This season, our long drought ended, and the Dodgers brought home the trophy. What a great feeling. And over the last few years we have come close, and just fell short.
But in the days before the present system was set up and league expansion, there were only 2 winners. No second chance at a title. Just two teams battling it out for MLB supremacy.
Four times in their history, the Dodgers ended up tied for 1st place on the final day of the season. Not including the 2 division titles they tied for in 1980, and 2018. 1946, they were tied with the Cardinals, 1951, with the Giants, 1959 with the Braves, and 1962 with the Giants again.
They also lost the 1950 pennant and missed a tie by losing their last game. In 1946, they played 157 games. When they lost # 155, a makeup of a tie, they ended up tied with the Cardinals, who also lost that day.
1946 playoffs
These were the first in MLB history. The first game was at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. Howie Pollet started for the Cards, and Ralph Branca for Brooklyn.
Branca gave up a run in the first on a hit by Joe Garagiola, Howie Schultz hit a homer in the 3rd tying the game. In the bottom of the inning, the Cards rallied for 2 runs and Branca came out of the game replaced by Kirby Higbe.
It remained 3-1 until the top of the 7th 3 straight singles with one out led to a run, but Bruce Edwards was thrown out at 3rd. A groundout followed and the rally was over.
Vic Lombardi came in for the Dodgers in relief in the bottom of the 7th. Stan Musial tripled, but Enos Slaughter flied out. Rube Melton came in and Garagiola hit a single that scored Musial ending the scoring. The win was Pollet’s 21st of the year.
Game 2 was played at Ebbets Field. Murray Dickson was the Cardinals starter and Joe Hatten started for the Dodgers. The Dodger scored in the bottom of the first on a couple of hits and a walk. After that until the 9th inning, the game was all Cardinals. They scored 2 in the 2nd, 3 in the 5th, 1 in the 7th, and 2 in the 8th to take a commanding 8-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th.
The Dodgers began to get to Dickson in the 9th. Augie Galan doubled, Dixie Walker flied out and then Ed Stevens tripled to score Galan and Carl Furillo singled in Stevens. Harry ( The Hat) Brecheen came in to relieve. Edwards singled scoring Furillo, and after Cookie Lavagetto walked, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with the score 8-4. But Brecheen struck out the last 2 hitters and the Cards held on to win the pennant.
They went on to face the Red Sox in the 46 series, the only one Ted Williams, who was just back from the war, would ever appear in. And they instituted a shift just for Ted.
1951 Playoffs
The 1951 season has been chronicled many times. I am not going to rehash what at the time was probably the biggest disappointment to Dodger fans in the history of Brooklyn baseball. Losses in the World Series notwithstanding. Suffice it to say that defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory. And history would repeat itself 11 years later.
I fault Charlie Dressen a lot for this one. He had a habit of letting his pitchers stay on the mound a little too long. Don Newcombe was obviously tired before the 9th began, and instead of letting a fresh pitcher start the 9th, he left Newk out there. And the rest is history. He also had selective memory, or he never would have brought Branca in to face Bobby Thompson. Thompson had homered off of him in game 1. And Branca was basically a starter. Dumb move.
1959 Playoffs
1959, with a mixed bag of veterans and some young guys, the Dodgers clawed their way to a tie with the 2 time champ, the Milwaukee Braves. Milwaukee was loaded with Joe Adcock, Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron leading the way offensively. They had Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, and Bob Buhl as their starting staff. Aaron, Adcock and Mathews had combined to hit 110 HR’s between them and catcher Del Crandall added 21 more. They had some decent bench pieces in guys like Felix Mantilla, and Frank Torre.
The 1st game was in Milwaukee at County Stadium. It was delayed by rain so only a small crowd was on hand. Danny McDevitt was the Dodger starter and Carl Willey. who was 5-8 that year, started for the Braves.
The Dodgers scored in the first when Charlie Neal singled and went to 2nd on a ground out and then was singled home by Norm Larker. The Braves got 2 off of McDevitt in the 2nd and he was replaced before the inning was over by Sherry.
The Dodgers tied the game in the 2nd when Neal singled, was out on a force play that Wally Moon hit into. Moon advanced to 2nd on a Larker single, and then scored when Gil Hodges hit a single. Don Demeter got the 3rd straight single to load the bases, but they did not score again.
John Roseboro led off the top of the 6th with a solo homer to make it 3-2. It was his 2nd game in a row with a HR. He had hit one the day before against the Cubs that helped the Dodgers win and force the tie breaker series, as they called them then.
Sherry was nails the rest of the game, allowing only 1 hit over the final 3 frames. Don McMahon came in in the top of the 7th and finished the game without allowing any more damage. The Dodgers headed back to LA up 1-0.
There was a day off for travel and the game was played at the Coliseum on the 3rd of October. It was a day game. 36,000 plus showed up at the Coliseum for the game. Lew Burdette started for the Braves against Don Drysdale.
The Braves struck for 2 in the first inning on a Frank Torre single. The Dodgers came back for 1 as Neal tripled when Billy Bruton could not make the play, and scored on a single by Moon.
Burdette drove in Johnny Logan with a single in the 2nd and the Braves were up 3-1. Neal hit a homer in the bottom of the 4th, and it was 3-2. Drysdale managed to get 1 out in the top of the 5th, but gave up a HR to Mathews and walked Aaron and was relieved by Johnny Podres.
Podres pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief but when he got in trouble in the 7th he was replaced by Chuck Churn. There was a pivotal play in the Dodgers half of the 7th when Roseboro, attempting to break up a double play crashed into Braves SS Logan and he had to be removed from the game on a stretcher. Mantilla took over at SS and veteran Red Schoendienst came in to play second.
In the top of the 8th, Crandall tripled and was scored on a sac fly. The Dodgers went quietly in the bottom of the 8th, and Koufax came in to pitch the 9th. He walked Aaron, Torre, and John DeMerit consecutively, but got 2 outs before Labine came in to end the threat with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the 9th, Moon and Snider singled, Bobby Lillis pinch ran for Duke Snider and Hodges singled to load the bases. McMahon relieved Burdette, but gave up the 4th consecutive single to Larker which scored Moon and Lillis, and sent Hodges to 3rd making it 5-4. Spahn relieved McMahon, Furillo pinch hit for Roseboro and Joe Pignatano ran for Larker. Furillo hit a sac fly tying the game. Maury Wills singled and Spahn was pulled for Joey Jay. Ron Fairly then grounded out and they went to extra innings.
Stan Williams came in to pitch for the Dodgers. Moon moved to LF, Furillo to RF, and Fairly took over in CF. The 10th inning was scoreless with only 1 baserunner, but in the 11th Mathews walked, Aaron hit into a force out, He went to second on a passed ball, Torre walked, Al Spangler drew a walk, but Adcock grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Pignatano was hit by a pitch, Furillo walked. After 2 flyouts, Jay walked Junior Gilliam. Bob Rush relieved Jay and got Neal to ground out to end the inning.
Williams set the Braves down in the 12th. Rush got the first two outs quickly, but then he walked Hodges. Hodges went to 2nd on a single by Pignatano. With 2 outs, Furillo hit an infield single that Mantilla turned into an error with an ill-advised throw to 1st that went wild, and Hodges scored, sending the Dodgers to the World Series with the White Sox. Williams got his 5th win of the year.
One win two losses so far in those series. 1959 was my first year of really being into the game. I had started collecting baseball cards in earnest and reading the box scores daily. I listened to every game I could on my radio, and was enthralled with Vin’s painting the game.
It was also the only year I ever played Little League baseball. It was a magical season. The new replacing the aging. New heroes, like Moon and Wills, Larry Sherry, and the emerging Aces, Big D and Koufax, were still a couple of years away from becoming legend.
1962 Playoffs
The next couple of years, they were not as good. The Pirates won in 1960, and the Reds in 61. Then in 62, Drysdale and Wills led the resurgence, and Koufax established himself as a force to be reckoned with. Big D won the Cy Young, Maury the MVP, Tommy Davis led the league in hitting. Big Frank Howard provided the other power. Hodges, Neal, Furillo, Carl Erskine were all gone as were a few others. Snider was still there, but no longer a starter. He was the team captain though and de-facto go between for the players and Alston.
The Dodgers started a little slow, but by their 50th game they were 35-15. They stayed close and then on the 5th of July they went into First place and they stayed there until the Giants caught them on the last day of the year. Koufax had gone down with a problem in his finger in July and did not come back until the next to last series with the Cardinals. They lost 5 of those 6 games, and 2 of 3 to the Astros to end up tied with the Giants. Of those 7 losses, 3 of them were by one run and Podres lost 1-0 to Simmons in the last game of the year.
So now they had to play the Giants a 3 game series to decide the winner. They lost game 1 in SF 8-0 with Billy Pierce beating the not fully healthy Koufax. Sandy lasted less than 2 innings and the Giants hit 4 HR’s that day.
Game 2 was in LA. Big D started for the Dodgers and gave up a run in the first. In the top of the 6th the Giants broke through for 4 more. Tom Haller walked, he was moved to 3rd on a double by Jose Pagan. Jack Sanford, the Giants starter then reached on an error by Big D. Chuck Hiller and Jim Davenport singled and with only one out, Ed Roebuck replaced Drysdale. Willie McCovey singled in a run and it was 5-0.
Sanford had given up only 4 singles over the first 5 innings, only one reaching scoring position. But when he walked Gilliam to open the 6th, Alvin Dark made a double switch bringing in Stu Miller and replacing McCovey in left with Matty Alou. Dark’s decision to pull Sanford was based on the fact that he had a cold and was out of gas.
Snider doubled, then Davis hit a sac fly scoring Gilliam. That run ended a 35 inning scoreless inning stretch by the Dodgers. Moon walked, and Howard singled scoring Snider. Billy O’Dell relieved Miller, and Doug Camilli pinch hitting for Roseboro singled to load the bases. Andy Carey pinch hit for Willie Davis and was hit scoring Moon. Lee Walls hit for Roebuck and hit a double which emptied the bases. That gave the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. Walls went to 3rd on the throw home. Don Larsen, yeah the same perfect game guy came in to relieve O’Dell. Wills hit a grounder to the 1st baseman who threw home to try and get Walls. Walls slid hard into Haller causing him to drop the ball and scored. Haller received a cut that was bad enough to require 6 stitches.
With the Dodgers up 7-5, John Orsino entered to be the new catcher. Wills stole 2nd, his 101st steal of the year. the throw went into center and Wills attempted to get to 3rd, but Willie Mays threw him out. Gilliam then flied out to end the inning.
The Dodgers made numerous defensive changes in the bottom of the inning with Perranoski coming in to pitch, Fairly replacing Moon at 1st, Larry Burright took over at 2nd, Gilliam moved to 3rd and 3rd baseman Tommy Davis took over in center. Perranoski gave up a couple of hits in the 7th but no runs.
The Giants got 2 more hits off of Perranoski in the 8th, and Jack Smith came in to relieve. He gave up a single to Ed Bailey that scored Davenport. Mays attempting to advance to 3rd was called out and the call was argued by both Dark and his 3rd base coach. They said Jocko Conlan called him safe and then changed his call. Carl Boles pinch ran for Bailey Williams came in to relieve Smith and walked Alou to load the bases. Orsino hit a sac fly and Boles scored the tying run.
Bobby Bolin came in to pitch the bottom of the 8th and kept the game tied. Williams pitched a perfect top of the 9th. Wills walked to lead off the 9th and Dick LeMay replaced Bolin. Gilliam then walked and the Dodgers announced Darryl Spencer as a PH for Snider. The Giants countered with Gaylord Perry. Spencer laid down a successful bunt, putting Wills at 3rd and Gilliam at 2nd.
Dark was irked that Perry had not tried to get the runner at 3rd and pulled Perry from the game, replacing him with Mike McCormick. McCormick intentionally walked Tommy Davis and then gave up a walk off sac fly by Fairly. The game took 4 hours and 18 minutes, breaking the previous record of 4 hours and 2 minutes for the longest 9 inning game in MLB history. Wills, who scored the winning run, turned 30 that day.
The Giants started Juan Marichal against Johnny Podres, although Walt Alston had considered starting Larry Sherry. The Giants scored 2 in the 3rd and the Dodgers 1 in the 4th and 2 in the 6th. Roebuck came in to stop a Giants rally in the 6th.
In the bottom of the 7th, Wills singled and then stole 2nd, Dark did not have the Giant pitchers holding Wills since he felt there was no way to stop him. Gilliam made an out. Wills then stole 3rd, his 104th steal, and scored on a throwing error.
With the Dodgers up 4-2 they threatened again. Don Larsen entered the game with Tommy D already having a 2-0 count and walked him. He was sacrificed to 2nd. Howard struck out, but Larsen intentionally walked both Roseboro and Willie Davis to load the bases. But Roebuck grounded out to end the inning.
So now we go to the 9th inning. This is where I will always say Walter Alston let his ego over rule his common sense. He left Roebuck in to pitch the 9th, and he had no one warming up. Roebuck had been in the game since the 6th inning. Drysdale had volunteered to go down and warm up in case he was needed. Snider pleaded with the manager to send Big D down there. Alston refused saying he would be pitching the next day in the first game of the World Series.
Alou pinch hit for Larsen and singled. Harvey Kuenn grounded into a force. McCovey PH for Hiller and walked sending Kuenn to second. Ernie Bowman pinch ran for McCovey and Felipe Alou walked to load the bases. Mays hit a liner that Roebuck knocked down to make it 4-3. Williams relieved and McCovey hit a sac fly that tied the game at 4. Mays moved to 2nd on a wild pitch to Bailey and Williams walked him to load the bases. He then walked Davenport and gave the Giants a 5-4 lead. Pagan hit a grounder that Larry Burright misplayed for an error and it was 6-4. Not as dramatic as 51, but just as heartbreaking. Billy Pierce came in and threw a perfect 9th to a demoralized Dodger lineup and the Giants went on to face the Yanks in the series.
This one was especially painful to a 14 year old boy. We had led almost all year. Losing Koufax for 2 months was a huge blow, and not having Sandy at his best for the playoff was even worse. It was Snider’s last hurrah in a Dodger uni. He was sold to the Mets that winter. Of course in 63 they came back to win it all, Sandy started the best 4 year run of any pitcher in Dodger history.
Those close calls probably hurt as bad as any series loss. At least for me, they did.
Good point about poor decisions by Dodgers manager, but the Giants cheated their way into the playoffs in 1951. Exposed in 2001 by The Wall Street Journal article.
There were always rumors that the Giants were stealing signs, and I would not put it past Durocher to do something like that.
Bobby Thompson admitted that they were stealing signs, that Durocher told them how it would work starting mid July 1951. Thompson maintained that he did not know the pitch that he hit for the home run to defeat the Dodgers. Without the sign stealing it is likely that the Dodgers win the pennant outright.
Highly possible, but even when the Stros were doing it in the 17 series, it does not change the fact that they did not do it in game 7 and Darvish still got hammered. All teams look for an edge, and sign stealing was something all teams did back in the day. They would look for little signs. Batters used to glance back at the catcher to see where they were setting up so they would know pitch location. But doing it electronically, well, that just was way over the line of good sportsmanship. What pissed me off was the tap on the wrist punishments and not stripping Houston of the title.
Once again, an excellent article by Bear.
I think there might be one error in there though. One paragraph starts out: The Giants got 2 more hits off Gaylord Perry in the 8th.
It is corrected. When I wrote the story, I wrote the Giants got 2 more hits off of Perry. meaning Perranoski for short. Jeff when he proof read it changed it to Gaylord Perry. And yes, that would be an error on me.
I’m ruling it a fielder’s choice. We don’t want to screw up your fielding percentage.
Actually it would be a team error since Jeff did the proof read and changed it to Gaylord Perry…see..I am passing the buck here…no Harry Truman I.
I will take the hit on this one. When I “proofread”, I put the articles in Word to check for spelling, word spacing, and punctuation questions. I do not always read the article to make changes. With names, I always like to include the first name of the player at least once so that it is easier for me to pick up when I tag the names. If I do not know the name, I will check Baseball Reference for the proper spelling. When I saw the name Perry, and I knew it was LA vs SF in 1962, my mind immediately went to Gaylord Perry and not Perranoski. I did not read the sentence to know that it should have been Perranoski. My bad.
As Bear knows, I never change anything he writes. I may make spelling, word spacing, and punctuation changes, but never content. Thus I do not read every word. I missed on this one, and there will undoubtedly be others in the future.
But thank you for catching it. It appears that Mark has already made the correction.
Nope, I made it. Do not ask me how, but I got the Word press dashboard page on my computer. I think it was when I changed avatar’s. Anyway, I just went on and changed it.
When I read Jeff’s comment, I thought maybe I was losing my mind. Not to say that I am not, but I knew that I did not change it.
Bear, I am impressed! WOW!
I guess old dogs can learn new tricks!
Woof!
As usual Bear, an excellent recap of Dodger playoff history when if you won the pennant you went to the World Series. I remember sitting in our den as 13 year old watching the game with some friends. I sat there during the 9th inning watching in disbelief as what was happening. It was hard to accept they had lost, especially to the Giants. Later on, whenever Vinny commented on some wacky event that happened during a game I would reflect on that playoff loss to the hated Giants.
Another, crazy playoff play was when the Dodgers had two players thrown out at the plate on the same play. The Dodgers were playing the Mets in game 1 of the 2006 NLDS. Jeff Kent was on second and JD Drew was on first. Russell Martin was at the plate. He hits a drive off the RF fence and it is fielded by Shawn Green (former Dodger). Green throws to Jon Valentin (future Dodger) who relays his throw to catcher Paul Lo Duca (former Dodger) who tags out Kent easily at the plate. It was hard to believe that Kent was thrown out. But, the Dodgers weren’t finished! The Mets pitcher, John Maine, was backing up the play and was yelling at Lo Duca to the unbelievable fact that another runner was coming home. Lo Duca turns around in time to tag out JD Drew. The Dodgers ended up losing the game 6-5 and were sweep in three game by the Mets. The play can be seen on UTube. As Vinny used to say “that could only happen to the Dodgers”.
I remember that well, and it was one of the reasons I was extremely happy JD Drew opted out of his contract and went to Boston. In 1980 when they played the one game playoff with the Stros, I was in the hospital having surgery to have my stomach stapled. The surgery went well and the first thing I asked my girl friend when I came out of the anesthesia was who won? And of course the Astros has beat the Dodgers 7-1 and the losing pitcher was Dave Goltz. Another free agent bust. You have to remember that at one time in Brooklyn, they were referred to as the Daffiness Boys. And only the Dodgers could have a play where a player tripled into a double play.
Fun read Bear. I wonder if Eric thinks so.
Sandy’s 4 year run the best in Dodger history. I agree. I missed a lot of it in ‘66. I was in boot camp and infantry training. I was training to stop the communist menace!
Sign stealing in ‘51? No way. Say it ain’t so. I remember stealing my first sign in Pony League. We did it the honorable way. Stealing isn’t stealing if you share it with others.
Agree Jeff. Helton has to go. And while on football, it’s my opinion the Rams will never win a championship with Goff at quarterback. The man runs like he’s wearing cement overshoes. And he panics under pressure. Rams need 6 offensive linemen for protection and they need Bill Callahan to coach them.
Not angry Mark. Just want you to get your facts straights. Even Ray Charles could see you were wrong and he’s been dead 16 years.
Profit sharing is a good thing norcal. I’m surprised you don’t agree. Invented by an Englishman in the late 1800’s. There’s plenty to go around. We could put all those lazy ner do wells drawing unemployment, eating free food and living in tents to work raking the forests. Happy happy happy love love love.
I figure not much Dodgers is going to to happen until after the New Year. Anyone want to give odds on Spring Training starting on time? Any fans going to be allowed? A season starting on 4-1? Sure hope these vaccines get distributed… and work.
I hope he finds it informative.
OK, this borders on politics (but it really is “law”), but you have told me and everyone that I am wrong, so I am going to unequivocally show that I am right and YOU are wrong:
I said: “Newsome is in the process of getting recalled.“
To which you replied: “No he isn’t. Get your facts straight. He could face recall if enough signatures are gathered. Personally, I don’t see it happening. Just want you to get your facts straights. Even Ray Charles could see you were wrong and he’s been dead 16 years.
Recall of any elected official is governed by Article 2, Sections 13-19 of the California Constitution:
https://ballotpedia.org/Article_II,_California_Constitution#Section_13
The Secretary of State publishes a Document called “Procedure for Recalling State and Local Officials:
https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/recalls/recall-procedures-guide.pdf
In Chapter II, entitled Recall of State Officers it says:
Preliminary Steps
The Notice of Intention
To begin recall proceedings against a state officer, the recall proponents must serve, file, and publish or post a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition.
(Elections Code § 11006)
The governor is “in the process” of getting recalled. That is absolutely true. The process will end with it failing or succeeding. Either way the process is over at that point.
Here is a list of current recall efforts:
https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/recalls/current-recall-efforts
There are a lot of links to read if you desire.
… Just so we are clear!
I can’t recall what I had for breakfast Friday.
Hey Bum, same here. You were absolutely right when I spaced it about Anthony Davis. But I had forgotten all about him. He was an exciting running back and SC had so many of them. In 66 Badger, I was following when ever I could from Ft Bliss. I was in training as a radar tech for Hawk missiles and going to school a lot. But once in a while I would see a game on Saturday. I did read the box scores every day. When I would go to the USO on weekends, I could even catch up on stories in the Times as they had copies of all the home town papers. They tried to recall Polis here. Fell a couple of thousand votes short. But there is a lot of sentiment against him and he will have a hard time getting re-elected.
Today I had a cheese omelet and corned beef hash. Also some toast and coffee. I am a terrible cook, but it came out well.
Why so angry Mark? And, this is obviously political and I can’t respond to it. I ask that the board of governors here censor your post.
But at least I got you to read up on it. That’s a good thing.
I’m a man of the people by the people for the people. I read that somewhere and it made sense to me. I also read something about a communist menace and joined the most lethal killing force on the planet to help see to it that didn’t happen, in Southeast Asia of all places. I learned quickly that it’s a good idea to do more research on moves as meaningful as that. The communist menace was a line of b.s. put forth by war profiteers.
Back to baseball.
But football first. Damm Rams.
Kuzma a three year extension. I see a sign and trade.
Ok, Dodgers. I see nobody has yet forwarded an opinion on BIS and when where and how many games. I’m a forward thinker, at least I view myself as such, so I say no fans allowed, late ST start and <162 games.
The law is the law and not political. It is a fact that the Governer is in the midst of a recall. Whether it is successful is to be determined. For me to say there is a recall in not political. On the other hand, when you start talking redistribution of wealth and the like, well that is political and I am not mad. I just don’t like to be accused of something that you have an inate proclivity to do.
I have an inate proclivity. Assuming you meant innate proclivity. Thanks for pointing that out. I’ll have it looked at.
As I said, Newsome is not being recalled. Some nasty Republicans, a “ragtag crew of pro-Trump anti-vaccine extremists” are trying to pull a fast one. It ain’t gonna happen. Californians will not be distracted by this obvious extreme right-headed “distraction and circus”.
You can’t help yourself – it’s a compulsion.
Compulsion? Not by definition:
psychology – a strong usually irresistible impulse to perform an act, especially one that is irrational or contrary to one’s will
I don’t believe that describes me
I think consistent is more accurate:
agreeing or accordant; compatible, holding firmly together, cohering…. maven
I added the last part. Nice touch don’t you think?
Biscuits and gravy for me. About twice a month, I have it from a little gas station across the street (yeh, that’s what I thought too). It’s the best I have ever had… from an unlikely place.
Oh, recall… I get it! 😉
You must have seen Total Recall too,
There is a small cafe here called Mugs. I go in there about once a month for breakfast. The biscuits and gravy are excellent. But I usually get the half serving anymore because the full serving is huge.
Your two avatar pictures, on my small mini pad screen, look a lot alike. I’ve seen Mark up close and personal and he always looks like a mug shot. I look forward to meeting Bear and I doubt a guy as sweet and cuddly as him looks as intimidating as Timmons.
Who doesn’t love biscuits and gravy. Hard to get vegetarian gravy in a restaurant, especially a restaurant in California these days, but my wife has a terrific veggie gravy recipe.. Come on over and have some. You’ll have to wear a mask and eat on the porch.
I will most likely be out in Cali sometime in the spring. My brother has some CD’s and bobble heads for me. And it has been a while since I have seen family. My grand daughter in Lake Isabella is a senior in HS next year. Hard to believe she will be 17. We will probably take in a game at Rancho since we prefer that to the high prices at Dodger Stadium. But we might go to one game if fans are allowed to see the Stadium improvements. There was a time when I was a pretty scary person. Not so much anymore. I have mellowed a lot. Both of my nephews have recieved their masters degrees. Kevin works for the City of Long Beach and Ryan has become a High School US History teacher. We have some intense discussions on the subject when I am there. I have eaten veggie burgers, and some are quite good. I really enjoyed the Carl’s Jr. one. But they are pricey. I sometimes make mine from ground turkey. Not bad, but not a Fatburger for sure. Fatburger, greasiest burger on the planet. Same way for their chili.
Good research, Bear, and good memories. Thank you. I remember the disappointment felt by me when the Dodgers in 1962 lost at the last moment their chance to compete in the World Series. It left an angry an bitter taste in my heart because it was the dreaded Giants who took it away from us.
Painful memories. While game 3 was going on, I was listening to it while doing some hard labor that my foster father assigned me. I was chipping cement off of used bricks so he could reuse them. He knew the game was on and it was a form of punishment for some unspecified infraction. He hated sports and was lousy at them to boot and he knew how much I loved the game. Anyway, when the Giants started that rally in the 9th, my heart was sinking and I think I broke about 10 bricks on purpose so they could not be used.
For all of you history mavens out there, the progressive movement (1896 – 1918 approx) advocated “direct democracy” which included recall and ballot initiatives. The Constitution was amended in 1911 when Hiram Johnson (a progressive Republican) was governor to permit this.
We Californians recalled Governor Gray Davis in 2003 and ended up with the Terminator, Arnold Schwartzenegger as governor for 6 years.
Best nickname for a governor ever…..The Gubernator. Love his movies and he actually has some comedic chops. Twins was awesome. When Ventura was the governor of Minnesota, they used to sell T shirts that said, My governor can kick your governors ass. Cute.
The Constitution has been amended a bunch. 27 times I believe. Those framers needed some follow up.
maven. I had to look it up.
Arnold. If memory serves he bottomed out at a 22% approval rating, tying Davis for the lowest recorded approval rating in California history. The read: in over his head. Prevaricated and bungled, switching sides as it suited him to save his skin. In other words – he became a politician.
Ok, back to baseball …. I got nothing.
Probably because other than a lot of Korean and Nippon league signings, MLB teams are really dragging their heels. January things will heat up, and a lot of players are going to be left out.
I have to draw the line on biscuits n gravy!!! Stay with me for hours…
I don’t let people know it, but I’ve had a vege burger or two in my life and I gotta agree with Bear, not bad at all…
So I come to this corner and there’s a 5 Guys, In n Out and a vege burger joint!!! In n Out burger, 5 Guys fries and game over for one of Natures wonders..
DBM… Time for a consult on diets??? We have more rings to win…
In my youth it was the greasier the better. When I was in the Army and we would BBQ, I would mix the hamburger with beer and let it sit in the fridge over night. Thus Bear’s fantastic beer burgers were born. The guys loved em. I would add some relish and onions to the meat. The alcohol in the beer would be cooked out, but the flavor remained. I usually used fire brewed Stroh’s beer. Really had a great taste to it. Calories be damned! Biscuits and gravy, as all American as apple pie.
Obviously I’m a veggie burger fan, but some of the new ones, with the leghemoglobin heme molecule I didn’t much care for. Tasted like meat. A vegetarian for 50 years I do not miss the taste of meat. Any of you had the opportunity to get to an Amy’s Restaurant? Everything is organic there. They’ve got the best vegetarian burger, fries and vanilla shake I’ve ever had. The Amy, double veggie patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, Fred SR’s secret sauce (regular or spicy) Chili fries are great too.
Hello peterj. In-N-Out my favorite.
Guy’s daughter is surely filthy rich. I just wish I got the $ of their least profiting store manager makes. In-N-Out treats it’s managers very well.
This day in Dodger history….1978. Sports cartoonist Willard Mullin, the creator of the beloved cartoon character, The Bum for the Brooklyn Dodgers dies in Corpus Christi Texas at the age of 76.
You guys are mad
It’s Jack in the Box all day long
Jacques in Le box has always been a favorite, But i cannot imagine veggie fish and chips….
Back in the day when I was done throwing cricket, 301/501 and drinking I’d hit Jack but never sober…
Watford, you were a cheap date…
See if the darts gets you stirred up…
Throwing crickets? How did you catch the little buggers???
I’m going to tell you about the best burger on the planet. It called the Maid-Rite and it is in a little town in Ohio called Greenville. It has been there since 1934 and every night they are still lined up down the street. It’s a hole-in-the-wall and tradition is that people put their chewing gum on the wall outside. It’s disgusting but their loose meat hamburgers are incredible and lean as they are boiled in water. I will drive 100 miles out of my way to order four Cheese Rites with everything (they are small).
https://www.maidrite-greenville.com/
It’s no Apple Pan.
But Apple Pan does a lot of things. Maid Rite has been around 80 years because they do one thing perfectly.
Mark, looks good to me. Kinda like a sloppy joe without the liquid and I love sloppy joes, even the Kelly ones.
Best burger in America. The Loyalist in Chicago. Hands down! Brindle Room in NYC in 2nd place
I love White Castle. The only one where you can eat 10 of them and not be full.
Anyone up for veggie Dodger Dogs?
Oh hell no! Meat or bust.
Matt Duffy signed by the Cubs and Wellington Castillo by the Nats. Both to minor league deals.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guerrja01.shtml
Javy is still around – just signed with the Nats. Back in 2011, he had 21 saves for LA. It was all downhill after that!
Javy Guerra. Who cares
This is a far more important story:
https://sports.yahoo.com/appreciation-jairo-castillo-rising-star-185625293.html
That was posted more than two weeks ago. Same time Marty Lamb died. It is a shame.
Lon Joyce, not Marty Lamb……
My bad… yeah Lon Joyce.
I must have missed it. This is dated today.
More than two weeks ago? So it was posted before he died?
He died Sunday, December 6th. Do the math.
Why is everything from you argumentative?
They posted both on the day they died, I saw it on Twitter.
Sorry. I didn’t mean to be argumentative.
I didn’t see it here. I’m not on Twitter. I did the math. You said it was posted here more than two weeks ago. He passed two weeks and 1 day ago. So, obviously it was posted here on the day he died. I missed it.
Again, sorry I touched a nerve.
Nice day today I got a Christmas package from my sis. She sent me a bunch of coffee. Seattle’s best. Some fudge, wedding cookies, a blu ray of the movie Motherless Brooklyn, and a 50 dollar check. Really nice of her. My brother. Steve got the die cast 57 Chevy I sent him that was a Duke Snider commemorative. So all in all a great day.
Looks like I am going to get my wish and have a white Christmas. We have a storm moving in Wednesday night. Anyone check out the so called Bethlehem star tonight? I cannot wait for spring training.
I saw it. Brilliant.
Howie Kendrick has decided to hang up his spikes and retire. Best wishes and good luck Howie. Glad to have seen you play. And you also got your ring. Sorry it was at our expense, but it was well deserved.
Country music lost another today. KT Oslin passed away. Biggest hits were 80’s Ladies and Do Ya. Football lost former Steeler linebacker Kevin Greene. 3rd all time in sacks. RIP.
KT was 78 and I guess it is easier to take, but Kevin Greene was just 58 and played like a wildman… Were the steroids worth it? They are rampant in football and one of the reasons my son stopped playing. At 17 he was exposed to it and knew that in order to excel, he would have to do it too. That is also part of the reason why I have lost a lot of interest in the NFL. They know… wink, wink!
I think I’m gonna outlive everybody.
Kevin Greene Highlights:
By the way, if you ever want to post a You Tube Video, just pull up the video and click on “Share”. There you will find Embed”. Copy the code and paste it in your comment!
You are welcome.
Thanks Mark….Next time I find something interesting i will try it. I saw KT live once back when she was on top. She also did a tune with Alabama, Face to Face. Good tune. She had a wicked sense of humor.