Category Archives: Dodgers History

Jul 25

Game 101, 2017

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Twins at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSNO

The Twins trot out RHP José Berríos (9-3, 3.50 ERA) to face the Dodgers’ RHP Kenta Maeda (8-4, 4.23 ERA). Berríos is 2-2 in his last five outings, logging a 5.26 ERA. Maeda has gone 7-2 with one save in his last 13 appearances, posting a 3.09 ERA while holding batters to a .227 average and striking out 61 against just 17 walks.

Which Dodgers have been hit-by-pitch the most? Alex Cora’s rank on this list surprised me, but I’d forgotten he spent five full years with the Dodgers and parts of two others early in his career.

Chris Taylor is hitting .318, which puts him seventh among National League batting leaders. Justin Turner remains atop the list at .369.

This date in Dodgers history:

  • 1962 At Sportsman’s Park, Stan Musial surpasses Giants’ legend Mel Ott as the National League’s all-time RBI leader. ‘Stan the Man’s’ two-run home run off Don Drysdale in a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers gives the Cardinals’ right fielder 1,862 career runs batted in with the Redbirds. (Ed. — He’s still seventh on the all-time list, behind Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez, Cap Anson, Barry Bonds and Lou Gehrig)

Non-Dodgers history which amuses me as a lapsed guitarist: 2010 The Baseball Hall of Fame honors John Fogerty for his classic rock song “Centerfield”. At the induction ceremonies, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer performs his 1985 hit and then donates his baseball bat shaped-guitar to the Cooperstown museum. Here’s that song with the man playing that guitar, which I’d never seen before.

Lineup when available.

Jul 24

Game 100, 2017

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Twins at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSNO

The Twins’s newly-signed RHP Bartolo Colon (2-9, 8.19 ERA) will face the Dodgers’ LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 4.21 ERA).

Colon was released by the Braves at the end of June. The Twins are his tenth MLB team; he’s 235-171 with a 4.02 ERA in his 20-year career, all but 4 years of it in the American League. Ryu is coming off the DL where he’s been for three weeks with a bruised foot.

Kershaw may be out 4-6 weeks, says a “baseball source” inside MLB. However, it’s also reported that there won’t be a firm time frame until the Dodgers’ go-to back specialist, Dr. Robert Watkins, has examined Kershaw. Presumably that will happen/has happened today.

Kershaw isn’t the only Dodger pitcher headed for the DL; Brandon McCarthy is as well. He’s got a blister. Kenta Maeda will take his start Tuesday night.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1909 At Washington Park, the Superbas sweep a twin bill from the visiting Cardinals with identical 1-0 scores. Brooklyn’s southpaw Nap Rucker, who will finish second in the NL with 200 strikeouts, whiffs 16 Redbirds in one of the contests.
  • 1931 For the second time in ten days, Babe Herman hits for the cycle. The Dodger outfielder joins “Long John” Reilly and Bob Meusel as one of only three ‘tricyclists’ to have accomplished the feat of collecting a single, double, triple, and home run in one game three times.
  • 1965 Unbeknownst to him at the time, 75 year-old Mets skipper Casey Stengel, who compiled a managerial record of 1,905-1,842 with the Dodgers, Braves, Yankees, and Mets, manages his final baseball game, a 5-1 loss to Philadelphia at Shea Stadium. After leaving a party after midnight at Toots Shor’s, the ‘Old Perfesser’ loses his balance and fractures his left hip, resulting in the unexpected retirement with the team.
  • 1968 ChiSox reliever Hoyt Wilhelm breaks Cy Young’s record when he makes his 907th career appearance, pitching a third of an inning in which he gives up a run on two hits to be on the short-side of the team’s 3-2 loss to Oakland. The 45 year-old knuckleballer, who will retire in 1972 after pitching in 1,070 games, will finish his 21-year major league career with a 143-122 (.540) won-loss record and 228 saves, hurling for the Giants, Cardinals, Indians, Orioles, White Sox, Angels, Braves, Cubs, and Dodgers.
  • 1970 Tommy Agee steals home with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, giving the Mets a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Dodgers at Shea Stadium. After reaching on a fielder’s choice, the New York center fielder stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, before scoring the winning run with his thievery of home plate.
  • 1977 After his two-out foul pop-up is dropped by Mets’ right fielder Bruce Boisclair, Davey Lopes responds with a game-ending three-run home run off Bob Apodaca. The L.A. second baseman’s ninth inning dramatics provide the Dodgers with a 5-3 win, and spoils the opportunity for a victory for Nino Espinosa, who left the game needing just one more out for a complete-game victory.
  • 1993 In a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, Mets right-hander Anthony Young extends his record losing streak to 27 games. The latest defeat is the result of the hard-luck hurler walking Dave Hansen in with the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning.
  • 1993 Following the game at Dodger Stadium, Vince Coleman tosses a M-80 from a car, resulting in reported injuries to three fans in the Chavez Ravine parking lot, including an 11 year-old boy and a two year-old girl. The Mets’ player was a passenger in the 1991 Jeep Cherokee driven by LA outfielder Eric Davis, who acknowledges Coleman flipped the firecracker out of his vehicle as a ‘joke’, but not into a crowd of people.

Non-Dodger history of note: today is the anniversary of The Pine Tar Incident with George Brett.

Lineup when available.

Jul 23

Game 99, 2017

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Braves at Dodgers, 1:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSO

Rookie LHP Sean Newcomb (1-5, 4.86 ERA) will face LHP Clayton Kershaw (15-2, 2.07 ERA) in the series finale. Newcomb has lost his last three starts and posted an 11.37 ERA with nine walks in those games. Kershaw hasn’t lost since May 1, making 14 straight starts, going 11-0 and posting a 1.84 ERA during that stretch.

This date 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 to be 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 last 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.

Lineup when available.

Jul 22

Game 98, 2017

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Braves at Dodgers, 6:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSO

The visiting Braves send RHP Julio Teheran (7-7, 4.69 ERA) out to keep their two-game winning streak going, and the Dodgers ask LHP Rich Hill (6-4, 3.55 ERA) to put a stop to their unaccustomed two-game losing streak.

Teheran has allowed two runs or fewer in his last three starts but lost the last one, even though he went six innings and gave up only five hits. Hill has gone 3-1 in his last five starts with a 1.74 ERA. Pitchers’ history:

  • In seven games (five starts) against Atlanta, Hill is 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA and 31 strikeouts against 10 walks in 33 1/3 innings, limiting hitters to a slash line of .192/.252/.258.
  • Teheran hasn’t had much luck in six starts against the Dodgers. The righty is 0-5 with a 5.50 ERA, 37 strikeouts and 13 walks in 37 2/3 innings vs. the Dodgers.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1913 In a game against the Superbas (Dodgers), Slim Sallee becomes the first pitcher in Cardinal history to steal home. In the third inning, the Redbird southpaw scores the first run in St. Louis’s 3-1 victory over Brooklyn at Ebbets Field.
  • 1966 The Mets left fielder learns he is a new dad when the Dodger Stadium scoreboard relays the message, “Congratulations, Ron Swoboda. Your new son is born tomorrow morning”. Cecilia Swoboda gave birth to Chipper, the couple’s first child, at 1:05 a.m. eastern standard time, making it the next day on the West Coast.
  • 2005 Yhency Brazoban records his 18th save when he works a perfect ninth inning as the Dodgers beat the Mets, 6-5. The Los Angeles freshman, who is filling in for injured closer Eric Gagne, breaks Steve Howe’s club rookie record for saves established in 1980.

In a non-Dodger historical episode of remarkable futility: in 1962 during a doubleheader with the Reds at Crosley Field, the Mets had four runners thrown out trying to score at home plate. It’s play of that sort that doomed them to a 120-loss season.

Lineup when available.

Jul 21

Game 97, 2017

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Braves at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSO

The Braves plan to start YALHP Jaime Garcia (3-7, 4.33 ERA) unless they trade him during the day. He seems to be a hot commodity, although from his record an objective observer might wonder why. He (or somebody) will face the Dodgers’ LHP Alex Wood (11-0, 1.56 ERA), who’ll be making his second start against his former team. The first one didn’t go well: in April of 2016 he allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits over four innings and took the loss.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1930 Harvey Henrick’s ninth-inning three-run round-tripper off the bench gives the Dodgers a dramatic 9-8 come-from-behind victory over the Redbirds at Ebbets Field in the first game of a twin bill. Redbirds George Puccinelli and Jim Bottomley and Brooklyn’s Hal Lee also homer appearing as pinch-hitters in the game.
  • 1956 In a 13-6 defeat to the Cubs, Dodgers’ shortstop Pee Wee Reese becomes one of five active players to collect 2000 hits, and teammate Junior Gilliam sets a major league record by handling 12 assists at second base.
  • 1963 The usually mild-mannered Dodger manager Walter Alston is thrown out of both games of a doubleheader when the Braves sweep a twin bill from Los Angeles for the first and only time in Milwaukee, 7-2 and 13-7. To make matters worse, the manager has beer thrown in his face by a hometown fan as he leaves the second game. (My thanks to Lee for sharing this entry. He attended the game at County Stadium as a ten year-old. -LP)
  • 2003 At Dodger Stadium, Vladimir Guerrero hit his 226th career home run, breaking Andre Dawson’s club record. The Expos’ right fielder hits his milestone round-tripper off Odalis Perez, a 454-foot blast over left field wall.

Lineup when available.

Jul 20

Game 96, 2017

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Braves at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSE

This is the first of a four-game series. It’ll pit the Braves’ RHP Mike Foltynewicz (7-5, 3.84 ERA) against the Dodgers’ RHP Brandon McCarthy (6-3, 3.38 ERA). The Dodgers have beaten the Braves twelve of the last fifteen times they’ve met at Dodger Stadium.

Foltynewicz took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of a game against Oakland on June 30 before giving up a leadoff HR to break it up. He came out and the reliever struck out the side to preserve the 3-1 win. The Dodgers have won McCarthy’s last five starts, but he came out before completing five innings in two of them. He gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Marlins on Saturday.

The Dodgers have good prospects down on the farm, says Kyle Glaser of Baseball America.

Sergio Romo has been DFA’ed and Grant Dayton has been reinstated from the 10-day DL.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1906 At St. Louis, Brooklyn hurler Mal Eason no-hits the Cardinals, 2-0. The ‘Kid’ was the losing pitcher when Johnny Lush pitched a no-hitter against the Superbas (Dodgers) in May.
  • 1970 Twenty-six year-old right-hander Bill Singer pitches the first Dodger no-hitter since Sandy Koufax’s departure when he keeps the Philadelphia batters hitless in a 5-0 victory at Chavez Ravine. The ‘Singer Throwing Machine’, who spent 52 days on the disabled list earlier in the season recuperating from hepatitis, posts a 5-0 record along with a 1.84 ERA in July, and will be named NL Player of the Month.
  • 2008 The Dodgers, with a five-run ninth-inning rally at Chase Field, beat the Diamondbacks, 6-5, and move into a flat-footed tie (48-50) with Arizona for first place in the National League West. Andre Ethier has the key hit in the comeback victory, a go-ahead triple off the center-field wall, as D-Back closer Brandon Lyon, pitching in his third consecutive game, couldn’t hold a three-run lead.

Lineup when available.

Jul 19

Game 95, 2017

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Dodgers at White Sox, 5:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, WGN

RHP Kenta Maeda (7-4, 4.38 ERA) makes his 14th start of the year. He’s only gone past five innings in three of those fourteen, but he’s won three of his last four decisions. He’ll be opposed by YALHP Carlos Rodon (1-2, 4.32 ERA), who made only one start in Spring Training before going on the DL with left biceps bursitis and has made three starts since coming off it on June 28.

Vin Scully performed with the LA Philharmonic last week and again last night.

Many an uncommon man and woman have read it in performances with proper forceful meaning during the history of Copland’s stirring patriotic justification of the American ideal, a 15-minute oration for narrator and orchestra written in early 1942 in the wake of Pearl Harbor.

Not a word has gone out of date. But ours is such a fragmented whom-do-you-trust age, even Lincoln can be readily and shamelessly misinterpreted. So it proved an inspiration for Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic to invite the most trusted voice in all of L.A. to recite “Lincoln Portrait” at the Hollywood Bowl on Thursday night. The one person we can all agree about. Vin Scully.

Here are some video highlights.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1977 Pitcher Don Sutton wins All-Star MVP honors after helping the National League to a 7-5 victory over the American League. Sutton is the N.L.’s starting pitcher at Yankee Stadium and delivers three scoreless innings of work. He becomes only the third player in franchise history to be named All-Star MVP. Garvey also contributes to the N.L.’s victory with a home run in the third inning.
  • 1993 Outfielder Raul Mondesi makes his major league debut and singles in his first at-bat. He goes on to bat .291 with four home runs and 10 RBI in 42 games. The following season, he is named National League Rookie of the Year after batting .306 with 16 homers and 56 RBI.

Lineup:

Jul 18

Game 94, 2017

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Dodgers at White Sox, 5:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, WGN

The Dodgers try to make it ten straight wins tonight in Chicago at what was once called “New Comiskey Park” and is now called “Guaranteed Rate Field.” Blech. That name is newer (2016) than the two teams by a long shot: the Dodgers were first established in the late 1800s and the White Sox were charter members of the American League in 1901.

The teams first met in the 1959 World Series when the Dodgers claimed the title in six games. The teams first got together during the regular season in 2003 with the White Sox taking two of three games. They haven’t played each other since Chicago took two of three in ’14. The White Sox hold a 16-11 advantage all-time over the Dodgers.

Is the Dodgers’ “surge” sustainable for the rest of the year?

The Dodgers send LHP Clayton Kershaw (14-2, 2.18 ERA) out tonight to face RHP Miguel Gonzalez (4-8, 5.15 ERA). Kershaw has been on a roll; he’s won ten straight and his last loss was May 1. Gonzalez has been rehabbing shoulder joint inflammation since mid-June and has lost eight of his last nine decisions.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1939 The Red Sox send 21 year-old farmhand Pee Wee Reese to the Dodgers for $35,000 and a player to be named later (Red Evans), along with three minor leaguers due to a less-than-enthusiastic scouting report filed by Joe Cronin, the team’s current player-manager, who deliberately downplayed the prospect’s talent to keep his own job in the Boston infield. The Louisville Colonels regular shortstop, a future Hall of Famer, will become a crowd favorite, helping Brooklyn to win seven pennants during his 16 seasons with the team.
  • 1949 Jackie Robinson testifies in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, reading a carefully worded statement put together with the help of Dodger GM Branch Rickey. The Brooklyn second baseman’s statement makes it clear he disagrees with singer and actor Paul Robeson’s belief that American Negroes would refuse to fight in any war against Russia due to the country’s racial discrimination toward blacks.

Lineup when available.

Jul 16

Game 93, 2017

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Dodgers at Marlins, 10:10 AM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-F

The Dodgers go for a sweep behind LHP Rich Hill (5-4, 3.69 ERA). He’ll face the Marlins’ LHP Chris O’Grady (1-0, 5.06 ERA).

Hill has struck out 27 in his last 21 innings and gone 2-1 with a 1.71 ERA. All three of those games were quality starts. O’Grady makes his second career start. His first was against the Giants on July 8, when he went 5 1/3 innings, gave up five hits and three runs and got the win. He’s taking the place of Edinson Volquez, who was scheduled to come off the 10-day DL but whose patellar tendinitis hasn’t healed.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1913 In a game against the Cubs, Superbas’ second baseman George Cutshaw handles 14 chances without an error. The infielder’s defensive prowess helps Brooklyn beat Chicago at Ebbets Field, 4-2.
  • 1948 Brooklyn’s Branch Rickey agrees on a deal with Giants owner Horace Stoneham that releases his manager Leo Durocher to become the Giants’ skipper, replacing the popular Mel Ott. Burt Shotton will take the ‘Lip’s’ place in the Dodger dugout.

On this date in 1990 Steve Lyons embarrassed himself dreadfully by dropping his uniform pants while standing at first base after sliding into the bag to beat out a bunt.

Lineup when available.

Jul 15

Game 92, 2017

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Dodgers at Marlins, 4:10 PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-F

The Dodgers’ lefty ace #2 Alex Wood (10-0, 1.67 ERA) tries to win his eleventh against the Marlins RHP Jose Urena (7-3, 3.54 ERA).

In his last start on July 5 Wood went seven shutout innings against the D-Backs, giving up three hits while striking out ten and walking only two. It’s the fourth consecutive start and eighth in his last nine starts in which he’s given up no more than one run. Urena has been on fire too. He’s won six of his last seven starts, although he’s faltered a little in his last two, going only five innings in each. Wood’s beaten the Marlins in five straight games, while Urena has made three appearances against the Dodgers and allowed them just one earned run over 15 1/3 innings for a 0.59 ERA.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1960 Home plate umpire Frank Dascoli stops play for 24 minutes when Willie McCovey hits a pitch into shallow left field that no one can see because of the dense fog. The Giants first baseman’s second inning ‘invisible triple’ doesn’t deter the Dodgers when they go on to win the Candlestick Park contest, 5-3.
  • 2003 At the All-Star Game played in Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, Angels outfielder Garret Anderson goes 3-for-4, including a two-run homer and a double, helping the American League to beat the NL, 7-6. Pinch-hitting in the eighth inning, Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock hits a go-ahead two-run homer off the usually untouchable reliever of the Dodgers, Eric Gagne.
  • 2004 Eric Gagne surpasses Jeff Shaw for the most career saves in franchise history, collecting his 130th save in a Dodger uniform. The 28 year-old right-handed closer pitches a perfect ninth, striking out the side in the team’s 5–2 victory over Arizona at Bank One Ballpark.

Non-Dodger lowlights: it’s the anniversary of the 1967 game in which Cardinals’ pitcher Bob Gibson’s right fibula is fractured by a Roberto Clemente line drive. It’s also the anniversary of the 1973 game in which Norm Cash tried to use a piano leg instead of a bat in the ninth inning of the second of Nolan Ryan’s no-hitters that season.

Lineup: