sunday morning target dodgers - dude looks like a brooklyn groom

here we go with another sheet of cards from the 1990 target dodger stadium giveaway set.  i remember seeing this set offered in the la times classifieds in 1990 (i usually looked at the sunday classifieds for collectibles, although i don't recall ever buying anything).  i wound up getting my set on ebay (in a couple different transactions) about 8 years later.  on to the cards.

dude esterbrook

dude! sweet! dude! sweet! i could go on for awhile.  esterbrook (given name thomas john) hit .375 in 3 games for the 1891 brooklyn grooms.  that was his last hurrah in the majors, as he finished his career that began in 1880 with the buffalo bisons.  still, esterbrook played in the minors until 1894 and, according to his obituary, fancied himself able to return to the majors at the time of his death in 1901.  the cause of his death was injuries sustained following a jump from a moving train while trying to escape a trip to a mental hospital.

mickey doolan

doolan (his name is spelled 'doolin' on baseball-reference) spent the first 9 years of his career (beginning in 1905) as the phillies' primary shortstop.  in 1914, he jumped to the federal league, but returned to the national league in 1916 with the cubs and later, the giants.  he did not appear in the majors in 1917, but signed with brooklyn for 1918.  in what would be the final season of his career, doolan hit .179 in 92 games as the robins' second baseman.

lou fette

fette pitched in 109 games during his big league career, 107 of which came with the boston bees/braves in two separate stints.  in 1940, after posting an 0-5 record for the bees, the dodgers claimed him on waivers and sent fette to the mound twice.  fette pitched a total of 3 innings in a dodger uniform, allowing 3 hits and issuing 2 walks, but no runs crossed the plate against him.  fette later returned to boston in 1945, where he pitched for his former franchise (having reverted to their previous name, the braves) and finished his big league career.

darrin fletcher

fletcher was a backup catcher who had a couple of cups of coffee with the dodgers in 1989 and 1990.  he was traded to the phillies for dennis cook during the 1990 season, but found success after the phils traded him to montreal following the 1991 campaign.  fletcher was a member of the 1994 expos, even representing them in the all-star game, and was their regular catcher from 1993 through 1996.  it's worth noting that fletcher was the catcher for tommy greene's no-hitter against the expos in 1991.

dave goltz

i first learned about goltz from his appearance on a 1978 topps league leader card.  there he was, in a minnesota twins hat along with dennis leonard, jim palmer, and steve carlton thanks to the fact that he, leonard, and palmer all had 20 wins in 1977.  a couple years later, goltz signed with the dodgers as a free agent.  the move didn't work out so well for the minnesota native although he was part of the 1981 world champions (he relieved bob welch in game 4 of the series - a game the dodgers came back to win by scoring two late runs off of old friend tommy john.  goltz pitched for the angels in 1982 after leaving the dodgers, but he never regained the touch he had during his time in minnesota.

harvey hendrick

hendrick played for the robins from 1927 into the 1931 season.  he hit .354 in 1929, which was only good enough for 9th in the national league (lefty o'doul hit .398) and second on the robins (babe herman hit .381).  hendrick, who was a member of the world champion yankees in his rookie season of 1923, hit .318 for brooklyn during his tenure which ended after one appearance in 1931 after which he was traded to the reds.

ricky horton

horton had the good fortune to join the dodgers in august of 1988.  last week i noted that shawn hillegas was the guy with the bad luck who was traded away by the dodgers to the white sox on august 30, 1988, and now here's the guy who the dodgers received in return showing up on this week's sheet.  horton appeared in 12 games for the dodgers down the stretch, going 1-1 with a 5.00 era.  he also appeaered in 4 games of the nlcs and didn't allow any runs, but he didn't pitch in the world series.  horton returned to the team for the 1989 season, but was released in july of that year.

tom mccreery

mccreery suited up for the superbas in 1901, '02, and part of '03 towards the end of his 9-year career.  he hit .264 during that time, which was below his career average of .289.

lemmie miller

lemmie's big league career consisted of 8 games for the dodgers in 1984.  he was 2 for 12 with a walk and a run scored in those games, the last of which occurred on his 24th birthday.

eddie moore

moore played for the robins in 1929 and 1930, hitting .291 for brooklyn during that time.  he had been the second baseman on the pirates' 1925 world championship team, although he led the league in errors at that position that season.

van lingle mungo

mungo was often referred to by his full name for some reason, so as not to be confused with all of the other van mungos out there perhaps.  or maybe i am just thinking that because of the song 'van lingle mungo'.  mungo pitched for the robins/dodgers from 1931 through 1941, and was a 3-time all-star.  in 1936, he led the league in strikeouts (and walks), and he also led the league in fip and k/9ip although he had an 18-19 record to show for it.

hal peck

the sum total of hal peck's dodger career is a single pinch-hit appearance in 1943.  peck flew out against rip sewell in his major league debut while pinch-hitting for bobo newsom.  two days later, peck's contract was purchased by the cubs and he never played for brooklyn again.  he did, however, play through 1949, and was a member of the indians' 1948 world championship team.

jack savage

savage pitched in 3 games for the 1987 dodgers, retiring 10 of 14 batters and allowing only one run in those 3.1 innings of work.  during the offseason, he found himself headed to the mets as part of the three-team trade that also involved bob welch, jay howell, jesse orosco, and others.  savage didn't pitch for the mets, however, and was eventually traded (with tapani) to the twins in the frank viola deal.

four more years of the topps dodger autograph project - 1980 through 1983

let's kick off the 80's entries in the topps dodger autograph project with jerry reuss.  why? because i said so.  as always, these cards were signed through the mail for free (unless otherwise noted). 

jerry reuss, 1980 topps

reuss is a good signer, and his website has a bunch of cool photos and info.  plus, he no-hit the giants.   i have a few other 1980 topps cards signed by dodgers, including traveling secretary billy delury, joe beckwith, joe ferguson, steve garvey, charlie hough, von joshua, lerrin lagrow, manny mota (i also purchased a signed record breaker somewhere along the way), doug rau, bill russell, derrel thomas, and gary thomasson.

doug rau, 1981 topps

dougie! another good ttm signer, and another lefty.  i think 1981 topps is probably the set i have the most dodger autographs from after 1978.  i've had ttm successes with dusty baker, joe beckwith, ron cey, jack perconte, fernando valenzuela, joe ferguson, steve garvey, dave goltz, burt hooton, rudy law, jerry reuss, bill russell, don stanhouse (with fee), derrel thomas, and gary thomasson.  i have also also purchased cards signed by pedro guerrero, davey lopes and bob welch.  that still leaves me 12 short of the entire team. not that i'm trying.

ken landreaux, 1981 topps traded

the traded sets are kind of a bonus to this project, but if i have 'em i'll show 'em.  landreaux signed a couple of cards for me which was nice, but for some reason fernando declined to sign his card from this set.  i think they are the only two dodgers in the set.  i do have a doug rau signed card, but he was an angel in the set

dave goltz, 1982 topps

goltz gets a lot of grief from dodger fans, but he's from minny so i am using him as the poster boy for the 1982 set.  i also have ttm autos from ron cey (i also have one of his 'in action' cards signed but not posted), steve garvey, steve sax. purchased terry forster, steve garvey, dave lopes, rick monday, jerry reuss, and a mike marshall/ron roenicke/steve sax trio signed rookie card.

jose morales, 1982 topps traded

jose is the only card from this set that i have signed.  he joined the dodgers in april of 1982 and hit .300 for them that year, exclusively as a pinch hitter.

ron roenicke, 1983 topps

strangely, i don't have very many 1983 topps cards signed.  in fact, the only ttm success i have aside from the brewers manager is jerry reuss.  that's probably because i don't have any doubles from this set lying around.  i do have a nice dave stewart signed card that i purchased a while back, though.

rafael landestoy, 1983 topps traded

landestoy likes the high heat!  he's a double dipper and part of the 1978 topps dodgers burger king/update set.  i also have signed cards from this set of jose morales (who was somewhat inexplicably included in the set), and pat zachry.

here's the list of each year's representative card (so far):

1951 topps - preacher roe (purchased)

1952 topps - rocky bridges

1953 topps - bobby morgan

1954 topps - billy herman (purchased)

1955 topps - don zimmer (purchased)

1956 topps - randy jackson

1957 topps - carl erskine

1958 topps - joe pignatano

1959 topps - fred kipp

1960 topps - chuck essegian

1961 topps - bob aspromonte

1962 topps - norm sherry

1963 topps - ed roebuck

1964 topps - ken mcmullen

1965 topps - dick tracewski

1966 topps - john kennedy

1967 topps - phil regan

1968 topps - jim campanis

1969 topps - jeff torborg

1970 topps - al mcbean

1971 topps - sandy vance

1972 topps - manny mota

1973 topps - wes parker

1974 topps - claude osteen

1974 topps traded - jim wynn

1975 topps - ron cey

1975 topps mini - joe ferguson

1976 topps - bill russell

1976 topps traded - dusty baker

1977 topps - steve garvey

1978 topps - dave lopes

1979 topps - charlie hough

1980 topps - jerry reuss

1981 topps - doug rau

1981 topps traded - ken landreaux

1982 topps - dave goltz

1982 topps traded - jose morales

1983 topps - ron roenicke

1983 topps traded - rafael landestoy

truly disappointed

truly, truly, truly

so, what do harmon killebrew, justin morneau and i have in common?  none of us were at twinsfest last weekend.  killer is battling cancer, morneau is recovering from a concussion and was told to stay away, and i just plain didn't go.  with the metrodome roof being non-existent, the event got moved to a smaller venue in the northwest suburbs.  tickets were limited and i didn't purchase any before they sold out.  i didn't even think about it, really.  i didn't really miss it last year and the year before was kinda tough with the weather and what not.  no big deal.  i did live vicariously through droidtrader, and the pictures he posted with the low ceilings and people reinforced my decision not to bother.

he noted that rollie fingers was there along with fergie jenkins.  jenkins would have been nice (he was there a couple of years ago charging around $20), but i already have a rollie fingers auto on a 1978 topps card

(a hof through the mail success!) so, again, no big deal to have missed the festivities.

then, today on my way home, i am listening to the local espnradio affiliate give a quick rundown on twinsfest.  no killebrew, no morneau,  mauer only signing on friday, hrbek only there friday, etc.  and oh yeah - rollie fingers, fergie jenkins and steve garvey were there too. 

say what?!?!?  the garv?  in minny?  and i wasn't informed?  fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

i have only one in person garvey auto, and it's not even on a card.  i do have a few ttm autos, but i would have loved the chance to maybe get a picture like ol' mrmopar.  dagnabbit.

i do have a few twinkie/dodger ttm successes from the past few months to share, so in lieu of twinsfest goodies, let's examine those.  first up, dave goltz.

1978 topps league leaders

a 50% hall of famer ratio on this card.  this card is why i was excited when goltz became a dodger.  i was also excited that his signing with the blue resulted in a fantastic 1980 o-pee-chee variation:

goltz also signed his 1981 fleer,

1981 topps

1982 donruss

and 1982 topps

cards for me.  he was at twinsfest and i think i have run out of cards for him to sign.  if he's at the summer auto party i don't know what i will put in front of him.

another dodger/twin - ron washington - signed a few cards for me ttm

1984 donruss

1985 fleer

1985 topps

it looks like ron had 'fly j' sign the cards.  if you haven't seen the video of wash in the twinkies legends game last season, i would recommend it.  he charges a pop fly but then forgets how to bend at the waist to field it once it hits the turf and the ball gets by him, much to the amusement of the rangers players who were watching from the dugout.

with harmon absent, the twin at twinsfest with the best signature was michael cuddyer.  love his auto. he signed a couple cards ttm for me, including a 2007 bowman heritage

and a 2007 topps allen & ginter

the pose may be cliche, but the auto is fantastic.  thanks to rollie, goltz, wash, and cuddy.  but alas, no garvey in person auto.

well, at least i didn't have to stress while trying to figure out what to have the garv sign.  now i'm off to cue up some smiths and wallow in my sorrows.  good night and thank you.

i didn't make it to twinsfest this year, but...

in addition to being able to live vicariously through droidtrader's many posts, as well as those of crackin' wax, i have been doing fairly well with twins through the mail over the past year.

here's a sampling

1976 topps dave goltz

this was part of a second request to the former dodger.  i showcased the first attempt (which was also a success) here.

1978 topps dan ford

disco dan signed this 1978 card, as well as a 2004 upper deck legends card which i'll show off in a later post.  i remember dan from his angels days more than his time with the twins, but i love love love this card.

1983 jim eisenreich

jim is another former dodger, although he had way fewer dodger cards than goltz.  he did sign one of them for me, along with the 83 card shown above.

1984 donruss gary gaetti

one of the 'g-men' for the twinkies.  gaetti signed a few cards c/o baseball usa in houston.  he owns one of my favorite nicknames - 'the rat'.

1984 fleer tom brunansky

like gaetti, bruno signed a couple of cards for me.  i wasn't in minnesota at the time, but even i was shocked at the brunansky for tommy herr trade in early 1988.

1989 topps jeff reardon

the terminator is a great ttm signer, and i think he signed 3 or 4 cards for me.  the closer for the 87 world champion twins, reardon finished 4 of the 7 games and got the save in game 7.

1990 upper deck greg gagne

the other 'g-man' on the twinkies' two world series championship teams.  another former dodger, i have gone to the gaetti ttm well a few times, and he has not disappointed me.

1991 upper deck juan berenguer

berenguer was reardon's set up guy on the 87 team before going to atlanta in 91 to be their closer.  he was, of course, on the losing end of that stick, but not the way you think.  he broke his arm late in the season and missed the braves' run from worst to first.  around here, berenguer is best known for his trenchcoat and briefcase ensemble.  in fact, his bobblehead a few years ago featured that outfit.  he also signed his badass 1984 donruss card, as well as his dodger stadium featured 1992 upper deck card.

2005 donruss champions doug mientkiewicz

yet another dodger.  minky signed this and 3 other cards for me c/o the dodgers.  i sent them last summer and just got them back a couple of weeks ago.  i was a big supporter of mientkiewicz when he was here, although there's no way i keep him over justin morneau.

2009 topps allen and ginter michael cuddyer

the best active player autograph in baseball.  i love getting this guy to sign stuff.

of all of these guys, i think only goltz, berenguer and cuddy were scheduled to be at twinsfest.  still, it was the first time i had missed it in 10 years, so i am looking forward to standing in some lines next january!

dave goltz and fahrvergnugen

it's a rare card indeed that features automobiles (scroll down in this post, and you'll see a bevy of early 70s muscle cars). this 1981 o-pee-chee dave goltz is also a depictor of horseless carriages, including a bright yellow volkswagen beetle.

incidentally, goltz also falls into the category of guys who stuff their umbrella or windbreaker or whatever that is into their back pocket.

twins autograph party fail redeemed with a dave goltz through the mail success!

so what if it took just shy of three months for dave goltz to sign and return the cards i sent to him. he still signed 'em, right? way back in june i posted about the twins autograph party and how stoked i was to see an unannounced dave goltz sitting at the table with rod carew and then how disappointed i was when i got to the table and goltz had pulled a keyser soze.

today in my mailbox, in a sase cancelled through fargo were my blurry 1982 fleerand a nice looking 1978 topps.

i have been targeting dodgers who also had a 1978 topps card for ttm lately, and this fits right in. i smell a monster post coming up soon, but for now, i'll let goltz have the floor to himself.

thanks dave!

the twins autograph party results - or - dave goltz is keyser soze

i spent last saturday with my son at the twins autograph party. unlike previous years, the twins didn't publish a list of which players would be at which stations ahead of time, so we went in blind. they did post a list of alumni that were going to be signing, and i was disappointed not to see dave goltz on the list. goltz won 20 games for the twinkies in 1977 and later joined the dodgers for a few years. he was at the autograph party last year, when i got him to sign this 1978 o-pee-chee beauty. i had brought a stack of cards this year, including a couple more goltz cards just in case, but had resigned myself (as far as ex-dodgers are concerned) to trying to get ron coomer to sign my 2003 topps traded card showing him with the blue.

for most of the autographs, however, my son has a couple of twins yearbooks (2006 and 2008) that we have been getting signed whenever we can, along with a helmet. we also have a 2007 yearbook that no one had signed to date. both joe mauer and justin morneau have signed the 2006 yearbook, but not (yet) the 2008 one. even so, we chose to sleep in and not bother with the mauer or morneau lines. we still got there a little early, though.

the active players/coaches were first, and we took up residence in the francisco liriano/scott ullger/matt guerrier line. an hour and a half later, not too many people had joined us. two years ago, this line would have been blocks long, but now that liriano is struggling, it was pretty short. we had never got liriano's autograph, but we got ullger last year, and guerrier a few times. this year, liriano signed both main yearbooks, guerrier signed the third yearbook and a 2009 topps, and ullger signed the third yearbook and a 2009 topps twins team hhh metrodome card.
this is actually a pretty nice card for people to sign. i wish i could buy it in bulk rather than one per team set at target.

next, it was off to the jason kubel/brian buscher/steve liddle station. we had never got any of these guys to sign before, so it was a good station. short line, too. kubel signed both main yearbooks as did liddle, and buscher signed the 2008 book (he wasn't in the others) and the helmet.

then, matt tolbert/glen perkins/brendan harris. we had harris sign the only yearbook he was in (2008) at an event last year, so he signed the helmet and a 2009 topps. perkins signed the two main yearbooks, and tolbert signed the 2008 yearbook and a 2008 upper deck card.
these guys had a good laugh at harris' 2009 upper deck card which shows him lying on his back.

finally, michael cuddyer/rick stelmaszek. cuddyer is awesome. he signs a lot, and signs well. he signed the 2006 yearbook and the helmet (he had signed the 2008 yearbook last year). i had a 1975 topps stelmaszek, but we had him sign the two main yearbooks instead.

for the retired guys, we got in the rod carew/tom kelly line. as we snaked towards the tent, i noticed a third guy at the table - good lord, it's dave goltz! i was really excited. i got my 1978 topps and blurry 1982 fleer cards out in anticipation. now, it took us about 30 minutes to switchback in line back to the tent. that's when i noticed that goltz had left. i asked the security guy what happened and he simply said that goltz was gone. i wonder if he concocted a story based in skokie, illinois concerning a mr. kobiyashi. i was bummed, primarily because i knew that the line was moving too slowly to have a chance at coomer, so goltz was my only dodger hope. maybe i'll try ttm with him instead.

still, carew and kelly isn't bad. i got carew to sign the 2006 yearbook (on his twins hall of fame page) at twinsfest earlier this year, so we went with the helmet and a 1978 topps league leader card. kelly also had already signed the 2006 yearbook on his twins hall of fame page, so we asked him to sign the helmet and a 1987 topps card. both carew and kelly were really nice and personable, so it was a good way to end the party.

we went to the game (it was twins cowboy hat night), too. good, exciting game. the twins bullpen stinks. brendan harris was a triple short of the cycle; harris, mauer, young, and kubel each homered; berkman and bourn homered for houston - in fact, bourn hit his homerun so hard, two balls fell out of the folded up vikings seats in right.

after the game, the metrodome staff opened the emergency exits due to the large crowd. usually you have to use the revolving doors when leaving the metrodome due to the air pressure. with the normal doors, you essentially get sucked out of the building. i failed to keep a firm grasp on my twins cowboy hats, and they went flying into the plaza. my son was able to retrieve one, but the other was scooped up by someone else. dave goltz, perhaps?