my last word (?) but not the final word on dodger postcards

i sort of tried this before (almost six years ago), but had misplaced my dodger postcards and associated information when i went to write that post. now, after picking up a few more dodger postcards last year and locating the other ones i already had, i decided to put everything i know about them in one place. 

before we get to all that, one of the postcards i added last year was this pedro guerrero beauty:

this is a 1982 postcard, pretty easily dated thanks to the photo being from the 1981 world series. i would love for this photo to be from guererro's 8th inning, game 6 home run off of rudy may that put the dodgers ahead 9-2, but it doesn't quite match up with the video, and pedro looks like he's tracking a foul ball, not the laser he hit over the left field fence.

ok - back to the task at hand. i have found checklists and other information from various sources for dodger postcards from most years starting with 1959 through 1983. i know there were others after that (some co-branded by coca-cola, for example), but i am going to limit this exercise to the years stated previously.

much of the basic information i started with came from my copy of the 2009 standard catalog of baseball cards, a google groups comment linked in the post referenced above, and a comment from matthew glidden on his number 5 type collection blog. some of the dates i have listed are based on the players featured - especially those that were one and done with the dodgers.  this is not going to be a comprehensive list or completely accurate, either. it's just a resource. here goes.

info about the first two checklists here come from the aforementioned standard catalog. i don't own any of these postcards:

1959 dodger postcards

year: 1959

numbered on back: la-d-9xx

credits: mirro krome/crocker

la-d-901 duke snider

la-d-902 gil hodges

la-d-903 johnny podres

la-d-904 carl furillo

la-d-905 don drysdale

la-d-906 sandy koufax

la-d-907 jim gilliam

la-d-908 don zimmer

la-d-909 charlie neal

la-d-910 norm larker (photo actually joe pignatano)

la-d-911 clem labine (photo actually stan williams)

la-d-912 john roseboro

1960 dodger postcards

year: 1960

numbered on back: none

credits: none/made in japan and copyright los angeles dodgers

listed here numerically in alphabetical order

1 walt alston mg

2 roger craig

3 don drysdale

4 carl furillo sp

5 gil hodges

6 sandy koufax

7 wally moon

8 charlie neal

9 johnny podres

10 johnny roseboro

11 larry sherry

12 duke snider

the furillo card was pulled early in the season after he retired, and is therefore shown as a short print. these postcards (at least the couple that i have seen) feature photos taken in the dodgers' temporary home, the los angeles coliseum.

the catalog doesn't list any other dodger postcard sets, unfortunately, so i am going to skip to what i believe are 1962 issues.

1962 dodger postcards

year: 1962c

numbered on back: p503xx

credits: plastichrome/mitock/color by emil cuhel

p49776 dodger stadium

p49777 dodger stadium club

p49780 dodger team

p50315 willie davis

p50316 larry sherry

p50317 ron perranoski

p50318 sandy koufax

p50319 frank howard

p50320 tommy davis

p50321 don drysdale

p50322 john roseboro

p50323 ron fairly

p50324 maury wills

these feature shots in dodger stadium. the ones i own feature two different back designs. the sherry and perranoski backs include a light sketch of dodger stadium in red, along with some red text, 

while the drysdale and wills lack the sketch and all of the text is in blue. i assume this holds for the entire checklist. i added the team, dodger stadium, and stadium club postcards to the list even though the numbering is a bit different. i've seen versions of the stadium and stadium club cards that have the same back as the sherry and perranoski cards, so it seems like they are from the same issue.

1966 dodger postcards

year: 1966c

numbered on back: p6xxxx

credits: plastichrome/mitock

p67392 sandy koufax

p69766 wes parker

p69767 jeff torborg

p69768 jim lefebvre

p69769 lou johnson

p69770 don sutton

p69771 claude osteen

bob miller

phil regan

jim gilliam

joe moeller

jim brewer

john roseboro

john kennedy

dodger team

nate oliver

al ferrara

maury wills

the names featured without numbers were part of an unnumbered checklist i found somewhere. i assigned numbers to the ones i could verify, mostly through auctions. of these, i only own the parker, torborg, lefebvre, sutton, and osteen. there is also a postcard featuring photos of don drysdale/dean chance and sandy koufax/willie mays with the text "baseball greats" that is numbered p62008. it would make sense to be from 1966 at the latest.

1967 dodger postcards 

year: 1967

numbered on back: p7484x

credits: plastichrome/mitock

p74846 gene michael

p74847 ron hunt

these two are easy to date, since both michael and hunt were only with the dodgers in 1967. i own them both, and i've not seen any other checklist or numbering to match these, so i think it is a safe bet that the dodgers reprinted previous years' postcards for returning players rather than print up a whole new batch each year as night owl suggested in that comment thread linked above. however, i could have an incomplete checklist.

1968 dodger postcards 

year: 1968

numbered on back: p7750x

credits: plastichrome/mitock

p77501 jim grant

p77502 zoilo versalles

p77503 bill singer

p77504 tom haller

p77505 alan foster

p77506 al ferrara

this group is also easy to date thanks to mudcat grant, whose only season as a dodger was the 1968 campaign. again, this checklist may be incomplete as it is largely based on what i own (i have all of these listed). there is a dodger stadium postcard numbered p77832 which is likely from this same time frame.

1969 dodger postcards 

year: 1969/1970c

numbered on back: p86xxx

credits: plastichrome/mitock

p86213 bill sudakis

p86214 ted sizemore

p86215 bill grabarkewitz

p86216 willie crawford

p86497 bill russell

p86707 walt alston

it is entirely possible that these are from 1969, or perhaps all but the russell and alston were 1969 issues, and his was 1970 which might explain the gap in numbering. there is no difference in the back designs, however. again, this checklist may be incomplete. i have all six of these and i've also seen a psa graded alston that is identified as 1969, so that may be the final word.

1971 dodger postcards 

year: 1971

numbered on back: 7480x-c

credits: dexter/mitock

74802-c steve garvey

74803-c duke sims

74804-c bob valentine

74805-c rich allen

74806-c jim brewer

rich allen's presence allows me to identify this as the 1971 set. again, this checklist may be incomplete. i have all of these, although the garvey is in my player collection.

1972 dodger postcards 

year: 1972

numbered on back: 8615x-c

credits: dexter/mitock

86153-c tommy john

86154-c frank robinson

86155-c al downing

86156-c bill buckner 

86157-c hoyt wilhelm

86158-c pete richert

frank robinson and hoyt wilhelm give me confidence that this is the 1972 set. again, this checklist may be incomplete as these are only ones that i've been able to verify. i have four of the six - missing john and downing.

1973 dodger postcards 

year: 1973

numbered on back: kv5251 

credits: kolor view press/mitock

all cards are numbered kv5251, so the players are listed numerically alphabetically

1 bill buckner

2 ron cey

3 willie davis

4 joe ferguson

5 tommy john

6 lee lacy

7 tom lasorda co

8 dave lopes

9 andy messersmith

10 manny mota

11 claude osteen

12 tom paciorek

13 bill russell

14 don sutton

15 steve yeager

this is where matthew glidden's comment starts to come in to play, and i will just stand on his shoulders. it's interesting that lasorda got a postcard as the third base coach. makes me think that there are postcards for alston's other coaches - red adams, monty basgall, and jim gilliam. i have some of these, but am missing a great ron cey postcard, plus davis, lacy, osteen, and sutton.

1974 dodger postcards 

year: 1974c

numbered on back: no - blank back

credits: none

jim wynn

not sure about this one since there is no number or other marks on the back (except for some pencil on my copy), but based on the photo, i'd say it is early in his dodger tenure which would make it 1974. he has a different postcard in the 1975 set, so it makes sense to me, however....

year: 1974c

numbered on back: kv64xxx

credits: kolor view press/mitock

kv6412 mike marshall

kv6413 charlie hough

kv6414 jim wynn

kv6415 doug rau

kv6416

kv6417

kv6418

kv6419

kv6420

kv6421

kv6422

kv6423

kv6424

kv6425

kv6426

kv6427 steve garvey

6427 steve garvey

kv6428 willie crawford

the front design of mike marshall's card is different 

from the others i own, but the back and numbering checks out (fyi i have a cleaner version of the marshall without the tape, but i had already scanned this older one). wynn is listed here, but i don't own this postcard so i don't know if it is the same as the blank back version that i do own. i am assuming that the numbering is consecutive, but again, this checklist may be incomplete. of these, i only have the marshall, hough, and garvey. there are different versions of the garvey, and i have both (although they are both in my garvey collection so i need them for the team collection). one is numbered kv6427 as noted above, and the other is numbered 6427 (in the stamp box) and notes on the back that he was the 1974 national league most valuable player, 

which indicates it was printed after the season ended. 

1975 dodger postcards 

year: 1975

numbered on back: kv7813-x

credits: none

kv7813-1 bill buckner

kv7813-2 jim wynn

kv7813-3 henry cruz

kv7813-4 rick auerbach

kv7813-5 bill russell

kv7813-6 tom paciorek

kv7813-7 steve yeager

kv7813-8 don sutton

kv7813-9 mike marshall

kv7813-10 ron cey

kv7813-11 rick rhoden

kv7813-13 joe ferguson

kv7813-15 davey lopes

kv7813-31 doug rau

kv7813-57 willie crawford

weird numbering for rau and crawford, although rau wore number 31. crawford was number 27, though - not 57. still, since ferguson wore number 13 and lopes 15, i am not sure whether or not cards number kv7813-12 or kv7813-14 exist. therefore, this checklist may be incomplete. i am missing the marshall and cey from my collection.

1976 dodger postcards 

year: 1976

numbered on back: kv8861-x

credits: none

kv8861-1 walt alston

kv8861-2 ron cey

kv8861-3 tommy john

kv8861-4 davey lopes

kv8861-5 charlie hough

kv8861-6 steve garvey

kv8861-7 mike marshall

kv8861-8 joe ferguson

kv8861-9 dusty baker

kv8861-10 burt hooton

dusty baker joins the club, and it's alston's last season, so 1976 is confirmed. say it with me now: this checklist may be incomplete. i actually own all ten of these - possible complete set!

1977 dodger postcards

year: 1977

numbered on back: kvb98xx

credits: mitock

kvb9869 - reggie smith

kvb9870 - manny mota

kvb9871 - rick monday

kvb9872 - johnny oates

kvb9873 - ron cey

kvb9874 - doug rau

kvb9875 - steve garvey

kvb9876 - tom lasorda

i know that the numbering is consecutive but i am not sure that it begins and ends with smith and lasorda. so, this checklist is likely incomplete in more ways than one. i have all of these listed cards in my collection.

1978 dodger postcards

year: 1978

numbered on back: b10975

credits: mitock/kolor view press

b10975 - terry forster

i only own the forster (which i purchased recently), and i haven't seen any others online. matthew indicated in his comment that he has seen this number attributed to dodger postcards from '78, and sure enough, there is a copyright 1978 date right there on the back!  i think i might start looking a little bit harder for some others from this set, if they exist. obviously, this checklist is very likely incomplete.

1979 dodger postcards

year: 1979

numbered on back: kvb1195x-x

credits: mitock

2 charlie hough

kvb11955-1 bob welch

kvb11955-3 joe ferguson

kvb11955-4 derrel thomas

kvb11955-5 andy messersmith

kvb11955-6 gary thomasson

kvb11956-2 terry forster

more of the same - i found a checklist online and was able to verify the numbers except for a possible charlie hough postcard. with messersmith back in the fold, this is certainly a 1979 set. the checklist is likely incomplete. i have all of those listed above except the hough, and i also have another 1979 postcard

year: 1979 

credits: mike roberts/coral-lee

2 davey lopes

this one is not a dodger issue, but since i own the postcard, i've included it here.

1980 dodger postcards

year: 1980

numbered on back: kvb129xx-x, baker kvb130xx-x

credits: none

kvb12953-1 derrel thomas

kvb12953-2 jerry reuss

kvb12953-3 dave goltz

kvb12953-4 rudy law

kvb12953-5 jay johnstone

kvb12953-6 rick sutcliffe

kvb12953-7 don stanhouse

kvb130xx-x dusty baker

i own all of these except for the baker. the checklist is likely incomplete. 

1981 dodger postcards

year: 1981

numbered on back: d-x

credits: crocker

d-1 steve garvey

d-2 davey lopes

d-3 mike scioscia

d-4 steve yeager

d-5 dusty baker

d-6 steve howe

d-7 pedro guerrero

d-8 bob welch

d-9 ken landreaux

d-10 fernando valenzuela

d-11 jerry reuss

such simple numbering! the reuss postcard, by the way, is glorious. 

i think i had a school picture like this around the same time. the back of the postcard is different than the others

but since it is numbered d-11, i've lumped it in with this release. i have all of these, and i have some confidence in this checklist, but it may yet be incomplete.

1982 dodger postcards

year: 1982

numbered on back: c345xx, m-x

credits: mike roberts

c34507 m-1 jerry reuss

c34508 m-2 burt hooton

c34509 m-3 steve garvey

c34510 m-4 steve howe

c34511 m-5 pedro guerrero

c34512 m-6 fernando valenzuela

c34513 m-7 bob welch

c34514 m-8 derrel thomas

c34515 m-9 bill russell

c34516 m-10 tom niedenfuer

c34517 m-11 steve sax

c34518 m-12 ron cey

c34519 m-13

c34520 m-14 rick monday

c34521 m-15 tom lasorda

c34521 m-16 mike scioscia

these cards are numbered twice, with the m-x in the lower corner and the other number in the stamp box. i have all of these, except m-13 if it even exists. i found a smaller checklist online for a 1982 set that included terry forster, so perhaps he is the missing one. it is possible that only 15 cards were issued, so who knows.

1983 dodger postcards

year: 1983c

numbered on back: c355xx

credits: mike roberts

c35508 dusty baker

c35509 burt hooton

c35510 steve howe

c35511 dave stewart

c35512 mike marshall

c35513 bob welch

c35514 bill russell

c35515 fernando valenzuela

c35516 mike scioscia

c35517 steve sax

c35518 steve yeager

c35519 greg brock

3 pedro guerrero

6 ken landreaux

7 tommy lasorda mg

9 rick monday

10 manny mota co

11 tom neidenfuer

12 jerry reuss

17 derrel thomas

the cards at the top of this checklist were ones that i have seen and verified the numbering, and i own six of them (marshall, welch, russell, sax, yeager, and brock). the others are from a more generic checklist assigned to 1983 that i found elsewhere online. still, this may be incomplete.

keep in mind that these checklists may be, and likely are, incomplete, with some being obviously so.

so, there you have it. you now know what i know, or at least what i think i know about these team issued cards. while i'm here, here is one last 1982 postcard 

that's garvey's last postcard as a dodger, although he does appear in the background of welch's 1983 postcard. i am missing a couple of garvey postcards from my team sets, but i do have all of his dodger issued postcards in my garvey collection. i think i do, anyway, especially since i recently added this beauty to my collection:

i had been looking for this postcard for a couple of years before being able to grab one. i believe it is a 1981 postcard from the old dodger spring training home in vero beach. i say 1981 because the person who bought the postcard from the dodgertown gift shop stapled their ticket stub to the back:

the postcard came with a friend, with another stub from that same spring game attached

this one is a more generic dodgertown postcard, however

not nearly as exciting as a postcard with steve garvey leaving the batters' box and what might be carlton fisk reacting behind the plate.