sunday morning target dodgers - featuring the 'other' mike ramsey. or was the other mike ramsey the 'other' mike ramsey?

here are another 15 players featured together on a sheet of cards from the very large 1990 target dodgers set.  enjoy.

ed albosta

albosta made two starts for the dodgers in 1941 and lost them both.  both games were against the phillies, and both times lefty hoerst was the opposing (and winning) pitcher.  to make matter worse, in all other games in which he pitched in 1941, hoerst was 1-10.  anyway, that was all albosta would do for the dodgers, although he did return to the majors in 1946 with the pirates.  he went 0-6 for pittsburgh, with a couple of those losses coming against the phillies, but not hoerst.

ken boyer

boyer, who was the nl mvp in 1964 with the world champion cardinals, finished his playing career with the dodgers in 1968 and 1969.  he was one of the many to play third base for the dodgers before ron cey arrived to stabilize the position.  boyer didn't homer in any of his 25 games in 1969, but he did hit his last two home runs of his career in the same game in 1968.  after retiring, boyer returned to the cardinals and eventually became their manager.  the team wore a black armband in his honor following his death in 1982.

rocky bridges

bridges was another guy who played some third base for the dodgers, although he spent his time there in 1951 and 1952, his first two years in the majors.  as a dodger, bridges hit .237 in 114 games.  he went on to play for the reds, senators, tigers, indians, cardinals, and angels.  after his playing days were done, he coached for the angels and giants, and managed in the minors as well.  he also signs cards through the mail, much to my appreciation.

dick calmus

calmus was 3-1 with a 2.66 era as a 19-year old dodger rookie in 1963.  he pitched in 21 games (one start), and won a world series ring, although he did not appear in the fall classic.  even so, it was back to the minors for calmus until he was traded to the cubs in 1967.  he made one appearance for chicago that season, then it was back to the minors for good.  calmus was still only 25 when he returned to the dodger organization in 1969, but he was never recalled from albuquerque and called it quits.  with the pitching rich dodgers of the mid-1960's it was too bad that calmus didn't get more of a shot at the big leagues.  at least he made it, though.  and, by the way, i'm still not certain what's going on in the background of his 1964 topps card.

bob clark

clark was a catcher for brooklyn when they joined the national league in 1890.  he was with the bridegrooms for four seasons before that as well.  as a national leaguer, clark hit .219 in 43 games, and was 2 for 3 in the postseason exhibitions that the pennant winning bridegrooms played against the louisville colonels.

babe dahlgren

i did not realize that dahlgren played for the dodgers, but he did - for 17 games in 1942.  he was just 1 for 19 with 4 walks in that span, however, and the dodgers flipped him to the phillies for lloyd waner and one other player prior to the 1943 season.  dahlgren is, of course, much better known as the man who replaced lou gehrig in the yankee lineup.

al gionfriddo

gionfriddo was traded to the dodgers early in the 1947 season by the pirates, for whom he had played since 1944.  he played in 37 regular season games for the dodgers, hitting .177 with no homers and 6 rbi.  gionfriddo was often used as a pinch-hitter, but got some playing time in the outfield as well, and that's where his most memorable play was made.  in game 6 of the 1947 world series, gionfriddo was sent out to left field in the bottom of the 6th inning.  the yankees were trailing 8-5, although they were leading the series 3 games to 2.  with two on and two out, joe dimaggio hit what was going to be a game-tying 3-run home run at worst, and an extra base hit at best, but gionfriddo made a nice catch going back on the ball, and the dodgers lived to play game seven (they lost).  the play is also known for the fact that the stoic dimaggio showed some frustration by kicking the dirt after the catch was made.

andy high

high spent the first 3-plus seasons of his 13-year big league career with the brooklyn robins.  he had the best season of his career as a robin in 1924, hitting .328 while scoring 98 runs in 144 games.  usually a third baseman, he had moved to second base that season and wound up finishing 12th in the league mvp voting.  high was lost on waivers to the braves during the 1925 season, but not before the photo used on his card was taken.  that image does indeed come from the 1925 campaign, as the robins wore black armbands for team owner and president charles ebbetts.  i'll address that memorial further in a future post.

fred lindstrom

lindstrom is probably one of the weaker hall of famers in cooperstown, but he's still a hall of famer as determined by the veteran's committee in 1976.  he had a good 9 year run playing mostly third base for the new york giants in the 1920's and into the 1930's, but joined the dodgers as an outfielder for his final season in 1936. he hit .264 in 26 games for brooklyn before asking for, and receiving his release.

jose morales

there have been 11 people from the us virgin islands that have reached the major leagues, and morales is one of them.  he's also one of three to have played for the dodgers (the others are henry cruz and al mcbean).  morales was known for his pinch-hitting prowess, once setting the record for most pinch-hits in a single season (1976), although that record was broken by john vanderwal in 1995.  morales spent most of his final three big league seasons with the dodgers from 1982-1984.  he had 108 plate appearances as a dodger in 104 games.  of those plate appearances, 95 were as a pinch-hitter as were 24 of his 27 hits as a dodger.

mickey owen

the dodgers traded for owen prior to the 1941 season, and he took over the everyday catching duties from babe phelps.  owen delivered a solid season behind the plate, earning his first of four straight all-star berths as a dodger and helping the franchise get to the world series for the first time since 1920.  it should be noted that his fielding percentage that season was .995 - only 3 errors and 2 passed balls - with 597 chances.  with that said, mickey owen is best known for dropping the third strike that would have ended game 4 of the 1941 fall classic and tied the series between the dodgers and yankees at two games apiece.  instead, tommy henrich reached first base and the yankees subsequently rallied for four runs to beat the dodgers 7-4 and take a 3 games to 1 lead.  they closed things out in game 5.  1955 couldn't come soon enough for owen, whom i imagine to have been (right or wrong) a sort of bill buckner figure, as in mickey owen : dodgers :: bill buckner : red sox.

dave patterson

patterson appeared in 36 games for the dodgers between june 9 and september 27, 1979 - all in relief.  he was 4-1 with a 5.26 era and 6 saves in those appearances which were the most of any reliever on the dodger staff that season.  he was back in triple-a albuquerque in 1980 and '81, and then finished his career with spending the 1982 season at the triple-a level in the oakland a's organization.

jeff pfeffer

pfeffer spent 9 seasons with the superbas/robins, pitching in 226 games for them between 1913 and 1921.  he posted a record of 113-80 with a 2.31 era for brooklyn during that span, and pitched in both the 1916 and 1920 world series for the club.

pat ragan

ragan joined the brooklyn franchise after spending a short time with both the reds and cubs in 1909.  he first appeared for the dodgers in 1911 and stayed with the club into the 1915 season before being claimed on waivers by the braves.  as a dodger/superba/robin, ragan was 37-54 with a 3.26 era.  in 1919, ragan was the player to be named later in the deal that sent jim thorpe from the new york giants to the braves.

mike james ramsey

you may recall from a previous sunday morning target dodgers post that mike jeffrey ramsey also played for the dodgers.  while his tenure was a mere 9 games in 1985, this mike ramsey appeared in 48 games for the 1987 dodgers, including opening day when he was the team's starting center fielder.  the team had been looking to acquire a center fielder (possibly even trading alejandro pena to get one) to replace ken landreaux when ramsey put on a display during spring training and won the job outright.  he went 10 for 28 in his first 7 starts, but hit just .196 over his next 30 games (27 of which were starts), and the dodgers made the deal with the orioles for john shelby.  in 2004, this mike ramsey (not the 'other' mike ramsey) was named the most obscure but memorable dodger following nominations made by the readers (like me) of jon weisman's dodger thoughts.

my pared down 1952 topps sampler set, a dodger double dipper, and a contest winner!

thanks to all who joined me in wishing steve garvey a happy birthday yesterday.  as promised, i will be giving away a 1952 topps card to one of you.

first, let's take a look at what my 1952 topps sampler set looks like now.  as you'll recall, i decided to pare down most of my pre-1970 collection (1957 topps and 1965 topps not included) to just dodgers and a few double plays, final tributes, and memorials.  here's what i am left with from 1952.

that's wayne terwilliger, the overly happy chris van cuyk, a forlorn johnny schmitz, and clyde king.  billy cox, rocky bridges, and ralph branca, too.  there is one spot left on the sheet, and darned if a high number wouldn't look nice there.  i'll have to do something about that.

i have posted about each of these guys in one way or another, except for van cuyk, a dodger pitcher from wisconsin.  van cuyk will have to wait, however, as clyde king is hijacking this post.  yes, king was a dodger double dipper.

[this is the fiftyfifth installment in the double dippers posts.  here are the previous posts - brett butler, omar daal, eric young, nick willhite, chris gwynn, mickey hatcher, dave anderson, don zimmer, rafael landestoy, dave hansen, jose vizcaino, hideo nomo, greg maddux, mike maddux, jon garland, chan ho park, vicente romo, gene mauch, denny lewallyn, von joshua, joe moeller, dioner navarro, rudy seanez, bart shirley, randy wolf, ismael valdes, bobby castillo, mike devereaux, pete richert, jay johnstone, jesse orosco, lee lacy, giovanni carrara, jeff weaver, ted sizemore,  orel hershiser, tom goodwin, joe ferguson, eddie murray, matt luke, ken mcmullen, tim wallach, jerry grote, don sutton, ralph branca, todd hundley, elmer dessens, guillermo mota, joe beckwith, jamie hoffmann, babe herman, joe medwick, juan castro, and ron perranoski.]

just for fun, here's another 1952 clyde king card - from bowman - that i just picked up.

it hasn't arrived yet, but i am posting it anyway.

king signed with the dodgers prior to the 1944 season, and a couple of months into that season, he was making his debut with the club.  he wound up going 13-12 for the dodgers from 1944 through may of 1948 before the team put him on waivers.  he was selected by the phillies, but never did appear in a game for them.  they wound up waiving him a few days later, and the dodgers decided to bring him back into the fold.  when he returned to the mound for brooklyn in 1951, king's status as a double dipper was completed.

he had his best season in 1951, going 14-7 with a complete game and 6 saves.  then, after one more season in brooklyn, king was traded to the reds for dixie howell.  he finished his big league playing career with the reds in 1953, but spent a couple more seasons in the minors.  after that, king began his managerial career in the braves' organization.  he managed in the pirates' organization, too, and was later an instructor/coach for the cardinals, reds, and back to the pirates during the 1960's.  late in the decade, he joined the giants' organization, and was named their manager in 1969.  from there, he moved on to managing the braves, and later the yankees.  he also took a turn as the yankees' general manager in the mid-1980's, and wound up trading for jay buhner and rickey henderson, among others, as well as signing bernie williams.

but enough about king.  let's find out who gets a 1952 topps card.  there were 5 blogs which promoted the contest:

the junior junkie
it's like having my own card shop
mark's ephemera
the writer's journey
tenets of wilson

there were 24 blogs (other than mine) that wished steve a happy birthday and left a comment.  i wasn't too much of a stickler beyond that - it's the thought that counts, right?  here are the blogs:

the writer's journey
it's like having my own card shop
ptown tom
angels in order
1978 baseball
red cardboard
the chronicles of fuji
the diamond king
this way to the clubhouse
tenets of wilson
coot veal and the vealtones
mark's ephemera
the prowling cat
the junior junkie
the lost collector
baseball card breakdown
1978, the year it all began
dime boxes
chavez ravining
play at the plate
cards on cards
dodger penguin
night owl cards
playing with my cards

so, here's the list that goes into random.org:

the junior junkie
it's like having my own card shop
mark's ephemera
the writer's journey
tenets of wilson
the writer's journey
it's like having my own card shop
ptown tom
angels in order
1978 baseball
red cardboard
the chronicles of fuji
the diamond king
this way to the clubhouse
tenets of wilson
coot veal and the vealtones
mark's ephemera
the prowling cat
the junior junkie
the lost collector
baseball card breakdown
1978, the year it all began
dime boxes
chavez ravining
play at the plate
cards on cards
dodger penguin
night owl cards
playing with my cards

and, after randomizing 6 (the garv's jersey number) times, the winner is…

…play at the plate.

brian requested the senators (which are the twins' senators, not the rangers' senators), so he receives an eddie yost card.

yost wound up as an original angel, and not a twin, in 1961.  dude could get on base, too.

congrats brian, and thanks again to all who participated.

carl erskine through the mail success! again!

6 times i have sent a card (or two) to carl erskine, and 6 times he has signed and returned them.  here are some of the more recent ones that i have received.  this is a 2005 topps all-time fan favorites card

featuring the image topps  used to create oisk's 1953 topps archives card.  it looks better on a 1957 style card, although the painted effect is more 1953-ish.  of course, on the 1953 topps archives card, they didn't bother to give it a painted effect.  topps can sometimes be confusing.

here's his 1959 topps card

this card encourages me to save second base.

here's a 1993 ted williams card

(i'm pretty sure that's number 49 joe black lurking in the background photo) and a 2001 topps 1952 world series highlights insert

oisk did indeed earn the win in game 5, with an 11-inning complete game performance.  of course, he was the losing pitcher in game 2, and he finished up the series for the dodgers, pitching the last two innings of relief in their game 7 loss.

finally, i sent a copy of the 2010 topps dodgers franchise history card to him back when it first came out, with the idea that i would try to get a few brooklyn dodgers to sign it.  as always, he signed and returned it.  i then sent it on to duke snider, not knowing that he had stopped signing due to his illness.  anyway, erskine signed another copy for me

and i later got rocky bridges to add his signature to the card

i haven't tried anyone else, atlhough i've been thinking about going for a couple more.  maybe randy jackson or ed roebuck.  or maybe i'll just let it be.

thanks oisk!

the topps dodger autograph project - the brooklyn years

when i started doing ttm in 2009, i didn't really have a plan other than getting some players from the early days of my collecting to sign some cards.  shortly thereafter, i decided to try for all of the 1978 topps dodgers, and then former dodgers in general, along with other players featured in the 1978 topps set.  i finally included current dodgers with varying degrees of success.  about a year or so ago, i found a post at the lost collector about his topps yankee project in which he was trying to obtain, via ttm, a yankee autographed card from each year that topps had produced cards.

i took stock and realized that i was only a couple years short of doing this with the dodgers, so i decided to finish it off.  unfortunately, one of the years i was missing was 1951.  both gene hermanski and duke snider, good signers through the mail, had passed away, so i wound up purchasing a preacher roe signed 1951 topps red back online.  

it's jsa certified, if that truly means anything.  i could have picked up a ralph branca card and looked for a private signing to send it to, but decided to go this route.  so, already i am off the track that the lost collector followed.

my 1952 topps entry, however, cost me just two stamps beyond the cost of the card itself.  rocky bridges was kind enough to sign his 1952 topps card for me

this was one of the requests i sent out after deciding to complete the topps run of signed dodger cards.  before that, i didn't really think too much about getting a 1952 card signed - not sure why.  wayne terwilliger still signs occasionally so there were some opportunities.  anyway, the bridges cards sits alone in the binder as the sole 1952 ttm representative.

i have a couple of 1953 topps cards signed.  one is from dick williams (which required his signing fee of $25), and the other is this bobby morgan card

which was obtained through the mail free of charge.

1954 was the other year that i had to purchase a card online.  i found a billy herman card and picked it up.

herman is a hall of famer who obviously coached the dodgers in the 1950's.  tom lasorda was the only 1954 option through the mail, but the cost of buying (another) 1954 lasorda rookie card was not appealing to me.  especially knowing that it would cost me more to have it signed at a private signing.

for 1955, i chose don zimmer

i've had a couple of successes with zimmer, and this is the only signed 1955 topps card i have in my collection.  same goes for 1956, where the randy jackson card is all by itself

jackson had also signed a 1957 card for me, but i will feature each player only once, just as the lost collector did.  that means that 1957, the dodgers' last year in brooklyn, will be represented by carl erskine.

erskine is one of the best signers out there, so he's a great friend to the hobby.  i've sent a few cards his way, and they always come back looking nice.  the aforementioned jackson and this oisk card are the only two signed cards from the underappreciated 1957 topps set that i have in my collection.

as always, i am appreciative of the players who sign through the mail, and i am glad that there are so many former dodgers who do so.  i'll post some of the early los angeles dodgers to have signed for free through the mail in the next post.

show time!

i'm at the local card show plowing through the vintage bargain bins.  same place i got this on the cheap.

happy 83rd birthday to mr. bridges, by the way.

anyone need anything?