sunday morning target dodgers

time for another sheet of cards from the set that keeps on giving - the 1990 target dodger stadium giveaway set.  as always, thanks to baseball reference for providing some information about some of these heretofore unknown to me players.

don demeter

demeter's first major league hit came in his second big league at bat, and it was a home run off of don liddle of the cardinals in september of 1956.  demeter only appeared in three games that season for the dodgers, but he returned to the majors in 1958 and stayed with the dodgers until he was traded to the phillies early in the 1961 season.  in 1959, he hit three home runs in a game agains the giants - one was an inside the park job, and the third one was a walk-off.

jack dunn

dunn was a pitcher who also played in the field from time to time.  he entered the big leagues with the brooklyn bridegrooms in 1897 and remained with the franchise until he went to the phillies during the 1900 season.  he hit .238 in his 3-plus seasons for brooklyn, but also won 56 games, including 23 in 1899.  dunn later replaced hughie jennings as the manager of the baltimore orioles in the eastern league, and actually became the team's owner a couple of years later.  they moved to the international league, and dunn led them to seven straight titles.

lee grissom

grissom pitched six seasons for the reds, culminating in a world series appearance against the yankees in 1939.  the reds lost, but grissom must have made an impression on new york as he was traded to the yankees in january of 1940.  he appeared in five games for the defending world champions, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings, before he was claimed on waivers by the dodgers.  with brooklyn the rest of the way, grissom went 2-5 despite a 2.81 era, and he threw a 2-hit shutout against the phillies on the final day of the season.  in 1941, he pitched in four games for the dodgers and had an era of 2.38, but was traded to the phillies.

danny heep

heep was the guy the mets received when they traded mike scott to the astros, straight up, in 1982.  a lopsided trade in hindsight, but heep did help the mets win the world series in 1986, so it wasn't all bad.  following his triumph in 1986, heep signed with the dodgers and played for them in 1987 and 1988.  he was used mostly as a pinch hitter but also made starts at first base and in the outfield.  he even got to pitch in a game during the 1988 season - he threw two innings against the astros in july, giving up a 2-run homer to ken caminiti in the process.  he had some pinch hit appearances in the 1988 postseason for the eventual world champion dodgers, and served as the dh in game 4 of the world series.

burt hooton

happy hooton was the mvp of the 1981 nlcs as he won both of his starts against the expos without allowing an earned run.  he joined the dodgers in 1975 and remained a fixture in the rotation through the 1983 season.  in 1984, he spent most of his time pitching out of the bullpen and left the dodgers for the rangers prior to the 1985 campaign.  as a dodger, however, hooton won 112 games with a 3.14 era, and he nearly wrecked this fan's shoulder thanks to my trying to throw a knuckle-curve like hooton.

johnny hopp

target gave hopp an extra 'n' in his name there.  hopp was involved in the 1949 trade with the pirates that sent marv rackley to pittsburgh, but was voided a few days later.  as a result, rackley became a double dipper, and hopp only appeared in 8 games for the dodgers.  in those games, he was held hitless in 14 at bats.  maybe burt shotton had the trade voided due to hopps' performance.

ken landreaux

landreaux is best remembered by me and many other dodger fans for catching the final out of the 1981 world series.  he was also the main guy that the twins received from the angels in the rod carew trade prior to the 1979 season.  two years later, the dodgers acquired landreaux for mickey hatcher and a couple of minor leaguers.  landreaux spent seven seasons with the dodgers, most of which were spent as the team's regular center fielder.

ken mcmullen

i've told mcmullen's story before so i won't rehash it here.  suffice it to say that the pride of oxnard has had a big impact on dodger team collectors, thanks to his rookie card companion.

judge mccreedie

mccreedie (baseball reference spells his name 'mccredie') was an outfielder for the 1903 brooklyn superbas.  he hit .324 in 56 games for brooklyn before he was traded to baltimore in july.  somewhat curiously, he never made it back to the major leagues.  in 1904, he found himself in portland playing in their pacific coast league team that wound eventually be known as the beavers.  in 1905, judge took the reins and became their player/manager, a role he held through the 1913 season after which he gave up playing and was just their manager (save for a couple of appearances in 1916 and 1917).  in all, he spent 20 years managing in the pacific coast league, most of which was spent in portland.  he is a member of the pcl hall of fame.

simmy murch

murch played in 6 games for the 1908 brooklyn superbas following a couple of seasons with the cardinals.  he hit .182 with a double while playing first base in his stint with brooklyn, his last in the major leagues.

boots poffenberger

poffenberger obviously played for the tigers - he did so in 1937 and 1938 - but the dodgers claimed him on waivers at the start of the 1939 season.  for brooklyn, boots (real name cletus) pitched in three games, including one as a starter.  he had no record and an era of 5.40 in those appearances.  and yes, this boots was made for walking - he walked two of the four batters he faced in his dodger debut.

craig shipley

shipley became the second australian (and first in over 100 years) to debut in the major leagues when he appeared in a game for the 1986 dodgers.  he hit .111 in 12 games for the blue, and returned in 1987 to hit .257 in 26 contests.  the dodgers traded him to the mets, and he later found success playing for the padres and working in the front office for the red sox.

dwain sloat

aka lefty sloat.  he pitched in four games for the 1948 dodgers, including one as the starter.  he was 0-1 with an era over 6.  he was claimed by the cubs in the rule v draft prior to the 1949 season and did not return to brooklyn.

alex trevino

in a rare trade with the giants, the dodgers acquired trevino in exchange for candy maldonado prior to the 1986 season.  trevino spent the '86 and '87 seasons with the dodgers, playing catcher behind mike scioscia.  he received some significant playing time for a backup, appearing in 161 games over his two seasons with the club.

dazzy vance

hall of famer dazzy vance had two stints with the brooklyn franchise, so you know what that means…

…a double dipper post coming up later!

the evolution of the center fielder

i'll start this ode to the trail of dodger center fielders with the silver fox, the duke of flatbush, or as his parents named him, edwin donald snider.

duke snider (1949-1958)

in his 10 seasons as the dodgers' primary center fielder, snider hit .306 with 326 home runs, 1035 rbi, over 1000 hits and 3000 total bases, and had an obp of .386 and an ops of .950.  he helped the dodgers to five world series appearances over that stretch and hit 4 home runs in two different fall classics.  he is the gold standard as far as dodger center fielders go, and don demeter had the unenviable task of replacing him when the duke moved to right field in 1959.

don demeter (1959)

(this, by the way, is the copy of demeter's 1958 card that topps sent me from the mcg promotion.  i should have taken one of those multi-card trades and bought a better copy on the bay for $4).  demeter's lone season in the center field spotlight resulted in a .256 batting average and 17 home runs.  the dodgers made the world series, though, and demeter had 3 hits and scored a couple of runs as the dodgers won their first world championship in los angeles.  demeter returned to back-up status in 1960 as tommy davis debuted.

tommy davis (1960)

tommy davis had actually debuted in 1959, getting a single at bat under his belt before the season ended (he struck out pinch-hitting for clem labine against marshall bridges).  in 1960, though, he played in 110 games,  hit .302 with 11 home runs and 44 runs driven in, and finished 5th in the rookie of the year voting.  he shared the center field position in 1960 with the two previous occupants as well as another rookie, willie davis.  the 3-dog would take over the 8 spot in 1961.

willie davis (1961-1973)

willie davis became the holder of most los angeles dodger records during his tenure, virtually all of which was spent as their primary center fielder.  he leads all la dodgers in career war (war, offensive war, and defensive war) as well as at bats, runs, hits, total bases and triples.  in his 13 year run in center for the blue, he amassed over 2000 hits and nearly 1000 runs scored.  the dodgers traded davis to the expos for reliever mike marshall in december of 1973, one day before they acquired the toy cannon to replace him.

jim wynn (1974-1975)
wynn was an all-star in both of his seasons with the dodgers, and may have been the actual mvp in 1974.  he hit 32 home runs and drove in 108.  he also walked 108 times and scored 104 runs.  he hit only .188 in the world series against the a's that year, and is probably best remembered among dodger fans for having joe ferguson cut in front of him in game 1 to catch reggie jackson's fly ball before nailing sal bando at the plate.  wynn was traded to the braves after the 1975 season, and in return, the dodgers got their next center fielder, dusty baker.

dusty baker (1976)

yes, baker played center in 1976 before moving over to left field.  he had played mostly right field for the braves the previous two years, but made the transition fairly easily - just 1 error in 83 games in center.  his offensive production dipped quite a bit, though, as he hit only 4 home runs after hitting no fewer than 17 in his previous four seasons.  the move to left field the following year coincided with the return of baker's power, and opened a spot for another newcomer in center, rick monday.

rick monday (1977)

monday is the guy i remember as the center fielder, since the 1977 team is the one i first followed closely.  he was acquired from the cubs for bill buckner and ivan dejesus (the dodgers also got mike garman in the deal).  he was coming off a career year - 107 runs scored and 32 home runs - when he was traded.  like baker before him, his offensive production declined as he hit just .230 with 15 long balls.  he hit .286 in the nlcs against the phillies, but just .167 in the fall classic against the yankees.  in 1978, monday began the season as the center fielder, but in may they acquired bill north from the a's, and monday began to play a bit more in right and as a pinch hitter.

bill north (1978)

north made 82 starts for the dodgers in center, while monday made 74, so north gets the nod as the dodgers' official center fielder for 1978.  acquired for glenn burke, north hit .234 in 110 games as a dodger, scoring 54 times and stealing 27 bases (he was caught 8 times).  he was pretty quiet in the post season, going hitless in the nlcs and managing just 1 hit in the world series.  monday wasn't too much better - he managed two hits in each series.  north headed north to san francisco as a free agent after the season, meaning that the dodgers would once again have a new primary center fielder in 1979.

derrel thomas (1979)

thomas had joined the dodgers as a free agent prior to the season, and wound up making 93 starts in center.  he also played at every infield position at some point during the season.  in all, he hit .256 and scored 47 runs in 1979.  his value clearly was as a utility player, so the dodgers allowed a rookie to take over in center in 1980.

rudy law (1980)

law debuted in 1978, but didn't appear in the majors again until 1980.  he won the center field job after a good showing in spring training, and he went on to set a dodger rookie record with 40 stolen bases that year.  he found his way into tommy lasorda's doghouse and was made made expendable when the dodgers acquired their next center fielder, kenny landreaux, prior to the 1981 season.

landreaux brought some stability back to center field for the dodgers, so we'll let him kick off part 2, coming soon.

they want my double d!

no, it's no 1971 cookie rojas.  it's a 1958 don demeter card of which i write.  perhaps it is the oddity of a double chin on a baseball card, but it seems that america has become caught up in don demeter fever.  i unlocked a 1960 indians coaches card from the topps mcg site a couple of weeks ago, and quickly put it up for trade for some late 50's dodgers that i needed.  someone obliged me, and gave up their 1958 don demeter card.

that particular demeter, though it is his 'rookie card', is not scarce.  there are several on ebay right now that are going for cheap.  still, i have been bombarded by offers for it.  let's have a look.

but wait, there's more! (thank you, don pardo).  yes, two more offers were made after i first did a screen capture.

nothing older than the demeter has been offered, but i appreciate the effort with the multi-card offers, except maybe the one with the 1980 card in it.  i myself pulled off a multi-card trade last week when i bundled a 1982 ellis valentine and a 1989 alan trammell for a 1981 era leaders card.  of course, i also panicked when i pulled a 1989 robin ventura and wound up with a 1990 tommy lasorda which is ridiculous because i didn't really need it.

anyway, i digress.  back to demeter.  i would be willing to let him go, even for a newer card. how about a 1961 ron perranoski or roger craig?  1958 trumps 1961, right?  right.  i have a feeling i'll be having double chin don delivered to me soon, along with his mcg buddies that i have accumulated.  stay tuned.

some cranky dodger cards to assist my pursuit of dodgers-ness

i (not that) recently received some cards from jack at pursuit of 80's-ness.  i have watched with pangs of jealousy as many of you have posted about the cards you have received from jack, and i was not disappointed when my package arrived. all i had to do was send him some red sox and one or two 1980 topps cards for:

1957 topps charley neal

charley is looking pretty sullen, even though he is surrounded by that great 1957 color.  even though the card design is pretty simplistic, i really like this set because of the great color and vintage photography feel.

1961 topps don demeter

another sullen looking guy.  this photo is from wrigley field as evidenced by the scoreboard in center.  don got off to a rough start in 1961 for the dodgers, and was traded to the phillies in the jim bunning deal in may of that year.

1970 o-pee-chee manny mota

manny doesn't look too happy either, even though the dodgers saved him from his montreal purgatory.  i love that i received a card printed in canada from a guy in the uk.  awesome.

1970 topps jeff torborg

jeff isn't smiling either.  this photo is from the same shoot as the one used for his 1971 topps card, complete with danny ozark lurking in the background hitting fungoes.  1970 would be torborg's final year with the dodgers, and he would make it count by catching bill singer's no-hitter in july.

1972 topps jose pena

jose is at least showing some teeth, although he doesn't look too happy here.  pena was plucked by the reds from the mexican league in 1966, and the dodgers acquired him in the rule v draft in 1969.  after spending the 1970 and 71 seasons with the dodgers, pena was sent down to albuquerque after just 5 games with the dodgers in 1972.  baseball reference would seem to indicate that this photo is from 1970, as pena is wearing number 49.  he apparently wore 29 in 1971 and 72.

1981 fleer gary weiss

another irritated-looking dodger.  weiss is known (by me anyway) to be the last dodger to wear number 1 before it was retired in honor of pee wee reese.  weiss made 8 appearances in 1980, all as a pinch runner late in the season.  he was back with the dodgers at the end of the 1981 season, but was not included on the post season roster.  he walked in his first major league at bat (against al holland of the giants), but didn't collect his first major league hit until his 14th at bat (a single against mario soto of the reds).

1981 fleer pepe frias 

finally, a smile.  or at least a grin!  like weiss, frias played for the dodgers only sparingly in 1980 and 81.  frias had one career home run in his 9 years in the majors, a solo shot off of john candelaria in 1979.  i am left to wonder whether or not that is jerry coleman lurking in the background.

thanks jack for the great cards!

don demeter through the mail success!

former brooklyn and la dodger outfielder don demeter was kind enough to sign and return my 1960

and 1961

topps cards through the mail late last year.

in 1956, demeter struck out in his first big league at bat (against vinegar mizell), but homered in his second major league plate appearance the next day against don liddle.  he spent all of 1957 in the minors, but was up to stay after a late season call up in 1958. he was a member of the 1959 world champion dodgers, appearing in all six games against the white sox.

the dodgers traded demeter to the phillies in early 1961, and he responded by putting together three very good seasons in philadelphia, including a 1962 season that saw him place 12th in the mvp vote.  eventually, the phillies sent him to detroit in the jim bunning deal, and later don also played for the red sox and indians.

i understand that there is a story about a fan throwing an apple at demeter while don was in the field.  supposedly, don picked the apple up and took a bite.  i wish i had thought to ask him about that...

thanks don!