Jun 12

Game 66, 2018

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

The Rangers give the ball to Father Time RHP Bartolo Colon (3-3, 4.16 ERA), who is now tied with Juan Marichal for most career wins by a pitcher from the Dominican Republic (243). The Dodgers send out callow youth in the form of LHP Caleb Ferguson, making just his second big league appearance. In his MLB debut on June 6 he went 1 2/3 innings, gave up two hits and four runs, walked three and struck out three, earning an unsightly ERA of 21.60. Nowhere to go but down, right?

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1940 In a trade which stuns the baseball world, the Dodgers obtain Ducky Medwick and pitcher Curt Davis from the Cardinals for outfielder Ernie Koy, pitcher Carl Doyle, two minor leaguers, and $125,000. The deal to acquire the 1937 Triple Crown winner, which is engineered by GM Larry MacPhail, signals the emergence of Brooklyn as a serious contender.
  • 1941 The Braves break up the Waners’ brother act, sending Lloyd, known as ‘Little Poison’, to the Reds for pitcher Johnny Hutchings. ‘Big Poison’ Paul, the older sibling, was signed as a free agent with the team after being released by the Dodgers last month.
  • 2005 Hee-Seop Choi homers in his first three at-bats in the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory over Minnesota. The southpaw-swinging first baseman’s solo shot in the sixth off Brad Radke, who also gave up the infielder’s first two home runs, proves to be the difference in the Chavez Ravine contest.

Lineup when available.


Jul 24

Game 100, 2017

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.

May 29

Game 51, 2016

Dodgers at Mets, 5:00PM PT, TV: ESPN2

Sunday Night Baseball in Queens features Clayton Kershaw (7-1, 1.48 ERA) starting for the Dodgers and Bartolo Colon (4-3, 3.44 ERA) starting for the Mets. Kershaw has already thrown three shutouts this month, so it’s not impossible he could get another.

Kershaw is 7-0 with a 1.17 ERA and has held Mets’ hitters to a .185 average over 10 career starts. Colon has had rather less success against the Dodgers: 2-6 with a 5.54 ERA. Of course, the rosters don’t remain static: if you were 3-0 against a team five years ago the odds are good that very few of the guys you beat then remain on the team this season. On the other hand, in Colon’s long career Utley (10 hits in 20 ABs, three for extra bases) and Gonzalez (12 for 27 with two home runs) have hurt him.

Lineup when available.


Despite what that says, Howie Kendrick is in LF.

May 12

Game 35, 2016

Mets at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Save us, Clayton! That’s what the Dodgers are saying to their superhero Mr. Kershaw, (4-1, 2.04 ERA) as they ask him to salvage a split in the series with the Mets. He’ll face Bartolo Colon, whose 3-1, 2.82 ERA record was overshadowed this week by the first home run of his career the other night.

Things to think about:

David Wright, Curtis Granderson, and Lucas Duda lead the current Mets in plate appearances against Kershaw. In 124 combined plate appearances, they’re hitting .142/.224/.150 against him. Wright holds the sole extra-base hit of the group, a double.

Lineup:

May 09

Game 32, 2016

Mets at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

It’s a battle of dueling lefties tonight at Chavez Ravine as Scott Kazmir (2-2, 5.68 ERA) of the Dodgers meets Steven Matz (4-1, 2.83 ERA) of the Mets. This is the first meeting of the two teams since last season’s Division Series, and the Dodgers had better have their hitting shoes on. After Matz they’ll face Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon in this four-game series.

Lineup when available.

Jul 23

Game 97, 2015

Dodgers at Mets, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN

This game has two of the most recognizable pitchers in baseball: Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, who is 7-6 with a 2.68 ERA and a 20-inning scoreless streak, versus Bartolo Colon of the Mets, who’s 9-8 with a 4.68 ERA and a couple of really bad outings recently in which he gave up seven runs in two of his last five starts. Interestingly, Kershaw hasn’t had a decision against the Mets since July of 2012, but he’s 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA against them for his career.

Lineup when available.

Aug 24

Game 132, 2014

132 was my company number in boot camp way back in 1972 at the now-closed Recruit Training Center in San Diego.

Mets at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Bartolo Colon will start for the Mets, but the big news is that according to Fox Sports he’s been placed on revocable waivers (see here for a discussion of what that means), so tomorrow’s start might be his last wearing the Orange and Blue. He’s 11-10 with a 3.85 ERA on the season.

The Dodgers send Kevin Correia out to make his third start as a Dodger. He’s 2-0 with a 4.09 ERA in the NL after coming over from the Twins and 7-13 with a 4.87 ERA overall.

In news from the farm, multiple news sources are reporting that the Dodgers will move their AAA affiliation from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City next season. A Dodger-affiliated buyers group is finalizing a deal with the current owner of the OKC Redhawks, which announced it was selling its five minor league properties earlier this year.

Oklahoma City’s elevation is 1,201 feet, while Albuquerque’s is 5,312 feet. The reasoning seems to be that trying to judge players’ skills when they play their home games at the same elevation as Denver is difficult and can lead to disappointment.

In other AAA news,

With a stolen base Saturday night, Dodgers No. 3 prospect Joc Pederson did what no other player has done in the Pacific Coast League since 1934.

Already leading the league with 32 home runs, Pederson swiped his 30th base of the season to become the first 30-homer, 30-steal player in the PCL since Angels Minor Leaguer Frank Demaree did it 80 years ago.

Lineup when available.

Aug 23

Game 131, 2014

Mets at Dodgers, 6:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Zack Greinke starts, two days later than he would ordinarily have done. He and the Dodgers hope the elbow irritation he has been fighting will have dissipated enough for him to return to his usual impeccable self. He’s 12-8 on the year with a 2.75 ERA. Also, and this might be significant, he’s thrown more innings (157 1/3) than any other Dodgers pitcher.

His opponent will be Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Jacob deGrom, a righthander who is 6-5 on the year with a 2.87 ERA in 100 1/3 innings. This is his first time out after coming off the 15-day DL for right shoulder tendinitis.

Hanley Ramirez is still scheduled to come off the DL tomorrow and start at shortstop. For the Mets, Bartolo Colon is back from the bereavement list and will start tomorrow against the Dodgers.

Lineup when available.