THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS - COLLECTION CIRCA 1972 WITH MAURY WILLS, LARRY HISLE, DON SUTTON, BOBBY VALENTINE, RED ADAMS, JIM "JUNIOR" GILLIAM, WILLIE DAVIS, WILLIE CRAWFORD AND OTHERS - HFSID 291181

LOS ANGELES DODGERS (1972)
Three index cards bearing the signatures of 19 team members, including coaches and prospects. Signers include Hall of Famers Walter Alston, Frank Robinson and Don Sutton (and A, and such famous Dodgers as Willie Crawford, Steve Garvey and Jim Gilliam
Collection including: 1) Signatures: "Larry Hisle", "Willie Crawford", "Bob Valentine", "Frank Robinson", "Jeff Zahn", "Lee Lacy", "Willie Davis", 3x5 card. Pencil note (unknown hand) on bottom, front and verso. Otherwise, fine condition. 2) Signatures: "Steve Garvey", "Don Sutton", "Tim Johnson", "Chris Cannizzaro", "Steve Yeager", "Manny Mota", 3x5 card. Pencil note (unknown hand) on bottom, front and verso. Otherwise, fine condition. 3) Signatures: "Walt Alston", "Red Adams", "Jim Gilliam", "Jim Lefebvre", "Maury Wills", "Roy Hartsfield", "Phil Keller", 3x5 card. Pencil note (unknown hand) on bottom, front and verso. Otherwise, fine condition. The 1972 Los Angeles Dodgers went 85-72 under manager Walter Alston, good for second place in the NL West. Four of these signers (Lefebvre, Davis, Gilliam and Crawford) had been with the last pennant winning Dodger team in 1966, as had manager Alston. Five of them Garvey, Mota, Sutton, Zahn, and again Crawford) were still around in 1976 when the Dodgers went to the World Series again, still under Alston's leadership. These cards were probably signed in Spring Training, since Tim Johnson and Larry Hisle were traded before the season began, Geoff Zahn did not make the club until 1973, and Phil Keller never advanced beyond the AAA level in the Dodger farm system. All three would have been at Dodger spring training in Arizona. Outfielder LARRY HISLE (b. 1947) had spent four years with the Phillies before being traded to the Dodgers in late 1971. He spent the entire 1972 season with the Dodgers' AAA farm club in Albuquerque. Traded again, he became a star hitter and AL RBI leader for the Minnesota Twins until his retirement after the 1982 season. Outfielder WILLIE CRAWFORD (b. 1946) played for the Dodgers from 1964-1975. Joining the team at the age of 17, he was in his first World Series at age 19, his first of two in Dodger blue. Crawford had his best season of his career with the team in 1973, when he hit 14 homers and had 91 RBIs. He later played for the Cardinals, Astros, and A's. BOBBY VALENTINE (b. 1950) played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1969, 1971-1972), California Angels (1973-1975), San Diego Padres (1975-1977), New York Mets (1977-1978) and Seattle Mariners (1979). He managed the Texas Rangers from 1985 until he was fired by owner George W. Bush in 1992. He then managed the New York Mets from 1996-2002, finishing 2nd in 1998 and 1999, winning the National League pennant in 2000. Since 2003, Valentine has managed in Japan, winning the Japan World Series in 2005. FRANK ROBINSON was National League Rookie of the Year in 1956 and Most Valuable Player in 1961, In 1966, the Cincinnati Reds made one of the worst trades in baseball history, sending Robinson to Baltimore. He was American League Most Valuable Player and Triple Crown winner that same year, leading the Orioles to an upset sweep of the Dodgers in their first ever World Series. He was selected as the 1966 World Series MVP. The Orioles won three consecutive pennants (1969-1971) with Robinson in right field, notching another Series victory in 1970. Robinson played one season with the LA Dodgers (1972). His worst season to date, it would have been a career year for many other Major Leaguers (on base average of .353; slugging average of .442). The 11-time All-Star became Major League Baseball's first Black manager (with the Cleveland Indians, 1975), and has since managed the Orioles and Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals. Robinson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982, and won the President Medal of Freedom in 2005. GEOFF ZAHN (b. 1945), who has used the more conventional spelling of his first name here, was a Dodger pitcher from 1973 to 1975. He pitched for the Cubs, Twins and Angels through 1985, winning 10 or more games six seasons in a row, starting in 1977, and leading the AL in shutouts in 1978. Leondaus "LEE" LACY (b. 1948) spent the first half of his career as a utility man, bouncing all over the infield and outfield before being sent to the outfield for good in 1982. Lacy really came into his own in the 1980s, when he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles. He had four seasons with over 100 hits and 60 runs (including a three home run game on June 8, 1986 with the Orioles), and he placed in the National League top 10 for batting average and sacrifice hits once (both in 1984) and for stolen bases (1981 and 1982). He was on three pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers teams in the 1970s (1974, 1977 and 1978). WILLIE DAVIS (1940-2010), Minor League Player of the Year in 1960, was one of the fastest men in baseball. In 1965, he set a WS record with three stolen bases in a game, and in 1962, he and Maury Wills set a new NL record for stolen bases by two teammates with 136 (Wills had 104, Davis 32). The Dodgers' regular centerfielder for 13 years, Davis ranks high in virtually every all-time Dodger offensive category. His 31-game hitting streak in 1969 was the longest in 24 years, and he later had another streak of 25 games. A three-time Gold Glove winner, committed a WS-record three errors in the fifth inning of Game Two in 1966. STEVE GARVEY (b. 1948) played an NL-record 1,207 consecutive games. In ten All-Star Games he hit .393, and his slugging average of .955 is the highest of any player with more than 20 at-bats. The winner of four Gold Gloves, Garvey retired with a .996 fielding average. He played on 4 LA Dodger championship teams. Garvey's "Mr. Clean" image during his playing days has been sullied by a bankruptcy resulting from child support paid to several women. In 2011, he was fired from a public relations with the Dodgers for trying to organize a buy-out of the financially troubled franchise. DON SUTTON (1945-2021)pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1966-1980, 1988), Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland A's and California Angels, winning 15 or more games twelve times. The 4-time All-Star and Hall of Fame member (1998), who began his career with the Dodgers when he was 21 and ended it 22 years later, back in Los Angeles, at age 43, went 324-256 with 3,574 strikeouts. Since leaving the mound Sutton has been a radio/TV broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals. Infielder TIM JOHNSON (b. 1949) played in the Dodgers minor league system, but was traded to Milwaukee in April 1972. He played for the Brewers and Blue Jays through 1979. CHRIS CANNIZZARO (b. 1938) caught 90 games for the Dodgers in 1972-1973, near the end of his playing career. Cannizzaro was an original Met of 1962. (Manager Casey Stengel called him "Canzaroni.") He was an All-Star in 1969 with San Diego. Longtime Dodger catcher STEVE YEAGER (b. 1948) was an intelligent game-caller and a team leader on six Dodger division winners. In an extra-inning game on August 8, 1972, Yeager tied a NL record for catchers with 22 putouts and set another with 24 chances accepted. He never batted more than .256 as a regular, but he reached double figures in home runs six times. He was co-MVP of the 1981 World Sereis. A cousin of renowned test pilot Chuck Yeager, Steve led a flashy lifestyle in LA, married on the steps of city hall with the mayor as his best man, posed nude for Playgirl magazine, and appeared in all three Major League movies. Baseball's all-time pinch-hit leader, with 150, the Dominican MANNY MOTA had seven .300 seasons in eight years. Hindered by a lack of power and fielding ability, Mota's only season of more than 400 at-bats came with the 1970 Dodgers. Amid a 1974 youth movement, he emerged as a pinch hitter extraordinaire. He had ten or more pinch hits six straight seasons; 250 of his last 309 at-bats came off the bench. His .315 batting average is the best (1,800 or more at-bats) in Los Angeles Dodger history. WALTER ALSTON (1911-1984) played in only one Major League game, striking out in his one plate appearance, but he managed the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers for 23 years (1954-1976), winning seven pennants and four World Series (1955, 1959, 1963, 1965). He finished with a managerial winning percentage of .558 (2,040-1,613). Three times the National League Manager of the Year, Alston entered the Hall of Fame in 1983. RED ADAMS (1921-2017) pitched briefly for the Chicago Cubs in 1946, but had a distinguished career as a pitching coach. Retained by manager Tom Lasorda when he replaced Alston as Dodgers skipper, Adams tutored the pitchers from 1966-1980, praised by Tommy John and other Dodger hurlers. JIM "JUNIOR" GILLIAM (1928-1978), as Dodger second baseman in 1953, set a league rookie record with 100 walks, led the NL with 17 triples, scored a career-high 125 runs and was named Rookie of the Year. In 1956, 1957 and 1959, Gilliam finished second to Willie Mays in stolen bases. He scored at least 100 runs in each of his first four seasons, and hit .300 for the only time in 1956. Gilliam played second base for the Dodgers from 1953-1966. A veteran of Negro League baseball, Gilliam coached the Dodgers after his playing days. The team wore black arm bands during the 1978 World Series to mourn his early passing. The National League's Rookie of the Year in 1965, switch-hitting second baseman JIM LEFEBVRE (b. 1942) played his entire Major League career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, then finished out his playing career in Japan (1973-1976). A respected batting coach, Lefebvre also managed the Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. He made a few appearances as a TV actor in the late 1960s, including an episode of Batman. No one epitomized the style of LA Dodger baseball - squeezing out one run at a time - than shortstop MAURY WILLS (b. 1932). He led the league in stolen bases six consecutive years, including 104 stolen bases in 1962, which helped earn him Most Valuable Player honors. Only three players in the 20th century (Rickey Henderson, Lou Brock and Vince Coleman) have had higher 1-season stolen base totals than that.) A 5-time All-Star and 2-time Gold Glove Shortstop, Wills began and ended his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and played for them in four World Series, three of them victories. ROY HARTSFIELD (1925-2011) played for the Boston Braves for 3 seasons (1950-1952), leading all second basemen in errors in 1950 and coming in second in 1951. He was more successful as a minor league manager, and coached the Braves in 1973 (leaving to become manager of the Hawaii Islanders. In 1977, he became the first ever manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, probably not a pleasant experience, since the expansion Jays went 166-318 during his 3 years at the helm. PHIL KELLER (b. 1948) pitched in the Dodger farm system from 1970 to 1974, advancing to the AAA affiliate in Albuquerque, but never found a spot on the roster of the parent club. Three items.