Project Durham Bulls #45 - Pat Dobson

1960-1961 Durham Bulls 

Background-

Dobson was signed as an amateur free agent by the Tigers in 1959.  His first stop on his way to the Majors was with the Durham Bulls.  In 1960, Dobson went 7-9 for the Bulls with an ERA just over 4.  The following year, he went 4-9 with an ERA of almost 6.  Yet, somehow Dobson kept moving through the Tigers Minor League system.  It would take him until 1968 to finally crack the Majors.  The Tigers used him as a long reliever that season, which culminated in the team winning the World Series.  Dobson pitched in three different games during the 1968 Series.  

The Tigers did not have a rotation spot available for Dobson, so they traded him to the Padres at the end of the 1969 season.  He only spent one season with the Padres before moving on to the Orioles.  In 1971, Dobson won 20 games for Baltimore and helped get them into the World Series where they would lose to the Pirates.  The second half of his career was spent with the Braves, Yankees, and Indians.  He was always a solid starter and managed to put together a 19 win and 16 win seasons at the end of his career.  Dobson retired from baseball after being released by the Indians in April of 1978.  

He worked as a coach and scout after his retirement.  Dobson's two most significant accomplishments in this role were helping to get the 1982 Brewers into the World Series while working as the pitching coach and convincing Padres manager Bruce Bochy to take the Giants managerial job in 2006.  

Card-

Dobson is not an expensive autograph, but he did not sign many certified autographs while he was alive.  He died from leukemia in November of 2006.  In fact, as far as I can tell the 2004 Upper Deck Yankees Classics set is the only set that has Dobson on the autograph checklist.  He has the solo autograph pictured above, but also has a dual signature card with Dock Ellis.  Overall, its a very nice card and am happy to add it to my collection of Durham Bulls autographs.  

While we are here talking about baseball cards and Pat Dobson, I would not being doing this post justice if I did not take a moment and mention his connection to one of the most iconic baseball cards of the 1970s.  

The 1976 Oscar Topps Traded Oscar Gamble card.  If you have ever dabbled in collecting cards from the 70s, you know the card well, if you have not this is a must own.  If you are younger and do not know much about the 1970s, I cannot help you there and keep this post to a decent length.  Beyond the photoshopped picture of Gamble, there is also a phony headline at the bottom about Gamble being traded to the Yankees.  

I know this is a part of the card many do not look at, but flip it over and....

you can see that the player who was traded for Gamble, which made this card happen, was Pat Dobson.  Which of course means that there must be a Pat Dobson card in this same set and....

we have a very 1970s looking Pat Dobson.  That headline is a mess.  If only they were referencing the Bob Dylan song.