Spring Break at Vero Beach, FL

While uploading images for all the 1967 Dodgers to Zistle today, I noticed there seemed to be a lot of spring training photos. (The cards for Phil Regan and Claude Osteen almost seem to be the same photo!)

Whether these photos were taken in spring training 1966 or 1967, the Dodgers were fresh off a championship season.

They seem to be enjoying the championship glow, whether pitching:

hitting:

or just standing around doing nuttin:

 Ahhhh Spring. Night Owl, you shoulda been there...

Al Ferrara (#557)

Night Owl, I just read your 9/30/09 post that included the 1967 Dodgers team card. You said you wouldn't collect 1967 cards because the high numbers were too hard to find. Here's a high number AND a Dodger for you.


Al Ferrara was a promising young outfielder for the Dodgers in the mid-1960s. The back of this card states that since outfielder Lou Johnson broke his ankle on 4/26/67, Ferrara would likely see increased playing time.



Not so, because Len Gabrielson had to go and join the Dodgers on May 10th, making frequent starts in the Dodgers outfield. (Since Willie Davis and Ron Fairly were fixtures in CF and RF, there was only one spot left for the others.) Unfortunately for Ferrara, Lou Johnson was back in 6 weeks, and put a hammerlock on the left field job, leaving Ferrara and Gabrielson fighting for table scraps.

In 1968, Ferrara broke his leg in the second game, and was lost for the season.

Fortunately for Al, 1969 brought 2 new NL teams via expansion, and Ferrara was drafted by the San Diego Padres. He immediately became their starting left fielder, playing in 138 games in both 1969 and 1970.

In 1971, he only appeared in 17 games with the Padres before being traded to the Reds on May 13th. His last game was on September 1st, 1971.


Also check out Ferrara's 1966 card.