Senators Saturday - Dutch Dotterer, 1961.

Ok, so today's Senators card is something of a mystery. Card number 332 in the 1961 Topps set is Dutch Dotterer's card. However, the site that I got my checklist for this team set from has a note beside this card that the photo is not Dutch but Tommy Dotterer. I can't find any record of Tommy though. Having said that, I am not sure the player pictured here matches the picture of Dutch that is on Baseball-Reference. Anyone care to shed any light on this?

Regardless of who is on the card, it was Henry John "Dutch" Dotterer who was drafted from the Kansas City A's in December of 1960 by Washington. Dotterer would spend most of the 1961 season in the minors. He would get a short seven game stint with the Senators though.

In those seven games Dutch would come to the plate 22 times. He would post a .364 on-base percentage and a .263 batting average. His only extra-base hits would be two doubles and he would have just one RBI.

In 55 innings behind the plate Dotterer would commit no errors. He would also catch two of the five base thieves that ran on him. He allowed no passed balls.

Those seven games would be Dutch's last in the Big Leagues. He would spend 1962 back in the minors and then would hang it up. A shame indeed if his last card didn't have his picture on it.

Newest arrival.

Going to take a minute here and brag on a recent addition to my collection. This 2004 Flair Cuts and Glory card of Hank Blalock arrived today. I know Hank's no longer with the Rangers and that you can pick up his game-used and autographed cards pretty easily. What makes this one cool (at least in my opinion) is that it is numbered 2/3.

Gotta say that being a Rangers card and limited to less than ten cards makes it pretty special in my collection. Not being a very high-powered collector, these kind of things impress me. I am very glad that I was able to land it for a very decent price. If the price hadn't been really good I wouldn't be showing it off right now. That's just how the economic cookie crumbles.

Thanks for allowing me a little bragging time.

Wantlist - 2009 Allen and Ginter.

Ok, so I have the complete 2008 Allen and Ginter Rangers team set. At least in the regular-size cards. Can still use the minis. Anyway, going to skip directly from 2007 to 2009. Still need a lot from this set. In fact, Hank Blalock on card number 240 from the set is one of only two cards I have. Here are the rest I need to complete the set:

2009 Allen & Ginter
67 Ian Kinsler
89 Elvis Andrus RC
172 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
188 Chris Davis
208 Michael Young
211 Kevin Millwood
227 Nelson Cruz
231 David Murphy
274 Josh Hamilton

Of course, I would like to pick up the minis from this set as well. Here's the next installment of the tradelist:

Nolan Ryan
1988 Score #575
1989 Fleer #368
1990 Topps #4
1991 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #11
1992 Donruss Coke #2 (x2)
1992 Donruss Coke #5
1992 Donruss Coke #6
1992 Donruss Coke #7
1992 Donruss Coke #8
1992 Donruss Coke #9
1992 Donruss Coke #10
1992 Donruss Coke #18

Ryne Sandberg
1988 Donruss #242
1988 Topps All-Star Game #14
1988 Topps All-Star Set #14
1990 Topps #398 (x3)
1990 Upper Deck #324
1991 Upper Deck #132
1991 Score #3 (x2)
1991 Studio #158
1992 Bowman #300 (x2)
1992 Upper Deck #145
1993 Upper Deck #175
2010 Topps Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT-32

Couple of old-school players here. In fact, I'm not even sure anyone collects Nolan Ryan or Ryne Sandberg anymore. If you happen to and can use any of these cards please give me a shout.

1974 Topps - Terry Crowley.

Terry Crowley, shown here on card number 648T of the 1974 Topps Traded set, was not traded to the Rangers. On December 6, 1973 the Rangers purchased the "seldom used outfielder" from the Orioles.

On March 19, 1974 they sold him to the Cincinnati Reds. Terry was in and out of Texas without ever appearing in an official Major League game. This in spite of the back of his 1974 Topps Traded card proclaiming that "the indications are that Crowley will be given every opportunity to win a starting outfield berth with the Rangers."

Minor League Monday - Mike Stanley, 1987 ProCards.

Mike Stanley, shown here on card number 140 of the 1987 ProCards set, split the 1987 season between the Majors and Triple A. He would play in 78 games with Texas and 46 with Oklahoma City.

While with the Eighty-Niners Mike would get 216 plate appearances and post a .431 on-base percentage with 29 walks. His .335 batting average included 13 home runs and 54 RBI. He also scored 43 runs himself.

In the field Stanley played mostly behind the plate although he did play a small amount at first base. He had a .993 fielding percentage when receiving and only two errors in 41 games.

Mike's numbers at Triple A were pretty good. Good enough to earn him a call-up to Arlington and half a season there. 1987 would be his last appearance in the minors. After only three season as a pro he was on his way in The Show.

Senators Saturday - Danny O'Connell, 1961.

The Senators rescued eight-season veteran Danny O'Connell. After spending the entire 1960 season in the minors he was released by the Giants. Washington signed him on January 7, 1961. He would spend the 1961 season back in the Majors trying to resurrect his career.

Danny, shown here on card number 318 of the 1961 Topps set, played in 138 games for the Senators in 1961. 74 of those games were at third base and 61 were at second base. He would post a .939 fielding percentage at third base - eleven points below the league average. At second he was much better with a .978 fielding percentage - exactly the same as the league average.

On offense O'Connell would come to the plate 591 times. He would walk 77 times to easily lead the team in that category. His on-base percentage was .361, over a hundred points higher than his .260 batting average. Danny would steal 15 bases (second on the team) and would lead the league in sacrifice hits with 15. His real specialty though was doubles. His 30 two-sackers led the team and placed him 7th in the American League.

All things considered, Danny O'Connell had a successful comeback season in 1961. What remained to be seen was if he could translate that success into a long-term resurgence or if he had simply caught lightening in a bottle.

Random Ranger auto.

Fighting a head cold today and don't seem to be making any headway. As such I will leave you with this 1987 Topps card of Oddibe McDowell which I sent to Mr. McDowell on November 5, 2008. Oddibe signed it and got it back to me on January 6, 2009. He also inscribed it with Romans 8:28 which reads,

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

I do appreciate Oddibe taking his time and signing the card.