There was actually some baseball news today which is great. A plan is in place to save the season. A 29 man roster at the beginning is smart since there will have to be a quick spring training re-do to prepare teams for the start. Pitchers will be on definite pitch counts and an additional three players could help alleviate that shortage. Not sure if they’ll be playing in empty stadiums or neutral sites, or if the season won’t end until November. The talk that 14 teams might make up postseason play makes me think MLB 2020 will be like the NBA playoffs. All that can’t be good news for the Dodgers.
We all know postseason play is often not won by the best team, but the hottest team. I don’t think that bodes well for the blue. With 14 teams in the mix, it’ll be tough to come out on top.
If the season isn’t saved, we still lose Mookie Betts to free-agency. That doesn’t seem right. I would think MLB would owe the Dodgers something for their bad luck in signing a free agent for a season possibly not played. Perhaps an additional pick in an early-round? This franchise is about as snakebit as any. Cheated out of a World Series (possibly two), landing a free agent for one season that isn’t played. What’s next? I don’t want to even imagine it.
Things are about as dead as can be with regards to Dodger news. I started and then trashed three different articles because they weren’t going anywhere. I’m sure that I am not alone with this shortage of material. MLB’s satellite radio channel was proof of that. When I drove in to work on Tuesday morning, this was their topic of discussion:
“If you were to remake a classic baseball movie, which role would you have Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson play?”
I revisited some posts from years ago and dug up a few tidbits and some obscure Dodger facts from history. This kind of bounces from era to era and I apologize for that, but with the lean news days and the probability that much of the season being will be lost, I go back to the past with some obscure facts, a little trivia, some commercial clips from years ago and a few answers from a Q and A session with former Dodger outfielder, Mike Marshall. A little trip down memory lane.
Jim Brewer
Dodger relief pitcher Jim Brewer toiled on the mound in the days when relievers were versatile and durable. The LOOGY and ROOGY were not even a consideration for a roster spot. This was a man that would take on whatever role Walt Alston asked. Used primarily as the closer for the late 60s and early 70s Dodger teams, in 1967 following the retirement of Koufax, the Dodgers were quite lean in the starting pitching ranks. Brewer stepped up and started 11 games that season sporting a 3.14 ERA in that role.
Often times called upon to complete 2 and 3 inning saves, Brewer excelled in the role and made the 1973 All-Star team, a game in Kansas City, where he earned the save by recording the final three outs. His career started out with controversy.
As a 19-year-old rookie pitching for the Cubs, Brewer was a hard-throwing and somewhat wild lefty. In a game at Cincinnati, he tossed a fastball up and in that former Yankee Billy Martin swung at and missed. In the process, Martin let his bat fly and it landed near Brewer on the mound. The young rookie retrieved it and handed it back to the hot-headed Martin where words were exchanged, which eventually led to punches. Brewer suffered a fractured cheekbone and for three years that injury affected his performance on the mound. He sued Martin for $1 million. It took nine years but eventually, the case was settled for $10k in 1969 long after Martin had retired and he was already managing Minnesota.
Jim died a few days short of his 50th birthday, killed while working for the Dodgers as a roving instructor. He was hit in a head-on collision near the Texas-Arkansas border as he drove to an assignment in 1987.
The time the Dodgers front office was actually guilty of cheating
With all the smack talk about the Astros cheating, something that they completely deserve, I was reminded of a time where the Dodgers actually did something that was somewhat unethical and could have landed them in trouble had the whole episode been exposed. This story involves the aforementioned Jim Brewer.
It was the 1968 offseason and baseball was experiencing an expansion draft as four teams were being added to the mix: The San Diego Padres, Seattle Pilots, Montreal Expos and Kansas City Royals. Teams were allowed to hold on to a certain number of players from their 40-man roster. Dodger G.M. Fresco Thompson was in a bind. There were some players that he wanted to keep that were going to be exposed.
Buzzie Bavasi, had been hired as the GM of the expansion Padres. Walter O’Malley asked Bavasi to stay on a few extra days as the Dodger GM due to the hospitalization of Thompson who had cancer, a malady that he never recovered from. MLB granted permission to the Dodgers to allow Bavasi to continue in his GM role with the Dodgers for a few extra days. Bavasi visited Thompson in the hospital and Fresco asked him if he was going to take any Dodger players. Bavasi said “yes,” he would select a young Dodger minor league outfielder, Bill Russell, and relief pitcher Jim Brewer. Thompson begged him not to select those players. Bavasi told him he could pass on Russell because very few really knew of his talent, as he was buried in the minors, but he had better protect Brewer because he would be crucified for not selecting him. Thompson changed his list and protected Brewer and in the end, Bavasi chose catcher Al Ferrara and aging shortstop Zoilo Versailles.
Ferrara and Versailles are pretty much forgotten in Padre history. Russell ended up being the dean of the Dodgers and longest-tenured player in their history in the number of games played. Brewer was a solid reliever for another six seasons.
1968 Vitalis Commercial
Filmed at: Candlestick Park
Dodger catcher: Longtime former Giant and future Giant General Manager: Tom Haller
Giant manager: Herman Franks
Dodgers in the Dugout: #3 Willie Davis, #5 Jim Lefebvre, #21 Jim Brewer, #17 Hank Aguirre (a Dodger for the 1968 season only).
Anyone remember the Aqua Velva commercial with Steve Garvey (playing second base) and Pete Rose (attempted to steal second), and then he broke into a song. I can’t find that one.
But Pete sings in this one, with Mel from the Alice sitcom:
Mike Marshall- the outfielder
I attended an event with former Dodger outfielder Mike Marshall back in April, 2012. Marshall had just taken the helm as owner/manager/groundskeeper/ticket taker, concessionaire, uniform laundryman (you name it, he was it) of an independent league team, the San Rafael Pacifics. It was a position that lasted one season only. He fielded questions from the audience, and I asked a few:
Question #1: I know when you came up in ’81, I think you were Minor League Player of the Year. There was a transition period with the Dodgers just starting. A changing of the guard per se. You had, Garvey, Lopes, Cey, Dusty Baker, Reggie Smith, they were coming towards the tail end of their careers with the Dodgers. Eventually, they started to be dealt off and traded away. So, you came up, and Sax and Candy Maldonado, Brock, Alejandro Pena, a new core of youngsters. How were you received by the old vets, who had to see the writing on the wall with their careers coming to an end? Were they accommodating towards the young up and comers that were gunning for their jobs? How was it?
Mike Marshall: “You know it’s interesting. That’s a great question. I think that that group of guys did the same thing that they experienced with the late 60s and early 70s Dodgers. There was a lot of success there in the early 70s and that group with Wes Parker, Wills, Willie, and Tommy Davis. So I think it was a very intelligent group of guys that they realized and understood the Dodger way and what was going to happen. Ron Cey went to the Cubs, Lopes to the A’s and Cubs. Garvey to the Padres, Dusty with the Giants and A’s. And quite a few of the pitchers, Burt Hooton went to the Astros, Charlie Hough went to Texas. So, you know what, looking back on it, you would think that they would be more bitter and they wouldn’t have treated us well, but I can’t say that.
“I mean they gave me number five, so I had six and seven right next to me which was Garvey and Yeager. I’ll never forget, I was having trouble hitting and I came in and they gave me a prescription for some glasses. That’s what they did when you had trouble hitting, you go and see the eye doctor. So, I’m talking to Steve Yeager about it, and I said: “Yeah, I kind of like your glasses.” He wore glasses when he caught, and they wrapped around. And at the time they were kind of high tech, they wrapped around, they were really neat. And the next day, he had bought me two sets of glasses. He had taken my prescription in and had two sets of glasses made for me.
“Steve Garvey, he’d take me out to dinner. Billy Russell, a really, really great group of guys. I think that they knew it was their time. I would have to say, eh, maybe it came from Tommy, you know Tommy had all those guys from back in the minors, Triple-A Albuquerque. Probably Tommy just said, you know, it’s time. Unfortunately, Al Campanis had the issue with Nightline and the famous Ted Koppel thing was he got himself in hot water with what he said, but I must say that Al Campanis was the architect of all that system development. He was the architect of how we were moving guys a little bit before everybody knew they needed to be moved. He was a real genius. It was said that later on in his career he would make mistakes with what he said. He was uninformed.
“So yeah, to answer your question. Those guys were great. Reggie Smith, Dusty Baker. They all knew they still had some time left but they knew that this group of guys was going to take over and be the 80s.”
The host, San Francisco reporter, Bruce MacGowen followed up: You mentioned Reggie Smith, there was a guy that was kinda…he would be a good guy to have in your corner. He went through a lot and boy, if there was any kind of racial slight or you were looking down on him, he’d challenge you to a fight like that.
Mike Marshall: “Yeah, and again, going back to those players that played in the late 60s and early 70s, especially the African-American players. There was a time when there were only a couple of African-American players on each team, and it started to grow and Henry Aaron and Dusty Baker, those guys having to play in Atlanta. Going down to Houston and playing in the South. I mean it was still bad, going to Spring Training in Florida. Those guys for years and years and years, when you go down to Vero Beach where our Spring Training was, they couldn’t eat in the same places. Still, in the 60s and early 70s, a lot of those players all experienced that. For me personally, what an education I got, being with Reggie Smith. You know, he played in Boston at a time when black men didn’t play in Boston unless you were a Celtic. It was tough. He taught me a lot about life. A lot about baseball. How to conduct myself. What an experience getting to play with him.”
Question #2: What are your recollections of Fernando Valenzuela and “Fernandomania?”
Mike Marshall: “Quick story. I’m in Reno, Nevada. I’m playing for the Lodi Dodgers and I’m 19 years old. It’s a half an hour before the game and they tell us that we signed a kid out of Mexico, he’s 19 years old and he’s pitching that night and I’m playing first base. It was Fernando Valenzuela. He had hair down to about here, (points to his shoulders). Big long black hair. He didn’t speak a word of English. He was from somewhere in Mexico and Mike Brito had signed him. He threw about 90 MPH. He had a curveball. I think we got beat that night. It was nothing special. It was towards the end of the season.
“So, we went to Spring Training the next year and Bobby Castillo, a Mexican-American, right-handed pitcher, taught him the screwball. And the next year we went up to Double-A in San Antonio and it got a little more interesting, He still didn’t speak any English. He’s still drinking his Budweiser. He’s 20 now and Hershiser was on that staff. And all of a sudden, he’s lights out. He’s up to the big club. He didn’t even go to Triple A. Next year there’s a bunch of injuries coming out of Spring Training and this kid could flat out pitch. With a screwball, change up, threw over 90 MPH. He’s a heck of an athlete and he’s the guy. That was another move by Al Campanis. He had no fear. You know Freddie didn’t even go to Triple-A, he pitched opening day against the Astros, I think he struck out 12 or 13 guys and threw a 3 hitter, and “Fernandomania” starts.
“You know, to see him at 19 and then the changes at 20. It just shows you that one pitch, just one little change, what can happen. And then to be a Mexican American pitching in Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine. The year the Dodgers won in ’81, I got called up at the end of the year. But to be a part of that. And then to experience something very similar to Orel Hershiser with dominating, dominating performances. It was special.
“I must say though if I say anything negative about Tommy, I think he over-pitched him. Fernando got a little afraid of his stuff about mid-way through his career and his pitch counts were in the 150s and 160s. He was afraid to throw in the middle of the plate and his stuff wasn’t quite as good. Tommy would just leave him out there and leave him out there and got Fernando burned out a little bit. Fernando was treated much like the Japanese treat their guys. They just keep them out there and burn them out a little bit. But we didn’t have much of a bullpen and Fernando wanted to keep going out there. But I would say if there’s anything negative, and I love Tommy, but I would say he I thought he overused Fernando a little bit in his mid-twenties and I think it took a toll on his career.”
I’m sorry, but if the 2020 season gets canceled and the Dodgers traded Verdugo and prospects for bascially David Price and the phantom presence of Mookie, I’ll be extremely bummed. I know it’s no ones fault, and nobody could of predicted where we would be at at today (actually a few people did) but it would still be a major disappointment. I know some of you dont like Verdugo, and that’s fine. I believe he is a great player, who is a barley scratching the surface of his potential. I also wanted to see a full season of Mookie Betts in Dodger blue. This may sounds crazy, but I think the only way the Dodgers can save face (if the season is indeed canceled) is to sign Betts. The problem is, they have Belly, Buhler, and others they need to spend $ on. MLB needs to figure out a way to possibly compensate the Dodgers, possibly with 1st roud and maybe 2nd or 3rd round picks in 2021 and/or 2022.
I think we are a long way from any of that.
At any rate, MLB won’t compensate the Dodgers. I too liked Verdugo and believe he will win some batting titles.
We just have to see how it plays out. Who knows, Betts could break his leg the first game and David Price might be the comeback player of the year?
Dwayne Johnson would be Pedro Cerrano in Major League. Bavasi was losing it if he took Al (the Bull) Ferrara as a catcher. Back in the late 70’s early 80’s I thought Mike Marshall was going to be the next Dodgers offensive superstar. Although he never came close to matching his minor league stats, he had a very nice Dodgers career.
Mike Marshall was Jamie’s favorite player when we visited Vero Beach in 1985. Mikew as much maligned as he did not live up to his hype. As you say, he did have a nice career and we would take it today.
Jamie, age 9 at the time, wanted a Marshall autograph when we visited Vero Beach in the spring of 1985. He was Jamie’s favorite player. The players were coming in for lunch and weren’t stopping for autographs. I caught the attention of Ben Hines, a Dodger coach, and explained our situation and asked if he could get a Marshall autograph. He disappeared and returned a few minutes later with an autographed picture. Jamie felt it was not authentic as it was not the same as we had seen before. It was, as Mike had shortened his autograph from a full and clear, “Mike Marshall” to “MMarshall” in sort of a scribble. Although we saw the revised version again, Jamie never believed he had an authentic Mike Marshall autographed picture.
That had to be disheartening to a young fan. Some players go out of their way to accommodate fans with autographs, while others cannot be bothered. I was always impressed by those who took the time to sign autographs. I remember attending many Dodgers games when Brett Butler would stand next to the box seats prior to the game and sign for those who would form a line up the steps.
None of the players were signing on their way in to lunch. The fans were separated from the players by a rope. It wasn’t just Mike. We got other autographs that day but just didn’t run into Mike.
Great writeup Evan. Some really good stuff on Brewer and Marshall that I had never heard before or had long since forgotten.
I do not have a lot of autographs. I have Snider’s, which I know is original since he signed it right in front of me. The night I sang the anthem, Wes Parker gave me a ball and I got a few autographs on it in the dugout. D,Ozark, M, Mota, Sax, Ruess, Parker, and a couple others I cannot remember, then when I was finished, I got Rick Sutcliffe’s on it back by the clubhouse. I gave it to my son when he was 12. And somewhere along the way he lost it. I have a couple of Country singers autographs because I did shows with them, Johnny Lee, and Larry Stewart, who was the lead singer for Restless Heart before he went solo. Down at Camelback, I went to a spring game when I was living in Az, and I have a ball I had signed by Lucas May, Mike Restovich, and Rick Monday. Rick signed for me up in the concourse after the game. And I have a friend who’s son pitched in the majors, Kameron Loe, and he gave me a signed ball. Now I collect bobble heads, and still some baseball cards. On another blog I am on, the main writer there and I have exchanged some cards, he sent me a Gavin Lux rookie card and Brusdar Graterol. That book, on the opening part of this stream, The Dodger Way to Play Baseball, I had one of those when I was a kid. Got it for 10 cents if I remember right. One thing I remember about Campanis was that he was pretty shrewd as a trade partner. He usually valued his players pretty high. And he traded his son. Long before Avila traded his. Jim Campanis was later traded to the Pirates in the deal that brought Freddie Patek to the Royals. Brewer is still in the Dodger record books, he pitched the 3rd most games in team history behind Big D and Don Sutton.
My prized autographed baseball is from the 1958 season. A home run ball hit by Carl Furillo against the Giants. Our neighbor worked at the LA Coliseum and the ball bounced right to him at one of the tunnels beyond the 40′ high left-field fence. Knowing that I was a huge Dodgers fan he went down to the clubhouse after the game and had Furillo, Pee Wee Reese, Carl Erskine, Ransom Jackson, Walt Alston, and Don Zimmer sign. Willie Mays walked by the clubhouse as our neighbor was leaving and he also signed. Next day the neighbor tossed me the ball and said that I might like to keep it. Signatures have all faded, but I can easily read them through my mind’s eye.
Baseball news right now mostly relates to players being sent to the minors, of which the Dodgers have not announced any yet, and news of surgery’s or agreements. There is a ban on negotiating extensions right now, and since Betts has pretty much said from the beginning that he was going to test the free agent waters, that does not help LA much. But as long as MLB.TV is letting me watch it’s archives free, I am at least getting some sort of baseball fix, even if I do know the outcome. I watched the series where they beat the Rockies 3 straight on walk off’s by rookies. And opening day from both 18 and 19. I also watched Mr. Baseball again. Pretty decent baseball movie. Selleck has some skills, and the other American player on the team is played by Dennis Haysbert….y’all remember him? Serrano in Major League. And the team they are playing for, the Chunichi Dragons wear uni’s that are eerily like the Dodgers. One last thing, the other day we had a nice long dissertation on Carl Furillo and Jr. Gilliam. I think those two should have been inducted into this new Legends of Dodger baseball before either Garvey or Fernando. Simple reason, both were a part of teams that won multiple WS titles, both were life long Dodgers. Neither Fernando nor Garvey can lay claim to that. And Furillo and Tommy Davis are the ONLY Dodgers to win a batting title since Jackie Robinson won in 1949. 71 years and those are the only 2 guys who accomplished that.
I had that book too. If memory serves that is where I learned “every base is covered and every base is backed up”. Also “anticipate the overthrow”, which was important in Little League with the ball flying all over the diamond. I was the first on my team to just hold the ball and walk toward that fool jumping up and down between bases. I’m sure you all remember that guy.
For anyone interested there is an in depth article in the Atlantic on how this epidemic will end. I’d link it here but I don’t know how it would be received. It’s definitely worth the read.
I read it when it came out. It’s a worthy read.
We just don’t know what we don’t know.
That’s true. We don’t know.
But those guys do, and they are learning more everyday. The coronavirus has found a very receptive host. This thing, like the flu, is here to stay.
Good stuff Evan. I believe Mike is still the Commissioner of the The Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, an independent baseball league in California.
Evan, that was a fun read, thanks!
I became a fan in 1983, so Mike Marshall was one of the first ever players I really liked. Granted my first ever favorite player was Pedro Guerrero.
As far as who the Rock would play? Jose Canseco of course!!
Thank you for that article, Evan. Interesting stuff about Jim Brewer. Loved the Mike Marshall interview. I, too, was sure he would be a Dodgers superstar. The commercials with Don Drysdale and Pete Rose brought a smile.
This is interesting :
https://www.milb.com/albuquerque/fans/abq-baseball-hall-of-fame
Who was the best MLB offensive player out of that group?
That is interesting.
Paul Konerko had to be the best offensive player…
I would have to agree with that. Konerko had obviously the best numbers as a MLB player in that bunch, and LaSorda traded him for Jeff Shaw, yep, LaSorda, he was interim GM then. Best pitcher, Pedro Martinez. HOFer, not contest. Some names brought back some memories, Jack Perconte, Sid Bream, had almost forgot he was a Dodger, sent to the Pirates in the Bill Madlock trade. And Geoff Zahn. I remember Tommy pulling him from a game, and you could see the irritation on Tommy’s face. I think he was cussing the entire time he waited for the reliever to get to the mound from the pen.
Yep. That’s how I saw it too. Konerko.
Isn’t it interesting we traded the best of that lot. A few had decent careers, ironically the pitchers, but for the most part it was guys like Marshall and Brock.
1981 Dukes.. where is Greg Brock???
I was really excited about Brock n Marshall making it up to the bigs…
1981 Dukes – Marshall n Brock combined 66 h.r./ 243 rbi’s…
Greg came back with 44/138 in 1982 with the Dukes…
Of course when we speak of Mike Marshall there’s also the other one who appeared in 106 games as a RP in 1974!!! It was all about the kinesiology !!!
Brock is on the list. He had maybe the best year any player in Alb ever had. 1882, 44 homers, 138 ribbies and a .310 average. Sent to Milwaukee in the trade that brought the Dodgers Tim Crews and Tim Leary. Both key pieces in the 88 WC run. Crews was killed in a boating accident in 1993 during spring training that also killed Indians pitcher Steve Olin, and seriously injured Bobby Ojeda. Brock never really brought the same power to the majors. Hit 20 homers only twice.
Remember when he came up? Man I thought he was going to hit like Reggie. Turns out he hit more like Regis.
Nice post Evan! Jim Brewer was a very versatile and reliable pitcher for the Dodgers. I wonder if anyone here can remember, without going to the Baseball-reference.com, the player who the Dodgers traded to the Cubs to acquire Brewer. You get bonus points if you name the other player that came to the Dodgers with Brewer. Mark will give the winner a gift coupon for a chicken dinner.
Badger thanks for that link to the Dukes Hall of Fame – there were some names on that list that I had not thought of in some time. Each of whom I thought would be star players; Dennie Lewallyn, Tom Paciorek, Jack Perconte, Ted Power, Brian Traxler and Sid Bream. None were. Sid bream, by the way, is the only ball player that I recall ever speaking with for an extended period of time. During law school, I met and became very close friends with Rob Wing, who had been a star high school player in Riverside(won player of the year over Alvin Davis), went on to play at University of Arizona with Terry Francona, in 1979-1980. Wing was real good friends with Bream. He and I took in a Dodger vs Pirates game. Back then, after the game, you could wait in a designated area of the stands and if a player chose to come to where you were standing, then you could speak with them. Mostly, this was limited to family and friends. We did that and Bream came up to talk with Wing and I for 30 minutes or so. He was wonderfully nice man. Standing next to us was a smallish, skinny, young African-American player from the Pirates, talking with his family. Bream told us that we should try to get this player’s autograph, because he thought that he was going to be great. We didn’t heed his advise, as we didn’t want to bother the player in his family time. That player, was Barry Bonds.
Since I had no clue what the answer to your question was I cheated a googled it. That may be one of the better trades the Dodgers ever made. And although the second guy we got in the trade never did anything on the field for us, I always liked his name.
Brewer was traded for Dick Scott. A left-handed pitcher. Scott lasted one year with the Cubs. The other player? Catcher Cuno Barragan. Never played a game in Dodger Blue. How do I know this interesting tidbit. Just so happens, the other day I was perusing my 2018 Dodger Media Guide. My Dodger bible of sorts. Has all the trades made by the Dodgers since they moved to LA. Was trying to remember who they got from the Cubs when they traded Zimmer. That trade was basically highway robbery of sorts. They got Lee Handley, an outfielder who never made it to the majors, SS, Johnny Goryl, who never played for the Dodgers and was selected by the Twins in the in the 61 Rule 5 draft, 25,000 dollars, and a kid lefty in the minors. Name of Ron Perranoski. Had a couple of good years…..
Good job Bear! Keep a look out in the mail for that coupon from Mark. Though, it may only say, “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!”
Wow! Ron Perranoski for Don Zimmer. Knowing what I know now, I would make that trade every day and, if pressured, the Cubs could keep Lee Handley.
And Goryl. Perranoski won 16 one year, 1963, and saved 21 for a WC team. Big part of the reason they won. He saved 178 in his career. Saved over 30 twice as a Twin. Traded in 1967 with Bob Miller and Johnny Roseboro to the Twins for Mudcat Grant, and Zoilo Versailles. One of the worse trades they made. Both played 1 year for the Dodgers, Grant was 6-4, and Versailles hit .196. Perranoski pitched 4 years in Minnesota. and had 76 saves, Miller was there 2 years, and Roseboro, played 2 years with the Twins, finished his career with the Senators in 1970. They had to get a new catcher in 68, and it was former Giant, Tom Haller. The team leader in homers? Len Gabrielson hit 10. Starting lineup, Haller, C, Parker, 1B, Popovich, 2B, Versailles, SS, Bailey, 3B, Gabrielson, LF, Davis CF, and Fairly in RF. Also on that team were Jim Lefevbre. Ken Boyer, yep, the former Cardinal star, Crawford, Jim Fairey, Rocky Colovito, Ted Savage, Bill Sudakis, Jeff Torborg, Cleo James and Al Ferrara. Osteen, Singer, Big D, Sutton, Kekich, and Grant were the starters. with Brewer, Moeller, Purdin, Billingham, Foster, who I saw get taken over the pavillion roof a few years later by Willie Stargell, Aguirre, Regan., and Vicente Romo.
If you want to listen to a part of Dodger history, ESPN.com has a list of the best pitched games in each teams history. The entry for the Dodgers is Koufax’s perfecto on Sept 9th, 1965. His 4th no hitter. The 9th inning call by Vin Scully is on there in it’s entirety. Great to listen to again,
Thanks for the mention of espn.com and the best pitched game for all 30 teams. It was great to hear the top of the 9th again. I heard it live, but I will never forget Koufax striking out Harvey Kuenn for the perfecto. I will also never forget that the Dodgers scored an unearned run off of Bob Hendley without an official AB. You just never forget a moment like that. Sweet Lou Johnson walked and was sacrificed to 2nd. Then Johnson stole third and scored on the catcher’s overthrow. Only run of the game. Johnson also had the only hit in the game. Koufax throws a perfect game and Hendley is not far behind with a one hitter and no earned runs. The 1965 Cubs were not very good, but a team with Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Ron Santo (three HOF) can never be counted out.
My mom took me and my friend to that game. Being only 14 at the time, we thought the game was boring… until the last few innings.
I remember when Greg Brock came up, how disappointed I was when he didn’t live up to his minor league numbers. He was a big man. I thought of him as the next Frank Howard or Boog Powell. Does anyone know why he didn’t succeed at that major league level? I always assumed he couldn’t hit a major league curveball, and never figured it out, but not sure if that was the case.
I read last night about how the MLB draft cut from 40 rounds to 5 rounds affected some players, in particular, Ty Haselman and Garrett Irvin. Both of these talented young men, Ty, a catcher and Garrett, a lefty pitcher, who decided to stay in school another year, will not be able to play for the Dodgers because they will not be able to qualify for the draft, so it is reported. I am sure there are more in the same position.
This is only one side effect of the shortened season and is such a shame. Does anyone have any further information on some way this could be fixed?
It can’t be changed now. There is an agreement between MLB and the MLBPA, and the shortened draft is part of it. There is also no guarantee those 2 players would be drafted by the Dodgers. If a player has been selected and does not sign, he is not property of that team any more. Case in point, the Dodgers drafted Paul Goldshmidt, in 2006. He chose to go to college, and the rest is history.
Ok. Thanks Bear. Just feel very sorry for them no matter what major league team is involved.
Question. How many out there think Tommy John and Jim Kaat deserve to be in the hall. Someone on Twitter was lamenting the fact that although both have over 280 wins in their careers that they are not in the Hall. He brought up Mike Mussina, who although he had 270 wins, is in the hall. My argument was this, although they both had that many wins, it was over very lengthy careers. 26 years for John, and 25 for Kaat. Neither ever won a Cy Young, Kaat won 25 games in 1965 and did not win, and both only won 20 , 3 times in that period of time. When averaged out, both averaged 13 wins a season, hardly hall worthy. Mussina who pitched in a different era averaged 17 wins a year over a 17 year career. And at a time when 300 wins was not the benchmark of a HOFer. There were exceptions of course. Sandy had 165 wins, but also 3 Cy Young’s. Big D finished with 209 wins, and a Cy Young. Kersh might make it to 200 wins, but not many more than that, and he is considered a shoo in for the hall.
Watched Once Upon a Time in the West last night.
My son made it for about 10 minutes.
The Searchers and McCabe and Mrs. Miller are on the books for tonight.
AC, as you know my position is that paid content should be paid for. I love good content, by people who are informed and add value. I don’t buy Mark’s “free advertisement” argument for a second. An advertisement is to promote, not replicate.
But it’s his blog and he gets to set the rules.
I side with Mark on this one. I pay for the content and if I want to share it, I’ll share it (unless Mark or The Athletic tells me otherwise).
I believe The Athletic is more or less telling you not to share it. If you copy a link here and someone clicks on it, they’ll only get the first few lines of the story. You then have to sign in to read the rest of it. I think that’s pretty much telling you not to give away their content. The only way to let others see it is to copy it here word for word.
I make it a practice not to pay for much content on the internet because there is a ton of free stuff out there worth reading. That said, The Athletic is one of my few exceptions because I think their content is exceptional. I realize, however, that not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford a subscription, especially in times like these. I would hope that they would release more articles for free during this crisis. As a paid subscriber I would have no problem with that.