watty clark was a dodger double dipper

if you were to consult baseball reference, as i have done, and looked at all the players who have suited up for the bridegrooms/grooms/bridegrooms/superbas/dodgers/superbas/robins/dodgers franchise, you might notice that watty clark was a pitcher for the dodgers over the course of 11 seasons - from 1927-1937.  that is true.  however, what that list doesn't tell you is that clark spent about a year with the new york giants during that span.  yes, he was a dodger double dipper.

[this is the eighty-eighth 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, ron perranoski, clyde king, paul waner, hughie jennings, ron negray, broadway aleck smith, george smith, johnny cooney, jim fairey, frenchy bordagaray, doc casey, waite hoyt, luis olmo, clyde sukeforth, willie keeler,  harry howell, germany smith, johnny allen, marv rackley, bobo newsom, maury wills, dazzy vance, ray hayworth, zack taylor, john cronin, art herring, brian falkenborg, bill reidy, john anderson, vito tamulis, wally hood, jim bruske, bill dahlen, patsy donovan, and jamey wright.]

here's clark's 1990 target card

when i looked at that list to help me figure out who double dipped, i would look for inconsistencies between the 'years' column and the 'from' and 'to' column.  for example, double dipper dave anderson played for the dodgers for 8 years, from 1983-1992.  that's 10 seasons, so i knew (aside from my memory of the bad dodger 1992 team) that there was some double dipping going on.  it got a bit tricky with the players who served in the military during world war ii, but i felt pretty confident that i had identified all of the double dippers.  then along came watty clark, whose time away from the franchise spanned about 12 months, but not a complete season.

clark debuted with the robins in 1927, having previously pitched in the majors for the indians in 1924.  as a dodger, he led the league in losses with 19 in 1929, but he also won 20 games in 1932. overall, clark amassed a record of 84-69 before he was traded to the giants during the 1933 season.

as a giant, clark was 3-4 over the course of the remainder of the 1933 campaign (he did not pitch in the world series in which the giants were victorious), and then had a 1-2 record for bill terry's team in 1934 when the dodgers re-acquired him, almost exactly a year after they had traded clark away.  back with brooklyn, clark was 2-0 in 17 games to finish out the 1934 season.  he pitched for the dodgers into the 1937 season, and finished with a lifetime record of 111-97.

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.

even more cards from doc holoday

finishing up the trade posts for today with a few more from my trade with doc holoday.  he really did send a nice group of cards as part of a 'spring cleaning' on his part.  i am quite appreciative.

2007 topps jeff kent hit parade insert

kent was 7th on the active leader list for career rbi when this card came out.  he is currently 49th on the all-time leader list, but should be passed by albert pujols this season

1994 upper deck minors todd hollandsworth

one of holly's two cards in that set

2007 topps update & highlights brady clark

by the time this card was released, i believe clark was already an ex-dodger playing in san diego

2007 upper deck sp authentic rafael furcal authentic speed insert

i don't know if doc saw this post or not, but the furky was needed and is appreciated!

2008 upper deck x andruw jones xponential insert

he's an x-dodger, thankfully

2009 upper deck o-pee-chee mark loretta

still working on that set!

2011 bowman chrome justin sellers

and 2011 bowman chrome dee gordon

and 2012 bowman chrome clayton kershaw

both the gordon and the kershaw cards show the duke snider memorial patch, which i will address in a future post.

thanks again for the trade!

the forgotten five of 2007

no, these aren't 'cards that should have been' although one could argue that they should have been included in the base set rather than inserted by topps into team-based factory sets.  i think jaybee refers to them as 'cards that will never see the light of day'.  well, i fell for topps target marketing strategy and bought the set, but i'll be cussed if i'm going to leave these cards hidden away.  let's take a look at the 5 players topps deemed worthy of making a card that many will never see.

marlon anderson

anderson was a late season pickup from the nationals in 2006.  he had 73 at bats for the dodgers that year and hit .375.  he also hit one very big homerun in the 4+1 game.  i approve of this card.

brady clark

the dodgers acquired clark late in spring training 2007 in exchange for elmer dessens.  clark was a dodger for about 3 months in which he hit .224.  after the dodgers released him, he went to san diego where he hit over .300 for the padres.

olmedo saenz.

the killer tomato.  this guy was hurt by the smaller sets, as he would definitely have had multiple cards with the dodgers if he had played back in the 70's or 80's.  at any rate, 2006 was his third year with the club and he had a pretty solid season - 11 homers and a .296 average - coming mostly off the bench.  he was with the dodgers for the entire 2007 season although he hit below .200.  topps did make a 2008 card of the guy which, despite his signing with the mets that year, serves as his final tribute card.

brett tomko

tomko was a free agent pickup prior to the 2006 season.  he pitched mostly in relief but spent the first 3 months of the season as a starter.  he was actually 5-1 with a 2.88 era after his first 8 starts, and then it all went downhill.  he wound up going 8-7 on the season.  he was back in 2007 and was 2-11 with an era of 5.80 when the dodgers released him.  like clark, he went to san diego and played a little bit better.

chin-hui tsao.

tsao was a free agent pickup from colorado.  he spent 2007 with the dodgers losing his only decision in a horrific outing against the braves.  he had been unscored upon after 9 appearances and then gave up 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning in atlanta, although he did strike out chipper.  tsao signed with the mets after the 2007 season, but did not appear in a game for them.

thanks topps for making these cards, although it would have been nice if i hadn't had to buy a factory set to get them.

file this one under bad ideas...

in what must have been one of the least popular decisions made at chavez ravine in the last decade (at least in tommy lasorda's office), the dodgers hired jack clark to be their hitting coach for the 2001 season.  he lasted until august of 2003, when he was replaced by george hendrick who in turn was replaced by tim wallach for the 2004 season.  the hilarity is captured on this 2002 keebler dodgers card, issued at dodger stadium.

clark even gets top billing!  now, what really chaps my hide - perhaps even more than the whole 1985 nlcs thing (first base was open, for crying out loud) - is this.  once a giant, always a giant.

i am sure that the dodgers' current hitting coach, don mattingly, is still a yankee at heart, but at least donnie baseball isn't ashamed of the dodger uniform.