"Defectors"

[EbtsFldGuy]

This is an offshoot of an earlier thread:

In trolling a baseball site tonight, I discovered to my surprise that Billy Loes played for the Giants in San Francisco.

We know that Duke did also, after his Met days.

How many other Brooklyn Dodgers, if any, played for the Giants in SF?

[The Commissioner]

Joe Pignatano played for SF as well.

Worse yet, Roger Craig went on to manage SF to a pennant!!!

[Aa3rt]

Commissioner-great memory with Joe Pignatano-he only ever appeared in 8 games with the 1957 BROOKLYN DODGERS and 7 games with the 1962 SF Giants.

[VIBaseball]

I think the closest otherwise is Norm Larker, who was stuck behind Gil Hodges for several years before finally making it with L.A. in 1958 (and supplanting Gil over time).

Anybody care to shed more light on this? Jim Gentile, who did get a little time in Brooklyn, was also part of this logjam.

[penncentralpete]

The "logjam" was broken when Ron Fairly took over as the Dodger firstbaseman. Larker did not last very long and Gentile was sent to Baltimore.

[penncentralpete]

The hustling lefthander, who overcame the loss of a kidney, was considered as a fine fielder but an ordinary hitter until 1960. Suddenly, his line drives fell in, and he finished with a .323 batting average, within one hit of the NL batting crown won by Dick Groat. He never came close to matching his '60 season and was out of the majors three years later.

[penncentralpete]

Since there was no room for a rookie first baseman on a team that already had Gil Hodges, Diamond Jim (so nicknamed by Roy Campanella, who considered the young lefthanded slugger a diamond in the rough) languished for eight years in the Dodger farm system. Finally traded to Baltimore, in 1961 the temperamental San Francisco native batted .302 with 46 HR and - on only 147 hits - a club record 141 RBI. His five '61 grand slams, including two straight in one game, set an AL record that stood until 1987.

[penncentralpete]

In a ML career that spanned 21 seasons, Ron Fairly was a good hitter whose talents were sometimes overshadowed by a stunning lack of speed. When asked in his final season if he'd lost any speed, he replied, "There was nothing to lose." In both 1963 and 1967 he tied a ML record by having no triples in 150 or more games. A consistent hitter who hit at least 10 home runs 14 times, Fairly also walked often enough to post good-to-excellent on-base averages. DHing for the 1977 expansion Blue Jays, he hit a career-high 19 HR. Versatile enough to play the outfield despite his lumbering style, the steady Fairly was better suited to first base, leading NL first base in fielding in 1963. He took over at first base for the Dodgers in 1962, but surrendered the position to Gold Glover Wes Parker in 1966. Fairly returned to the outfield.
After several years of declining batting averages, Fairly was traded to the expansion Expos in 1969 in the deal that returned Maury Wills to Los Angeles. After he escaped the vastness of Dodger Stadium, Fairly's batting average and power rebounded. Starting in 1974 he was less of a full-time player; only with Toronto in 1977 did he play more than 110 games again.

[penncentralpete]

My previous posts probably do not belong in a "Brooklyn" thread. I apologize. I was merely trying to "answer" the query as best I could.

[VIBaseball]

Only Fairly has no Brooklyn connection, having been signed in 1958. He was a bonus baby from USC. Glenn Stout and Richard Johnson's book The Dodgers discusses how "the windfall of money that had landed in the team coffers since the move to Los Angeles had been poured back into the team."

Although bonus boys got preferential treatment, Fairly's hitting in his first pro season at Double-A and Triple-A was in fact good enough to warrant promotion.