Category Archives: Dodgers History

Jun 24

Game 76, 2018

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Dodgers at Mets, 10:10 AM PDT, TV: SPNLA, WPIX

The Dodgers ask LHP Rich Hill (1-2, 4.99 ERA) to win the third game of the series while the Mets ask LHP Jerry Blevins (1-1, 4.86 ERA) to make his first start in 533 big league appearances. They scratched the scheduled Jerry Vargas overnight.

Ken Gurnick reports that Kershaw reports “no physical issues” after his first start in a month yesterday.

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 thievery of the dish, something the rookie will accomplish 19 times during his ten-year career.

Lineup:


Jun 23

Game 75, 2018

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Dodgers at Mets, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: Fox

LHP Clayton Kershaw (1-4, 2.76 ERA) makes his first start since going on the disabled list with back pain on June 1. He’d made only two starts in May sandwiched around his first trip to the DL this season with a biceps injury. He draws a nasty assignment: keep pace with the Mets’ ace RHP Jacob DeGrom (5-2, 1.51 ERA). In his last eleven starts DeGrom sports a 0.90 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings.

Per the Associated Press: Kershaw “will be limited against the Mets, with 21-year-old rookie LHP Caleb Ferguson (0-1, 7.59 ERA) ready in reserve.”

On this date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1930 The Dodgers get twelve consecutive hits in a 19-6 win over the Pirates at Forbes Field. Two of the dozen hits in the eight-run sixth inning include a pair of homers hit by Brooklyn outfielder Babe Herman.
  • 1986 The Braves strand 18 runners on base, establishing a National League record. Enough Atlanta players do score to give the team a 6-5 victory over L.A. at Dodger Stadium.

Other notable events in baseball on this date include Ernie Shore’s near-perfect game in 1917, when he relieved Babe Ruth (ejected for arguing balls and strikes and possibly punching the umpire) and retired 26 consecutive batters.

Lineup:


Jun 22

Game 74, 2018

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Dodgers at Mets, 4:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, SNY, MLBN (out-of-market only)

The Dodgers send LHP Alex Wood (2-5, 4.22 ERA) to the hill to face the Mets’ RHP Zack Wheeler (2-5, 4.82 ERA). Wood’s had an uneven season so far, but his last outing showed signs he may be coming out of it. He went 5 2/3 innings against the Giants on Saturday, giving up four hits and just one run and getting his second win of the year. Wheeler has had a rough first half but shown some improvement recently. Over his last eight games he’s got a 4.24 ERA in 46 2/3 innings even though he’s 0-3 over that period.

With perhaps only one significant financial bullet in their holster, the Dodgers must determine what their most pressing need is, says Andy McCullough of the LA Times.

Kemp’s resurgence could take him to the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Utley has been reactivated from the DL.

The Dodgers Foundation just dedicated its 48th and 49th “Dreamfields,” baseball and softball fields in underserved communities.

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.

Lineup:


Jun 20

Game 73, 2018

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Dodgers at Cubs, 11:20 AM PDT, TV: SPNLA, WGN, MLBN (out-of-market only)

The Dodgers start their best and likely only All Star candidate among the starters, Ross Stripling (6-1, 1.76 ERA). In addition to winning six consecutive games, he’s gotten into the seventh inning his last two times out, saving the bullpen some work. He’ll face another All Star candidate in 34-year-old veteran John Lester (8-2, 2.28 ERA). Lester’s won his last four road starts, but that doesn’t mean he’s bad at home: he’s 3-1 at Wrigley Field this year. He’s also 4-0 in day games. He’s given up just eight hits in his last 20 innings. For comparison, Stripling has given up 12 hits in his last 18.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 2008 In recognition of their significant contributions to the community, the Dodgers become the first sports franchise to be honored by the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The team receives an Award of Excellence star, which is placed in the Walk of Fame, which includes a constellation of celebrities, real and fictional, who have had a major impact on the entertainment industry.
  • 2009 Jeff Weaver beats his kid brother Jered when the visiting Dodgers best the Halos, 6-5, at Angel Stadium. The Northridge, California natives become the eighth set of siblings in major league history to start against one another.

Lineup when available.

Jun 19

Game 72, 2018

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Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, ABC 7

For the Dodgers it’ll be LHP Rich Hill (1-2, 6.20 ERA) in the nightcap of this forced doubleheader. He has had a rough start to 2018, starting just six games and lasting just 24 2/3 innings in the first 2 1/2 months of the season. He’s been on the DL twice, first with a cracked fingernail and then with a blister. Mike Montgomery (2-2, 3.31 ERA) will start for the Cubs. This will be his 23rd appearance. The first 18 were in relief, but he’s started in his last four games. He’s got an impressive 1.14 ERA over those starts in 23 2/3 innings, too.


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 18

Game 71, 2018

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Update: This game will begin at 10:05 AM PDT as Game One of a doubleheader

Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBC Sports Chicago

The visiting Dodgers send RHP Kenta Maeda (4-4, 3.61 ERA) out for his second start after a stint on the DL with a strained hip. In the first one he went five innings, gave up five hits, walked three and hit a batter but allowed only two runs while striking out one. He reported no trouble with the hip and the team is expecting him to do even better this time out. He’ll face RHP Tyler Chatwood (3-5, 4.12 ERA), who’s had an up-and-down season. He was pretty good in April, pretty bad in May, and so far in June he’s done a little better than May. In 13 starts he’s only gotten past the fifth inning three times.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1938 After accepting GM Larry MacPhail’s offer to coach first base, Babe Ruth wears a Dodger uniform for the first time as a coach and takes batting practice with the team. The ‘Bambino’ will quit at the end of the season, ending his ties with major league baseball.
  • 1940 Dodger Ducky Medwick, acquired in a trade less than a week ago, is beaned by former Cardinal teammate Bob Bowman and needs to be carried off the field on a stretcher. Brooklyn president Lee MacPhail accuses the St. Louis pitcher of deliberately hitting Medwick in the head because the two had quarreled in a hotel elevator prior to the game.
  • 1996 Brant Brown hits the first three home runs of his career on the same day. The 25 year-old rookie goes deep as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning off Chan Ho Park in a 9-6 loss to the Dodgers in the opener of a Wrigley Field twin bill, but his two additional round-trippers contribute to Chicago’s 7-4 victory in the nightcap.
  • 2014 With the only batter reaching base as a result of a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the seventh inning, Clayton Kershaw no-hit the Rockies at Dodger Stadium, striking out a career-high 15 batters. The left-hander’s teammate Josh Beckett also threw a no-hitter 24 days ago, making it the shortest span between no-hitters by a team since the Reds’ Johnny Vander Meer accomplished it in consecutive starts, four days apart, in 1938.

Lineup when available.

Jun 17

Game 70, 2018

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Happy Fathers’ Day to all the Dads in the audience.

Giants at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBCS Bay Area

RHP Chris Stratton ((7-4, 4.56 ERA) takes the hill for the Giants. He lost his last start after four consecutive wins, despite going seven innings and giving up only three runs on four hits to the Marlins. LHP Caleb Ferguson (0-0, 9.53 ERA) gets his third start for the Dodgers. His second one on June 12 was a marked improvement over his first on June 6, but he still gave up five hits and two runs in four innings on Tuesday against the Rangers.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1915 Cubs right-hander reliever George Washington Zabel, called into the game with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, throws 18 and 1/3 innings of the Cubs’ 4-3 victory over the Robins at Chicago’s West Side Park. ‘Zip’, establishing the major league record for the longest relief stint in one game, beats Brooklyn starter Jeff Pfeffer, who tosses a 19-inning complete-game. (Pfeffer won 113 games for Brooklyn and lost only 80 in a nine-year career with the Robins.)
  • 1956 Joe Adcock’s ninth-inning home run off Brooklyn right-hander Ed Roebuck, his second round-tripper of the game, proves to be the game winner in the Braves’ 5-4 victory over the Dodgers. The blast to left field, which clears an 83-foot wall at the 350-foot mark, is believed to the only homer ever to land on the roof at Ebbets Field.
  • 1956 Fred Haney, named yesterday to replace Charlie Grimm , wins two games in his managerial debut with the Braves when the team sweeps a doubleheader against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, 5-4 and 3-1, starting a streak of 11 consecutive victories. The club’s former coach will compile a 341-231 (.596) record, guiding Milwaukee to two pennants and a world championship during his four seasons at the helm.
  • 1976 At Shea Stadium, Dave Kingman hits a walk-off homer to give the Mets a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers. Sky King’s game-ending blast comes off Charlie Hough in the 14th inning.
  • 1992 Dodger farmhand Mike Piazza, believing he was low balled in his contract negotiations, takes exception to the team giving a reported bonus of $500,00 to top draft pick Ryan Luzinski, a 220-pound catcher from Holy Cross High in Delran, New Jersey who will never play in a major league game. Next season, Piazza will be selected as the National League’s Rookie of the Year, and will hit .331 in seven seasons for LA.

One more item from the history book: on this date in 1962 Met Marv Throneberry’s apparent first inning triple becomes an out on an appeal play for missing second base in an 8-7 loss to San Francisco at the Polo Grounds. When New York manager Casey Stengel questions the call, he is told by the umpire, according to legend, “Don’t bother arguing Casey, he missed first base, too.”

Lineup when available.


Jun 16

Game 69, 2018

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Giants at Dodgers, 5:15 PM PDT, TV: Fox

The Giants’ LHP Madison Bumgarner (0-1, 4.76 ERA) got a late start thanks to a broken finger on his pitching hand, so this is just his third start of the year. He gave up four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Marlins his last time out. He’ll face the Dodgers’ LHP Alex Wood (1-5, 4.43 ERA), who’s still trying to find the form which made him 16-3 last season. He’s had hamstring and abductor muscle “issues” this season.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1933 Last year’s National League batting champ, Lefty O’Doul, and pitcher Watty Clark, a 20-game winner last season, are traded by the Dodgers to the Giants for first baseman Sam Leslie. Brooklyn’s newest infielder will bat .311 during his three seasons with the team, before returning to New York in 1936.

Lineup when available.


Jun 15

Game 68, 2018

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Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, NBC Bay Area

The two old rivals have already played 10 games against one another this season; the Giants hold a 6-4 edge. Tonight’s pitching matchup features the Giants’ LHP Derek Holland (4-6, 4.54 ERA) versus the Dodgers’ RHP Ross Stripling (5-1, 1.65 ERA). Holland’s last two starts have been excellent: he’s 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA in those games, and in his last outing he pitched five scoreless innings and gave up just three hits to the Nationals. Stripling may not be a revelation to the Dodgers, but he’s been the most consistent of their starters over the last two months as well as the healthiest.

R.I.P. Ed Roebuck, who pitched for both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. He started the awful ninth inning of the third game of the 1962 NL playoff series.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1938 In the first night game played in New York City, Johnny Vander Meer pitches his second consecutive no-hitter, beating the Dodgers at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field, 6-0. Four days ago, the Reds’ southpaw held the Braves hitless in a 3-0 victory at Crosley Field.
  • 1951 The Cubs trade Andy Pafko along with Johnny Schmitz, Wayne Terwilliger, and Rube Walker to the Dodgers for Bruce Edwards, Joe Hatten, Eddie Miksis, and Gene Hermanski. The deal, which prevents the coveted ‘Handy Andy’ from going to the rival Giants, is the first of many to be made by Buzzy Bavasi, Brooklyn’s new general manager.
  • 1996 In the first inning of their 6-2 victory over the Braves, the Dodgers turn their first triple play in forty-seven years. After making a running, back-to-the-plate grab of Chipper Jones’s popup to short left with runners on first and second, Juan Castro throws to second baseman Delino Deshields to double up Marquis Grissom, then the ball is relayed to first baseman Eric Karros to get Mark Lemke, who was also running on the pitch.

Lineup when available.


Jun 13

Game 67, 2018

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Rangers at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FSSW

The Rangers ask LHP Cole Hamels (3-6, 3.86 ERA) to put a halt to their 5-game losing streak. He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Kenta Maeda (4-4, 3.61 ERA), newly activated from the disabled list where he’d been with a strained right hip. Hamels has been on a downward slide recently: he’s 0-2 with a 5.23 ERA in his last three starts. Maeda was pitching very well before his injury; unfortunately the Dodgers’ offense wasn’t producing the way it has been recently or he’d have more wins.

Here’s an article from The Athletic offering up blue-sky predictions of what MLB expansion might look like. It’s fun and thought-provoking.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1957 In a game which features the ejection of Johnny Logan and Don Drysdale, Clem Labine loses for the first time in ten months and 38 relief appearances when the Braves beat Brooklyn, 8-5. The Milwaukee shortstop charged the mound after getting drilled in the ribs by the Dodger right-hander, resulting in banishment for both players.
  • 1973 The Dodgers infield, a quartet which will be together eight and a half years, setting a major league record for longevity, plays together for the first time. First baseman Steve Garvey, second baseman Davey Lopes, third baseman Ron Cey, and shortstop Bill Russell are in the lineup in the 16-3 defeat to the Phillies.
  • 1998 The first triple play ever completed at Dodger Stadium is turned by Darren Dreifort (p), Eric Young (2b), Jose Vizcaino (ss), and Bobby Bonilla (3b). With Colorado runners on first and second base, the 1-6-4 double play becomes a triple killing when Jamey Wright is thrown out at third base by the LA second baseman, who covered first base for the second out.
  • 2010 The Angels, with their first sweep at Dodger Stadium, complete their 14-game road trip with 11 victories, the most for the team on a single trip since 1962. In the 6-5 decision over their crosstown rivals, Halo hurler Jered Weaver strikes out his older brother, Jeff, who came into the game as a long reliever in the third inning, for the first time since they were kids.

Lineup when available.