Category Archives: Obituaries

Apr 16

Game 20, 2024

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Nationals at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: MASN2, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

LHP Patrick Corbin (0-2. 8.44 ERA) goes for the Nationals; the Dodgers have just called up RHP Kyle Hurt (0-1, 1.93 ERA) to start tonight’s game.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1928 Braves’ pitcher Charlie Robertson has his glove removed from the game by umpire Charley Moran after the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) complain the ball is acting strangely. The Boston hurler still manages to win, 3-2.
  • 1946 LOCAL NEWSPAPER AD — “An Apology to Braves Fans – The management will reimburse any of its patrons for any expense to which they might have been put for necessary cleansing of clothing as a result of paint damage.” As the result of the newly painted grandstand seats having not yet completely dried, about 5,000 fans attending the Boston’s home opener against the Dodgers left Braves Field with green paint covering much of their clothing. The team took out newspaper ads to apologize to the affected patrons, agreeing to reimburse any expense caused by the mishap, an offer that will cost the team $6,000, after it generates nearly 13,000 claims, including some from as far away as California and Nebraska.
  • 1964 Shea Stadium is christened with Holy Water from the Gowanus Canal, which passes near Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the Dodgers’ old home, and Holy Water from the Harlem River at the location where it flows past the Polo Grounds, the once longtime ballpark of the Giants and the Mets’ home for the past two seasons. The stadium’s namesake Bill Shea, the lawyer credited with bringing the National League back to New York, pours the water from two bottles, blessing the Flushing Meadows structure on the eve of its debut.
  • 1975 After making the second of his two poor starts for the Dodgers, Juan Marichal, who signed with the team as a free agent, appears in his final major league game. The 37 year-old ‘Dominican Dandy’ finishes his 16-year Hall of Fame career with more complete games (244) than the total of his victories (243).
  • 1983 Steve Garvey appears in his 1,118th straight game, breaking the National League record established by Hall of Fame outfielder Billy Williams playing for the Cubs in 1970. The Padres’ first baseman, who spent 13 seasons with the Dodgers before signing as a free agent with San Diego in the offseason, will see his consecutive game streak end at 1,207, the third-longest span in major league history at the time, due to a dislocated thumb suffered as a result of a collision at home plate during the first game of a doubleheader in 1983.
  • 1988 The Braves establish a National League record for losses at the start of a season by losing their tenth consecutive game. With a 7-4 defeat to the Dodgers, Atlanta surpasses the mark, previously owned by four teams, including the infamous 1919 Braves and the 1962 Mets.
  • 1988 Although better known for his contributions as a Dodger, the Padres retire the uniform #6 worn by Steve Garvey, who signed a $6.6 million five-year deal as a free agent in December 1982. The All-Star first baseman, the first to be honored by the franchise, enjoyed five solid seasons, batting .275, and hit the most dramatic home run in Friar’s history, an elimination-staving walk-off homer in Game 4 of the NLCS for the eventual National League champs.

Lineups when available.

Aug 16

Game 119, 2023

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Brewers at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin, SPNLA

LHP Wade Miley (6-2, 2.90 ERA) pitches for the Brewers while LHP Clayton Kershaw (10-4, 2.51 ERA) does so for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1950 At the Polo Grounds, Hank Thompson’s two inside-the-park home runs off Don Bankhead and Carl Erskine contribute to the Giants’ 16-7 drubbing of the Dodgers. The 24 year-old third baseman will hit 129 round-trippers in his 9-year career, three of which will be of the inside-the-park variety.
  • 1964 St. Louis outfielder Curt Flood collects eight consecutive hits during a doubleheader against Dodgers pitching. The Cardinals split the twin bill in Los Angeles, losing the opener to Sandy Koufax, 3-0, but take the nightcap when Curt Simmons tosses a six hitter to give the Redbirds a 4-0 victory.
  • 2020 Keibert Ruiz becomes the seventh player (there have now been eight — James Outman did it this season) in the 131-year history of the Dodgers to homer in his first major league at-bat and the first since Garey Ingram accomplished the feat in 1994. On his first swing, the 22-year-old Venezuelan catcher deposits Julio Teheran’s 1-1 fastball over the right-field fence in the team’s 8-3 victory at the Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Babe Ruth died in New York City on this day in 1948.

Lineups when available.

Aug 16

Game 115, 2022

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Dodgers at Brewers, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: BSW, SPNLA

The Dodgers hand the ball to RHP Ryan Pepiot (1-0, 3.92 ERA). He’ll face the Brewers’ RHP Brandon Woodruff (9-3, 3.52 ERA). Pepiot is filling Kershaw’s rotation slot. He has an 8-0 record with a 2.27 ERA at Oklahoma City this season. Woodruff missed most of June with Reynaud’s Syndrome, a circulation problem in the fingers of his pitching hand. That’s the same thing that cut Sandy Koufax’s 1962 season short. Since Woodruff has returned he’s gone 4-0 in eight starts.

These guys! Hijinks in the dugout!

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1950 At the Polo Grounds, Hank Thompson’s two inside-the-park home runs off Don Bankhead and Carl Erskine contribute to the Giants’ 16-7 drubbing of the Dodgers. The 24 year-old third baseman will hit 129 round-trippers in his 9-year career, three of which will be of the IPHR variety.
  • 1964 St. Louis outfielder Curt Flood collects eight consecutive hits during a doubleheader against Dodgers pitching. The Cardinals split the twin bill in Los Angeles, losing the opener to Sandy Koufax, 3-0, but take the nightcap when Curt Simmons tosses a six hitter to give the Redbirds a 4-0 victory.
  • 2020 Keibert Ruiz becomes the seventh player (there have now been eight — James Outman did it this season) in the 131-year history of the Dodgers to homer in his first major league at-bat and the first since Garey Ingram accomplished the feat in 1994. On his first swing, the 22-year-old Venezuelan catcher deposits Julio Teheran’s 1-1 fastball over the right-field fence in the team’s 8-3 victory at the Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Babe Ruth died in New York City on this day in 1948.

Lineups when available.

Feb 18

Open Thread #8, 2022

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The only thing new about the negotiations between players and owners is the brevity of yesterday’s meeting: 15 minutes. From SB Nation:

ESPN’s Jeff Passan has some details of the MLBPA’s proposal. The union backed off its request for salary arbitration for all players with 2+ years of service time and instead requested 80% of the players. The players also requested an increase in the pre-arb bonus pool from $100 million to $115 million. Remember the league offered just $15 million for the bonus pool in their latest offer.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the league consider’s the union’s most recent proposal of changes to the arbitration system a non-starter.

In other unhappy news, Calvin Jones has died of cancer. He was 58. He was the Dodger scout who studied and advocated signing Clayton Kershaw back in 2005-2006. Published six years ago at Bleacher Report, it’s a good story.

A couple of things about the 2006 draft: it had some very good pitchers in it. Here are the six players who went ahead of Kershaw:

  1. Luke Hochevar
  2. Greg Reynolds
  3. Evan Longoria
  4. Brad Lincoln
  5. Brandon Morrow
  6. Andrew Miller
  7. Clayton Kershaw

Then, three picks later, the Giants selected Tim Lincecum. Right after that the Diamondbacks picked Max Scherzer.

Not a bad draft, huh?

Apr 06

Obituaries

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Death waits for us all, and in an age of pandemic it’s nearer than ever. This weekend we’ve seen it take Tom Dempsey, NFL placekicker, Bobby Mitchell, NFL halfback and wide receiver, and Al Kaline, rightfielder extraordinaire for 22 years with the Detroit Tigers.

Dempsey set the record for longest field goal in NFL history at 63 yards in 1970 when he hit it in the closing seconds of a game against the Lions to give the Saints the win. It held up until Jason Elam of the U of Hawai’i and the Denver Broncos matched it in 1998. It has since been extended to 64 yards by the Broncos’ Matt Prater in 2013. He died from COVID-19.

Dempsey had been battling Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. He was a resident at the Lambeth House senior living center in New Orleans, which has been hit hard by the virus. More than 50 residents have been affected, according to NOLA.com.

Bobby Mitchell, along with Leroy Jackson and John Nisby, were the first black players for the Washington Redskins when they started the 1962 season with the team. George Marshall, the team’s owner, had made it clear he didn’t want black players on his team, but then-Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the Kennedy Administration made it known that he should integrate.

During his first six seasons with the Redskins, he never caught fewer than 58 passes. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection — once as a running back and three times as a wide receiver.

Mitchell, a seventh-round draft pick in 1958, retired in 1969, finishing his 11-year NFL career with 14,078 total yards. He had 91 career touchdowns, including 65 receiving and 18 rushing. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.

Kaline joined the Tigers directly from high school in 1953. In 1955 he won an AL batting title and finished second to Yogi Berra in the MVP voting. He won the Roberto Clemente Award for sportsmanship, community involvement and contribution to his team in 1973.

Kaline made his lone appearance in a World Series in 1968, on the Tigers team led by pitchers Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich. Kaline had been sidelined for part of the season with a broken arm, and when he returned he was used mostly as a pinch hitter or first baseman because the outfield trio of Willie Horton, Mickey Stanley and Jim Northrup was playing well.

When the Tigers clinched the pennant, Kaline went to manager Mayo Smith and told him that he didn’t deserve to start in the World Series. Smith ignored him and played Kaline, who batted .379, hit two home runs and drove in eight as the Tigers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

Kaline was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980, his first year of eligibility.

May 27

Game 54, 2019

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Mets at Dodgers, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: ESPN (out-of-market only), SNY, SPNLA

A battle of aces! The Mets send RHP Jacob DeGrom (3-5, 3.75 ERA) to the hill to face the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw (4-0, 3.33 ERA). DeGrom has made five starts in May and has a 2.81 ERA to show for them. He was 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers last season. Kershaw made his fifth quality start of the season last time out, and he’s got a 19-game unbeaten streak going dating back to last year. He’s 10-0 with nine no-decisions in that time, the longest active streak in the major leagues.

SI says Bellinger is making batting average relevant again. Making the case that 1941 was a long time ago and a lifetime away in baseball eras,

When Williams hit .406, the average major league game had 7.1 strikeouts. Now there are 17.5 strikeouts every game. Today the average reliever–not your All-Star closer, just your garden-variety reliever–strikes out batters at the same rate Sandy Koufax did (9.3 per nine innings). Of course, the average reliever also throws 94 mph with a wicked slider and every team is stocked with them.

R.I.P., Bill Buckner. The Dodgers traded him to the Cubs for Rick Monday in 1977, and you’d have to say the Cubs got the better of the deal. However, Garvey was entrenched at 1B and the newly-acquired Dusty Baker was signed to play left field. Buckner was coming off a serious ankle injury, the Dodgers didn’t think he could play center and they wanted more power at that position than they thought Buckner could provide. Monday promptly had the worst year of his career and after one more year as a starter he spent four years as a reserve with the Dodgers, retiring in 1984. Buckner went on to have 10 more productive years including a batting title in 1980.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1904 Giants’ infielder Dennis McGann steals five bases to establish a major league record. The 32 year-old Kentucky native’s thievery helps New York beat Brooklyn at the Polo Grounds, 3-1.

Also! In 2017

“We are honored to pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of Homer at the Bat.The Simpsons has left an impressive imprint on our culture as the longest-running American sitcom, and ‘Homer at the Bat’ remains as popular today as when the episode aired in 1992. ” – Hall of Fame President JEFF IDELSON, commenting about the Cooperstown celebration of the animated series.

The Baseball Hall of Fame inducts fictional cartoon character Homer Simpson as part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Simpsons episode ‘Homer at the Bat.’ As part of the ceremony, a roundtable discussion of the much-beloved episode includes comments by real Hall of-Famers Wade Boggs and Ozzie Smith, who played themselves on the animated show, as well as executive producers Al Jean and Mike Reiss, director Jim Reardon, executive story editor Jeff Martin and casting director Bonnie Pietila.

Lineup when available.

Feb 08

Pitchers and catchers report in five days

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R.I.P. Frank Robinson. He was a force on the field for the Reds and then for the Orioles. Even at age 36 he had a slash line of .251/.353/.442 with 19 HR and 59 RBI in one season with the Dodgers. I remember hearing Dodgers-Reds games in the early 1960s and worrying when he was about to come up. The 1961 team which won the NL pennant had F Robby, Wally Post and Vada Pinson in the outfield and Joey Jay, Bob Purkey and Jim O’Toole in the rotation with a young fireballer named Jim Maloney in the bullpen where he was joined by wily veteran Jim Brosnan. They were good and Robinson was the best of them.

How tough was he?

Robinson was hit with a pitch 198 times in his career, an outlandish amount for such a great player. Nobody else hit that often ever had even 350 home runs. Aaron was hit only 32 times, Clemente 35 and Mays 44.

He was so much more than just one of the greatest players of his era, though. He was a tough hard-nosed field manager and executive in the Commissioner’s office after his playing days were done. Let this be his epitaph:

Pioneer, Hall of Fame player, manager, executive … yes, Robinson excelled in multiple capacities like very few ever did. His greatest role, however, may have been as a role model in what it means to compete fully and relentlessly. In that vein, Frank Robinson forever is in nobody’s shadow.

Jan 13

Milestones

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Changes at ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball: Curt Schilling moves to Monday Night Baseball, John Kruk goes back to Baseball Tonight, and Jessica Mendoza and Aaron Boone move into the chairs next to Dan Shulman for the Sunday game.

Monte Irvin has died at 96. He joined the NY Giants from the Negro League Newark Eagles in 1949 (the second black player on the team behind Hank Thompson) and played left field next to Willie Mays. In the 1951 World Series those three men formed the first all-black starting outfield in World Series history. Jay Jaffe has more.

Mar 01

First Cactus League game is Wednesday

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Erik Bedard will start it against the White Sox. He’ll probably go only two innings or so.

Thursday Clayton Kershaw will start, also against the White Sox. Friday is a split-squad day.

In much sadder news, Minnie Minoso passed away today. He was the first black player on either team in Chicago after he was traded to the White Sox in 1951, two years after he came up with the Cleveland Indians. Young people remember him, if they do at all, as the guy who kept getting active long enough to appear in a game or two in the Seventies and Eighties after his 40th birthday as an owner’s gimmick. That’s a shame, as he was a great ballplayer, a nine-time All Star who had nearly 2,000 hits and a career .298 batting average in his 15 years as a regular outfielder in the big leagues.

Jun 21

One more on Tony Gwynn

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The San Diego State University held a memorial service for Gwynn at the Student Union on campus today. There were a lot of current and retired big leaguers there (Adrian Gonzalez attended from the Dodgers, although probably representing himself as an ex-Padre more than the team), and many of them were pretty teary.

Who was there? Trevor Hoffman. John Kruk. Garry Templeton. Dave Winfield. Ozzie Smith. Rod Carew. Cal Ripken Jr. Steve Finley. Joe Carter. Jerry Royster. Bip Roberts. Padres TV analyst Mark Grant. Padres coaches Bobby Tolan and Rob Picciolo. Barry Bonds. Tony Clark. Bud Black. And more.