1954 Brooklyn Dodgers

Wait Til Next Year
The '54 Dodgers were coming off of back to back losing World Series appearances. 1954 was also the last year that the Dodgers franchise could say that they never won the World Series, as they would finally win it next season. This team was led by Duke Snider, whose line of .341-40-130 was the best season of his hall-of-fame career. Gil Hodges also had probably his best season with a line of .304-42-130. The pitching side was led by 18 game winner Carl Erskine.




The Cradle of Managers
1954 may be most noted for being the first season of Walt Alston's managerial career. He would go on to manage the Dodgers through the 1976 season. Of course, a little used relief pitcher on this team would go on to manage the Dodgers after Alston retired and manage the team through the 1996 season. You know I am talking about Tommy Lasorda. Another hall-of-fame manager, Dick Williams, was on this roster as a reserve outfielder. Don Zimmer, who may be most famous as the Yankees bench coach from the late 90s, but was manager of the Padres, Red Sox, Rangers, and Cubs was on this team. Gil Hodges, manager of the miracle Mets of 1969 was the starting first baseman.

Starter and Hall-of-Fame/All-Star Scores
Exclusive players to a set are in italics

Topps Regulars (10): Gil Hodges, Jim Gilliam, Don Hoak, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Johnny Podres, Jim Hughes, Clem Labine, Bob Milliken, Preacher Roe

Bowman Regulars (13): Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Jim Gilliam, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Billy Cox, Carl Erskine, Russ Meyer, Billy Loes, Don Newcombe, Clem Labine, Preacher Roe

Topps All-stars and Hall-of-Famers (4): Gil Hodges, Tommy Lasorda, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider

Bowman All-Stars and Hall-of-Famers (5): Roy Campanella, Carl Erskine, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider

I am beginning to wonder how it was that Topps bought out Bowman. Topps must've had a better corporate background. They were based in Brooklyn, so it seems they should've had a hometown advantage here, yet Bowman beats them pretty good in both scores here. Topps big score is with Jackie Robinson, but the All-Star and Hall-of-Fame score is even worse when you consider that in 1954 kids were probably not excited about getting Tommy Lasorda in packs as his hall-of-fame career really doesn't start until over 20 years later when he becomes manager. I still am counting him here though. Nobody issues cards of future hall-of-fame manager Dick Williams, Sandy Amoros, who I listed as the starting left fielder only because he played more games at that position than anyone, but in reality was in a platoon situation with Jackie Robinson, and relief pitcher Erv Palica. I have to imagine that Duke Snider was the big catch for kids in 1954 anyway, and both sets had him.

Starters

__	BO	90	C	Roy Campanella	BRO
__	TO	102	1B	Gil Hodges	BRO
__	TO	35	2B	Jim Gilliam	BRO
__	TO	211	3B	Don Hoak	BRO
__	BO	58	SS	Pee Wee Reese	BRO
__			LF	Sandy Amoros
__	TO	32	CF	Duke Snider	BRO
__	BO	122	RF	Carl Furillo	BRO
__	TO	10	UT	Jackie Robinson	BRO
__	BO	26	3B	Billy Cox	BRO

Starting Pitchers

__	BO	10	SP	Carl Erskine	BRO
__	BO	186	SP	Russ Meyer	BRO
__	TO	166	SP	Johnny Podres	BRO
__	BO	42	SP	Billy Loes	BRO
__	BO	154	SP	Don Newcombe	BRO

Relief Pitchers

__	TO	169	CL	Jim Hughes	BRO
__	TO	121	RP	Clem Labine	BRO
__	TO	177	RP	Bob Milliken	BRO
__			RP	Erv Palica
__	TO	14	SP	Preacher Roe	BRO

Other Players

__	TO	153	C	Rube Walker	BRO
__			OF	Walt Moryn
__	BO	202	OF	George Shuba	BRO
__			SS	Don Zimmer
__			OF	Dick Williams
__			OF	Don Thompson
__	TO	209	UT	Tim Thompson	BRO
__			1B	Chuck Kress
__			PH	Wayne Belardi
__	TO	126	RP	Ben Wade	BRO
__			RP	Pete Wojey
__			SP	Karl Spooner
__			RP	Bob Darnell
__	TO	132	RP	Tommy Lasorda	BRO
__	TO	98	RP	Joe Black	BRO

Manager/Coaches

__			MG	Walter Alston
__	TO	86	CO	Billy Herman	BRO

1984 Retired Players

Here are the players that never played a game after 1984 (or sat out 1984) but have a card in one of the 1984 sets. There were four players who hung it up after 1983 that ended up in the hall-of-fame with cards in 1984 (all pictured above). What is cool about this is that you can get their entire career stats on one card.

One cool thing (or cool to me) is the old school ESPN logo on the microphone on Johnny Bench's card. Since ESPN debuted in 1979, this may be the earliest reference to ESPN on a baseball card. I wonder who it is that is doing the interviewing?

And what is up with Gaylord Perry's card? Do you realize he was only 44 when this picture was taken. I am only 7 years away from that, and good god, I hope I don't look that old. He looks at least 60 in that photo. What is even funnier is that he looks like grandpa asking you to pull his finger in that card. Not a good way to go out.

There are actually less players in this situation in the 1984 sets than there is in any other year we've looked at so far. So we get more active players in the sets this year. One interesting case is Bert Campaneris. This is the second time he is listed under retired players, as he was listed under the retired players checklist for 1982 as well. He came back in 1983, and Topps put his final card in the 1984 set showing him with the Yankees. Warren Cromartie is on this list as he went on to play in Japan, and he will show up again in sets in the early 1990s.

__	TO	744	RT	Jamie Allen	SEA
__	TO	497	RT	Bud Anderson	CLE
__	TO	284	RT	Howard Bailey	DET
__	DO	608	RT	Rich Barnes	CLE
__	TO	282	RT	Jim Barr	SFG
__	FL	462	RT	Johnny Bench	CIN
__	TO	283	RT	Larry Biittner	TEX
__	TO	82	RT	Doug Bird	BOS
__	TO	116	RT	George Bjorkman	HOU
__	TO	168	RT	Juan Bonilla	SDP
__	TO	316	RT	Mark Bradley	NYM
__	TO	139	RT	Bert Campaneris	NYY
__	TO	562	RT	Manny Castillo	SEA
__	TO	252	RT	Larry Christenson	PHI
__	TO	159	RT	Darryl Cias	OAK
__	TO	287	RT	Warren Cromartie	MON
__	TO	732	RT	Terry Crowley	MON
__	TO	167	RT	Marshall Edwards	MIL
__	TO	544	RT	Cesar Geronimo	KCR
__	TO	163	RT	Lorenzo Gray	CHW
__	TO	448	RT	Ben Hayes	CIN
__	TO	13	RT	Scott Holman	NYM
__	TO	743	RT	Don Hood	KCR
__	TO	621	RT	Frank Howard	NYM
__	TO	483	RT	Fergie Jenkins	CHC
__	TO	608	RT	Bob Johnson	TEX
__	DO	262	RT	Jeff Jones	CIN
__	TO	321	RT	Harvey Kuenn	MIL
__	TO	266	RT	Steve Lubratich	CAL
__	TO	461	RT	Jim Maler	SEA
__	TO	81	RT	Billy Martin	NYY
__	TO	24	RT	John Martin	DET
__	TO	149	RT	Jon Matlack	TEX
__	TO	652	RT	Rudy May	NYY
__	TO	569	RT	Bake McBride	CLE
__	TO	442	RT	Byron McLaughlin	CAL
__	TO	307	RT	Bobby Mitchell	MIN
__	TO	108	RT	Randy Moffitt	TOR
__	TO	374	RT	Don Money	MIL
__	FL	498	RT	Jerry Morales	CHC
__	TO	682	RT	Dan Morogiello	BAL
__	TO	166	RT	Jamie Nelson	SEA
__	TO	351	RT	Russ Nixon	CIN
__	TO	382	RT	Chris Nyman	CHW
__	FL	352	RT	Gaylord Perry	KCR
__	TO	449	RT	Joe Pettini	SFG
__	TO	437	RT	Mike Proly	CHC
__	TO	347	RT	Allan Ramirez	BAL
__	TO	724	RT	Eric Rasmussen	KCR
__	TO	444	RT	Steve Renko	KCR
__	TO	269	RT	Aurelio Rodriguez	CHW
__	TO	209	RT	Manny Sarmiento	PIT
__	TO	219	RT	Joe Simpson	KCR
__	DO	46	RT	Chris Smith	SFG
__	TO	46	RT	Ray Smith	MIN
__	TO	503	RT	Elias Sosa	SDP
__	TO	211	RT	Rick Sweet	SEA
__	TO	729	RT	Gene Tenace	PIT
__	TO	551	RT	Scott Ullger	MIN
__	FL	412	RT	Carl Yastrzemski	BOS
__	TO	83	RT	Richie Zisk	SEA

1984 Unwanted Cards

Kicking Off 1984

1984 was a different sort of year for collectors. Maybe this has something to do with my age at the time, as I would turn 11 in September '84. Collecting cards was more about actually completing a set of baseball cards and less about chewing gum for me by this time. The 1984 Topps set was (and still is) the earliest set that I have completed. Beckett Price Guide magazine also made its debut in November 1984. The hobby was changing a bit. I think this was about the time trades with friends were made based less on wanting a certain player for whatever reason, but actually thinking about the actual value of the cards. In 2011, this is funny because these cards are probably worth less now than they were then.

As for the cards produced in 1984, we again get the big three of Topps, Donruss, and Fleer. I think all companies were firing on all cylinders during this year. They all had very good designs, and in Donruss's case, maybe the best in the history of that company. Donruss gave us the first Rated Rookie cards that were noted in the front this year and the set is full of rookie cards that don't show up in other sets. Of course Donruss gives us one of my least favorite subsets again, leading off their set with the Diamond Kings. I can't stress enough how awful these cards look. They look like they were painted as a project in a high school art class. Check out the Lance Parrish card to the left. One of the ugliest cards I have ever come across.

The 1984 Fleer set is about as redundant as any set got in the 1980s. There are only 2 cards in the whole set of active players in 1984 that aren't in any other companies set. No kidding...only 2. You do get the final cards of Johnny Bench, Carl Yastrzemski, and Gaylord Perry in the Fleer set though, which is cool as you get to see their entire career statistics on a baseball card. The bigger news from Fleer is that they also give us an update set of 132 cards. This will give us 14 more cards to help fill in our checklists.

I will start off 1984 providing a checklist of all of the cards I am not considering for my ultimate set, but if you are keeping score at home, you may be interested in these. I always try to keep cards showing highlights of the previous season, but dislike the Superstar Specials and Diamond Kings, so don't bother collecting those. Fleer did have some cards highlighting the 1983 post season, so those will be placed in the ultimate set. I also don't save the checklists from sets other than Topps.

Donruss Living Legends
There were two cards honoring players retiring (I know Rollie Fingers didn't retire, I will get to that in a second). I know these cards came in packs with the rest of the set, but they weren't numbered as if they belonged to the set. These may be the first case of insert cards, although Topps did issue a glossy all-star set in rack packs of 1983 cards.

The players on these two cards are A) Gaylord Perry/Rollie Fingers and B) Carl Yastrzemski / Johnny Bench. The interesting player out of these four is Rollie Fingers. Fingers did not play in 1983. He came back with the Brewers in 1984 and 1985 and then called it a career. Why is he on these cards? Was this Donruss's way of placing him on a card, or was there speculation that he would retire? I honestly don't remember.

Donruss Diamond Kings

__	DO	1	DK	Robin Yount	MIL
__	DO	2	DK	Dave Concepcion	CIN
__	DO	3	DK	Dwayne Murphy	OAK
__	DO	4	DK	John Castino	MIN
__	DO	5	DK	Leon Durham	CHC
__	DO	6	DK	Rusty Staub	NYM
__	DO	7	DK	Jack Clark	SFG
__	DO	8	DK	Dave Dravecky	SDP
__	DO	9	DK	Al Oliver	MON
__	DO	10	DK	Dave Righetti	NYY
__	DO	11	DK	Hal McRae	KCR
__	DO	12	DK	Ray Knight	HOU
__	DO	13	DK	Bruce Sutter	STL
__	DO	14	DK	Bob Horner	ATL
__	DO	15	DK	Lance Parrish	DET
__	DO	16	DK	Matt Young	SEA
__	DO	17	DK	Fred Lynn	CAL
__	DO	18	DK	Ron Kittle	CHW
__	DO	19	DK	Jim Clancy	TOR
__	DO	20	DK	Bill Madlock	PIT
__	DO	21	DK	Larry Parrish	TEX
__	DO	22	DK	Eddie Murray	BAL
__	DO	23	DK	Mike Schmidt	PHI
__	DO	24	DK	Pedro Guerrero	LAD
__	DO	25	DK	Andre Thornton	CLE
__	DO	26	DK	Wade Boggs	BOS

Other Donruss Cards

__	DO	0	ST	Living Legends (Carl Yastrzemski, Johnny Bench)	XXX
__	DO	0	ST	Living Legends (Gaylord Perry, Rollie Fingers)	XXX
__	DO	625	ST	Runnin' Reds (David Green, Willie McGee, Lonnie Smith, Ozzie Smith)	STL
__	DO	648	ST	Duke Snider (Puzzle)	LAD

Fleer Superstar Specials

__	FL	629	ST	Rod Carew (AL Batting Runner-Up)	CAL
__	FL	630	ST	Wade Boggs (AL Batting Champion)	BOS
__	FL	631	ST	Tim Raines (Letting Go of the Raines)	MON
__	FL	632	ST	Al Oliver (Double Trouble)	MON
__	FL	633	ST	Steve Sax (All-Star Second Base)	LAD
__	FL	634	ST	Dickie Thon (All-Star Shortstop)	HOU
__	FL	635	ST	Ace Firemen (Dan Quisenberry, Tippy Martinez)	XXX
__	FL	636	ST	Reds Reunited (Tony Perez, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan)	PHI
__	FL	637	ST	Backstop Stars (Lance Parrish, Bob Boone)	XXX
__	FL	640	ST	Retiring Superstars (Johnny Bench, Carl Yastrzemski)	XXX