Jeff Torborg (#257)

Jeff Torborg was a backup catcher for the Dodgers (1964-70) and the Angels (1971-73).  He never had more than 200 at-bats in a season until his final year. That was also the only season when he played in more than 76 games (102).

Torborg was signed by the Dodgers in 1963 and played only 1 season in the minors before making his debut with LA in May 1964 at age 22. (He had played college ball at Rutgers.) That year he was the team’s #3 backstop behind John Roseboro and Doug Camilli.

After the 1964 season, Camilli was shipped off to the Senators, leaving Torborg as the Dodgers’ #2 catcher for the next 6 seasons, backing up Roseboro from ’65-’67, and Tom Haller from ’68-’70. During that time, he caught Sandy Koufax’ perfect game in 1965 and a no-hitter by Bill Singer in 1970.

Jeff made no starts behind the plate after August 1970, since 3rd baseman Bill Sudakis was converting to catcher, and made all the starts when Haller took a day off.

In March 1971 Torborg was sold to the Angels. He backed up starting catcher John Stephenson in ’71 (Say what? Stephenson was once a team’s #1 catcher? How sad must that team have been?) 

In 1972 Jeff split the starting assignments with rookie Art Kusnyer. Torborg made a career-high 93 starts in his final season, this time with Stephenson and Kusnyer as HIS backups. In May, he caught the first of Nolan Ryan’s seven no-hitters.

After the 1973 season Jeff was traded to the Cardinals, but was released in spring training 1974.

Torborg’s 2nd career was as a manager. He piloted the Indians (1977-79), White Sox (1989-91), Mets (1992-93), Expos (2001), and Marlins (2002-03). Between his Indians’ and White Sox’ jobs, he coached for the Yankees from 1979-88.

Jim Brewer (#158)

I learned something new today – Jim Brewer pitched 3-plus seasons for the Cubs before joining the Dodgers in 1964.

After 4 seasons under the wings of veteran relievers Ron Perranoski, Bob Miller, and Phil Regan, Brewer spent 6 more seasons as the top man in the Dodger bullpen.

Brewer was signed by the Cubs in June 1956. He spent 5 seasons in the Cubs’ farm system as a starting pitcher (except for his first season), and made his big-league debut with 5 games in late-July 1960.

Jim was with the Cubs for all of 1961, starting 11 of his 36 games. His 1-7 record and 5.82 ERA earned him another year in triple-A (1962). That season he only pitched in 6 games for the Cubbies. Although Brewer was a triple-A starter in 1962, when he returned to the majors for good in 1963, he would be a reliever for the rest of his career (except for part of 1967).

He was the only lefthander in the Cubs bullpen in 1963, compiling a 3-2 record in 29 games. After the season he was traded to the Dodgers for Dick Scott, a 9-year minor-league pitcher whose major-league career totaled 9 games. What a steal!

Brewer worked in the Dodgers’ bullpen behind Perranoski and Miller for the next 4 seasons. In 1966 the Dodgers added Regan, who was also ahead of Jim in the pecking order.

After the 1967 season, the Dodgers traded Perranoski and Miller to the Twins, and in early ’68 Regan was sent to the Cubs, leaving Jim as the #1 reliever. Brewer appeared in over 50 games for each of the next 6 seasons, collecting 15, 20, 24, 22, 17, and 20 saves. In ’71 and ’72 his ERA was under 2.00, and he also made his only All-Star team in 1973.

The Dodgers acquired Mike Marshall before the 1974 season, which greatly cut into Brewer’s workload. (Marshall led NL pitchers with ONE HUNDRED SIX games (all in relief), and saves (21) that season, and won the Cy Young Award.) Brewer only pitched 39 innings over 24 games, with no saves.

In July 1975 Jim was traded to the Angels for relief pitcher Dave Sells. Brewer pitched 21 games for the Angels in ’75 and 13 games in ’76, his last coming on May 24th. He retired in 1976, closing out his 17-year career.

In 1987 Brewer died at age 50, after suffering injuries in a car crash.

Ron Fairly (#330)

Ron Fairly was a slugging outfielder / 1st baseman for the Dodgers during the 1960s.

A 21-year veteran, he played his first 11 seasons with the Dodgers before moving on to the expansion Montreal Expos in 1969. After 6 years there, he bounced around for his final 4 seasons. Primarily an outfielder early in his career, he was the Dodgers’ regular 1st baseman from 1962-64, and moved back to 1st baseman after leaving the Dodgers (except for 1973).

Fairly was signed by the Dodgers in 1958, and hitting 14 minor-league home runs that season earned him a late-season call-up to Los Angeles that year.

In 1959 he spent the entire season as the Dodgers’ 4th outfielder, but after hitting only 4 homers, he was back in the minors for most of 1960. He returned for all of 1961, again backing up the 3 outfield regulars.

After the 1961 season, both of the Dodgers’ 1st basemen were lost in the expansion draft (Gil Hodges to the Mets, Norm Larker to the Colt .45s), paving the way for Fairly to become the full-time 1st sacker for the next 3 seasons. He collected over 70 RBI each of those seasons, while hitting 10 to 14 homers.

In 1965, young Wes Parker took over the 1st base job, moving Fairly to right field for his remaining years in LA, although Ron would occasionally spell Parker at 1st base. With the Dodgers, Fairly played in the Fall Classic in ’59, ’63, ’65, and ’66.

After a complete loss of power (4,43) in 1968, Fairly was traded to the Expos in mid-1969 for shortstop Maury Wills and outfielder Manny Mota. Fairly regained his power stroke in Montreal, reaching the mid-teens in homers for his 6 seasons north of the border. He held down 1st base for a few seasons, before moving to the outfield beginning in 1973. Ron also made his 1st All-Star team in 1973.

Fairly played all of 1975 and part of ’76 with the Cardinals, and finished out the year with the Athletics. He was traded to the expansion Blue Jays during spring training in their inaugural 1977 season. After 1 season in Toronto, he played his final season (1978) with the Angels.

Following retirement, Fairly was a broadcaster for 27 years with the Dodgers, Angels, Giants, and Mariners.

NL Rookies: Bart Shirley / Grant Jackson

Here is one of the multi-team rookie cards that Topps put in their 7th Series in the mid-to late 1960s. Normally, these rookie stars cards have 2 to 3 players from 1 team, but in the last series, Topps had these "catch all" cards to pick up random rookies not already featured. (The Rod Carew rookie card in 1967 is another example.)

Bart Shirley was a utility infielder briefly for the Dodgers in the 1960s. This is his rookie card, but he also appears on a Mets Rookies card in 1967 and on his own card (as a Dodger) in the 1969 set.

Shirley was signed by the Dodgers in 1961 and played every season from 1961-70 in their farm system, mostly at SS/2B. Bart had brief call-ups to LA for a dozen or so games in 1964 and 1966.

After the '66 season he was selected by the Mets in the Rule 5 draft, but after 6 games with New York, he was returned to the Dodgers in mid-May. He was immediately assigned to the minors, and only saw major-league action again during the last 2 months of the 1968 season, playing in 39 games.

This is also Grant Jackson's rookie card, but unlike Bart Shirley, Jackson went on to a long career with the Phillies, Orioles, and Pirates. He appeared on a Phillies Rookies card in the 1967 set, then had his own card in every set from 1968 to 1982.

Jackson made his major-league debut with the Phillies in September 1965. After 2 games in 1966, he made the Phillies for good at the start of 1967. After long stints with the Orioles and Pirates, he played briefly with the Expos and Royals before retiring after the 1982 season.

You can read more about Jackson here.

Johnny Podres (#468)

“Hey! What gives? Your 'on-deck' sidebar said that Dean Chance was next in the rotation!” 

Yes that’s true, but I got wind that the "$30 a Week Habit" blog was going to link here tomorrow for his ’59 vs. ’66 card set faceoff, so I wanted to put my best foot forward, in a shameless attempt to curry favor with the voters. (Sorry, Commish!)

Dean Chance was a good pitcher, but the capless/airbrushed 1966 Angels cards are atrocious to look at, so I’m trotting out Pods to save the day. Even though I have already featured his 1967 and 1969 cards on my other blogs, I’ll justify this post by mentioning that this is his final card as a Dodger.

This is my favorite of my 3 Johnny Podres cards, maybe because his sad-dog look is more evident than on his ’67 and ’69 cards, or maybe just because he is pictured as a Dodger. (Podres retired after the 1967 season, and wasn’t in the 1968 set.)

Tommy Davis (#75)

Here is Tommy Davis’ final card as a member of the Dodgers. This is the same photo that Topps used on his 1965 card. (Topps used the same capless photo of Davis on his 1967 and 1969 cards.)

Davis was signed by the Dodgers in 1956, and played in their farm system from 1956-1959, making his major-league debut with 1 game in September 1959.

Davis made the Dodgers out of spring training 1960, and by late-July, he took over the starting center field job from long-time Dodger Duke Snider. Tommy started 52 games in center to Duke’s 44 starts.

By the 2nd week of September, Tommy moved over to left field to make room for another Davis in center field: rookie September call-up Willie Davis. [Until a few years ago, I thought those 2 were brothers.] Tommy finished 5th in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. (His teammate Frank Howard won.)

In 1961, Tommy began the season as the team’s 3rd baseman, playing 57 games there, mostly in the first 2 months. After that, he floated around the outfield, starting 31 games as Willie’s backup in center, as well as a few dozen games in the corners.

1962 and 1963 were Davis’ best seasons. He made the all-star team twice, and led the NL in batting twice (.346, .326). In 1962 he also led the league in hits (230) and RBI (153), and hit 27 homers. Davis started 100 to 120 games in left and about 30 games at 3rd base in both seasons.

In 1964 he was primarily the left fielder, starting 148 games there, and another 10 in center. He started the first 16 games in left field in 1965, then a broken leg caused him to miss the rest of the season, except for a pinch-hitting appearance in the season’s final game.

Davis was never the same after the leg injury. He played one last season with the Dodgers in 1966, but not as an everyday player.

After 8 seasons with the Dodgers, Davis spent his final 10 seasons playing for 10 different teams. He was traded to the Mets prior to the 1967 season for 2nd baseman Ron Hunt and outfielder Jim Hickman. A year later, it was on to the White Sox (with pitcher Jack Fisher) for center fielder Tommie Agee and infielder Al Weis.

The upstart Seattle Pilots selected him in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season. He played there until late August, when he was traded to the Astros. Davis played for THREE teams in 1970 (Astros / Athletics / Cubs), then made return trips to the A’s (all of 1971) and Cubs (part of 1972).

His longest stint with any one team (post-Dodgers) was with the Orioles from August 1972 to February 1976. His 3 full seasons as Baltimore’s DH (1973-75) was his most playing time since 1969.

After his release by the Orioles, Davis was signed by the Yankees prior to spring training 1976, but they released him 2 days before the season started. In early June, he was signed by the Angels, who passed him on to the Royals with 2 weeks remaining in the season. A January 1977 release ended his 18-year career.

Davis appeared in the ’63 and ’66 World Series with the Dodgers, the 1971 ALCS with the A’s, and the ’73 and ‘74 ALCS with the Orioles.

Al Ferrara (#487)

Here is Al Ferrara's 1966 card. I have already reviewed his career when I posted his 1967 card, so I won't go into much of that here.

I usually don't post multiple cards of the same player, but this card has such a great pose, one usually reserved for catchers watching a pop-up (sometimes referred to as "looking up to God").

Maybe Al is trying to determine if today's game will be rained out. Or maybe he's saying "Hey Skip, the Giants have sent a surveillance blimp over our practice field!" 

Ferrara played in the Dodgers farm system from 1959-65, and for the Dodgers for part of 1963, and again from 1965-68.  After missing all but 2 games in '68 with a broken leg, he was selected by the expansion Padres, and was a regular for them from 1969-70. He split the 1971 season between the Padres and the Reds, before retiring.

Al currently works in the Dodgers' community relations department.

Final Card: Don Le John

Presenting the one and only card for Don Le John (#41). Le John was one of the seemingly never-ending stream of rookie 3rd basemen showing up at Chavez Ravine in the 1960s. But unlike John Werhas, Derrell Griffith, Bill Sudakis, Billy Grabarkiewitz, Steve Garvey, and Bobby Valentine, Le John's major-league career lasted only 34 games (all in 1965).

I never heard of Don until I got this card a few years ago. The best part of this card (for me) is the bleachers and scoreboard at Connie Mack Stadium seen in the background.

Le John was signed in 1954 by the BROOKLYN Dodgers. He played 3rd base and 2nd base in the Dodgers' chain for the next 15 seasons, finally retiring in 1968 at age 34. From that standpoint, he's more like long-time Dodgers' organizational fodder Bart Shirley, John Werhas, and Derrell Griffith than the other big names listed above.

His only big-league action came in 34 games during the last 3 months of the 1965 season. After his playing career, he managed in the Dodgers' minor-league system for many years.

Le John passed away on 2/25/2005 at age 70.


Only one more "final card" to post - a Mets' outfielder.  Any guesses?

Final Card: Hector Valle

This is the final card for Dodgers' backup catcher Hector Valle (#314). Valle's only other card was a late-series Dodgers Rookies card in the 1965 set, which he shared with Jim Lefebvre and Mike Kekich.

Valle was signed by the Dodgers in 1960, and caught in their farm system for over 5 seasons before making it to the majors. Only during the 1962 and 1964 seasons did he play full-time.

Valle's major-league career consisted of 9 games for the Dodgers during the 1965 season. He played in 6 games in June (2 starts), and 3 later in the season, including starting the final game of the season. With John Roseboro and Jeff Torborg combining for 159 starts in 1965, there just wasn't much need for a 3rd-string catcher.

Hector played in the Dodgers' system through 1967, then after one season in the Mets' chain, he caught for the Tigers' AAA Toledo team for 2 1/2 seasons, and finished up the 1971 season with the AAA Omaha Royals.

Valle played in the Mexican League off and on from 1973 to 1981.

Howie Reed (#387)

This may be the only card I've seen where Topps eliminated all commentary and kept the player's minor-league stats. Howie's rookie card was in 1965. After 1966, we don't see him on another card until 1970.

Reed was signed by the Kansas City Athletics after the 1957 season, and spent 1958 through 1960 in their farm system. During those 3 seasons, he also played a few games with the Athletics, and spent part of 1960 with San Diego, the White Sox' triple-A team.



Just prior to the 1961 season, the Athletics traded Reed to the Dodgers for pitcher Ed Rakow. Howie spent all of 1961-1963 and part of 1964 with the Dodgers' triple-A team in Spokane. Although primarily a reliever up to this point, from 1964 on he was mostly a starter while in the minors. He finally got to play for the Dodgers for part of 1964, and all of 1965.

After 1 game with the Dodgers 1n 1966, Reed was traded to the Angels in late May for pitcher Dick Egan. He finished the 1966 season with the Angels, but was traded to the Astros in the off-season.

Reed's career with the Astros consisted of 4 games in 1967, while the rest of '67 and all of '68 found him toiling for the Astros' triple-A team.

In 1969, expansion revived Reed's career. The Expos purchased him on April 3rd, and he spent the next 3 seasons as one of the Expos' top 3 relievers, pitching over 100 innings in 1969 and over 50 innings in each of 1970 and 1971.

Curiously, after all this success (he managed to stay out of the minors for 3 full years!) he was back in triple-A for all of 1972, before retiring.

Final Card: Sandy Koufax

What better way to start off this blog than with the best player from 1966? (Take that, F. Robby!)



Koufax retired at age 30, following the Dodgers' appearance in the 1966 World Series. In his final season, he compiled a 27-9 record, with 27 complete games, while pitching 323 innings!

As a testament to Koufax's final season, I offer exhibits A, B, and C: