#88 John Roseboro

John Roseboro   Los Angeles Dodgers

Career: He spent 11 seasons with the Dodgers before finishing his career with the Twins and Senators. He was a four-time All-Star and twice was awarded a Gold Glove. He played in four World Series with the Dodgers and won three rings. His outstanding career is sometimes overshadowed by the publicity he received stemming from the Juan Marichal 'bat incident' of 1965. 

In 1960: He was sidelined for chunks of June and July and played the fewest games of any season during his stretch as the Dodgers' #1 catcher. His .213 average was the lowest of his career for a full season.

Off The Charts: Wikipedia sez..."After several years of bitterness over their famous altercation, Roseboro and Marichal became friends in the 1980s. Roseboro personally appealed to the Baseball Writers' Association of America not to hold the incident against Marichal after he was passed over for election to the Hall of Fame in his first two years of eligibility. Marichal was elected in 1983, and thanked Roseboro during his induction speech..."

The Card: Memorial Coliseum lurks ghost-like in the background. Topps opted for the capless shot even though they must have had others to use showing Roseboro in Dodgers gear. It wasn't like he'd been recently traded. He shares a special card, Dodger Backstops, with Joe Pignatano in this set. I featured it in 2015.

#292 Dodger Backstops

The Card: Posing at Seals Stadium in San Francisco we have Joe Pignatano and Johnny Roseboro. As the card states Roseboro took over behind the plate for the Dodgers with the burden of attempting to fill the void following the car wreck that disabled Roy Campanella. He held the job for a decade and was a standout, winning a couple of Gold Gloves and making two NL All Star squads. He finished his career with the Twins and Senators.

Joe Pignatano had backed up Roseboro in 1959 but in 1960 he slipped from #2 on the depth chart to #2b behind Larry Sherry. In 1961 he found himself with the Athletics and had his best season stats-wise while still playing part-time. He moved on the the Giants and finished his playing career with the '62 Mets. He coached on the Mets' staff for many years after his playing days.

This is a '59 picture as that was the first season the Dodgers had 'Los Angeles' on their road shirts. That remained the caes for about a decade until they adopted home and road jerseys with 'Dodgers on the front. The city designation returned in 1999.