Tag Archives: Jackie Robinson

Jul 05

Game 80, 2022

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet RM, SPNLA

RHP Germán Márquez (4-6, 5.89 ERA) pitches for the Rockies and RHP Ryan Pepiot (0-0, 3.18 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. This will be Mãrquez’s third start against the Dodgers already this season; he’s 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA in 10 1/3 innings. Pepiot has made three appearances for the Dodgers this season, all starts. He’s given up six hits and four runs in 11 1/3 innings.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1935 The Cuccinellos become the third pair of brothers, following the Waners (2) and Ferrells, and the first on opposing teams to homer in the same game when Al goes deep in the bottom of the ninth in the Giants’ 14-4 loss to Brooklyn at the Polo Grounds. The New York’s third baseman’s sibling, Tony, playing second base for the Dodgers, had homered in the previous inning.
  • 1952 In their final season in Boston, the Braves play in front of the largest home crowd of the season when 13,405 fans watch Brooklyn beat their team for the 12th consecutive time, a 5-3 complete-game victory by Carl Erskine. The most memorable moment of the contest occurs in the second inning when the game is delayed because a small dog has to be escorted off the field by Dodger outfielders Carl Furillo and Duke Snider.
  • 1961 Cardinals first baseman Bill White collects 14 total bases when he hits three home runs and a double. The 27 year-old infielder’s offensive output helps the Redbirds rout the Dodgers at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 9-1. (Note: White has written a very entertaining autobiography.)
  • 2004 At Dodger Stadium, Diamondback third baseman Chad Tracy’s ninth inning run-scoring single on an 0-2 changeup ends Eric Gagne’s record streak of 84 consecutive saves. The new mark established by the Los Angeles closer is 30 more than the prior mark set by Tom Gordon for the Red Sox in 1999.
  • 2007 At Dodger Stadium, Chipper Jones’ two solo home runs are the difference in the Braves’ 8-6 victory over Los Angeles. With his pair of round-trippers, the team’s third baseman surpasses Dale Murphy for the Atlanta team record of 372 homers.

Today is also the anniversary of the first game Larry Doby played for the Indians, integrating the American League. He ended up with 1,515 hits, only three behind Jackie Robinson. Also on this date in 1953, Robin Roberts pitched his 28th consecutive complete game, shutting out Pittsburgh at Forbes Field, 2-0. Twenty-eight straight complete games! We’ll never see that again!

Lineups when available.

Jun 24

Game 69, 2022

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Dodgers at Braves, 4:20 PM PDT, TV: Bally Sports Southeast, SPNLA

The Dodgers hand the ball to LHP Julio Urías (4-6, 2.56 ERA) and hope to get him more run support than usual. He’ll face the Braves’ RHP Ian Anderson (6-3, 4.35 ERA). On Saturday Urías ended his three-game losing streak, giving up no earned runs and two hits in six innings. Anderson threw 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball in his last start.

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 theft of the dish, something the rookie will accomplish 19 times during his ten-year career.
  • 2018 The Dodgers tie a National League record, last accomplished by the 2006 Braves, when the team socks seven solo shots, dealing the Mets a crushing 8-7 loss at Citi Field. Former New York infielder Justin Turner delivers the decisive dinger in the top of the twelfth inning to complete the series sweep and extend the team’s consecutive win streak over the Amazins to twelve straight victories.
  • 2021 At Dodger Stadium, Cubs starter Zach Davies tosses six spotless innings, with Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin, and Craig Kimbrel each adding a hitless frame for the 17th and the first combined no-hitter in franchise history. Chicago’s 4-0 victory marks the seventh major league no-no this season, equaling the record established in 1990, 1991, 2012, and 2015.

Lineups when available.

Jun 14

Game 61, 2022

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Angels at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, BS West, SPNLA, TBS (out-of-market only)

RHP Noah Syndergaard (4-4, 3.89 ERA) brings his “Thor” persona to Dodger Stadium. He’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Tony ‘The CatMan” Gonsolin (7-0, 1.58 ERA). Syndergaard lost the last two years to injury but is doing well in a comeback season. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in six of his starts, although his fastball is now hitting about 94 MPH instead of the 100+ MPH it once was with the Mets. Gonsolin remains a surprise to the rest of the league although perhaps not so much to the Dodgers.

This date in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1948 In front of a crowd of 12,622 at Ebbets Field, Jackie Robinson, who hits a third-inning two-run homer, and Cleveland’s Larry Doby, the only two African-Americans big leaguers, play against each other for the first time. In the Sunday evening charity exhibition game, the Dodgers best the first-place Indians, 6-2, raising $15,000 for the Brooklyn Amateur Baseball Federation, which benefits sandlot ballplayers in Flatbush.
  • 2003 After being activated from the disabled list by the Dodgers, first baseman Fred McGriff bats cleanup and goes 2-for-4 in his return against the Padres. It was the Crime Dog’s first trip to the DL during his 18-year career.
  • 2010 After just seven days in the major leagues, Stephen Strasburg is named National League Player of the Week. The Nationals’ right-handed flamethrower starts his career 2-0 with 22 strikeouts, second to only Karl Spooner, who fanned five more batters in his first two major league starts with the Dodgers in 1954.

Lineups when available.

Jun 07

Game 55, 2022

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Dodgers at White Sox, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCSCH, SPNLA, TBS (out-of-market only)

The visiting Dodgers hand the ball to RHP Mitch White (1-1, 4.79 ERA). The White Sox counter with RHP Michael Kopech (1-2, 2.20 ERA). This will be White’s fourth start of the season; he’s given up three earned runs in two of the previous three. It will be Kopech’s tenth start; he’s given up no earned runs in five of them.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1954 Dodger catcher Roy Campanella steals home in the top of the 12th inning in a 7-5 victory over St. Louis at Sportsman’s Park. Campy had added an insurance run with an eighth inning round-tripper, but the Redbirds scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to tie the score.
  • 1957 Howard University awards honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and recently retired Dodgers infielder Jackie Robinson. In the coming years, the former baseball great and the Baptist minister will often appear together at Civil Rights rallies, fundraising events, and demonstrations.

    Jackie Robinson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

  • 1982 Joining Lou Gehrig, Everett Scott, Billy Williams, and Joe Sewell, Dodger infielder Steve Garvey becomes only the fifth player in major league history to play in 1,000 consecutive games. The first baseman, establishing a National League record, will appear in 1207 consecutive games, before the streak ends next season when he breaks his thumb in a collision at home plate, playing for the Padres.

Lineups when available.

Jun 04

Game 53, 2022

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Mets at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: MLBN (out-of-market only), SNY, SPNLA

LHP David Peterson (2-0, 3.03 ERA) pitches for the Mets and RHP Walker Buehler (6-1, 3.22 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. Peterson lost the last half of the 2021 season to a broken toe which needed surgery. Buehler has not yet rounded into his usual form, good win-loss record or no.

This day in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1957 At a seventy-five minute show-down meeting at City Hall with Walter O’Malley and Horace Stoneham, the club presidents of the Dodgers and Giants, respectively, Mayor Robert Wagner is told by the owners neither club has a commitment to move out of New York – and none to stay in the Big Apple. The teams, who have been given permission by the National League to explore the possibility of moving their franchises to the West Coast, are assured by His Honor that the city will be of assistance in replacing the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field, the aging ballparks the clubs call home.
  • 1964 At Connie Mack Stadium, Sandy Koufax throws his third no-hitter in three years, blanking the Phillies 3-0. The Dodgers’ southpaw, who will add a perfect game to his resumé next season, joins Bob Feller as the only other modern major leaguer to pitch three career hitless games.
  • 1968 Don Drysdale, pitching his sixth consecutive shutout, defeats the Pirates, 5-0. The Dodger right-hander will extend his major league record scoreless streak to 58.2 innings before yielding a run in his next start. Later that evening at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Robert Kennedy, giving his victory speech for his win in the California primary before being fatally shot, tells his followers in the packed ballroom, “I’d like to express my high regard to Don Drysdale, who pitched his sixth straight shutout tonight.”
  • 1972 The Dodgers retire Roy Campanella’s uniform number 39. Campy, who won the MVP three times catching for Brooklyn in the fifties, joins Jackie Robinson (42) and Sandy Koufax (32) to be honored in this manner.
  • 1976 In an 11-0 victory at Dodger Stadium, Mets right fielder Dave Kingman hits three home runs. Sky King’s two-run dinger and two three-run round trippers drive in eight runs, a new club record.
  • 1990 En route to a 6-0 complete-game victory, 22 year-old Dodger right-hander Ramon Martinez limits Atlanta to three hits. Pedro’s older brother, who will finish the season with a 20-6 record, strikes out 18 batters during the contest.
  • 1998 The Dodgers trade the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year Hideo Nomo (2-7 with a 5.05 ERA) and reliever Brad Clontz to the Mets for pitchers Dave Mlicki and Greg McMichael.

Lineups when available.

Jun 01

Game 50, 2022

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Pirates at Dodgers, 5:10 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet PIT, SPNLA

LHP José Quintana (1-2, 2.15 ERA) pitches for the Buccaneers this afternoon; he’ll face the Dodgers’ RHP Mitch White (1-0, 4.60 ERA). Quintana gave up two hits and no runs to the Dodgers in a win on May 9. White is making his third start of the season, pressed into duty by the absence of Kershaw and Heaney and Anderson’s emergence as a starter.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1955 Duke Snider blasts three home runs in the Dodgers’ 11-8 win over Milwaukee. Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, and Roy Campanella also go deep in the Ebbets Field’s contest, helping Brooklyn set a franchise record with six home runs.
  • 1962 In the nightcap of a twin bill at Shibe Park, Don Drysdale beats the Phillies for the 13th consecutive time, continuing a streak which started in 1958. The Dodger right-hander, however, will drop his next seven decisions against Philadelphia after today’s victory.
  • 1997 When Wilton Guerrero scurries to pick up pieces of his shattered bat after grounding out to start the game, home plate ump Steve Ripley becomes suspicious and discovers that the rookie used an altered bat. The Dodgers second baseman is immediately ejected from the game by crew chief Bruce Froemming, and the 21 year-old infielder will also receive an eight-day suspension and a $1,000 fine for his use of a corked bat.

Lineups when available.

May 24

Game 42, 2022

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Dodgers at Nationals, 4:05 PM PDT, TV: MASN 2, SPNLA

RHP Walker Buehler (5-1, 2.89 ERA) pitches for the Dodgers this afternoon; he’ll face RHP Josiah Gray (4-3, 4.36 ERA) of the Nats. Buehler’s record is sparkling but he says he’s not yet “attacking the strike zone” as he has in prior seasons. This is Gray’s second season in the league; he’s never faced the Dodgers before.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1941 ‘Big Poison’ Paul Waner is signed by the Braves after being released by Brooklyn. The former Dodger joins his brother ‘Little Poison’ Lloyd on the Boston roster.
  • 1947 Carl Furillo hits a three-run homer as a pinch-hitter in the first frame of the Dodgers’ 4-3 ten-inning loss to Philadelphia at Ebbets Field. The unusual substitution occurs when Phillies manager Ben Chapman uses his right-handed starter Al Jurisch to pitch only to Brooklyn’s first two hitters, Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson, and then brings in southpaw Oscar Judd, who had been warming up from the start of the game, to face the next three lefty hitters, Pete Reiser, Dixie Walker, and Gene Hermanski, the batter replaced by Furillo.
  • 1973 In a 19-inning marathon, LA outfielder Willie Davis collects six hits in a 7-3 loss to the Mets at Dodger Stadium. The two clubs establish a National League mark by hitting into a combined nine double plays.
  • 2000 Sixteen Dodger players and three coaches are suspended by the commissioner’s office for going into the stands during the Wrigley Field scuffle with fans on May 16. The suspensions totaling 60 games for players and 24 games for coaches are the harshest penalties ever handed down by major league baseball.

Lineups when available.

May 17

Game 35, 2022

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Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 12:10 PM PDT, TV: BS Arizona, SPNLA

LHP Tyler Gilbert (0-1, 2.08 ERA) starts for the D-Backs in the first half of a day-night doubleheader; RHP Ryan Pepiot (0-0, 0.00 ERA) does the same for the Dodgers. This will be Gilbert’s third start of the year; he lost the first and in the second he faced the Dodgers, went three innings, gave up two hits and one run and got no decision. Pepiot will be making his second big league start; in his first he went three innings, walked five and struck out three but gave up just one hit and no runs.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 At Forbes Field, Hank Greenberg asks Jackie Robinson if the Dodger infielder was hurt in a collision with him at first base earlier in the game and then tells the embattled Brooklyn rookie, “Stick in there. You’re doing fine. Keep your chin up.” Jackie will remark to the writers a few days later that his “diamond hero” is Hank Greenberg, knowing that the Pirates’ first baseman, who due to the bigotry endured as a Jew, can appreciate his difficulty of facing racial injustice every day as the first black player in the major leagues this century.
  • 1978 Pinch-hitting for Davey Lopes in the Los Angeles 10-1 rout of the Pirates, Lee Lacy goes deep in the bottom of the eighth inning off Will McEnaney at Dodger Stadium. The utility player becomes the first player in major league history to homer in three consecutive at-bats as a pinch hitter.
  • 1992 Using only 21 dates, the Blue Jays reach the one-million mark in attendance sooner than any team in major league history. The 1991 Blue Jays and the 1981 Dodgers shared the previous record.

Lineups when available.

May 13

Game 31, 2022

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Phillies at Dodgers, 7:10 PM PDT, TV: NBCSP, SPNLA

Walker Buehler is taking Clayton Kershaw’s spot in the rotation today. Why? Kershaw’s got an inflammation in the sacroiliac joint in his pelvis. “The Dodgers placed the three-time Cy Young Award winner on the injured list Friday due to inflammation in his SI joint.” They’re not yet sure how long he might be out.

The Phillies send RHP Kyle Gibson (3-1, 2.94 ERA) to the mound to face the Dodgers’ RHP Walker Buehler (4-1, 1.96 ERA).

Expected batting averages far exceed actual ones this season: why?

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 During the pregame infield practice, a barrage of racial slurs is directed at Jackie Robinson by the Cincinnati fans during the Dodgers’ first visit to Crosley Field this season. Brooklyn shortstop Pee Wee Reese, captain of the team and a Southerner from Kentucky with friends attending the game, engages the black infielder in conversation, and then put his arm around his teammate’s shoulder, a gesture that stuns and silences the crowd.
    Statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese outside MCU Park, 08/02/10: zoom-lens close-up of Pee Wee's arm around Jackie (IMG_1908)

    Statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese outside MCU Park, 08/02/10: zoom-lens close-up of Pee Wee’s arm around Jackie (IMG_1908)
    Photo from Flickr by Gary Dunaier

  • 1952 Larry Miggins hits the first of his two major league home runs, going deep off Preacher Roe in the fourth inning of the Cardinals’ 14-8 loss to the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The round-tripper hit by the Bronx-born outfielder, who had once shared his dream of playing in big leagues during a prep school assembly with a buddy with aspirations to be a baseball broadcaster, is called by an overwhelmed Vin Scully, Brooklyn’s play-by-play announcer who had wondered that day with his friend “what the odds against that would be.”
  • 1958 San Francisco teammates Willie Mays and Darryl Spencer each have four long hits, driving in four and six runs, respectively, in the team’s 16-9 victory over the Dodgers at LA’s Memorial Coliseum. The Giants’ center fielder and shortstop combine for 28 total bases, with Mays hitting two homers, two triples, a single, and Spencer adding two round-trippers, a three-bagger, and a double to the offensive outburst.
  • 2013 Thanks to a seventh-grade history class project, a three-mile stretch of the Kansas K-79 highway, from K-16 highway to Circleville, is designated by the Kansas legislature as the Barnes Brothers Memorial Highway in honor of Ozzie and Virgil, who grew up in the community and played with the Braves, Giants, and Dodgers in the 1910-20s. The McAlister middle schoolers’ research brought to light the many major league accomplishments of the two siblings, including being participants in first brother matchup in big league history.

Lineups when available.

May 09

Game 27, 2022

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Dodgers at Pirates, 3:35 PM PDT, TV: ATT SportsNet PIT2, SPNLA

LHP Julio Urías (2-1, 1.88) pitches for the visiting Dodgers today at PNC Park; he’ll face LHP José Quintana (0-1, 3.38 ERA). Urías’s 1.88 ERA is slightly higher than the combined ERA for all Dodger pitchers; that’s 1.83. Quintana has only given up as many as three runs in one of his five starts; he’s gone as many as five innings in three of them.

This is pretty good company to be in.

Today in Dodgers’ history:

  • 1947 Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman, who admits he had been ‘kinda loud’ in leading his team in verbally abusing Jackie Robinson with racial slurs during yesterday’s game, sends word to the Brooklyn clubhouse that he would like to make amends by posing with the Dodger first baseman for the newspaper photographers. The orchestrated gesture, which Robinson agrees to, admitting later that is one of the hardest things he ever had to make himself do, is prompted by the bad press created by the Phillies manager’s intolerance and the wrath of Commissioner Chandler.

Also on this day: In 2015 with runners on second and third, the Pirates turn the first recorded 4-5-4 triple play in baseball history, recording all three outs entirely on the left side of the infield. The oddity occurs when Yadier Molina lines out to second baseman Neil Walker (1), who throws to third baseman Jung Ho Kang to double up Jhonny Peralta (2), who had strayed too far off the third, and then fields the third baseman’s return throw to triple up Jason Heywood at second base (3).

Lineups when available.