Tag Archives: Sandy Koufax

Aug 13

Game 112, 2022

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Dodgers at Royals, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: BSKC, SPNLA

LHP Andrew Heaney (1-0, 0.64 ERA) goes for the Dodgers and RHP Brad Keller (6-12, 4.45 ERA) goes for the Royals. This will be Heaney’s fourth time taking a regular turn in the rotation since coming off the IL. He has yet to get further than 4 2/3 innings deep into a game in that time, but his ERA has dropped in each one. Keller has been a workhorse for the Royals; his 21 starts is just short of ranking in the top ten in all of baseball. Unfortunately for him, his twelve losses lead MLB.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1910 In a game which features each team having 38 at-bats, 13 hits, 12 assists, 2 errors, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 hit batsman, and 1 passed ball, the Pirates and the Superbas (later to be known as the Dodgers) play to what else – an 8-8 tie.
  • 1951 Any fan who shows up with a musical instrument during the Dodgers’ Musical Depreciation Night is admitted free to the Ebbets Field contest against Boston. With an assortment of trumpets, trombones, zithers, tubas, accordions, bugles, flutes, various type of drums, violins, mandolins, assorted horns, a glockenspiel, a washboard, and a piano, 2,426 fans, which is about 10% of the total crowd, take advantage of the team’s unusual promotion.
  • 1965 Dean Chance establishes an American League record when he fans to extend his streak to 11 consecutive plate appearances with a strikeout. The Angels’ right-hander falls one shy of the major league mark set by Sandy Koufax, who whiffed in 12 consecutive plate appearances in 1955.
  • 1982 At Chavez Ravine, Dodger second baseman Steve Sax steals his 41st base to set a franchise record for rookies when he swipes second base in LA’s 6-1 victory over San Francisco. The eventual National League Rookie of the Year, the fourth consecutive Dodger to win the award, will extend the record to 49.
  • 2006 LA’s Greg Maddux and SF’s Jason Schmidt hook up in a classic West Coast pitcher’s duel, reminiscent of match-ups of Koufax and Marichal, as the Dodgers beat the Giants, 1-0, thanks to Russell Martin’s 10th inning walk-off home run. When Giants slugger Barry Bonds lines into a double play in the first inning, it marks the only time in baseball history a 300 game winner pitches to a batter with over 700 homers.
  • 2007 For the first time in 1,303 games, Nomar Garciaparra of the Dodgers is ejected from a game. The 12-year veteran infielder, who is tossed by home plate umpire Tom Hallion for arguing a called third strike in the fourth inning, is restrained by first base coach Mariano Duncan when he continues to shout and points his bat toward the umpire.

Lineups when available.

Aug 07

Game 108, 2022

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Padres at Dodgers, 4:00 PM PDT, TV: ESPN

RHP Yu Darvish (10-4, 3.30 ERA) comes back to the Dodger Stadium mound for one of the few times since his calamitous 2017 World Series appearances for the Dodgers. He’s having one of the best seasons of his 10-year career, reaching double-digits in wins for only the fifth time. He’ll face Tyler Anderson (12-1, 2.89 ERA), who’s having by far the best season of his seven-year career. In his last start he had a horrible fifth inning against the Giants; in that game he gave up five runs on six hits and a wild pitch but still had a 6-5 lead when he was pulled from the game and got the win.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2003 Fireballer Eric Gagne ties the single-season record for consecutive saves to start a season, established in 1995 by Jose Mesa of the Indians. The Dodger closer strikes out the Reds’ side in the ninth inning for his 38th save this season and 46th consecutive regular-season save overall.

In other baseball history, in 1972 the Baseball Hall of Fame inducts pitchers Sandy Koufax (1st year of eligibility, 86.9% of the vote), the author of four no-hitters, and three hundred game winner Early Wynn (4th year, 76.0%). Yogi Berra (2nd year, 85.6%), who retired as the AL leader for catcher putouts with 8,723, is also enshrined in Cooperstown.

Lineups when available.

Jul 27

Game 97, 2022

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Nationals at Dodgers, 12:10 PM PDT, TV: MASN 2, SPNLA

LHP Patrick Corbin (4-13, 6.02 ERA) tries to finish a sweep of the Dodgers while LHP Andrew Heaney (1-0, 0.59 ERA) tries to prevent it. Corbin’s performance has fallen off a cliff and no one seems to know why. Since the start of the 2020 season, Corbin has a 5.61 ERA in 337 innings. There are lots of theories but no answers. His contract has now become a source of speculation: should he and it be added to any trade of Juan Soto, as the Red Sox added David Price to the Mookie Betts deal?

Heaney, meanwhile, is coming off a long stretch on the IL with shoulder discomfort. Before it occurred, he had shown the Dodgers that offering him a one-year contract last fall might pan out. He’d made two starts in April, going 10 1/3 innings and giving up just 4 hits and one run.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1918 In his major league debut, Robins (Dodgers) starter Harry Heitman, after giving up hits to four consecutive batters in a 22-7 loss to the Cardinals, is pulled from the Ebbets Field contest. The 21 year-old Brooklyn rookie right-hander will never hurl again in the big leagues, ending his career with an ERA of infinity.
  • 1959 The Continental League is formally announced, with franchises located in Denver, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, and Toronto. The concept of the new major league is the brainchild of William Shea, an attorney who proposed the idea a year after the Giants and Dodgers left New York City to move to the West Coast.
  • 1966 Sandy Koufax strikes out 16 Phillies and Jim Bunning whiffs 12 Dodgers in the first 11 innings of a pitching duel between future Hall of Famers at Chavez Ravine. With both starters out of the game, Los Angeles beats Philadelphia, 2-1, thanks to an unearned run scored in the bottom of the twelfth inning.
  • 1998 Tony Womack of the Pirates establishes a new major league mark by not grounding out into a double play in 888 consecutive at-bats, breaking the record previously established by Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser in 1946.
  • 2005 Ryan Freel becomes the first player in the Reds’ 136-year history to steal five bases in a game, including two in the ninth that moves him to third base, where he scores the eventual winning run on Felipe Lopez’s sacrifice fly. The Cincinnati second baseman’s thievery contributes to the team’s 7-6 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. [Note: the Dodgers’ catcher was Jason Phillips, in his only season with the team.]

Lineups when available.

Jul 14

Game 88, 2022

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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.

Jun 30

Game 75, 2022

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Padres at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports San Diego, SPNLA

RHP Joe Musgrove (8-1, 2.12 ERA) goes for the Padres while RHP Mitch White (1-1, 4.25 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. Musgrove took his first loss of the year in his last start, giving up six runs on seven hits in six innings against the Phillies. White has started half of his ten appearances this season and has gotten through the fifth inning twice.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1962 Sandy Koufax becomes the first Dodger southpaw to throw a no-hitter since Nap Rucker accomplished the feat in 1908 when he keeps the expansion Mets hitless in the team’s 5-0 victory in Los Angeles. The 26 year-old left-hander, en route to fanning 13, strikes out the first three batters he faces – Richie Ashburn, Rod Kanehl, and Felix Mantilla, on nine pitches to start the game with an immaculate inning.
  • 1973 With an 8-7 extra-inning loss to L.A. at Riverfront Stadium, the Reds finish the day 11 games behind the first-place Dodgers. Led by the eventual National League MVP Pete Rose, who will win the batting title with a .338 average, Cincinnati will go on a 60-26 tear to capture the Western Division by 3.5 games.
  • 1985 Pedro Guerrero ties a major league record by hitting 15 home runs in June when he goes deep off Bruce Sutter in his final at bat of the month. The eighth inning two-run round-tripper will prove to be the difference in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Chavez Ravine.
  • 1997 Rangers’ hurler Bobby Witt becomes the first American League pitcher to hit a home run in a regular-season game in nearly 25 years. His round-tripper off Ismael Valdes helps Texas to beat the Dodgers in interleague action, 3-2.
  • 2013 “When it comes to compassion, the Rays are batting .000.” – DELCIANNA WINDERS, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement at the PETA Foundation.

    Miguel Cabrera, joining Luis Gonzalez of the Dodgers, becomes only the second player to hit a homer into the 10,000-gallon touch tank at Tropicana Field. The Tigers slugger’s round-tripper draws the attention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who, in a written letter to the Rays’ organization, requests the team to allow the 30 or more captive cownose rays be returned to their natural habitat because the animals are subject to harassment, loud crowds, and at the risk of being injured by baseballs.

Lineups when available.

Jun 22

Game 67, 2022

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Dodgers at Reds, 3:40 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Ohio, SPNLA

LHP Tyler Anderson (8-0, 2.82 ERA) is the second undefeated pitcher the Dodgers can throw at their opponents along with Gonsolin; he’ll face the Reds’ RHP Luis Castillo (2-4, 3.33 ERA). In his past six outings, Castillo is 2-3 with a 2.72 ERA and has made four straight quality starts. Castillo has given previous Dodgers teams fits:

Castillo will face the Dodgers for the first time since tossing 6 1/3 shutout innings on Sept. 17, 2021, and earning a 3-1 victory. Lifetime in four starts vs. Los Angeles, Castillo is 3-0 with a 1.90 ERA and a .195 opponents’ batting average.

In 10 starts, Anderson has pitched through or past the fifth inning eight times. He has a season average of 5.2 frames per outing, and he has earned a quality start five times in those 10 starts.

The Dodgers haven’t won more than two games in a row since late May, the LA Times tells us.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1936 At Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field, Ival Goodman hits an unusual home run when his fifth-inning fly ball lands and stays on top of the scoreboard in right field. With the perched ball considered in play, the three Dodger outfielders watch the Reds’ right fielder round the bases for an easy inside-the park round-tripper in their 7-2 loss to Cincinnati.

  • 1947 After pitching a no-hitter four days ago against the Braves, Reds hurler Ewell Blackwell loses his chance for a second consecutive no-hitter when Dodger second baseman Eddie Stanky singles with one out the ninth inning at Crosley Field.
  • 1959 Sandy Koufax goes the distance, beating Philadelphia at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, 6-2. The Dodger southpaw fans 16 Phillies to set a new record for strikeouts in a night game.
  • 1966 At the Astrodome, Houston sets a home attendance mark which will last for 22 years. Dodger southpaw Sandy Koufax, who tosses a complete game to improve his record to 13-2, beats the hometown team, 5-2, in front of the 50,908 fans attending the Wednesday contest.

Lineups when available.

Jun 08

Game 56, 2022

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Dodgers at White Sox, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCSCH, SPNLA

The Dodgers give the ball to one of their surprising pitchers, RHP Tony Gonsolin (6-0, 1.59 ERA). He’ll facc off with the Sox’ RHP Johnny Cueto (0-2, 2.92 ERA). I don’t think there’s much more I can say about Gonsolin’s performance so far this season except possibly “Wow.” Cueto went 7-7 for the Giants in 2021 and the team declined his $22M option at season’s end. He signed a minor league contract with the White Sox and the team brought him up on May 16.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1952 Prior to the start of a twin bill against the Reds, Dodger manager Chuck Dressen tells Cal Abrams if he wants to stay with the team that the benchwarmer will need to verbally taunt the skipper of the opposing club. Much to his chagrin, the spare outfielder, who spends the entire first game of a double-header severely heckling his opponents and their leader, is informed between games he has been traded to Cincinnati, effective tomorrow, and will need to report to his new field boss, one very angry Roger Hornsby.
  • 1955 After only eight games and 13 innings of work, the Dodgers option rookie left-handed pitcher Tom Lasorda to Montreal to make room for a bonus baby who is also a southpaw. Sandy Koufax, who had injured his ankle, comes off the 30-day disabled list.
  • 1968 Dodger right-hander Don Drysdale’s scoreless streak ends at a record 58 2/3 consecutive innings when Tony Taylor is driven in by Howie Bedell’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. It will be the Phillies outfielder’s only RBI for the season.
  • 2007 With their 3-0 victory over Detroit at Comerica Park, the Mets begin a span of 18 games to become the first team in baseball history to play six consecutive series against six different clubs that all participated in the playoffs the previous season. New York will compile an 8-10 record during the stretch playing against the Tigers, Dodgers, Yankees, Twins, A’s, and the Cardinals.
  • 2012 Six Mariners pitchers combine to hurl the franchise’s third no-hitter when starter Kevin Millwood leaves the game with an injury and five relievers, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen, keep the Dodgers hitless in the team’s 1-0 victory at Safeco Field. Brian Runge, the home plate umpire, was also behind the dish for Philip Humber’s perfect game, making him the first ump to call balls and strikes for two no-hitters in one season since Drew Coble accomplished the feat in 1990.

Lineups when available.

Jun 04

Game 53, 2022

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

LHP David Peterson (2-0, 3.03 ERA) pitches for the Mets and RHP Walker Buehler (6-1, 3.22 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. Peterson lost the last half of the 2021 season to a broken toe which needed surgery. Buehler has not yet rounded into his usual form, good win-loss record or no.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1957 At a seventy-five minute show-down meeting at City Hall with Walter O’Malley and Horace Stoneham, the club presidents of the Dodgers and Giants, respectively, Mayor Robert Wagner is told by the owners neither club has a commitment to move out of New York – and none to stay in the Big Apple. The teams, who have been given permission by the National League to explore the possibility of moving their franchises to the West Coast, are assured by His Honor that the city will be of assistance in replacing the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field, the aging ballparks the clubs call home.
  • 1964 At Connie Mack Stadium, Sandy Koufax throws his third no-hitter in three years, blanking the Phillies 3-0. The Dodgers’ southpaw, who will add a perfect game to his resumé next season, joins Bob Feller as the only other modern major leaguer to pitch three career hitless games.
  • 1968 Don Drysdale, pitching his sixth consecutive shutout, defeats the Pirates, 5-0. The Dodger right-hander will extend his major league record scoreless streak to 58.2 innings before yielding a run in his next start. Later that evening at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Robert Kennedy, giving his victory speech for his win in the California primary before being fatally shot, tells his followers in the packed ballroom, “I’d like to express my high regard to Don Drysdale, who pitched his sixth straight shutout tonight.”
  • 1972 The Dodgers retire Roy Campanella’s uniform number 39. Campy, who won the MVP three times catching for Brooklyn in the fifties, joins Jackie Robinson (42) and Sandy Koufax (32) to be honored in this manner.
  • 1976 In an 11-0 victory at Dodger Stadium, Mets right fielder Dave Kingman hits three home runs. Sky King’s two-run dinger and two three-run round trippers drive in eight runs, a new club record.
  • 1990 En route to a 6-0 complete-game victory, 22 year-old Dodger right-hander Ramon Martinez limits Atlanta to three hits. Pedro’s older brother, who will finish the season with a 20-6 record, strikes out 18 batters during the contest.
  • 1998 The Dodgers trade the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year Hideo Nomo (2-7 with a 5.05 ERA) and reliever Brad Clontz to the Mets for pitchers Dave Mlicki and Greg McMichael.

Lineups when available.

May 30

Game 48, 2022

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Pirates at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet Pittsburgh, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

RHP Zach Thompson (2-4, 5.50 ERA) goes for the Buccos and RHP Walker Buehler (6-1, 2.91 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. Thompson lost three of his four starts in April but went 2-1 in May. Buehler was 2-1 in April and 4-0 in May.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1946 In Boston’s 10-8 victory over the Dodgers, Bama Rowell’s long drive hits the Bulova clock located above the right field scoreboard, making the left-fielder the first major leaguer to reach the famous landmark at Ebbets Field. The crushing four-bagger, that shatters the face of the clock causing glass to cascade onto Dodgers right fielder Dixie Walker, is believed to be the inspiration for author Bernard Malamud having Roy Hobbs, the hero of his 1952 novel “The Natural,” belt a similar home run, which also rains glass over the diamond.
  • 1962 Frank Thomas strokes a double off Sandy Koufax in the Mets’ 13-6 loss to Los Angeles, extending his franchise mark of consecutive games with a hit to 18 for the expansion team. The streak, which will be only one shy of Maury Wills’ league-leading total for the season, is halted when the New York left fielder goes 0-for-4 in the nightcap of the Dodgers’ sweep at the Polo Grounds.
  • 1986 In a 6-4 loss to the Dodgers at Three Rivers Stadium, future home run king Barry Bonds goes 0-for-5 in his major league debut. The Pirates center fielder, batting leadoff, strikes out three times.

Lineups when available.

May 11

Game 29, 2022

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Dodgers at Pirates, 9:35 AM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet PIT, SPNLA

RHP Ryan Pepiot (2-0, 2.05 ERA at Oklahoma City) makes his big league debut for the Dodgers, three years removed from Butler University in Indianapolis. He’ll face LHP Dillon Peters (3-1, 2.16 ERA) of the Pirates. Peters has had two years with the Marlins and two with the Angels; he’s in his second year with the Pirates.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1963 Sandy Koufax takes a perfect game into the eighth inning before walking Ed Bailey on a 3-and-2 pitch, but will finish the Dodger Stadium contest with the second of four career no-hitters, blanking the Giants, 8-0. The Los Angeles southpaw beats San Francisco ace Juan Marichal, who will also author a no-hitter next month.

Lineups when available.