Aug 03

Game 108, 2021

Astros at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet SW, SPNLA

RHP Lance McCullers (8-2, 3.23 ERA) pitches for the visiting Astros. He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (11-1, 2.19 ERA).

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1959 In the second All-Star Game played this summer, Yogi Berra’s two-run home run off Dodgers right-hander Don Drysdale in the third inning at the LA Memorial Coliseum proves to be the difference in the American League’s 5-3 victory over the Senior Circuit. The home run will be the last one hit by a Bronx Bomber in a Mid-Summer Classic game for 41 years until Derek Jeter goes deep in 2001.
  • 1995 Making his first start for the Rockies since being acquired from the Mets, Brett Saberhagen gives up 13 hits and walks three batters, but gets the win in the team’s 9-4 win over the Dodgers. The sellout crowd gives their new hurler an enthusiastic standing ovation when he departs the game with one out in the seventh inning.
  • 1997 Jeromy Burnitz, coming off the bench in the Brewers’ 6-5 loss to Seattle at County Stadium, homers as a pinch hitter for the second consecutive time, tying an American League record. The major league mark for consecutive pinch-hit appearances with a home run is three, shared by Lee Lacy (Dodgers – May 2, 6, and 17, 1978) and Del Unser (Phillies – June 30, July 5 and 10, 1979).
  • 2013 The first-place Dodgers set a franchise record, winning their 13th consecutive game on the road with their 3-0 victory over the Cubs in Chicago. The Giants established the National League mark in 1916 when the team won 17 straight games away from the Polo Grounds.

Lineup when available.

Jul 27

Game 102, 2021

Dodgers at Giants, 6:45 PM, TV: NBCS BA, SPNLA

LHP Julio Urías (12-3, 3.63 ERA) goes for the visiting Dodgers. He’ll face RHP Logan Webb (4-3, 3.54 ERA) of the Giants.

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.]

Lineup when available.

Jul 10

Game 90, 2021

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Arizona, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

The D-Backs send LHP Caleb Smith (2-5, 3.45 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (8-1, 2.49 ERA).

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1943 Some of the Dodgers, led by infielder Arky Vaughan, threaten not to play in today’s game to protest the suspension of their teammate Bobo Newsome by manager Leo Durocher. The Ebbets Field contest begins ten minutes late. Brooklyn plundered the Pirates, 23-6, and in a few days, Newsome, who had argued with his skipper over a pitch selection in a previous game, is traded to the Browns for Archie McKain and Fritz Ostermueller.
  • 1953 With Roy Campanella’s home run off Giants hurler Sal Maglie the Dodgers establish a National League record, homering in their 24th consecutive game. Campy’s homer is the only run Brooklyn scores as the Giants extend their winning streak to seven with the 6-1 victory.
  • 1979 With his team trailing the Padres 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs at Veterans Stadium, Phillies pinch hitter Del Unser hits a three-run walk-off home run, giving the team a 6-5 comeback victory. The dramatic dinger makes Del Unser only the second player in major league history to hit a homer in three consecutive at bats as a pinch hitter, a feat also accomplished by Lee Lacy of the Dodgers last season.
  • 1984 At San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, Dodger southpaw Fernando Valenzuela and Mets rookie Dwight Gooden combine to strike out six consecutive American League All-Stars on the 50th anniversary of Carl Hubbell’s memorable 1934 Midsummer Classic performance of setting down five future Hall of Famers on strikes. Dwight Gooden, at the age of 19, becomes the youngest player ever to participate in an All-Star Game.

In one of the most famous events in baseball history, at the All Star Game in 1934 in New York’s Polo Grounds, Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell faces a starting lineup comprised of nine eventual Hall of Famers. ‘King Carl’ is up to the unique occurrence in baseball history when he fans five batters in a row after letting the first two hitters reach base: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin.

Lineup when available.

Jul 09

Game 89, 2021

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Arizona, SPNLA

RHP Taylor Widener (1-0, 2.63 ERA) goes for the visiting D-Backs while the Dodgers ask their bullpen to carry them again, starting with LHP David Price (4-0, 3.58 ERA).

Today in Dodgers history:

  • 1956 After Commissioner Ford Frick shares his belief that hurlers lack support in the MVP voting, the BBWAA, by a narrow margin of 14-12, votes to establish the Cy Young Award to honor the major leagues’ most outstanding pitcher. The first recipient of the Cy Young Award will be Dodger Don Newcombe, ironically the winner of the Most Valuable Player Award.
  • 1996 Mike Piazza, named the All-Star Game’s MVP, hits a moon shot into the upper-deck at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium. The Dodger backstop also strokes an RBI double, helping the National League beat the AL, 6-0.

Lineup:

Jun 26

Game 77, 2021

Cubs at Dodgers, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: FOX

RHP Alec Mills (3-1, 5.18 ERA) goes for the Cubbies and LHP Julio Urias (9-3, 3.99 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1944 At the Polo Grounds with over 50,000 fans looking on, the New York major league teams face each other in a six inning three-team game (a team played consecutive innings against the other two teams then sat out an inning) to raise money for war bonds. The charity contest, billed as the Tri-Cornered Baseball Game, ends with the final score of Dodgers 5, Yankees 1, Giants 0.

  • 1968 Cardinals right-hander Bob Gibson tosses his fifth consecutive shutout as he blanks the Pirates, 3-0, in the first game of a doubleheader played at Busch Stadium. The future Hall of Famer’s accomplishment is one shy of the major league mark, set earlier in the month by Don Drysdale of the Dodgers.
  • 1999 At Candlestick Park, Todd Hundley’s second homer of the day, a ninth inning three-run shot to deep right field off Giants’ closer Robb Nen, sparks the Dodgers’ 7-6 comeback win. Ellis Burks had put San Francisco ahead in the bottom of the eighth, 6-4, with a three-run homer off Alan Mills.
  • 2011 Three days after Jim Riggleman’s sudden resignation, the Nationals name senior advisor Davey Johnson as the team’s manager for the remainder of the season. The 68 year-old former skipper compiled an 1148-888 (.564) record during his 14 years in the dugout with the Mets, Dodgers, Reds, and Orioles, finishing lower than third place on only three occasions.

Things of no great import that are nonetheless interesting, Number 317: In 1995 Before rejoining the Yankees to make a start in Chicago, Columbus Clipper starter Mariano Rivera pitches a five-inning no-hitter against the International League’s Rochester Red Wings in Ohio’s Cooper Stadium. During his tenure in the minor leagues, Mo, the future major league leader in career saves, is used primarily as a starter, starting 68 games, including seven complete contests, en route to compiling a 27-18 record along with a 2.35 ERA.

I had no clue Rivera had been a starter and that he was that good at it.

Lineup:

Jun 19

Game 70, 2021

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Arizona, SPNLA

RHP Walker Buehler (6-0, 2.38 ERA) takes the hill for the Dodgers. He’ll face the Diamondbacks’ RHP Matt Peacock (2-4, 5.26 ERA). Buehler hasn’t lost a regular season game since 2019; he’s up to 22 straight games. Peacock has had a horrible June in which he’s given up nine runs in 11 1/3 innings in three starts.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1952 Carl Erskine throws a no-hitter against the Cubs in the Dodgers’ 5-0 victory at Ebbets Field. A third inning walk to the opposing pitcher, which accounts for the only runner to reach base, may have been a result of skipper Chuck Dressen telling the 25 year-old right-hander to speed up his pitches due to an impending storm.
  • 1963 At Yankee Stadium, the Mayor’s Trophy Game is revived, with the cellar-dwelling Mets beating the mighty Yanks, 6-2. Prior to leaving for the West Coast, the Dodgers would play the Bronx Bombers in the annual midsummer exhibition contest to raise money for sandlot baseball teams.
  • 1972 At Three Rivers Stadium, Roberto Clemente hits a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to become the Pirates’ all-time RBI leader. The Pittsburgh right fielder’s three ribbies in the 13-3 drubbing of the Dodgers give the future Hall of Famer a total of 1,274 runs batted in for the Bucs.
  • 1973 In different games, the Reds’ Pete Rose and Dodger Willie Davis both collect their 2,000th career hit. The Cincinnati infielder, known as ‘Charlie Hustle’, reaches the milestone with a single against San Francisco in the Reds’ 4-0 victory at Candlestick Park, and the L.A. outfielder, known as ‘3-Dog’, reaches the plateau in front of the home crowd with a two-run home run in the team’s 3-0 victory over Atlanta.
  • 1990 Gary Carter breaks a National League mark when he catches his 1,862nd career game in the Giants’ 4-3 loss to San Diego. The ‘Kid’ surpasses Al Lopez, who had established the record for backstops in 1946 after playing 18 seasons in the Senior Circuit with the Dodgers, Braves, and Pirates.

Also of note: In 2003 during a College World Series contest against Stanford, a pitch strikes Cal State Fullerton shortstop Justin Turner on the left side of his face as he attempts to bunt. Adding insult to injury, the future Mets and Dodgers infielder also suffers a broken ankle on the play when he unsuccessfully tries to avoid getting hit by the 87-mph fastball thrown by Matt Manship.

Lineup when available.

Jun 11

Game 63, 2021

Rangers at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Southwest, SPNLA

The Rangers send the hard-luck RHP Mike Foltynewicz (1-6, 4.75 ERA) to the Dodger Stadium mound to face the Dodgers’ LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-5, 3.66 ERA). Foltynewicz has several quality starts in April and May despite his six losses. Kershaw has only faced the Rangers twice in his career.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1957 The Dodgers’ Roy Campanella surpasses former Cub and Giant backstop Gabby Hayes to establish a new National League mark when he hits his 237th career round-tripper as a catcher. Campy’s historic home run comes off Ray Crone in the seventh inning of Brooklyn’s 7-2 loss to the Braves at Ebbets Field.
  • 1972 LA outfielders Manny Mota and Willie Davis both hit inside-the-park homers down the foul lines at Dodger Stadium off Bucs’ starter Bruce Kison. Roberto Clemente’s seventh inning home run over the fence proves to be the difference in Pittsburgh’s 7-5 victory, their 21st win in their last 26 games.

Also, in 1938 In the first of two consecutive no-hitters he will hurl, Johnny Vander Meer keeps the Boston Bees hitless in Cincinnati’s 3-0 victory at Crosley Field. The Reds’ southpaw, in the first night game played in Brooklyn, continues his no-no mojo four days later by beating the Dodgers, 6-0, without giving up a hit in the Ebbets Field contest.

Lineup when available.

Jun 06

Game 59, 2021

Dodgers at Braves, 10:20 AM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Southeast, MLBN (out-of-market only), SPNLA

The visiting Dodgers hand the ball to RHP Trevor Bauer (6-3, 2.24 ERA) and ask him to win the rubber match. The Braves counter with LHP Max Fried (2-3, 5.12 ERA), whom the Dodgers last saw in Game Six of the 2020 NLCS. They got three runs off him in the first inning but nothing in the remainder of his 6 2/3 inning effort.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1941 The Giants join the Dodgers and Senators in requiring their players wear protective headgear. The durable plastic liners, which are sewn into the hat, don’t provide a defense against defeats when the team drops both ends of a doubleheader to Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds, 5-4 and 4-3.
  • 1957 After an 86-minute delay, the first fog out in major league history occurs at Ebbets Field when the umpires call off the Dodgers’ game against the Cubs due to extremely poor visibility. Brooklyn has a 1-0 lead when the game is postponed with one out in the bottom of the second inning.
  • 1968 The day after Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles, Maury Wills refuses to play in a 4-2 loss to the Dodgers, his former team. The 35 year-old shortstop stays in the Chavez Ravine training room, reading RFK’s book, To Seek a New World.
  • 1994 Mike Piazza hits the longest home run recorded in the history of Joe Robbie Stadium when his first career grand slam is estimated to travel 477 feet. The catcher’s Ruthian blast, one of four Dodger round-trippers during the Florida contest, isn’t enough to thwart the Marlins’ 11-10 come-from-behind victory.
  • 2006 On the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the century, the Dodgers score six runs in the sixth inning during the sixth game of the homestand, beating the Mets, 8-5. On 05/05/05, the Twins scored five times in the fifth inning en route to a 9-0 victory over the Indians.
  • 2007 At Petco Park, Trevor Hoffman becomes the first reliever to save 500 games. It takes the all-time saves leader 10 ninth inning pitches, including an 87 mph fastball thrown past Russell Martin for the final out, to reach the milestone in the Padres’ 5-3 victory over the Dodgers.

Another event of note: in 1944 Baseball canceled its scheduled eight-game slate due to the Allied invasion of Normandy known as D-Day. The military operation has 60,000 Allied troops, including six minor leaguers who will be killed in action, landing along a heavily protected 50-mile stretch of the coastline in France to begin an offensive assault against Hitler and the Nazi party. Of less momentous note, in 2000, thanks to the Angels’ video crew playing a clip from the 1994 movie “Ace Ventura, Pet Detective” on the JumboTron, the Rally Monkey is born. With the words “Rally Monkey” superimposed over a monkey jumping up and down in the Jim Carrey movie, the crowd goes wild when Anaheim scores two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Giants, 6-5.

Lineup when available.

May 27

Game 50, 2021

Giants at Dodgers, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: MLBN (out-of-market only), NBCS BA, SPNLA

The Giants send ex-Dodger Alex Wood (5-1, 1.93 ERA) to the mound in the first of a four-game series. The Dodgers intend this to be a bullpen game, with David Price (1-0, 3.95 ERA) possibly starting.

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.

Oct 27

World Series Game Six, 2020

Rays vs Dodgers, 5:08 PM PDT, TV: Fox

The visiting Rays send LHP Blake Snell to the mound to fend off elimination, while the Dodgers send RHP Tony Gonsolin out to end the Series today. Snell started Game Two of the Series and went 4 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and four walks while striking out nine. Gonsolin started Game Two against Snell, but he was being used as an “opener” and went just 1 1/3 innings, giving up a home run and taking the loss in a 6-4 game the Rays won.

The Dodgers don’t need Vin Scully, of all people, giving the Rays any bulletin board material!

“I don’t mean to put anybody down,” Scully, the beloved Hall of Fame broadcaster, told USA TODAY Sports on Monday, “but when the series started, I thought the Dodgers would win in five (games). Not that I know anything, but my thought is, ‘What’s taking them so long?’

“That’s probably a dumb thing to say, but I guess it’s not so much the failings of the Dodgers, but it’s a tribute to the Rays. They don’t look very formidable on television, I tell you that. They don’t look like a team that scores a lot of runs. You look at them, and they’ll leave the bases loaded, or nobody out and runners on first and third and trying to steal home. They just don’t have enough firepower.

“Watching the Dodgers all year, the Dodgers are a far better team, a far more formidable team. I don’t think the people in Tampa will argue. Sometimes the weak beats the strong, but these fellows don’t impose a formidable threat.

“I would be totally and completely shocked if they lost.”

October 27 has had more baseball history than I expected, most of it coming in the past 20 years as extra rounds of playoffs have extended the number of days required to finish the World Series.

Lineups:

Rays:

Dodgers: