Blasts From The Past

I have always said how much I love history. US history has always been a favorite subject. Right up there with that is the history of the Dodgers. I thought I would look back at some players we all might have forgotten. They were Dodgers at some point in time, they might have only stayed a season, or maybe a couple. But they are right there on the all-time roster.

DUKE SIMS

In December of 1971, the Dodgers traded Alan Foster and Ray Lamb to the Cleveland Indians for catcher, Duke Sims. Duke was a left-handed hitter who had some power. The season before the trade he hit 23 homers in 110 games for Cleveland. He was 30 at the time, and basically took over the starting job from Tom Haller. He would catch 90 games for the Dodger, with the other games split between, Haller, Bill Sudakis, and a rookie, Joe Ferguson. He hit .274 with 6 homers and 25 driven in. The next season, he started off terribly and was waived. The Tigers claimed him on waivers. For his career Sims slashed .239/100/310.

CHRIS CANNIZZARO

In December of 1971, the Dodgers, still seeking some help at catcher, grabbed Chris Cannizzaro off of waivers from the Cubs. Chris was a defense first catcher with little power. He basically was a back up catcher his entire career. He got into 73 games in 72, and hit .240. In 1973 he played in 17 games, and then was released.

GEORGE CULVER

On March 26th, 1973, the Dodgers purchased RHP George Culver from the Houston Astros. Culver would pitch in 28 games for the Dodgers, posting a 4-4 record before being waived in August and selected by the Phillies. He also had two saves.

RICK AUERBACH

Rick Auerbach is on this list for one reason, he was the last Dodger to wear # 1 before it was retired for Pee Wee Reese. Rick was a good defense no-hit SS. The Dodgers had picked him up in a trade with the Brewers, who were in the AL at the time, for utility infielder, Tim Johnson. He surprised everyone by hitting .342 in 45 games for the 1974 team. He had one at bat in the NLCS and got a hit. He would play parts of two more seasons in LA and then go to the Reds.

CHARLIE MANUEL

In October of 1973, the Dodgers traded Jim Fairey and a minor leaguer to the Twins for a minor leaguer and outfielder, Charlie Manuel. Manuel only played 19 games as a Dodger. After he left LA, he went to Japan and had four very productive years and played there for six years overall. He was voted the MVP in 1979 while playing for the Kintetsu Buffalos. All that after being out for six weeks when his jaw was shattered by a pitch. Charlie then went on to be a coach and manager in the Twins and Indians systems before becoming the Indians manager in 2000. He was fired after the 2002 season. He replaced Larry Bowa as the Phillies manager in 2005 and would manage the Phillies until 2013. They won 5 consecutive NL East titles, one world series, and two pennants.

ED GOODSON

When the Dodgers sent Jimmy Wynn to the Braves after the 1974 season, they got Dusty Baker, and 3rd baseman, Ed Goodson. Originally signed by the Giants, Goodson had a couple of decent years in the city by the bay. But his one year in Atlanta was not so good. He appeared in 83 games for the 75 team, hitting 3 homers. He played 1st, 3rd and pinch hit. After a really down 1976 season, he was released and then retired.

BOBBY CASTILLO

Of course, we all know who Bobby Castillo is. He was the pitcher who taught Fernando his devastating screwball. But before 1981 happened, Bobby, much like several of AF’s minor purchases, was a little-known relief pitcher in the Royals farm system. He pitched in six games for the 77 team, but it wasn’t until 1980 that he got some real work in the pen. He pitched in 61 games that year, going 8-6 with a 2.75 ERA. He also saved 5 games. He pitched in 34 games in the strike shortened 81 season, he won 2 lost 4 and had 5 saves. But his ERA ballooned to over 5. He was traded to the Twins after the 81 season with another player for two minor leaguers. He converted to being a starter in Minnesota. He returned to LA in 1985 and pitched in 35 games.

WAYNE KIRBY

In June of 1996, the Dodgers claimed outfielder Wayne Kirby off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. Kirby, a left-handed hitter, would be used mostly as a pinch hitter. He did play in 53 games in the outfield. In 65 games, he hit .271 and had one homer and eleven driven in. He played in only 46 games in 97 and was released after the season.

LEN MATUSZEK

July 1985, the Toronto Blue Jays traded outfielder-1B, Len Matuszek to the Dodgers for Al Oliver. Len played 43 games that year for LA and hit .222 with 3 homers. The following year he played in 91 games, hit .261 with 9 homers and 28 driven in. That was his last productive season in the majors. He hit .067 in 15 at bats and was released.

AL OLIVER

Al Oliver was a career .303 hitter. A fixture in the Pirate outfield for 10 years, Oliver was a member of the Pirates 1971 World Championship team. He was the Pirates starting CF alongside Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. By the time he joined the Dodgers, Al was 38 years old. Even at that age, he had hit .301 the year before, 1984, But his once formidable power stroke was no longer there. He was part of a four-team trade in 1977 involving the Mets, Pirates, Rangers and the Braves. Other players changing teams in that deal, Jon Matlack-Rangers, Oliver-Rangers, Willie Montanez-Mets, Tom Greive-Mets, Blyleven-Pirates, John Milner-Pirates, and Ken Henderson to the Mets. The Dodgers got Oliver from the Phillies in February of 1985 for Pat Zackry. He played in 35 games for LA and then was traded to the Blue Jays. He hit .253 with LA.

GARY THOMASSON

The Dodgers and Giants have rarely made trades. But that has not stopped the team from going out and getting former Giants from other teams. Gary Thomasson was a Giant outfielder for 6 seasons. A good defender, he was ok as a hitter, little power, he was a .254 hitter with the Giants. He went to the A’s as part of the package for Vida Blue. But three months later, he was traded to the Yankees for two minor leaguers and 50 thousand dollars. Over the winter, the Dodgers traded C Brad Gulden to the Yankees for Thomasson. In 115 games as a Dodger, he hit .248 with 14 homers and 45 batted in. It was only the second time in his career he had double figures in home runs. The next season he slipped to .212. He had one homer and 11 driven in. After the 1980 season, at age 29, he was sold to the Yomiuri Giants. He never played in the majors again.

BILL MUELLER

Bill Mueller started his career in San Francisco. He was a solid defender at third and showed occasional power. In his six seasons as a Giant, he was a .288 hitter. He was traded to the Cubs in the winter of 2000 for Tim Worrell. He spent almost two seasons with the Cubbies and then in September of 2002, he went back to the Giants in a trade. After the 2002 season, Mueller signed a three-year deal with the Red Sox. And there, he became an integral part of the Sox success from 03-05. He hit .429 in the 2004 Series win over the Cardinals. He also hit almost half of his 85 career homers in those three seasons with the Sox. After the 2005 season, he signed a deal with the Dodgers. I seem to remember that it was a three-year contract. He was joining former teammate, Nomar Garciaparra on the Dodgers. But Mueller suffered knee injury which required surgery. He had played in only 32 games with LA. It was the third surgery on that knee. The surgery proved to be career ending as there was no known procedure at the time to repair his deteriorating knee. He joined the Dodgers front office under Ned Colletti. He was briefly the teams batting coach when Eddie Murray was fired in 2007. He returned to the front office and stayed there until 2012. He then became a full-time scout. In 2013 he was named the Cubs hitting coach, but he resigned a year later after his assistant, Mike Brumley, was fired.

Bill was with the Cardinals from 2014-18 in various coaching jobs. When Mike Matheny was fired as manager, Mueller was too, Since January of 2022, Mueller has been a member of the Nationals player development staff.

There have been several players who had good careers with other teams who saw some time in LA. Tommy Agee was acquired in a trade with the Cardinals, but Agee didn’t make it past spring training in 1974. They had traded Pete Richert to get him.

The Dodgers got John Shelby in a trade with the Orioles in 1987. He and Brad Havens came over for Tom Neidenfuer. Shelby was a huge part of the 88 team. But his best year in LA was his first, 1987. He had 21 long balls that year.

Mike Davis, a free agent signing after the 87 season, had been one of the A’s starting outfield for 5 years. He had power, but none of that showed his first season as a Dodger. He struggled to a .196/2/17 line in 108 games. But he made his biggest contribution to the team in game one of the 88 World Series when he walked in the 9th inning of game 1. He would steal second and then score ahead of Kirk Gibson when he hit his historic homer. Davis lasted one more season in LA and was released, ending his career.

Finally, there is Eric Davis and Cesar Cedeno. Davis was one of the best outfielders in the game. From 1986-90, he was one of the better power hitters in the league. He also possessed great speed, stealing 80 bases in 1986. But he also was somewhat injury prone and those injury’s began to take their toll. After his worst season as a Red in 1991, he was traded by the Reds to the Dodgers for the 1992 season. They also received Kip Gross, John Wetteland and Tim Belcher went to the Reds. Davis had another horrible season, even though he was playing alongside his friend, Daryll Strawberry.

He rebounded some, and then was traded to the Tigers for P John DeSilva. He played a couple of years for the Tigers and then re-signed with the Reds. He regained some of the old magic in 96 with a .287/26/83 line. He then signed with Baltimore and had another good season in 98 hitting .327/28/89. After that he spent 2 years in St. Louis and 1 with the Giants before retiring in 2001.

Cesar Cedeno was a Houston Astros star. The CF on some pretty good Astros teams, he was a great defender and a solid hitter. He also was a base stealer. Over his career he had 550 bags. 12 years with the Stros, 3 1/2 with the Reds. At age 34 he was traded to the Cardinals for a minor league pitcher. He finished the year with a combined .291/9/49 line. A free agent, he signed with the Blue Jays in March of 1986. He was released on the 3rd of March and signed with the Dodgers a week later. He was a shadow of the player he once had been, and the Dodgers cut him loose after 37 games. He never played in the majors again.

Well, those are just a few of the many. I hope you enjoyed this little journey down memory lane.