if it looks like a dodger and quacks like a dodger...

here's another card that i pulled from brian's dime box at that recent church show.

it's a 1982 tcma greatest hitters card of joe "ducky" medwick. i noticed that medwick was shown on the card as a dodger, as he played for brooklyn at two different points (dodger double dipper!) in the 1940's. i noted that i had the complete greatest hitters set (still missing the burleigh grimes greatest pitchers card, and it's currently one of my most wanted cards) but that you don't see cards of medwick as a dodger too often. i referred to the action packed card (shown in that same post linked above) that shows him as a dodger but is catalogued in every team checklist i have ever seen (other than my own) as a cardinal card.

well, i got home and discovered that this card is also catalogued as a cardinal card, even though the dodger uniform is plain as day! so, i re-completed my dodger team set. as far as i know, anyway.

here's a bonus tcma card that i also grabbed from brian's dime box - a 1977-84 tcma renata galasso wilbert robinson card

actually that is not a dodger, but a robin. which i suppose, tweets and doesn't quack. still, it goes in the dodger collection. truthfully, the robins nickname was a play on robinson's name, as he was their skipper for 18 seasons and led them to the franchise's first two pennants.

with today being veterans day, i took a look and neither of these men served in the military, although medwick did go on a1944 uso tour to europe. as for robinson, he was born during the civil war and was in his fifties at the height of world war i. there are plenty of other veterans out there to acknowledge today and every day - thank you!

the almost daily dodger - babe herman

i suppose this is actually the almost daily robin, given that the subject is babe herman, who played for brooklyn (then known as the robins) from 1926 to 1931. he did, however, return to brooklyn in 1945 which aligned with their dodger nickname, so i think the title is fine. and besides, the card i am featuring, because it is from panini, doesn't specify the team nickname anyway.

this is a 2023 panini prizm ruby wave prizm parallel card

it's odd to see an oldtimer like herman on a shiny card such as this. he's so much an oldtimer that you can see the ox cart that was used to wheel equipment around behind him. i don't really know that it's an ox cart, but it could be. or it could be some farm equipment that herman brought in from his avocado farm.

the dodgers have had a few players with avocado farms, and i think herman was the first. he inspired cliff dapper who had a cup of coffee with the dodgers but was herman's teammate on the hollywood stars during herman's major league hiatus in the late 1930's and early 1940's. later on, i believe that dapper connected with duke snider who also went on to manage an avocado farm in california.

think about that next time you order the guac. it's extra, as you know.

the worst you can do

when i was (assistant) coaching travel ball (and even before that when i would just talk with my son), i would say the worst thing you could do at the plate was to hit in to a triple play. however, the likelihood of that happening was nil. same went for hitting in to a double play (at least at the lower age groups of travel ball), which is the second worst thing you can do at the plate. my point was that to strike out looking was really the worst thing they could do at the plate. 

i wanted the players to give themselves a chance to put the ball in play, and most importantly have the confidence to swing the bat. sure they would strike out sometimes. and sometimes they would strike out looking. but you might be surprised how many kids were so worried about failing that they would fail to swing the bat.  it's different at the big league level, although i would still contend that you can't worry about hitting in to double or triple plays to the point where you are not aggressive in the strike zone.  

having said that, clarence mitchell should have kept the bat on his shoulder.

as the 1991 conlon collection card notes, mitchell was the batter involved in an unassisted triple play on october 10, 1920. in the world series, no less!

in fact, not only did mitchell hit in to a triple play shortly after relieving dodger (really, robin) starter burleigh grimes, he hit in to a double play in his next at bat! that's five outs he created in two at bats. pretty bad as far as batter outcomes go. eight years later, mitchell appeared in another world series game, this time as a cardinal against the yankees. he came to bat with a runner on first and one out in his first plate appaearance, but only popped out, likely to the relief of his teammates and manager.

i guessed mota and got mota, even though 11 is not divisible by the number 5

matthew from the number 5 type collection (and fellow steve garvey collector) held a contest during the world series, asking folks to guess the total number of runs scored in games 4 and 5.  i guessed 11 (or as i put it "mota"), and came in third.  matthew was kind enough to send cards to all who participated, and one of the cards i received was this nice 1978 topps manny mota card

manny, of course, wore number 11 for the dodgers for over 40 years.  josh reddick wore it for a couple of months last season.  doesn't seem quite right.

here's a dave bancroft card from the 1977-1984 tcma renata galasso set that i needed

bancroft spent two years with the robins in the late 1930's following several seasons with the phillies,  giants, and braves.  he somehow was voted into the hall of fame by the veteran's committee in 1971.

matthew also threw in some 1971 o-pee-chee!  all that matters with those cards are the backs, so here are claude osteen and joe moeller

some writing on claude's card and some paper loss on moeller's, but that's ok with those bright yellow backs.

no cards numbered 5 - that osteen is as close at it gets at 10 - but still a good lot of dodgers!  thanks matthew!