franchise's highest total from a backstop.

so that was 14 cards from the 1990 target set.  the 15th card on the sheet is coming up a bit later, thanks to the double dipper status of its subject and his heretofore untold tale...

dave stewart through the mail success and hopefully a pending success as well

here's my 1978 topps update/burger king dodgers card that should have been of dave stewart, signed by the former dodger and three-time world series champion himself.

i sent it in to a hall of fame sports signing a couple of years ago.  if you don't recall, stew pitched in one game for the 1978 dodgers and then didn't return to the majors until 1981.

i recently (6 months ago) took a chance on a 2013 topps triple threads redemption card which promised to deliver an auto-relic of stewart.

i reard (that's how topps shows him in other releases this year), but my hopes were buoyed by panini which issued a short print of him as a dodger last year.  of course, his base card (and certified auto) in that set had him affiliated with oakland.

no matter the result, you can wait for the card along with me, as i have updated the redemption watch feature on the upper right side of the blog (web view only) by removing the clayton kershaw redemption (that one took about two months) and adding stewart.  by the way, i redeemed the stewart code last november, and am still waiting.

he's signed for me once; i hope he does so again...

hometown heroes

no matter how you slice it, cal ripken jr meets the definition of a hometown hero.  whether you take that term to mean a person from their hometown who made good, or a person who played well for your hometown team, or a person who played well for their hometown team, ripken fits the bill.  his was one of the cards i found in the four packs of 2013 panini hometown heroes that i purchased along with all my 2013 topps update cards.

players like joe mauer, kent hrbek, sandy koufax, and pete rose also come to mind - guys who wound up playing all (or most) of their career for their hometown teams.  clearly, however, panini means for this set to be more of a 'fan favorites' set, and not a collection of people who made the big leagues with their local team.  in fact, there is no hometown info for the players on the backs.

i was looking forward to this set because there are some nice dodgers from the team of my youth on the checklist - rick monday, dusty baker, davey lopes, etc - plus on-card autos from lopes, steve yeager and others.  steve garvey, unfortunately, is featured as a padre (and a short print).

anyway, here are some of the cards i found in my packs.

bob horner

it's been about 25 years since i pulled a bob horner card from a pack.

bill buckner (cubs)

billy buck also has a card featuring him as a dodger in the set

rickey henderson curtain call

rickey is properly featured as an athletic on this insert, but who really knows which jersey he is wearing in that photo.  it could be a dodger uni, but more likely a boston one.

oscar gamble

when gamble went to the bronx, his afro didn't make the trip.  gamble had two tours of duty with the yankees - this looks like the second go-around.

ron cey

first dodger!  cey's hometown team would have been the mariners, had they existed prior to 1977.  he's from tacoma.

dave stewart (short print)

stew is in the base set, too - probably as an oakland a.  that would make sense, as stewart is from oakland.  still, happy to see him in a semblance of a dodger uniform again.

joe charboneau

i think it's pretty cool to see a charboneau card in 2013.  his was the cautionary tale of rookie of the year winners, even though it was a back injury that did in charboneau's career.  i feared that steve sax would suddenly find himself incapable of hitting a baseball in 1983.

let me know if anyone is collecting this set - i am looking for the dodgers, but don't need any of the other cards i pulled. 

there is no photo of the netherlands' female field hockey team in this post

sorry fanboys.  these are just some cards that i received from jeroen, the dutch card guy.  night owl used some fancy imagery to peak your interest in his post about cards he received from jeroen, but i won't do that here. 

i will wait for you to return from night owl's post, however.

ok, here we go.

i didn't get the shiny goods that greg did, but i did get a 1983 dodgers police dave stewart

and bob welch

i went to the games at which these sets were given away the first few years.  i had a love/hate relationship with the cards - really the only thing i didn't like was the size.  i am always curious how some people have one or two of these lying around.  i never considered breaking my sets up, but then again, i am a dodger collector.  these days, i do have some garvey singles in my garvey pc, but i still have the complete sets, too.

moving on, here's a 1987 indiana blue sox broder card of general soreness, mike marshall

and here's a fully licensed 2009 upper deck sp authentic card of matt kemp

remember when upper deck had a license to feature logos?  that was nice.  usually.

i didn't participate in the golden giveaway thingy last year, probably because i didn't buy any packs until update came out.  jeroen sent me a sandy koufax adorned code card which is nice

i might have to look for one of those cards on the secondary market.  it looks nice and shiny.

i'll end this trade post with a 2009 topps 206 james loney card

actually, i'll finish with a link to some photos of the netherlands' female field hockey team.  i'm sure james loney understands.

black as coal

continuing on from today's earlier post, i present more cards from night owl.  these were part of a contest that i won, and i'll begin again with a black card.  not a walmart parallel, but just a 2012 topps heritage black bordered parallel of former dodger (and dodger double dipper) randy wolf.

the contest winnings were quite a colorful assortment of cards.  here's a 2012 topps jason vargas red bordered card from target.

and, continuing down the rainbow, here's a card with plenty of orange, not to mention airbrushed hats.  it's a 1972 topps angels' rookie stars card

although it seems to be devoid of stars.  that's ok, though, because it does feature billy parker, whose first major league hit was a walk-off home run in his big league debut.  check out this story to learn more about him.

more colors - no yellow bordered card, but there was a gold bordered 2012 bowman brandon mccarthy card

and then a 2012 bowman chrome brandon beachy green refractor

that means we are at the 'blue' part of the color prism, so here's a 1982 topps dave stewart rookie card

not blue enough?  tough.

on to purple - here's a purple parallel of yoenis cespedes from 2012 topps chrome

writing that reminded me of the lemonheads 'purple parallelogram'.

more purple, but also black, comes by way of this 2011 topps heritage black bordered parallel of the rockies' ubaldo jimenez

actually, there's not much purple on that uniform at all.

i'll end with some shiny - this 2012 topps ken griffey jr value box refractor thingy

it's pretty sharp, but it won't be in my hands for long.

thanks greg, and congrats on all those readers that inspire you to give away cards.