Dead last

 

My only experience with my favorite team finishing dead last happened exactly 30 years ago.

The 1992 Los Angeles Dodgers team is famous for placing last, sixth of six teams in the National League West. It was the first time -- and the only time -- that a Dodgers team had finished last since the move to Los Angeles. And it was the first time the franchise, either while residing in L.A. or Brooklyn, had placed last since the 1905 Brooklyn Superbas were 8th out of 8 teams with a 46-104 record.

Even those historically famous bumbling Brooklyn Bums of the 1920s and 1930s never finished at the very bottom. The Dodgers simply did not/do not place last.

That's what made 1992 so shocking to me. What the hell was this? 

I had known disappointment -- two World Series losses within my first three-plus years of being a fan -- but I had been spoiled, too.

The Dodgers had pretty much ditched their "build your own stars" philosophy by the early '90s and were grabbing superstars as often as they could. An outfield of Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry, plus a young slugger named Eric Karros and known standouts like Orel Hershiser, Ramon Martinez and Brett Butler were expected to deliver a pennant.

Instead, the Dodgers went 63-99. Davis batted .228 in 76 games with five homers. Strawberry hit .237 in 43 games. The offense was non-existent (after Karros' 20 HRs, the next best total was Dave Hansen and Mitch Webster with six each). The bullpen was brutal.

 

The best representation, in card form, of the '92 Dodgers is the Police set from that year. Due to offseason transactions -- the Dodgers traded for Eric Davis and Kip Gross and signed free agent Tom Candiotti in late 1991 -- most of the '92 major sets include players no longer on the team (i.e. Eddie Murray) or wedge in Eric Davis in a traded set add-on.

The Police set has it all -- all of the dumpster-fire, nine-car pile-up glory -- from that season.

Best of all, on the 30th anniversary of that team, this set is also celebrating a 30th anniversary, the 30th year of Dodger Stadium (that means this year is the 60th anniversary of Dodger Stadium -- better get that lockout ended!). There's a 30th anniversary logo on each card. And to extend the 30 theme even farther, the set is 30 cards!

So now let's turn this post into a "Joy Of A Team Set" post, because, let's face it, if I titled this post "Joy Of A Team Set: The 1992 Dodgers Police Set," all of five people would read it.

Here are those '92 underachievers:

Favorite card runners-up: 5. Darryl Strawberry, 4. Stan Javier, 3. Coaching Staff, 2. Eric Davis (it's not a very interesting-looking set, although quite professional for a police set).

Favorite element on the back: All of the write-ups have variations on the "don't do drugs" theme with some painful writing on many of them. Here is Eric Davis' write-up:

"No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! Sounds great, kid! D.A.R.E. to keep practicing. There'll be a test later."

 

Team's claim to fame: The first team to have two pitchers named "Gross" on their team ... Just kidding. They're the only Dodgers team in my life to finish in last! So terrible.

 

Players I've talked to: None. But I could do the "six degrees of separation" with a few in just a couple of degrees.

 

Favorite card:

 

 No surprise.

It's amazing how many times Tommy is my favorite card in the set. Pretty good for the only manager to lead a Dodgers team to the basement.