#163 - Jim Brewer

Card fact: This is the last Dodger card that I needed to complete the '75 team set. In fact, I went a long time thinking I had completed the set before realizing I needed this card.

What I thought about this card then: I never came across it, which explains why it took me so long to know it existed.

What I think about this card now: The red-blue combo (the "primary colors" combo) goes the best with the Dodgers. But there are only two Dodgers in the set that feature this combination -- Brewer and Geoff Zahn.

Other stuff: Brewer is best known for being the Dodgers' top relief pitcher during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He is among Los Angeles' all-time leaders in games pitched. Brewer's "out pitch" was the screwball, which you don't hear about much anymore.

Brewer came to the Dodgers in a trade with the Cubs in 1963. His most famous moment with the Cubs likely came during his rookie season in 1960 when he threw a pitch that brushed back Billy Martin, then with the Reds. Martin threw his bat at Brewer. Brewer picked up the bat and handed it to Martin, who punched him the face and broke his cheekbone. The Cubs ended up suing Martin but dropped the case. Brewer, however, received $10,000 in damages.

Strangely, both Brewer and Martin died from injuries suffered in car accidents that occurred two years apart.

Back facts: You can see that the Dodgers got a lot of mileage out of Brewer after obtaining him from the Cubs. The Cubs received Dick Scott in return in that trade. Scott pitched four innings for the Cubs in 1964 and that was the end of his career.

Other blog stuff: On this date in 1977, the Toronto Blue Jays played their first game in franchise history, beating the Chicago White Sox, 9-5 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Doug Ault hit two home runs and it snowed during the game. I watched the game on a Canadian television broadcast at my grandmother's apartment in Buffalo.