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James Thomas Brewer
Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitcher
Born: November 14, 1937, Merced, CA
Signed: Signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent, June 6, 1956
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1960-1963; Los Angeles Dodgers 1964-1975; California Angels 1975-1976
World Series Appearances: Los Angeles Dodgers 1965-1966, 1974
Died: November 16, 1987, Tyler, TX (age 50)
Died: November 16, 1987, Tyler, TX (age 50)
At some point in 1964, lefty reliever Jim Brewer approached future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn and asked for help throwing a screwball. Spahn showed Brewer the proper grip and release, with Brewer taking that knowledge and becoming one of the most successful late-inning relievers of his era. He battled through elbow injuries in the mid-1960s and pitched a few innings for the Dodgers in the 1965 World Series, before beginning a string of successful seasons in 1968. Brewer would compile six straight years of at least 50 appearances and 15 saves. He saved a career-high 24 games in 1970 and was a National League All-Star in 1973. Brewer spent 12 seasons with the Dodgers tallying 125 saves over 474 games pitched. There are only four other relievers with more saves than Brewer in Dodgers' team history and only Kenley Jensen (701 games), Don Sutton (#216 - 550 games) and Don Drysdale (518 games) appeared in more games for the club. Brewer had a lifetime record of 69-65 with 133 career saves and 810 strikeouts over 1,040 1/3 innings pitched.
He served as the pitching coach for the Montreal Expos, managed by Dick Williams (#349), between 1977 and 1979. Brewer was brought back to the Dodgers organization in the mid-1980s on a part-time basis to teach young pitchers the screwball and he joined the team as a minor league coach in 1987.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #236
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / Dodgers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Brewer appeared in a career-high 59 games for the Dodgers, going 7-6 with a 2.55 ERA and 20 saves. He struck out 92 and walked 41 over 88 1/3 innings pitched.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #317
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1961-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #243
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 70 in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 159th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me $1.25.
The Card / Dodgers Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
Topps likely had a backlog of photos to use for Brewer, given he had been pitching with the Dodgers since 1964. The write-up on the back highlights his recent success out of the bullpen for the Dodgers, but misidentifies his best pitch as a sinker ball. Maybe that's what a screwball was known as in the late 1960s?
Accuracy Index: Brewer's card scores a +5 for the accurate depiction in an unseen before photo.
1969 Season
Brewer appeared in a career-high 59 games for the Dodgers, going 7-6 with a 2.55 ERA and 20 saves. He struck out 92 and walked 41 over 88 1/3 innings pitched.
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First Mainstream Card: 1961 Topps #317
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16): 1961-1976
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #243
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 70 in the Beckett online database as of 2/11/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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