One of my favorite things to do is read the history section of my Dodger media guides. There is a lot of information in there, and it helps to remember those players and teams. They list all of the players who have ever played for the Dodgers, and they also list by uniform numbers. it is fun to go back and read some of those numbers and the names associated with them. So I thought we would take a trip down Numbers lane.
The Dodgers did not start wearing numbers until 1932, so Wheat and some of the earlier players did not have them. Vance and Babe Herman, stars in the 30’s did get numbers assigned.
1. Is easy. I profiled Pee Wee last week, HOFer, and the Captain, and that says it all.
2. Is retired for Tommy. but it was also worn by another HOF manager, Leo Durocher. Don Demeter wore it in the early 60’s.
3. For me will always be the 3 Dog, Willie Davis. It was his from 1960 to 1973. One of the best CF’s ever. Then Sax had it for quite a while. Mauch, Cox, Cora, Herman, all wore it too. Now it belongs to CT-3.
4. Is the Duke, retired and deservedly so. Dolph Camilli also wore it before Snider. The last player to wear it was Kevin Pasley, who was a catcher.
5. Lavagetto, Larker, Lefebvre, Nomar, Uribe, all wore it, and now Corey is making them all proud.
6. Has had some very good players. Furillo, Fairley, Garvey all had long tenures wearing 6. And all had decent runs with the Dodgers. Garv gets the edge as the best to wear it, but not by much. Torre wore it while he was managing. It was last worn by Granderson, who stunk up the joint, but before he did, Charlie Culberson was wearing 6 when he hit the walk off clinching homer on Vin’s last day in the booth in LA.
7. Is one of those numbers they seemed to hand out to guys passing through. Medwick, Reiser, Demeter, (61), Spencer, Walls, Stuart, Bailey, then Yeager made it his for 13 years. Griffin, Gagne, Drew, and then Loney. Punto got it when he came over, and now it belongs to Julio. Call me old fashioned, I just do not think pitchers should wear a single digit number.
8. Will always be Johnny Roseboro. So many others have worn it. Ozark, Stinson, Sims and Dietz, Reggie Smith, and lately Amalfitano, Mattingly, and now Geren.
9. Is and always will be Wally Moon. Cimoli had it, as did Howell. Ferrara, Kosco, Grote, Hatcher, Thomasson, Pierre, Gordon, and my favorite player…Grandal…that was sarcasm by the way.
10. Belongs to the Penguin and JT. Those two are far and away the best players to have that number. It was Nomo’s for a while, and Jeff Torborg also wore it.
11. Manny Mota. Guy could get out of bed in the middle of December and hit a line drive. Longtime coach too. The number was often given to middle infielders. Rollins wore it, and it was Forsythe’s before Pollock inherited it.
12. Is hard. Loved Tommy Davis, still the ONLY LA Dodger to win a batting title. And then, Dusty Baker. After his first season in LA which was abysmal, Dusty cemented himself as a popular Dodger, so much so that left field was called Bakersfield while he was out there. Finley, Kent, Randolph, all wore it too.
13. Ahh bad luck! Branca was wearing 13 when Thompson hit the homer, then no one wore it for a while until Joe Ferguson wore it. Cora, Berroa, Hudson, and Hanley have worn it since. Not assigned at this point.
14. Gil Hodges. Not only does Gil belong in the hall, but his number should have been retired. Scioscia wore it for many years. And now Kike has it.
15. A lot of good players have worn 15 too. Including, Vance, Amoros, Haller, Allen, Lopes, Green, and Furcal.
16. Ron Perranoski was the first I remember, and he was pretty good. Sudakis, Monday, Nomo, LoDuca, and Either also wore it. I give Andre the nod as the best. I hope Will Smith does something special with it.
17. Another of those numbers that they seemed to give to players just passing through. but that was after Erskine had it for his entire career. Morrow was the last player with that number.
18. First player I remember with it was Bill Russell. Mainly because coaches were wearing it. Then Ramon Martinez for a couple of years. Kuroda, and lastly Maeda.
19. The only person who wore this in my memory was Jr. Gilliam. It was retired after his death, and is the only retired number that the player or manager is not in the hall. I remember Jr. fondly. He was as versatile as they come, and a true team player.
20. Retired for Don Sutton. Last worn in 1997 by Darren Lewis.
21. Buehler’s number now. Let us hope the previous owners fate in the WS does not rub off…Yu Darvish. Another one of those here ya go, see ya later numbers. One of my favorites, and the player with whom my pic was taken when I sang the anthem, Jay Johnstone wore it. Zack Greinke wore it also.
22. Will most likely be retired when Kersh retires, has had some pretty good names attached, Johnny Podres, Brett Butler, Bill Buckner, Billy Herman, and Andy Pafko.
23. Gibson only wore it for 3 seasons, but one memorable series at bat. Claude Osteen had it for many years. Don Zimmer, Jimmy Wynn, Eric Karros, and Adrian Gonzalez. It has not been issued since 2017.
24. The Quiet Man, Walter Alston. Only person I ever saw with this number. Retired after he was elected to the hall. Bobby Bragan wore it as a player, and so did Paul Waner, big Poison.
25. Frank Howard, Tommy John, after those guys, it was seemingly given to veteran players who came and went. Crawford had it his first season in LA. But Thome wore it, and lastly David Freese. To me, it will always remind me of Big Frank. He lost some baseballs wearing that number.
26. Not a number many players have worn for a long time in Dodger history, but one of the best was Tim Wallach and most recently Chase Utley.
27. Willie Crawford and Matt Kemp wore it the longest. Kemp was the best. Lombard wears it now since Verdugo moved on.
28. Another of my favorite players wore this, Wes Parker. Pedro Guererro wore it for about 8 years. Only Todd Hollandsworth wore it more than a couple of years since then. Last assigned in 2017 to Franklin Gutierrez.
29. Adrian Beltre. Most notable player with this number in my memory. Kazmir had it last in 17.
30. Maury Wills…others have worn it, just nowhere near as well. It belongs to Roberts now.
I will close part one with…
31. Mike Piazza. He should have spent his entire career with the Dodgers, and I have never, and will never forgive FOX for trading him. Joc has it now, unfortunately, none of Mikes bat skills have rubbed off on Joc.
I did not figure you were a numbers guy. 😉 But I am pretty sure you have an autographed Grandal Jersey. 😉
That takes a lot of work. It’s fun to remember when…
I have to admit, Granny had some good moments in Blue. But his overall performance just was not that awe inspiring. And I just could not get past the problem he had blocking balls in the dirt. He is not having a great year in Chicago, but the team is. No Grandal jersey. Koufax and Jackie though.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Gary Sheffield had a nice 4 year run with the Dodgers wearing #10 – 129 home runs; .998 OPS; and other worldly 160 OPS+
I try to forget Sheffield. Simply because he cost us Piazza. I know he was a force when he was here. But I always thought he was selfish. And after he made the statement that he never gave 100 % when he played for LA, he lost all of my respect as a player.
Very good point about being selfish — same complaint I had with Manny Ramirez and Hanley Ramirez. As far as talent, Sheffield was one of the best I have seen.
Sheffield was an immense talent. But there is a reason he played for 8 different teams. His longest stint anywhere was the 6 years he spent with Miami. There is also a reason he is not yet in the hall. His numbers suggest he should be. What I did notice is that he rarely struck out. In close to 11,000 plate appearances, he struck out 1171 times, right above 10%. He finished a 22 year career with a .292 average. Probably dropped because he hit under .300 his last 6 seasons. The Dodgers have had some players who were really good players, but who for some reason did not jell with the team. I know Frank Robinson and Alston did not get along very well. Neither did Walt and Richie Allen. And of course we all know about Milton Bradley, who also wore # 10. Best thing Bradley did was being traded to the A’s for Ethier.
Always been partial to number 10 but part 2 will have my favorite Dodger.
The more things change the more things stay the same. The organizational policy seems to be hit as many homers as you can, limit your pitchers pitches, use depth to gain an edge, use 162 different lineups. Is this a winning formula?
In a full season it seems to be a succcessful strategy. Other teams have injuries and can’t replace like the Dodgers. They let their starters go deeper which shortens their bullpen innings. It seems the Dodgers burnout their bullpen which is the point we are at right now. We continue to struggle with risp in part looking for the long ball. We refuse to try to beat the shift by using the whole field. We don’t bunt, hit and run, steal bases to gain advantage we look for the long ball. We use the righty/ lefty matchup developing part time players. We are bringing lux up , the minor league player of the year, who will not face lefties which means he won’t be able to hit lefties.
Will this apparent organizational philosophy lend to world championships? I don’t know but this team with more talent looks like last years version. Long ball, strikeouts, league leading pitching but a burnout bp, good defensively, weak hitting with risp, very short starts. Our best, buehler and kershaw will be lucky to produce 6 inning playoff starts. They haven’t done it all year so u can’t just turn the switch now. Too much pressure and too many innings on the bullpen. I expect more of the same.
The first number I ever wore in Little League was #8. I was a catcher. Kept 8 for a while, then went to 12.
Tough night for pitching. We had opportunities. 1 hit WRISP. Without Mookie in the lineup, all Betts are off. Yeah I know, but somebody had to say it.
Urias may be pitching his way back to the pen. And he may be taking Ferguson’s spot. Colorado can still hit, and they are 9th in scoring so they are capable. Now is not a good time to start losing series’, though it’s better now than later.
I trust we will get it back together.
Hey Bear. Good stuff, brings back lots of memories.
By the way, I just had a call from Max Muncy who thought he was wearing #13 until you said it was unassigned.
With regard to #16, this factoid courtesy of Dodger Insider:
“Will Smith has 21 homer runs in 77 career games. Mike Piazza hit 11 in his first 77. Roy Campanella hit eight in his first 77”
Your hope that Will Smith does something special with that number might yet come to fruition.
Total brain fart. And I was watching the game while doing part of this. Yep. Have a feeling Max is making 13 his own.
I posted this at 2:30 AM (Pacific) and assume no one read it:
All of these short starts are getting to the ‘pen. Here is Dodgers.com:
“Although the Dodgers have the best record in baseball, all of those short starts last month by their inexperienced rotation seem to have taken a toll this month on a bullpen that has allowed runs in each of the last nine games with a 4.89 ERA. In this series alone, the Dodgers’ bullpen allowed 10 runs in 11 innings.”
’nuff said
I read it. And a few people in the blogosphere have been talking about it for a while now. <90 pitch outings is a strategy in this hotter than usual (121 in Woodland Hills) Covid social unrest summer. Our pen should be fine with Baez, Kelly, Wood and Urias all added to it.
Who knows what is coming next, but it will be something and when it arrives it’s gonna be something.
Sloppy game last night. Seager standing on third looking confused as he’s doubled up at second. Pollack throw8ng to the wrong base which eventually leads to a run. Pollack fixing his helmet while trying to stretch a hit into a double and gets thrown out. Yes the bullpen blew it but other things didn’t help.
I used to try to grab #8 in little league because of Reggie Smith.
~
I remember wearing #26 my sophomore year when Alejandro Pena had it. His stuff was filthy when he came up. Unfortunately his injury turned him into a relief pitcher but he was a damn good one during 1988.
I probably missed some players. The print in the media guides is very small. And forgetting Max was wearing 13…whoops. Pollock should not have even tried for second. Blackmon has a gun out there. I figured at some point the bullpen use was going to come back and bite them. And it has the last 3 games, but they managed to out slug them in game one. They lost a game on the Padres, but are still 5 up with 18 to play. Kelly is close to returning. He has another session tomorrow, and one more after that. Then he has to serve the 5 game suspension. So he could be back next week when they play the Padres. They have 4 in Denver next weekend.
Sandy Amoros and Carl Furillo I didn’t see listed.
Great job Bear! However, I can’t imagine that #2 could be given to anyone other than Don Demeter! 🙂 Who is this Lasorda fellow?
My number was always 19. I wore it because it was my birth date and because I liked Gilliam. Other than Gilliam, I knew that Bob Feller wore it, and I always had day dreams of being as good a pitcher as he was. Those dreams never came close to becoming reality
Yeah, imagine the gall of that guy taking Demeter’s number. Wow. Some people huh? I loved watching Gilliam play. He was one of the least selfish players I have ever seen. Always sacrificing himself and his stats for the good of the team.
Hate losing last night but worse getting beat by one of our own (Kemp). Man how the mighty have fallen, Matty use to really take good care of himself but now – needs to shed few pounds. Swing is still there. My favorite # 23 ‘Toy Cannon’. Little did we know that # would become so popular across all sports ( Jordan,James ).
Fresh start in AZ tomorrow !!
I too fondly remember the Toy Cannon. Had one great year and one not so great and he was gone to the Braves for Dusty Baker. Wonder if Atlanta ever really regretted that trade.
Not sure if Kemp is a public or private person, but his story would be one I would eagerly read.
Feels like there’s a ton of good stuff to mine in each of his stops and run-ins.
Rocks are playing the Padres tonight. Right now the Giant’s are # 8, and LA would play them in the playoffs first round. Padres moved to # 4 in the power rankings. Tampa only 2 games back of LA for the best overall record. Buehler, Kersh and May set to go against Az this week. No starters for Az listed yet. Dodgers have another off day on Friday, play the Astro’s 2 at Dodger Stadium, then head for SD and Colorado for the last road trip of the year before the final week against the A’;s and Angels. Kelly should be back by the playoffs. At least that is what he is aiming for.
If you aren’t into prospect stuff, don’t bother to read the link I’m attaching here.
If you are here’s a link to a column at Future Dodgers which gives some info on Bobby Miller plus a complete breakdown on the players that might be on the list as the second PTBNL in the Stripling trade.
I think Justin does a great job over there and is worth following on Twitter or just checking in to his site every so often. This is the same place that does the very complete spreadsheets on all Dodger prospects, drafts, etc.
https://futuredodgers.wordpress.com/2020/09/07/bobby-miller-at-dodger-stadium-the-ross-stripling-trade-and-other-trade-deadline-musings/
STB,
That is a great site. I like his writing. We should put a link on that site.
Of course YOU would like him Mark, he’s a law student at Indiana University, Maurer School of Law . 🙂
I am very familiar with Future Dodgers and find Justin to be very well informed and extremely thorough and well writen. In the article, he mentioned the name Dasan Brown. As I indicated at the time, that is who I was hoping would have been included as a PTBNL. I do agree that with Williams as the known PTBNL, that Brown will not be the second. If he is, then I think that the return for Strip was outstanding.
Included in the article were a couple of lines that were stated far more eloquently than my indelicate way. But it clearly stated my sentiment as well.
“On a personal level, I’ve been a little surprised by the overconfidence of some fans who, it seems, have an urge to discredit the Padres’ moves, because, well, they’re the Padres, it’s just little brother, etc.”
and
“I’ll be rooting hard for whoever the Padres’ first round opponent is. Not out of spite, or out of a desire to see them fail, but because there genuinely isn’t another National League team I’d like to face less, in a playoff series or otherwise.”
Getting Brown as the second piece would really be a nice haul, but I agree that it’s highly unlikely.
It seems like half the Jays prospects are shortstops. Maybe we’ll pluck one of those.
thanks for the recommendation. Top notch information, although a little long by including the Padres/Indians information. For the PTBNL, I think the Dodgers will get a lower level infield prospect, perhaps Santiago Espinal if Stripling pitches well for the Blue Jays, but a player like Tanner Morris who did not make the top 30 from MLB Pipeline, or Baseball America.
Great stuff Bear. Numbers even I can understand and appreciate. Read it twice. Thank you, it was very informative. Can’t wait for Part 2.
Now that I am a Dodger cutout located in a undisclosed area of Dodger Stadium, I am enjoying the games , did not like losing last night though. As a cutout I promise to behave.
1. I will not get into a fight with the fans around me.
2. I will not get drunk and rowdy.
3. I will not leave early.
Congratulations DBM on your induction into the crowd. Is your location undisclosed to just us or you too?
Might be kind of fun to play “find your face in the crowd”.
Thanks Phil. As far as my location is, “Both”. Just look for the strangest picture in the crowd. I am not in the camera’s eye during a game but might be if a foul ball should float my way.
By the way, is it my imagination or does it seem that Smith is getting better at framing pitches? I thought so.
I think his overall game is improving. He does have nice receiving skills and good hands. He seems confident and looks good behind the plate and in the box. At 25 he’s got a bright future.
I was worried that last year was an outlier for Will Smith. He had never hit that well in the past and I wondered if the juiced ball would define him. He started out slow, so I was not sure, but it looks like he is getting it together and is for real offensively. He has always been very good defensively. He is earning the job of an everyday catcher. Hopefully, Barnes will keep up his solid hitting and be valuable as a trade piece.
Keibert Ruiz would be the perfect platoon partner with Smith. I think Ruiz should stop switch-hitting and focus on being a southpaw.
The results were not great last night, but I am still very bullish on Julio Urias. He made one bad pitch and the rest was just “stuff happens.” He threw 52 of 75 pitches for strikes, so he really wasn’t nibbling.
Before last night Aernado and Blackman were hitting .500 against him. They did not get a hit against him last night. He’s still my #3.
Sorry about how I handled the Smith discussion yesterday. I’m glad you are coming around to Smith. For the past year or so I’ve been thinking the Dodgers might have 2 good hitting catchers soon in Smith and Ruiz. That is something most teams do not have. I think it is a luxury and an advantage.
I am not coming around for Smith. Smith is coming around – showing that last season was not a fluke. He has earned the starting C spot. Austin Barnes has also earned some PT. I have never been Anti-Smith, but his hit tool was not good until last year… specifically at OKC. I do think Ruiz has a higher upside, but Smith has successfully re-tooled his swing. I don’t think Ruiz is doing it as successfully.
I’m enjoying the Yankees free fall
Me, too. It’s a really surprising development that I thought would be impossible.
I had a lot of fun researching this piece. And thanks to Mark who sent me some of his extra old Media guides. I have bought them for years, but last year and this year they have not been made available for sale to the public, so if I happen to find one for either year I will consider myself very lucky. One of the reason’s I totally zoned about Muncy is my newest one is a 2018. And he was a non roster invitee that year. DBM, consider your self lucky that your cut out is not out in the pavillion. They have been knocking the heads off of some of those.