Aug 29

Game 127, 2022

Dodgers at Marlins, 3:40 PM, TV: BS Florida, SPNLA

LHP Tony Gonsolin (16-1, 2.10 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers and RHP Pablo López (8-8, 3.66 ERA) pitches for the Marlins.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1939 Wheaties sponsors the first telecast of a baseball game when their ads are aired during the Ebbets Field contest between the Reds and the Dodgers. The commercial broadcast is available only in New York City, where an estimated 500 people own television sets.
  • 1948 Jackie Robinson hits for the backward cycle when he homers in the first inning, triples in the fourth, doubles in the sixth, and completes the rare event with a single in the eighth. In addition to his ten total bases, the Dodger second baseman drives in two runs, scores three times, and steals a base, helping Brooklyn beat the Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park, 12-7.
  • 1951 With his second home run of the game, the sixth time he has accomplished the feat this year, Gil Hodges hits his 36th round-tripper to establish a new franchise record for homers in a season. The Dodger first baseman’s seventh-inning three-run blast in the team’s 13-1 rout of Cincinnati at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field surpasses the mark of 35 set by Babe Herman in 1930.
  • 1989 Giving up just three singles, recently acquired Mets southpaw Frank Viola outduels Orel Hershiser and beats the Dodgers, 1-0. The classic contest between two aces marked the first time in baseball history that the reigning winners of the Cy Young Award have faced one another in the regular season.

Cultural history note: On this date in 1966: On a typically cool night, the Beatles play their final concert at Candlestick Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants. The “Fab Four’s” performance on a five-foot stage, which is located just behind second base surrounded by a six-foot high wire fence, is less than stellar due the ballpark’s inadequate lighting, poor acoustics, and the group’s growing disdain of doing live shows.

Lineups when available.

Aug 27

Game 125, 2022

Dodgers at Marlins, 3:10 PM TV: BS Florida, SPNLA

The Dodgers give the ball to RHP Dustin May (1-0, 0.00 ERA) for his second start of the year. He’ll face the Marlins” RHP Sandy Alcantara (11-^, 2.19). May is just back from a tear of rehabilitation after surgery. Alcantara has been consistent all season.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1937 Dodger right-hander Fred Frankhouse holds the Reds hitless for 7.2 innings before a heavy downpour ends the Ebbets Field contest. The right-hander’s 5-0 victory will be one of the 31 “no-no’s” erased when MLB redefines a no-hitter in 1991 as a game in which a pitcher throws nine innings or more without giving up a hit.
  • 1951 Dodger right fielder Carl Furillo, in the top of the third inning in the team’s 5-0 victory over Pittsburgh at Ebbets Field, throws out Mel Queen by two feet at first base, after the Pirates pitcher had apparently singled into right field. The ‘Reading Rifle’ will lead the NL in assists for the second consecutive season, with opponents becoming increasingly reluctant to challenge the Brooklyn outfielder’s strong arm.
  • 1952 The Dodgers set the National League mark for consecutive games with a double play when they complete a twin killing in their twenty-third straight contest, a 10-5 loss to Chicago at Wrigley Field. The fifth inning 1-4-3 DP, pitcher Clyde King to second baseman Jackie Robinson to first baseman Gil Hodges, leaves Brooklyn two shy of the major league record.
  • 2005 Jeff Kent becomes the first player to hit 300 homers as a second baseman. The Dodger infielder, who surpassed Ryne Sandberg’s total of 277 last September, is the major league leader at this position, with Joe Gordon holding the American League record with 246 round-trippers.

Lineups when available.

Los Angwles Dodgers
Mookie Betts (R) RF
Trea Turner (R) SS
Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
Will Smith (R) C
Max Muncy (L) DH
Justin Turner (R) 3B
Joey Gallo (L) LF
Chris Taylor (R) 2B
Cody Bellinger (L) CF

Miami Marlins
Joey Wendle (L) 3B
Jon Berti (R) 2B
Brian Anderson (R) RF
JJ Bleday (L) CF
Garrett Cooper (R) DH
Miguel Rojas (R) SS
Lewin Diaz (L) 1B
Jacob Stallings (R) C
Peyton Burdick (R) LF

Aug 02

Game 103, 2022

Dodgers at Giants, 6:45 PM PDT, TV: NBCBS BA, SPNLA, TBS

LHP Tyler Anderson (11-1, 2.61 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers while LHP Alex Wood (7-8, 4.11 ERA) does the same for the Giants. Anderson had a great July, going 3-0 with a 1.11 ERA and being named to the All Star Game. He went 6 innings against the Giants and gave up one run on four hits on July 22 but got no decision. Wood was nearly equally good for the month; he went 2-1 with a 1.68 ERA. His one loss was to the Dodgers on July 23 when he went four innings and gave up two runs on four hits.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1938 Bright yellow baseballs designed by Frederick Rah, who believes the visibility of the dandelion-hue sphere will help players avoid getting hit by a pitch, are used in the first game of a doubleheader. The one-game experiment draws mixed reactions and the Dodgers complete their sweep of the twin bill from the Cardinals, 6-2 and 9-3, using the traditional white ball in the nightcap.
  • 1982 During a ceremony held in Cooperstown, NY, the United States Postal Service unveils a 20-cent stamp commemorating baseball great Jackie Robinson as part of its annual Black Heritage series. The Dodger infielder becomes the first individual baseball player to be depicted on a U.S postage stamp.

  • 2002 Reds general manager Jim Bowden is fined by commissioner Bud Selig for the comments he made to reporters prior to yesterday’s game against the Dodgers comparing a baseball strike with the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Quickly realizing the use of such analogy was inappropriate and insensitive, the Cincinnati GM issues an immediate apology after the game.
  • 2008 In the first game after the Manny Ramirez trade to the Dodgers, the Fenway Faithful enthusiastically welcome Jason Bay, the player replacing the Boston icon. The former Pirates outfielder doesn’t disappoint, tripling and scoring the winning run in the 12th inning of the Red Sox’s 2-1 victory over the A’s.
  • 2017 The Dodgers lost to the Braves, ending their nine-game winning streak. Had they won it would have been the third time that season they’d have won ten straight. The bullpen gave up the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning at Sun Trust Park in Atlanta.

Lineups when available.

Jul 26

Game 96, 2022

Nationals at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, MASN 2, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

RHP Josiah Gray (7-6, 4.40 ERA) pitches for the Nationals and RHP Mitch White (1-2, 3.78 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. One-time Dodger (2 games, 1 start, 6.75 ERA in 8 innings before being traded to the Nats in the 2021 Scherzer & Turner deal) Gray has had a lousy July, going 1-2 with a 7.02 ERA in three starts. White has been pretty good for the Dodgers in 9 starts since May 21; although he’s 0-2 he’s got a 3.45 ERA in 40 2/3 innings.

The Jackie Robinson Museum held a ribbon-cutting ceremony today at its location in Lower Manhattan. It officially opens on September 5.

Featuring 4,500 artifacts and 40,000 historical images, the museum strives to achieve Rachel Robinson’s goal to inspire future generations to be the next group of leaders in the fight for social justice. These artifacts include letters, clothing, accolades, a timeline of his life and insightful videos throughout the museum that bring Robinson’s journey to life, detailing his accomplishments as a baseball player and civil rights pioneer.

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1900 In Brooklyn, a sheriff seizes the St. Louis share of gate receipts to reimburse Gus Weyhing, recently released by the Cardinals after posting a 3-4 record in eight starts with the team, who claims to have been cheated out of ten days of pay. Next week, the right-hander, known as Cannonball by his teammates, will sign with the Superbas as a free agent.
  • 1948 Former Dodger skipper Leo Durocher, who left the team ten days ago, makes his first appearance at Ebbets Field since taking over the Giants. The return of ‘the Lip’ is less-than-triumphant when his new team drops a 13-4 decision to Brooklyn.
  • 1951 In a 9-1 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Jim Russell becomes the first player in major league history to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in a game in two different games. The Dodger outfielder’s accomplishment will be surpassed in 1956 when Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle goes deep both right and left-handed in the same game for a third time.
  • 1960 The Phillies end their scoreless streak of thirty-eight consecutive innings when Johnny Callison plates Tony Gonzalez with a sixth-inning single in the team’s 4-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Philadelphia’s drought began when the team failed to score in the last six frames of a 3-0 win against the Giants, and continued when they were shut out in three straight games ( 2-0, 2-0, and 9-0) by the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
  • 1991 Mark Gardner no-hits the Dodgers for nine innings, but Los Angeles wins the game in the bottom of the tenth on two singles off the Expos’ starter and Darryl Strawberry’s RBI single off reliever Jeff Fassero. It’s the first time the Dodgers had been held hitless at home for nine innings since Johnny Vander Meer’s second straight no-hitter in 1938.

Lineups when available.

Jul 23

Game 93, 2022

Giants at Dodgers, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: fox

The visiting Giants send one-time Dodger LHP Alex Wood (6-7, 4.20 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ LHP Julio Urías (8-6, 2.89 ERA). Wood faced the Dodgers once earlier this season; he gave up three runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings and took the 9-1 loss when the Dodgers’ bullpen did what the Giants’ pen could not: hold the other team scoreless the rest of the game. Urías is 1-1 against the Giants this season, winning the day after Wood lost in May and losing a month later despite giving up just two runs on three hits in six innings. Those were the only runs the Giants got in the game, but that was enough to hand the Dodgers the 2-0 loss.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1939 Using yellow dyed balls, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers 5-2 at Sportsman’s Park. The experimenting with the use of the colored sphere, which is designed to make the ball easier to see for the players and the fans, started in Brooklyn last week and will be tested once more, in a September game played at Wrigley Field.
  • 1962 Jackie Robinson becomes the first black player inducted into the Hall of Fame. Joining the Dodger infielder in the Cooperstown ceremony are fireballer Bob Feller, veteran manager Bill McKechnie, and outfielder Edd Roush.

  • 1965 Dick Stuart homers in the first inning in the Phillies’ 5-1 win over New York at Shea Stadium. ‘Dr. Strangeglove’, who played in Boston for the previous two seasons, becomes the first player to have gone deep in each of the 19 major league ballparks now in use. (Ed. note – Nineteen ballparks because both Los Angeles teams, the Angels and Dodgers, share the ballpark in Chavez Ravine. – LP)
  • 1974 At Three Rivers Stadium, Dodger first baseman Steve Garvey, a write-in All-Star starter, singles and doubles to help the National League beat the Junior circuit, 7-2. Mike Schmidt, also a write-in, plays in his first Midsummer Classic thanks to radio intern Howard Eskin’s on-air campaign which urged Phillies fans to stuff the ballot box for their young third baseman.

Lineups when available.

Jul 12

Game 86, 2022

Dodgers at Cardinals, 4:45 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Midwest, SPNLA, TBS

The visiting Dodgers send RHP Mitch White (1-1, 3.38 ERA) to the Busch Stadium mound to face the Cardinals’ LHP Matthew Liberatore (2-1, 4.74 ERA). White’s last seven appearances have all been starts, and his ERA has dropped fairly consistently since he left the reliever role. Liberatore is a 22-year-old rookie who made his debut on May 21 of this season; this will be his seventh MLB appearance.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1949 The first All-Star Game which includes black players is played at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers’ Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, and Don Newcombe represent the National League in an 11-7 loss to Larry Doby and his AL teammates.
  • 1966 The National League All-Stars edge the AL, 2-1, in a game played at the newly-built Busch Stadium when hometown favorite Tim McCarver scores the winning run on Dodger shortstop Maury Wills’s tenth-inning walk-off single, with Giants hurler Gaylord Perry getting the victory by tossing a scoreless ninth and tenth inning. The 105-degree weather, 113 degrees on the playing surface, results in nearly 150 people needing treatment for heat exhaustion.

This is notable: In 1949 the major league owners agree to install warning tracks made of cinder in front of outfield fences before the start of next season. The origin of the concept began at Yankee Stadium, where an actual running track, used in the ballpark’s track and field events, helped fielders know their proximity to the outfield fence when attempting to make a play. One wonders if that might have saved Pete Reiser’s career. Reiser “was taken off the field on a stretcher a record 11 times.”

Lineups when available.

Jul 05

Game 80, 2022

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

RHP Germán Márquez (4-6, 5.89 ERA) pitches for the Rockies and RHP Ryan Pepiot (0-0, 3.18 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. This will be Mãrquez’s third start against the Dodgers already this season; he’s 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA in 10 1/3 innings. Pepiot has made three appearances for the Dodgers this season, all starts. He’s given up six hits and four runs in 11 1/3 innings.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1935 The Cuccinellos become the third pair of brothers, following the Waners (2) and Ferrells, and the first on opposing teams to homer in the same game when Al goes deep in the bottom of the ninth in the Giants’ 14-4 loss to Brooklyn at the Polo Grounds. The New York’s third baseman’s sibling, Tony, playing second base for the Dodgers, had homered in the previous inning.
  • 1952 In their final season in Boston, the Braves play in front of the largest home crowd of the season when 13,405 fans watch Brooklyn beat their team for the 12th consecutive time, a 5-3 complete-game victory by Carl Erskine. The most memorable moment of the contest occurs in the second inning when the game is delayed because a small dog has to be escorted off the field by Dodger outfielders Carl Furillo and Duke Snider.
  • 1961 Cardinals first baseman Bill White collects 14 total bases when he hits three home runs and a double. The 27 year-old infielder’s offensive output helps the Redbirds rout the Dodgers at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 9-1. (Note: White has written a very entertaining autobiography.)
  • 2004 At Dodger Stadium, Diamondback third baseman Chad Tracy’s ninth inning run-scoring single on an 0-2 changeup ends Eric Gagne’s record streak of 84 consecutive saves. The new mark established by the Los Angeles closer is 30 more than the prior mark set by Tom Gordon for the Red Sox in 1999.
  • 2007 At Dodger Stadium, Chipper Jones’ two solo home runs are the difference in the Braves’ 8-6 victory over Los Angeles. With his pair of round-trippers, the team’s third baseman surpasses Dale Murphy for the Atlanta team record of 372 homers.

Today is also the anniversary of the first game Larry Doby played for the Indians, integrating the American League. He ended up with 1,515 hits, only three behind Jackie Robinson. Also on this date in 1953, Robin Roberts pitched his 28th consecutive complete game, shutting out Pittsburgh at Forbes Field, 2-0. Twenty-eight straight complete games! We’ll never see that again!

Lineups when available.

Jun 24

Game 69, 2022

Dodgers at Braves, 4:20 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Southeast, SPNLA

The Dodgers hand the ball to LHP Julio Urías (4-6, 2.56 ERA) and hope to get him more run support than usual. He’ll face the Braves’ RHP Ian Anderson (6-3, 4.35 ERA). On Saturday Urías ended his three-game losing streak, giving up no earned runs and two hits in six innings. Anderson threw 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball in his last start.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 At Forbes Field, Jackie Robinson steals home in the Dodgers’ 4-2 victory over the Pirates. It is the Brooklyn infielder’s first theft of the dish, something the rookie will accomplish 19 times during his ten-year career.
  • 2018 The Dodgers tie a National League record, last accomplished by the 2006 Braves, when the team socks seven solo shots, dealing the Mets a crushing 8-7 loss at Citi Field. Former New York infielder Justin Turner delivers the decisive dinger in the top of the twelfth inning to complete the series sweep and extend the team’s consecutive win streak over the Amazins to twelve straight victories.
  • 2021 At Dodger Stadium, Cubs starter Zach Davies tosses six spotless innings, with Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin, and Craig Kimbrel each adding a hitless frame for the 17th and the first combined no-hitter in franchise history. Chicago’s 4-0 victory marks the seventh major league no-no this season, equaling the record established in 1990, 1991, 2012, and 2015.

Lineups when available.

Jun 14

Game 61, 2022

Angels at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, BS West, SPNLA, TBS (out-of-market only)

RHP Noah Syndergaard (4-4, 3.89 ERA) brings his “Thor” persona to Dodger Stadium. He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Tony ‘The CatMan” Gonsolin (7-0, 1.58 ERA). Syndergaard lost the last two years to injury but is doing well in a comeback season. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in six of his starts, although his fastball is now hitting about 94 MPH instead of the 100+ MPH it once was with the Mets. Gonsolin remains a surprise to the rest of the league although perhaps not so much to the Dodgers.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1948 In front of a crowd of 12,622 at Ebbets Field, Jackie Robinson, who hits a third-inning two-run homer, and Cleveland’s Larry Doby, the only two African-Americans big leaguers, play against each other for the first time. In the Sunday evening charity exhibition game, the Dodgers best the first-place Indians, 6-2, raising $15,000 for the Brooklyn Amateur Baseball Federation, which benefits sandlot ballplayers in Flatbush.
  • 2003 After being activated from the disabled list by the Dodgers, first baseman Fred McGriff bats cleanup and goes 2-for-4 in his return against the Padres. It was the Crime Dog’s first trip to the DL during his 18-year career.
  • 2010 After just seven days in the major leagues, Stephen Strasburg is named National League Player of the Week. The Nationals’ right-handed flamethrower starts his career 2-0 with 22 strikeouts, second to only Karl Spooner, who fanned five more batters in his first two major league starts with the Dodgers in 1954.

Lineups when available.

Jun 07

Game 55, 2022

Dodgers at White Sox, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCSCH, SPNLA, TBS (out-of-market only)

The visiting Dodgers hand the ball to RHP Mitch White (1-1, 4.79 ERA). The White Sox counter with RHP Michael Kopech (1-2, 2.20 ERA). This will be White’s fourth start of the season; he’s given up three earned runs in two of the previous three. It will be Kopech’s tenth start; he’s given up no earned runs in five of them.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1954 Dodger catcher Roy Campanella steals home in the top of the 12th inning in a 7-5 victory over St. Louis at Sportsman’s Park. Campy had added an insurance run with an eighth inning round-tripper, but the Redbirds scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score.
  • 1957 Howard University awards honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and recently retired Dodgers infielder Jackie Robinson. In the coming years, the former baseball great and the Baptist minister will often appear together at Civil Rights rallies, fundraising events, and demonstrations.

    Jackie Robinson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

  • 1982 Joining Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott, Billy Williams, and Joe Sewell, Dodger infielder Steve Garvey becomes only the fifth player in major league history to play in 1,000 consecutive games. The first baseman, establishing a National League record, will appear in 1207 consecutive games, before the streak ends next season when he breaks his thumb in a collision at home plate, playing for the Padres.

Lineups when available.