Sep 29

Game 156, 2022

Dodgers at Padres, 6:40 PM PDT, BS San Diego, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

Pitchers TBD on each side. MLB has the Dodgers handing the ball to RHP Brusdar Graterol (2-3, 2.89 ERA), presumably as an “opener,” but that deserves a re-check later in the day. The Padres have elected to start RHP Steven Wilson (4-2, 2.88 ERA).

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1951 Don Newcombe becomes the first black pitcher to win twenty games in a season. In a must-win for the Dodgers, the right-hander bests Robin Roberts, also a 20-game-winner, when he blanks the Phillies at Shibe Park, 5-0.
  • 1959 At the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, the Dodgers capture the NL flag with a dramatic 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Braves, taking the first two games of the three-game playoff necessitated by the teams being tied on the last day of the season. The deciding run comes in the bottom of the 12th inning, after the first two batters make outs, when Gil Hodges walks and scores on singles by Joe Pignatano and Carl Furillo.
  • 1976 Tommy Lasorda is named to succeed Walter Alston as Dodger manager. ‘Smokey’ compiled a 2040-1613 record (.558), during his 23-year tenure with the club, winning seven pennants and four world championships.
  • 1979 Manny Mota sets a major league record with his 146th career pinch hit, a single to right field, in LA’s 6-2 victory over Chicago at Dodger Stadium. The Dominican Republic native surpasses the all-time record set by Smoky Burgess, who collected his last hit as a pinch-hitter in 1967.
  • 2000 Gary Sheffield ties the Dodgers’ franchise single-season home run record when he goes deep off Woody Williams in the team’s 3-0 victory over San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium. The left fielder, with his career best 43rd round tripper, now shares the team mark with Duke Snider, who established the record in 1956 when he played for Brooklyn.

Lineups when available.

Sep 01

Game 130, 2022

Dodgers at Mets, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: MLBN (out-of=market only), SNY, SPNLA

LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-3, 2.64 ERA) pitches against RHP Chris Bassitt (11-7, 3.34 ERA) of the Mets.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1890 On Labor Day at Brooklyn’s Washington Park, the Bridegrooms, later to be known as the Dodgers, win all three games against Pittsburgh in the first tripleheader ever played. The home team sweeps the visiting Alleghenys, who will be renamed the Pirates next season, 10-9, 3-2, and 8-4.
  • 1953 The Cardinals tie a major league mark, hitting five homers in a 12-5 loss to Brooklyn at Ebbets Field. The solo shots hit by Stan Musial, Harry Elliot, Rip Repulski, and Steve Bilko (2), all off starter Preacher Roe, aren’t enough to offset the Dodgers’ 17-hit attack, which includes six doubles but no round-trippers.
  • 1969 At Dodger Stadium, Willie Davis ties the franchise record by hitting in 29 consecutive games with his second-inning single in LA’s 10-6 victory over New York. The mark was established by Zack Wheat in 1916.

Lineups when available.

Jul 14

Game 88, 2022

Dodgers at Cardinals, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Midwest, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

LHP Tyler Anderson (9-1, 3.15 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers this evening and RHP Dakota Hudson (6-5, 4.00 ERA) pitches for the Redbirds. In his last start Anderson went seven innings, gave up five hits and three runs and got no decision. Hudson went six innings, gave up two hits and no runs; he too got no decision.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1968 In the nightcap of a twin bill, Don Wilson strikes out eighteen batters in a nine-inning game to tie the then major league record, shared by Bob Feller (Indians, 1938) and Sandy Koufax (Dodgers, 1959 and 1962). The Astros right-hander fans future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench for the last out of his 6-1 victory over the Reds on a wind-swept night at Crosley Field.


    Courtesy of the Houston Astros network
    via Astrosdaily.com

  • 1995 Ramon Martinez throws the 22nd no-hitter in franchise history when he beats the Marlins at Dodger Stadium, 7-0. The Dodger right-hander, who was booed by the home crowd in his last outing, was perfect before walking Tommy Gregg on a 3-2 pitch after getting the first out in the seventh inning.
  • 2005 Defeating their historical arch rivals, the Giants become the first team to win 10,000 games as a franchise by edging the Dodgers in LA, 4-3. The Giants, who started as the New York Gothams in 1899, have posted a 10,000-8,511 record during the club’s 123 seasons in the National League.

Lineups when available.

Apr 18

Game 16, 2021

Padres at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports San Diego, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

RHP Trevor Bauer (2-0, 2.70 ERA) takes the hill at Petco Park for the Dodgers in hopes of sweeping the Padres, who send out LHP Blake Snell (0-0, 4.35 ERA), last seen being removed from Game Six of the World Series despite his complete mastery of the Dodgers to that point of the game. He had a terrible outing his last time out, not getting out of the first inning against Pittsburgh. Bauer, meanwhile, has been terrific through six innings in each of his first three starts, giving up no more than two hits and striking out nine during those periods.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1925 At his Waldorf-Astoria apartment, Dodgers’ owner Charles H. Ebbets dies of a heart attack at the age of 65. Later in the day, his team opens the home season in Brooklyn losing to the Giants at Ebbets Field, 7-0.
  • 1939 In Brooklyn, Red Barber calls the action in the first broadcast of a regular-season Dodger game, a 7-3 loss to New York at Ebbets Field. The future Hall of Fame announcer was brought in from Cincinnati by the team’s new president, Larry MacPhail, who had hired the ‘Ol Redhead’ when he was in a similar post with the Reds.
  • 1947 Dodger president Branch Rickey names team scout Burt Shotton to replace Leo Durocher, who was suspended ten days ago by Commissioner Happy Chandler for acts “unbecoming to a major league manager.” Brooklyn’s new 62 year-old skipper reluctantly takes over the team two games into the season and will manage the club for one year in his street clothes along with wearing the team’s hat and jacket.
  • 1950 Vin Scully calls the first game of his illustrious 67-year career with the Dodgers, detailing Brooklyn’s 9-1 defeat to the Phillies on Opening Day at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. The 22-year old broadcaster, who will be awarded the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award by Bud Selig in 2014, will become the team’s primary announcer just three seasons later.
  • 1950 The Phillies play their first game with name official changed back from Blue Jays, routing the Dodgers at Shibe Park, 9-1. The team wears red pinstriped uniforms designed by manager Eddie Sawyer that are reminiscent of club’s look in the early 1900s.

  • 1952 On Opening Day in Brooklyn, Willie Mays is knocked unconscious when he smashes into the Ebbets Field wall after chasing pinch hitter Bob Morgan’s seventh-inning, two-out base-loaded line drive into the gap in left field. All three Dodgers base runners cross the plate but do not score when the motionless Giants center fielder comes to his feet and jogs into the dugout, apparently unhurt, having held onto the ball after making a fantastic catch for the third out to end the inning.
  • 1958 At the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of a National League record crowd of 78,672, the Dodgers play their first game in the City of Angels. Carl Erskine gets the win, besting Al Worthington and the Giants, 6-5.
  • 1959 Branch Rickey, former general manager of the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Pirates, is appointed the president of the Continental League. The third potential major league never materializes, but helps to accelerate the expansion of the existing leagues, including putting a National League team in New York to fill the void created by the Giants’ and the Dodgers’ departure to the west coast in 1958.
  • 1964 L.A. southpaw Sandy Koufax throws the second of his two career immaculate innings when he strikes out the side on nine pitches. Although Leo Cardenas, Johnny Edwards, and Jim Maloney all strike out quickly in the top of the third inning, Cincinnati will score all of the game’s runs in the next frame, thanks to a three-run homer hit by Deron Johnson, to beat the Dodgers in the Chavez Ravine contest, 3-0.
  • 1966 Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills singles to center off future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, becoming the first batter to hit on artificial turf in a major league game. The Astrodome’s new playing surface, called Chemgrass initially by its manufacturer, the Monsanto Company, couldn’t be made quickly enough, so the season begins with the artificial material only on the infield with the outfield remaining painted dirt until July.
  • 2008 The Dodgers announce Joe Beimel has been selected by fans, in an online poll during Spring Training, as the player whose likeness will now be used in an August 12 bobblehead promotion. The 30 year-old southpaw reliever, considered a long shot for the honor, gets the nod due to a strong internet campaign orchestrated by his parents, Ron and Marge.

    Lineup when available.

    Huh. Lux to the IL, so they bring Neuse up to play 2B rather than slide Taylor or Muncy over there.

  • Sep 17

    Game 51, 2020

    Dodgers at Rockies, 5:40 PM PDT, TV: ATTSportsNet-RM, SPNLA

    The Dodgers send LHP Julio Urias (3-0, 3.53 ERA) to the Coors Field mound to face the Rockies’ LHP Kyle Freeland (2-1, 3.54 ERA). Urias gave up one run in six innings against the Astros last Saturday. This will be Freeland’s second start this year against the Dodgers; on August 22 he gave up three runs on four hits in six-plus innings.

    Dustin May went 5 1/3 innings after Graterol and Kolarek went the first two innings and struck out six in the process.

    Today in Dodgers’ history:

    • 1912 Casey Stengel of the Dodgers makes an impressive major league debut against the Pirates. The likable Brooklyn outfielder from Kansas City collects four hits, drives in two runs, and swipes a pair of bases.
    • 1963 Dodger ace Sandy Koufax tosses a four-hitter, blanking St. Louis at Sportsman’s Park, 4-0. The southpaw’s scoreless effort establishes a National League record for shutouts thrown by lefties in a season with 11, five shy of Grover Cleveland Alexander’s major league mark set in 1916 with the Phillies.
    • 1981 Dodgers southpaw Fernando Valenzuela ties White Sox freshman Ewell Russell’s 1913 rookie record when he hurls his eighth shutout of the season, blanking Atlanta on three hits. The 20 year-old Mexican’s 2-0 victory breaks the previous National League mark shared by Irving Young (Braves, 1905), Grover Cleveland Alexander (Phillies, 1911), and Jerry Koosman (Mets, 1968).
    • 1996 Dodger right-hander Hideo Nomo no-hits the Rockies, 9-0, at Coor Field, becoming the only big league hurler to accomplish the feat in the thin air of Denver. Tornado Boy’s performance in Colorado is the best-attended no-no and is the only hitless game with a paid attendance of more than 50,000 fans.

    • 2010 Joe Torre, who will compile a 2326-1997 (.538) managerial record during his 30 seasons as a skipper with the Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Yankees, and Dodgers, announces he will be retiring at the end of the month. Los Angeles immediately hires the team’s hitting coach Don Mattingly to replace the 70 year-old.
    • 2014 Jacob DeGrom strikes out the first eight batters he faces in the Mets’ 6-5 loss in Miami, tying the modern-day major league mark to start a game. The Amazins’ rookie right-hander now shares the record with Jim Deshaies, who struck out the first eight Dodgers he faced with the Astros in a 1986 contest.

    A whole lot of interesting things happened on this date in baseball history; take a look.

    Lineup:

    Sep 16

    Game 50, 2020

    Dodgers at Padres, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: ESPN (out-of-market only), FSSD, SPNLA

    RHP Graterol is 0-2 with a 3.06 ERA. LHP Adrian Morejon (2-0, 2.53 ERA) will be one of a squad of bullpen pitchers for the Padres. It’s sort of startling that neither team, in the third game of a crucial series with only ten games left in the season, has a regular starting pitcher going.

    Here are highlights of Tony Gonsolin’s game yesterday:

    On this day in Dodgers’ history:

    • 1924 Cardinal first baseman Sunny Jim Bottomley goes 6-for-6, including two homers, and bats in a record twelve runs when the team beats the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, 17-3. The previous mark of 11 RBIs in one game was established in 1892 by today’s opposing Dodger manager, Wilbert Robinson.
    • 1976 In the 11th inning at Veterans Stadium, Rick Joseph hits a walk-off grand slam in the Phillies’ 8-4 victory over the Dodgers. Two batters are walked intentionally by Ron Perranoski to face the weak hitting Philadelphia pinch hitter, who responds with his first career home run, which will be his only round-tripper this season.
    • 1988 The Reds’ Tom Browning pitches a perfect game against the Dodgers, striking out eight and allowing only eight balls to be hit out of the infield in his 1-0 victory. Over three starts, including the perfect game, he retires 40 consecutive batters – one shy of a major league record.

    On September 16, 1993 Dave Winfield got his 3000th hit. In 1996 Paul Molitor did the same. And in 2005 Youppi!, who got his start at Olympic Stadium, is named as the first official mascot of the Montreal Canadiens, becoming the first to ever switch from Major League Baseball to the NHL. The acquisition, reportedly at the cost of six figures, is made possible when the Expos leave the hairy orange arm-waving giant behind in favor of an eagle called “Screech” when they moved to Washington, D.C. to become the Nationals.

    Lineup when available.

    Jul 18

    Opening day roster speculation

    Who’s gonna be on it?

    Pitchers: Pedro Báez, Walker Buehler, Kenley Jansen, Joe Kelly, Clayton Kershaw, Ross Stripling, Blake Treinen, Julio Urías, Alex Wood, Brusdar Graterol and Dustin May

    Starting depth could be an issue. After losing Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill (68 starts combined last year) over the offseason, the only veteran starters the Dodgers added were Price and Jimmy Nelson, but both are out for the season. That leaves Urías, Wood and youngsters May, Gonzalez and White to pick up those 68 starts.

    Will Smith and Austin Barnes are the catchers. Infielders are Enrique Hernández, Max Muncy, Gavin Lux, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Matt Beaty and Edwin Rios. Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Joc Pederson, A. J. Pollack and Chris Taylor are the outfielders.

    Subject to change at any moment, of course.

    Feb 09

    Betts deal finally done

    Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan:

    Catching prospect Connor Wong is headed to the Boston Red Sox alongside outfielder Alex Verdugo and shortstop Jeter Downs in the trade that will send outfielder Mookie Betts, starter David Price and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers, sources tell ESPN. Players have been notified.

    Notice the Twins were left out of that deal. However, Passan also says

    The trade that will send right-hander Kenta Maeda and cash to the Minnesota Twins for right-hander Brusdar Graterol and the 67th pick in the draft — which has around a $1 million slot value — has been agreed upon, source confirms to ESPN. @Ken_Rosenthal was first with the deal.

    Here’s an interesting perspective:

    The Dodgers turned Kyle Farmer, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood and Yasiel Puig into Josiah Gray and Jeter Downs

    Jeter Downs just got them Mookie Betts, they kept Josiah Gray and they also brought back Alex Wood