Oh yes, and there’s a 1983 Topps blog now! Woot! Go read it after reading this.

Breaking my hiatus means I have to go with a great card, right? And it should be a Dodger since today is the 20th anniversary of beating the Yankees in the World Series, right?

Then Ken Landreaux will do just fine.

Not only does he sport one of the great mustache’s of the ’82 card sets, but — it’s a great action shot. We also get a Dusty Baker cameo in the background. As if that wasn’t enough, this is the guy who caught the final out of the 1981 World Series to finish the 9-2 beat down of the Bronx Bombers in Yankee Stadium to clinch the Dodger championship.

He came to the Dodgers in a trade on March 30th, just before the season began, in a trade with the Twins. He didn’t have a great year at the plate for ‘em, but he tied for first among outfielders with a 1.000 fielding percentage in ’81.

His best years followed immediately, as he increased his OBP by 44 points and stole a career high 31 bases in ’82. They weren’t “empty” stats either. His best game was arguably on August 25th against the Cardinals. That’s the day the Dodgers took over first place from the clutches of the Hotlanta Braves. He sported a fine .287 WPA that day.

Although, you could certainly argue his 2 HR day against the Braves a few weeks earlier was better. Die-hard Dodger fans would probably cast a vote for his 4 hit day against the Giants though, which would make sense too.

In fact, he accumulated 2.7 WAR that season, which was his career high ’til 1983. After that, his skills faded. He had a great NLCS in ’85 though, hitting .389/.421/.556. The hot bat didn’t return in ’86 though and he retired after ’87… just missing being part of the next Dodger championship.

Like many of the All-Star cards I’ve featured so far, here’s another major star who just didn’t have a good year but got into the All-Star game because the fans voted him in. Really, he wasn’t having one of his better seasons at the time the strike hit.

At the plate, he was just .169/.280/.258 and on pace for more than 100 strikeouts if the season went 162 games. The only thing that would save his ’81 season from being a full on train wreck, was the fact his fielding percentage was a career high .993!

He didn’t even do much in the game itself. His only plate appearance, he drew a two-out walk. The next batter flied out to end the inning. Too bad, so sad. The NL won the game anyway.

The second half of the season, he was finally seeing the ball better, hitting .256/.302/.322. He didn’t see much playing time though, as the Dodgers called up their future second baseman Steve Sax to break him in. Poor Dave must’ve known his days in Dodger blue were numbered.

Better days were in store for Davey Lopes though, as his Dodgers would finally beat the Yankees in October to win it all. A few months later, he’d be traded to the Oakland A’s. This is where Davey, a great base stealer in his day, would get to help another great young thief to get even better and steal more than anyone had ever stolen before.

By 1982, Ron Cey had cemented his legacy as a Dodger. He was a six-time All-Star, who’d just played in his 4th World Series.

Before all that though, back in 1968 when people were dodging the draft, Ron was drafted by the Dodgers and began his climb through the minor league ranks. He spent the rest of the summer with the Tri-City Atoms, slapping 76 hits in 74 games, and slugged .480.

The following summer he got better, batting .331/.419/.569 including 22 homers and 12 steals in 14 attempts, earning him a promotion to the Albuquerque Dodgers in the AA Texas League, where he also played well in 1970.

His major league debut happened on September 3, 1971, after slugging .588 in AAA all year. Although, he struck out in his only two plate appearances for Los Angeles.

The Dodgers felt he wasn’t quite ready for the show, so they sent him back to AAA for 1972. This is the year he started becoming the Ron Cey we all know and love, as he hit .329/.455/.546, drew 117 walks, in 142 games in Albuquerque. Of course, he was recalled in September to Los Angeles, but this time he went 2-for-3 in his first ever major league start.

He would never play another minor league game.

He received 4% of the Rookie of the Year votes in ’73, coming in 6th (tied with fellow Dodger infielder Davey Lopes). If the baseball fans back then knew anything about WAR, they probably would’ve felt Ron didn’t get enough love in the voting, as he posted the 2nd best WAR (3.6) among all the rookies who received votes.

The American League’s first taste of Ron Cey came in the 1974 All-Star game, the first of six consecutive All-Star appearances for the Dodger third baseman. In his first plate appearance, he smacked a run producing double off future Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry to give the NL a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. By the way, the player who scored off the hit, was fellow Dodger infielder Steve Garvey, who was also playing in his first All-Star game.

At the end of ’74, he murdered Pittsburgh in the NL Championship series with a .313/.421/.688 batting line, but then struggled against the A’s in the World Series.

Perhaps he reached his peak in 1975 through 1976, when he earned 6.4 WAR each season, but it was in 1977 when he really grabbed everyone’s attention by posting his first (and only) 30 HR season and driving in 110 runs.

As if that wasn’t enough, as the back of this card says, he “whalloped a grand slam” against the Phillies in the 7th inning of the opening game of the playoffs that season. Before he did that, the Dodgers were losing 5-1 and it looked rather hopeless. Some say that grand slam changed the tone of that series and helped catapult the team.

In both ’77 and ’78, his Dodgers made it past the Phillies to the World Series and faced the Yankees. Ron was great in the NL playoffs, but he struggled every time he made it to the world championship series.

The next season, the Dodgers failed to make the playoffs, ending up 11 1/2 games out in 3rd place, but Ron posted his highest OBP (.389) and SLG (.499) of his career. He led the whole team in those categories as well as OPS+ (142) and tied for the lead in HR’s at 28 with Garvey and Lopes.

In 1980, Cey came through on the final day of the regular season with a two-run homer into the left-centerfield pavilion in the bottom of the 8th inning off a 3-2 pitch to force a one-game playoff against Houston. The Dodgers had just faced elimination 3 straight days, and won each time against the division leading Astros.

Unfortunately, Cey as well as a couple other Dodgers couldn’t play in that extra game (injury), and L.A. had a mere 7 game winner on the mound for it. The Dodgers lost the game, but if they’d won, they’d have gone on to play the Phillies again and Ron owned that team in the post-season. It’s possible that the whole 1980 Phillies championship owes a little debt to Ron Cey’s injury.

1981 would be different though. Ron tied his career high 143 OPS+, while leading the team again in OPS+, HR’s (13), OBP (.372), and SLG (.474), leading the team back into the post-season. A tougher post-season than ever before, as they had to climb through 2 teams if they wanted to make it back the World Series.

Ron didn’t get to play in the first round against Houston, and fortunately the team won that series 3 games to 2. That’s when things got a little off pattern. Remember how Ron was typically a great hitter in the NL Championship Series but then struggled in the World Series? Well that switched.

Against the Expos in the 1981 NLCS, his power was gone, slugging just .333. He could still get on base, posting a good .381 OBP during that series, but he had a tough time gettin’ hits and hittin’ for power.

The Dodgers still managed to win, getting them another shot at the Yankees – 3rd time in the past 5 seasons.

This time, Ron drove in 6 RBI’s and posted a batting line of .350/.458/.500, including a three-run homer with two outs in game 3, and then later scored the go-ahead run, helping Los Angeles to a 5-4 victory.

Ron was easily the turning point in that 1981 World Series. If the Yankees had won game 3, the Dodgers would’ve been down 3 games to 0, but instead, they were now down just 2 games to 1, and they didn’t lose another game.

After that, Ron was ok, but was on the downside of his career. After one more season in Los Angeles, he was traded to the Cubs, whom he helped lead to the playoffs in 1984 against former teammate Steve Garvey’s Padres. The Cubs nearly had themselves in the World Series for the first time in almost 40 years, but they fell apart one game short.

Eventually Ron was traded to Oakland, finishing his career as a DH against the Brewers on July 12, 1987. His final base hit had come four days earlier against the Tigers, driving in 1987 Rookie of the Year Mark McGwire.

PS. Trying to figure out what game this card shows, but I’m not 100% on it yet. The player on deck is obviously not Pedro Guerrero and the dugout gives me the impression this photo was at Shea stadium, which would mean that this, like the Johnny Bench in action card, is a 1980 photo. I think that’s Rick Monday waiting on deck…

Jerry went on to win 18 games, including a shutout against the Giants on October 1 to keep the Dodgers 1 game back of the Braves with 2 games left in the season. He won half his games against teams above .500 and posted a decent 3.45 ERA against them too.

One quirk to his season that you don’t see too often, is that he was credited for a win on back to back days. That happened in Wrigley Field on Aug 17 and 18th. He pitched the final 4 innings for the win on the 17th, then earned a win the next afternoon by pitching the first 5 innings.

He was very important to the team from that August 17th game onward, going 8-2 on the strength of a 2.45 ERA. The rest of the staff was just 13-19 in that same span.

Nowadays, Jerry Reuss is a broadcaster for the Dodgers and last week he actually left a comment at Night Owl’s baseball card blog! That surprised night Owl, and surprised all of us who read his thoughts on baseball cards.

So, I got in touch with Jerry and ask him a few questions. I’ve tried this before with a couple other players who have a website and way to contact them, but they never responded. Jerry Reuss was different though, and here’s how it went—

Devon: I always wonder if former players do much baseball reading online after their career has finished. It became very obvious to some of us recently that you read some baseball card blogs, but do you spend a lot of your time reading baseball stuff online?

Jerry: I found the baseball card blogs through a daily Google alert. I usually check out every alert. All of the blogs provide some perspective of what baseball fans are thinking. Sometimes, the thoughts are profound. Other times, I think some people need to get a life! I have a number of baseball sites that I read daily. Remember, my occupation is broadcasting. And I enjoy researching and preparing for games.

Devon: You were born and raised in St Louis, and then you started your major league career playing for the St Louis with the likes of Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Steve Carlton, Vada Pinson, and Joe Torre. How would you describe the excitement of that time in your life?

Jerry: I was 19 when I was in spring training in 1969. I knew the names of the players and coaches because I followed their careers through the radio broadcasts and baseball cards. The first time I walked into the clubhouse, it was like my card collection coming alive.

Devon: In the ’81 playoffs, you beat Nolan Ryan with a complete game shutout in a series deciding game for your 1st career post-season victory. Later you held the Yankees to 1 run in a complete game victory in game 5 of the World Series, putting the Dodgers 1 win away from winning it all. What was it like to beat the famous Yankees in the World Series? That must’ve made you feel like you were playing out your childhood dreams?

Jerry: When I became interested in baseball, it seemed the Yankees were in the World Series every year. The National League had different winners. The Brooklyn Dodgers were the first team other than the Cardinals to catch my attention. Little did I know that 25 years later, I would meet the “Boys Of Summer” and become friends with them for many years. That’s why I enjoy the Fantasy Camps so much.

Devon: Friday, June 11, 1982, you threw a brilliant game against the Reds in Los Angeles, where you K’d 7 & only allowed ONE baserunner (a leadoff double). It was the 2nd time in your career you’d come so close to a perfect game. Do you recall anything from that game?

Jerry: Eddie Milner doubled to lead off the game @ Dodger Stadium on a hanging curve. A ground out, a sacrifice fly and another out produced the run. After that, the outs came pretty easily. It wasn’t until I did the post-game show that I realized what happened.

Devon: Did you watch the ’82 World Series or were you too disappointed that the Dodgers didn’t make the playoffs to defend their crown? Did you root for the Cardinals in that series?

Jerry: I don’t remember so I guess I didn’t pay too much attention to it.

Devon: What’s the funniest thing that happened to you during your career?

Jerry: Too many. Eventually, I’ll write a book and tell it like I remember it.

Devon: Are there any highlights of your career that you wish people would ask about, but they don’t?

Jerry: Actually, I don’t spend a whole lot of time reminiscing. When I worked on the photos that I posted on Flickr and on my website (jerryreuss.com thanks for the plug!), it brought back some memories but mostly it was looking at the past from the eyes of photo restoration.

He made the team coming out of spring training, but only about a month later, the Dodgers released him outright for no apparent reason. I mean, his stats at the start of the year don’t look like a guy who you’d just throw away without trying to get anything for him.

Then he was looking for a team for another month, before the Angels decided to take a chance on him.

The first month he pitched for the Angels, he posted a fine 2.37 ERA in 19 innings of relief.

By that time, it was July, and he spent that month posting a 6.09 ERA in 34 IP.

In August he was better, but not quite enough. He managed to keep his ERA down to 4.15.

He had 24 days off at that point (no, he wasn’t sent to AAA).

Pitching the last couple weeks of September, he posted a 2.25 ERA.

But of course, it doesn’t end there. The Angels, in all their insanity, decided to put Dave on the post-season roster. They probably did this because he had post-season experience the previous season as a member of the World Champion Dodgers. Now, anybody paying attention will note that he just had a good streak and now it’s another month. What do you think happened?

Yep. You guessed it. He comes in to relieve Tommy John in game 4 of the ALCS and gives up 3 runs in 3 2/3 IP. John got the loss for that game but Goltz didn’t keep it close. If he had, then the Angels would’ve gone into the 9th inning down just 1 run. It might not have made any difference, but it’s also possible the Angels could’ve played some inspired ball and snuck out a win that would’ve put them in the World Series.

Thus is the streaky story of Dave Goltz in 1982. The next year would be his final season. Sad ending for this former 20-game winner.

When I was little, I imagined this photo was from the day he threw his 8th shutout, setting the rookie record for shutouts in a season, but if you notice the ivy on the outfield wall then you know this photo could only have been taken in one place—Wrigley Field. Valenzuela only started 1 game in Chicago that year, and Fernandomania was put on hold that day, June 6, 1981, less than 2 weeks before the strike put the season on hold. He gave up 7 earned runs and was pulled after 3 1/3 innings.

The Cubs were hitting him hard and had a 4-1 lead by the time Fernando took the mound in the bottom of the 4th, hoping to get a grip on the game and win this thing anyway. Then there was a leadoff triple by Jerry Morales to leftfield. After that, it just got worse— walk, RBI single, flyball (1 out), RBI single, 2 run HR by a pinch hitter, and a walk. At that point, Fernando was done for the day. It was the 2nd start in 10 days that he allowed 7 runs to score and not make it out of the 4th inning.

In fact, he was fading fast just before the mid-season strike that year. After his 8-0 start, he finished the first half of the season going 1-4 with a 6.16 ERA in 6 starts. Makes me wonder how his rookie campaign would’ve been without 2 months off in the middle of it.

Either way, Fernando came back for the 2nd half and added 3 more shutouts to the 5 he threw in the first month of the season, to set the rookie record for shutouts. That year, he was great more often than not. A very valuable part of a Dodgers championship season.

The back of the card says the modern record had previously been made in 1913, but that sounds insane to point out. I mean, who would say that, knowing that it was the deadball era? Shutouts were much easier in 1913, so it really doesn’t compare very well.