Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Vintage Dodger Snapshot: Manny Mota

Here is a young and sprightly Manny Mota, via eBay. This is a fan taken photo snapshot. Circa early 1970's.

T206 Brooklyn Dodgers: Jim Pastorius

Jim Pastorius started playing professional ball in 1902 in the New York State League for the Albany Senators. He was a left handed hurler who went by the nickname of Sunny Jim. Considering he would play for a Dodger team that couldn't hit worth a lick he certainly needed to be an optimistic man.

In 1906 he became a starting pitcher for Brooklyn and did pretty well as a number 5 guy. Pastorius went 10-14 with an ERA of 3.61. The next year he improved a great deal by going 16-12 with a 2.35 ERA. It looked like he may become a mainstay on the Superbas staff. Unfortunately, 1908 brought about a decline for Jim. He went 4-20 with an ERA of 2.44, but issued 74 walks while only striking out 54. He also had the dubious distinction of establishing a franchise record 14 straight loses that year. On a positive note, Pastorius helped start a triple play on September 3, 1908 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 1909 Jim's season started poorly as he went 1-9 with a 5.76 ERA. On top of that, his walk to strikeout ratio got worse. He walked 58 while only striking out 23. Soon he would be released from the team and never played professional Baseball again. Sunny Jim's was no more.

Vintage Dodger Snapshot: Willie Davis

Willie Davis is warming up in this fan taken photo snapshot. By the looks of the stadium, it was most likely taken during a Spring Training game. Found on eBay.
(eBay Auction Link)