I Love the 80s - 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers

This is a series of posts on a 1980's Frankenset. Each page features a different team, with 9 of my personal favorite cards from that year's team. You might find players repeated, you'll definitely see brands repeated, but hopefully you'll agree that there are some interesting selections from the 1980s!

In 1980, the Dodgers finished just 1 game (Game 163!) behind NL West Division winners, the Houston Astros. The team finished with a 92-71 record. The team also retired the number of Brooklyn-era great Duke Snider, and Don Sutton set a club record with his 52nd career shutout. The team's ultimate goal of making the playoffs and winning the World Series would have to wait.

Everything came together for the Dodgers in 1981, including the emergence of Fernando Valenzuela. He essentially replaced the team's ace from 1980, Sutton, who had left via free agency to Houston. But the strong start by the rookie and the energy behind Fernando-mania was more than enough to weather the challenges of the 1981 Strike, and the Dodgers found themselves champions of the NL West, and ultimately World Series champs over the Yankees.

The Cards:
Donruss #176 Steve Garvey - The only thing that could keep Garvey from the lineup was a player's strike. If there was a game being played, Garvey would be in it. He played in a National League record 1,207 consecutive games. Garvey would lead the NL in base hits in 1980 with an even 200, the 6th time he recorded 200 or more hits in a season. 1981 would be his 8th straight All-Star appearance. Garvey would also excel in post season play. In the 1981 World Series he hit .417 and scored 3 runs in the 6 game series. Over his career he hit .338 in the post season and was the 1984 NLCS MVP.

Fleer #122 Rick Monday - Monday is famous for a play he made during a game in 1976. A Man and his son ran onto the field with an American Flag, with the intention burning it. Monday ran towards them and snatched the flag up before it could be set ablaze, then carried it to the Dodger's dugout to safety. It turned out that the flag burning was not a protest against the Bicentennial or U.S. involvement in wars overseas, but because the man's wife had been institutionalized and he thought this act would bring attention to his family's plight. No matter the reason, Monday acted based on his principles. As a former U.S. Marine Corps Reservist, Monday believes that the flag is sacred. He is also known as the crusher of dreams to Montreal Expos fans, as his ninth inning 2 run homer in the 9th inning of the clinching game of the 1981 NLCS propelled the Dodgers to the World Series. 

Topps (Traded) #850 Fernando Valenzuela - In 1980, Valenzuela gave fans a taste of what was to come. He pitched in 10 games at the tail-end of the season, allowing 0 earned runs over 17.2 innings pitched. But even that impressive debut could not have adequately foreshadowed Fernando's rookie year. The 1981 Cy Young winner and Rookie of the Year led the National League in strikeouts, Shutouts (with 8!), innings pitched, and complete games. The first shutout of the season for Fernando came on Opening Day and he didn't look back (except during his windup, when he would look back, and up, to the heavens). He would finish 5th in the NL MVP voting as well. He threw a complete game in the '81 World Series, and over his career was a tremendous post season pitcher. He had a 1.98 ERA over 8 starts and struck out 44 batters. To put those 8 shutouts in perspective, only one pitcher has had more than 8 shutouts in a season since 1981 (John Tudor with 10 in 1985), and Valenzuela did in a strike shortened season!

Fleer #126 Ron Cey - For a guy that had made 6 consecutive All-Star Games and was considered to be one of the game's best 3rd Basemen, the 1980 and 81  regular seasons could be called disappointing from a personal standpoint. In 1980, Cey saw his batting average drop 30 points from the year before, missed the All-Star game for the first time since his rookie season, and failed to drive in 80 runs for the first time. More importantly, the team was on the outside looking in at Houston, who defeated the Dodgers in game 163, with Cey not playing at all due to injury. He would be playing in pain in 1981 as well, missing several games at the end of the year after breaking his forearm as a result of a hit by pitch. Cey would save his best for the World Series in '81, earning MVP honors with a .350 average and 6 RBI in the 6 game series.

Donruss #420 Tommy Lasorda - Lasorda took over the managerial duties for the Dodgers in 1976, and won two NL championships in his first two full seasons. In 1980 he kept his club close to the division winning Astros despite injuries to half of his infield and subpar performances from his starting pitching. Lasorda is known for his bombastic nature, in stark contrast with his predecessor Walter Alston. The fiery skipper was a World Series champ as a player with the 1955 Dodgers, though he did not pitch in the Fall Classic. He was a 2 time Manager of the Year winner, and was selected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1997. Lasorda is a baseball lifer and bleeds Dodger blue. When asked if he ever gets burned out, he reportedly said "How can you get burned out doing something you love? I ask you, have you ever got tired of kissing a pretty girl?"

Kellogg's 3-D Super Stars #29 Davey Lopes - Just like Cey, injuries derailed the end of the 1980 pennant race for Davey Lopes. He was able to suit up for the Dodgers in game 163, however Lopes was 0-4 in the leadoff spot and made an error in the field that led to the Astros' first run of the game. While Cey provided homers and Garvey provided base hits, Lopes' greatest asset to the team was his speed on the bases. Over his career he had 557 steals, and twice led the National League. While he was an All-Star both seasons, Lopes hit just .239 (a career low) over those two seasons combined, and just .206 in 1981. But there was no slump to his speed, stealing 10 bases in the 1981 Post season, 4 of them in the World Series. He scored 6 runs in the series.

Topps #231 Joe Beckwith - The injury news continued with Joe Beckwith, who had a career year in 1980 as a middle reliever for the Dodgers. He would miss all of 1981 following an injury to his eye in Spring Training. He would miss all of the Dodger World Series appearances, as he debuted in 1979 and was out of commission for the 1981 run. In 1980, he led the Dodger bullpen with a 1.96 ERA, allowing just 1 home run in nearly 60 innings of relief. He would get his chance at post season glory, however, in 1985 as a member of the World Champion Kansas City Royals. He gave the Royals 2 innings of scoreless relief with a trio of strikeouts in Game 4, though the team would need to crawl back from a 3-1 deficit to win in 7 games.

Donruss #180 Rudy Law - Law had a very good rookie season in 1980, but a crowded outfield in 1981 left the 25 year old Law on the outside looking in. He did make the best of things, however, hitting .335 with 9 triples and 56 stolen bases in AAA. It is somewhat surprising that Law did not receive any rookie of the year consideration for his 1980 season, when he accumulated 1.9 WAR. The NL ROY that year? His teammate, closer Steve Howe. In 1981, the Dodgers were content with Dusty Baker, Rick Monday, and Ken Landreaux- as well as a young fella named Pedro Guerrero in the outfield. He was traded to the White Sox prior to the start of the 1982 season, where Law would be the everyday CF in Chicago for the next few seasons. Law stole 77 bases for the ChiSox in 1983, and helped the Tony LaRussa-led team "win ugly." Despite his blazing speed, Law did not hit for average in the majors, and was not rated as a particularly strong defensive player, mostly due to his arm. Even so, he stole 228 career bases in the big leagues.

Topps #265 Bill Russell - You've already seen the rest of the Dodger infield that formed the nucleus of the Dodgers of the 70s and early 80s. Russell was the George Harrison of the group - he wasn't the superstar like Garvey, the Speedster like Lopes, the power hitting "Penguin" Ron Cey - Russell was the quiet genius. While it is understandable to look at his offensive numbers in comparison to the rest of his Dodger teammates, a better measuring stick would be his contemporaries at the shortstop position. Russell was an excellent contact hitter who rarely struck out, and he provided top-notch defense at shortstop. While it is customary for players to move away from short to less demanding positions on the diamond, Russell actually went in the other direction. Starting his career in the outfield, Russell then shifted to 2nd base, and finally moved to short to solidify the 1B Garvey 2B Lopes SS Russell  3B Cey infield. Russell was a 3 time All-Star. He would finish his career with 1,926 hits second most among the famous quartet.  


If Bill Russell is the George Harrison of the Dodger infield, who is Ringo?