Game 161, 2021

Brewers at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin, SPNLA

Milwaukee’s Cy Young candidate RHP Corbin Burnes (11-4, 2.29 ERA) takes the mound for the Brewers. He’ll face the Dodgers’ biggest winner, LHP Julio Urías (19-3, 3.01 ERA).

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 After scoring six runs in the bottom of the second inning in Game 3, the Dodgers hold on to beat the Yankees, 9-8, for their first victory in the Fall Classic. The Ebbets Field contest takes three hours and five minutes to complete, making it the longest game ever played in World Series history.
  • 1947 In Game 3 of the Fall Classic, Yogi Berra hits the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history. In the seventh inning of a 9-8 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, the historic homer comes off Ralph Branca.
  • 1952 Carl Erskine strikes out 14 Yankees in Game 3 to establish a new World Series mark. The Dodger hurler’s performance bests the record of A’s Howard Ehmke, who struck out 13 Cubs in Game 1 of the 1929 Fall Classic.
  • 1963 In the Fall Classic opener, Sandy Koufax fans his 15th batter of the game when he strikes out pinch-hitter Harry Bright for the final out of LA’s 5-2 victory over the Yankees. The Dodger lefty, who struck out the first five Bronx Bombers he faced in the game, surpasses Brooklyn’s Carl Erskine’s 1953 World Series mark of 14, also accomplished against New York.

  • 1965 Los Angeles clinches the National League pennant on the next to last day of the season at Dodger Stadium when Sandy Koufax gets his 26th victory, defeating the Braves in the clincher, 3-1. The Dodgers, winning 14 of their last 15 games, finishes the campaign with a 97-65 record, two games ahead of the second-place Giants.
  • 1977 When Dusty Baker hits his 30th homer of the season against the Astros’ J.R. Richard, the Dodgers become the first team in major league history to have four players hit 30 or more home runs. He joins with Steve Garvey (33), Reggie Smith (32), and Ron Cey (30) to complete the foursome.
  • 1981 New York’s once-legendary center fielders, Giant Willie Mays, Dodger Duke Snider, and Yankee Mickey Mantle, are guests on the Warner Wolfe show. The appearance marks the first time all three Hall of Fame outfielders have been together on a television show.
  • 1985 Mets sophomore Dwight Gooden pitches a 5-2 complete-game victory over the Cardinals and will become the seventh pitcher in baseball history to finish the season leading both leagues in wins (24), ERA (1.53), and strikeouts (268). Doc joins Walter Johnson (Senators – 1913), Grover Cleveland Alexander (Phillies – 1915, 1917), Dazzy Vance (Dodgers – 1924), Lefty Grove (A’s -1930, 1931), Hal Newhouser (Tigers – 1945), and Sandy Koufax (Dodgers – 1963, 1965, 1966) in winning the major league pitching triple crown, but he will not follow the six legends into the Hall of Fame.
  • 2004 Steve Finley, for the second time in his career, hits a walk-off grand slam. The center fielder’s ninth-inning bases-loaded home run in the 7-3 win over the Giants at Chavez Ravine clinches the NL West title for the Dodgers. (Ed note: Charles Gottschalk inspired this entry – LP).

Lineup when available.

147 thoughts on “Game 161, 2021

  1. At the Nats-Bosox in DC. Lots of Sawx fans here as they fight for WC. Also scoreboard watching an actual scoreboard.

  2. Well, Price not doing it. Buh-bye? Mainly I don’t want the Brewers coming in hot tomorrow.

  3. Brewers have run into two hot teams of late. In their last 12 games they have played the Cards and Dodgers 9 times, and have a 1-8 record (pending tonight’s game).

  4. If the Gnats lose tomorrow, they will have burned their top three starters going into Game 163.

  5. Where’s RBI tonight I wonder? Maybe she will be around tomorrow to cover for me while I’m gone!

      • You: When someone passes you the bread rolls, just as the Dodgers score a run: “Yes!!!”

        Pause

        You: “I love these bread rolls!”

    • Gnatfans should thank their lucky stars that their team has been in first place as long as they have been. Good grief!

  6. Julio’s era quietly dipping below 3 to sit at 2.98.

    Also, after making it through 5, currently in line for win #20.

        • I’m not sure, but this was 1957 and Seattle was then a Reds’ farm team. Lefty O’Doul was the manager. In 1958, the big star was Oaklander Vada Pinson.

          • Before 1951 Season: Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent.

            December 3, 1956: Drafted by the Cincinnati Redlegs from the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 minor league draft.

            Before 1958 Season: Sent from the Cincinnati Redlegs to the Los Angeles Dodgers in an unknown transaction.

            October 13, 1958: Sent to the Detroit Tigers by the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a conditional deal.

            April 2, 1959: Returned by the Detroit Tigers to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a conditional deal.

            December 1, 1966: Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Bob Bailey and Gene Michael.

            October 14, 1968: Drafted by the Montreal Expos from the Pittsburgh Pirates as the 21st pick in the 1968 expansion draft.

            June 11, 1969: Traded by the Montreal Expos with Manny Mota to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich.

            October 24, 1972: Released by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

          • Wills credits Bobby Bragan for turning him into a switch-hitter and teaching him to bat left handed. Bragan said Wills should hit down on the ball with his speed. The rest is history. Bragan, a backup catcher, initially was among those who didn’t want to play with Jackie Robinson. But he changed his mind.

  7. That Steve Finley GS home run was one my happiest moments as a Dodger fan. Had just discovered Gameday and MLB radio that year, so was enraptured being able to actually listen to Vin calling games. And it had been 7 or 8 years since the Dodgers had made the playoffs. It all came together in the 9th inning of what had been a 3-0 deficit for the Dodgers…

      • Following in the footsteps of my dad… and his dad before him. I was raised on tales of dem Bums, the Boys of Summer, and Koufax and Maury Wills, etc.

        • I like to say I became a fan when I turned 4, as I have a sorta memory of a Dodger hitting a home run in the 1974 WS. But really it was the 1977 and 1978 WS teams that first cemented it for me.

          • My first series was 1956, when I was nine. My cousin was a Dodger fan; in the Pacific Northwest, we’d occasionally get their games on the radio. Later, Vin boomed in on KFI (after dark, of course).

          • Presuming your family are all Winnipeggers, how did they become Dodger fans? Geography matters or not?

          • My grandfather came to Winnipeg as teenager from Scotland. He learned to love baseball after he arrived. He was following the 1941 WS and had to choose between the Yankees and the Dodgers.

            I realize I was this close (shudder) to being a lifelong Yankee fan. But even as Brooklyn lost the WS, good won out over evil in terms of fandom!

  8. Dodgers could end up with the MLB leaders in wins (guaranteed to be Urias), era (working on it), and saves (Jansen with 37, 2 less than Melancon now, so not too likely).

    • Dodgers could have the batting champ (likely) and Cy Young Award winner (possibly) in two players they acquired in the second half of the season.

  9. Burnes 2.44 era. Buehler 2.49.
    Dodgers need to score a few more to help Buehler get the era title.

  10. If the Dodgers win tonight, the pressure would be on the Giants on Sunday. At this point, we’re just playing with the house’s money.

  11. I see the Gnats only got five hits,which is encouraging. They’ll put steroid boy on the mound tomorrow, but no indication as to who’ll go for the Pads.

  12. As the legendary broadcaster Mel Allen used to say, “How do you like that?”
    I do.