Players are sitting, Furillo, Koufax, Pafko, Gilliam, Neal, Erskine, Carey and Babe Herman
Second row. Campy, umpire Al Passarella, Ump, Jocko Conlon, Ump, Beans Reardon, Shuba, Wills, Larker, Tracewski, Roseboro, Stengel, Moon, Craig, Demeter, Skowron, Dixie Walker, Roebuck.
Back row. Pignatano, Hodges, Ump Pat Orr, Lavagetto, Maglie, Podres, Newcombe, Hermanski, Sherry, Reese, Drysdale, Burright, Essegian, Black, Snider, Branca.
Those were the first oldtimers to get together and play a game at Dodger Stadium. Old timers games have been traced back to the 1870’s. The Yankees and Dodgers are the two teams who have kept the game alive. The Phillies have not had one since 1993. The Yankees usually just have Yankee greats back. But on the 20th anniversary of their 1978 series win, they brought back players from the 77-78-81 teams to play a team comprised of Dodgers who were there opponents in all three of those series. The game ended on a home run by Willie Randolph off of Tommy John, who had the distinction of being on the losing team all three series. Twice with the Dodgers, and in 81 with the Yankees. The Dodgers a few years ago had a game where they played the Yankees at Dodger Stadium.
Casey was a popular draw. The Glendale native came to a couple of those games. He also managed the Yanks against the Dodgers on this memorable evening in 1959
That night was a celebration for Campy, and included many Dodger and Yankee greats.
The highlight was the photo of Reese wheeling Roy out, the lights of the stadium dimmed and fans holding up lighters to honor a man who never got the chance to play in LA. Over the years, and especially lately, these events have been held to celebrate Championship teams. They brought back the 81 and 88 champs over the last few years. Hershiser and Valenzuela got their moments in the sun again. But even guys like Bob Welch would come back and try their hand on the mound again. That is Mickey Hatcher behind Welch playing SS. Vin Scully took the mound for one of these events. Although I could not find a photo of it.
I did find one of him doing it pregame. Classiest guy in the game ever. I looked at the schedule for this season and all of the events are not listed yet. But I did not see an Old Timers scheduled. Probably because the All Star game will be at Dodger Stadium this season. But here are some of the old timers who have appeared.
I sincerely hope the Dodgers continue doing this down the road. Seeing these players back on the field for a few minutes is always fun. A couple of years ago, Jerry Hairston Jr. hit what he claimed was a HR during the game, Nomar kept saying the ball went foul, but Jerry rounded the bases anyway. He also hammed it up a lot on the post game show.
Years ago when the White Sox held one, 75 year old Luke Appling did hit one out of the park. He got a standing ovation when he rounded the bases. There can be some special and memorable moments. The Dodgers in 2019 started what they called the Legends of Dodger baseball. On a specified evening, the honoree would be at the Stadium and the team handed out a bobblehead of the player. Three players have been so recognized to far, Don, Newcombe, Fernando Valenzuela, and Steve Garvey. I was there on Garvey’s night, and his bobblehead is in it’s place with all the rest.
Spokane Bob asked me to do a story on these Old Timers games, I am sorry there is not a lot of info on prior games, but there are some photos. The Dodgers themselves would probably have a lot more. He also asked that I do a story on the celebrity games they have held at Dodger Stadium over the years. That will be my next article. As there is a lot more photos and info on those. Here is a rare photo of Koufax pitching in someone else’s oldtimers game.
Rockies signed Zack Lee to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. MLB-MLBPA meeting yesterday lasted less than an hour. They are in no hurry to get something done.
I appreciate your articles Bear. I know others do as well. Might have to have a contest on that one photo, name that Dodger on the left. My guess, Terry Forster.
Terry’s most famous quote: “A waist is s terrible thing to mind.”
Letterman also called him a “fat tub of goo.”
That’s what could happen if you dined with Tommy too much.
Great motto. I’ll have to remember that one.
Good stuff Bear. Great pics.
Mark, I loved the cabbie story. True or not doesn’t matter. Great message for us all.
I’m a Cabbie
Think I’ve gotta up my game…
Thank you Bear
I always like your work.
Thanks for the Kudo’s guys. I appreciate it. Sadly, there is no news on the lockout front and the other baseball news is about the trial of the trainer who provided Tyler Skaggs with the drugs that killed him. Many players have been testifying about drug use in the Angels locker room, including current Dodger, Andrew Heaney. Matt Harvey and C J Cron also testified to the use of drugs. Another black eye for the game. The longer this drags on, the more disgruntled I become. And the fans as usual, caught in the middle. Manfred is being blasted in the press and by fans with the statement that MLB wants the power to be able to reduce the number of players a team can carry in the organization. The game is being ruined.
Bear, your work is incomparable. Thank you so much!
Sandy Koufax is ageless, isn’t he?
Hope we hear from Badger more often…I miss his comments.
255//327/403
236/292/395
Matt Beaty and Zach McKinstry, our LH bench guys, projections. Rios’ projections are just as worse.
I’m thinking McKinstry could do better and Beaty could do even less. Rios? Who knows. So, what can be done about the bench? Why nothing of course. I’d like to see a thunderous LH DH, (Freeman would do) who would obviously get the lion’s share of at bats against a league that starts left handers only 29% of the time.
Interesting article in the Times regarding the community losses in Glendale. Did you know the economic justification of Cactus League cities was tax payer funded ballparks, the average Dodger fan spends $439 a day there and the Dodgers pay $1 rent. I’d render comment on all that, but I can’t. I’ll just say it’s my opinion the owners are way out of touch with common fans like me.
Great stuff, Bear. Gracias.
They don’t make nicknames like they used to: Pee-Wee, Cookie, Dixie, Spider, Campy….. I kind of think Stanky is a built-in nickname.
When Robinson broke in, the NY copy editors came up with “Robby” to help fit the headline count.
Ya missed Ol Skoonj. Probably the strangest nick name on that team, but based on the fact that Furillo loved scunjilli. Penguin, Popeye, Bulldog. Dodgers have had some pretty good ones over the years. Remember Oil Can Boyd>? I never got the story of how he earned that moniker. I still like the nickname they gave Ross Stripling…..Chicken Strip.
Oil can is what he called a can of beer.
But he said he used crack the entire 1986 season… so what about Crackcan?
Great article in The Athletic on the #1 Farm Systems in baseball:
https://theathletic.com/3132170/2022/02/16/hard-to-quantify-will-rhymes-on-how-the-dodgers-built-their-farm-system/
The Dodgers have not selected in the top 10 of the Major League Baseball amateur draft since they took a tall high school left-hander from Texas named Clayton Kershaw with the seventh pick in 2006.
They were tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the lowest available international bonus pool during the most recent signing period.
Last summer, they shipped off their two top prospects (Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray) as part of a package that netted them Max Scherzer and Trea Turner.
And yet, they have The Athletic’s top farm system in baseball, with Keith Law referring to the group’s depth and upside as “hilarious.”
No good without a season.
They made a good point about the Dodgers emphasis on culture and player makeup. AF made some big blunders with international signings early on. Dropped a ton of money on all the top Cuban prospects. Puig was the only one that has produced in the show. And he certainly came with a log of baggage. But the others were totally disasters. And not because they didn’t have the talent. They were just massive head cases.
Crazy that even with those expensive misses, the Dodgers still consistently pumped out big league talent. Year after year. To trade your top two prospects and have the system ranked #1 the next year is remarkable.
Puig was signed when Colletti was the GM, not AF. But they did spend a lot of cash on Cuban’s who gave them zip on their returns.
Another meeting scheduled for later today.
Was looking to see what a delayed start would mean In real terms for the Dodgers?
Not sure how things would work if games are lost from the 162 Schedule as seems likely?
Do you just miss the games you miss, or is the whole thing rescheduled accordingly?
The Dodgers would be at a big disadvantage in that their first 15 games are against The Rockies (home and away), The Diamondbacks, The Twins and The Reds.
I think It’s safe to say that we would be off to a good start with those fixtures.
I think it’s also fair to say that the season is definitely not gonna start on time now, so things could work against us.
Just hammer out a deal already. You owe it to the fans. But of course, they are last on your list.
I think today is the day significant movement must be made in the lockout saga if a delay to ST and the start of the season is to be avoided. If no momentum is gained in todays negotiations, I think MLB will have to “officially” announce a delay to ST with the cancelation of games.
Perhaps I am naive but when baseball cleaned up the steroid issue I thought the sport was clean. We all remember the Doc Ellis news that he pitched while on LSD, the Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, Vida Blue drug scandal, the Pittsburgh Pirates drug scandal of 1985, but I thought the sport was clean for the most part.
The news from the Kay trial involving the distribution and use of drugs has me deeply concerned that drug use among MLB is still quite common. Harvey, Bedrosian, Skaggs, Richards and perhaps Andrew Heaney (new Dodger) have all testified on the apparent rampant drug use of the Angel’s (including their own use-although not sure Heaney admitted to using, but he did text Skaggs about pitching while high). Cocaine, Oxycodone, Fentanyl have all been discussed with Harvey admitting to providing dope to Skaggs although not the drugs that eventually contributed to his death.
It amazes me that young men who have been gifted talent from God to throw and hit a baseball like no one else can be so misguided, short-sighted, manipulated, addicted etc. Is “hard core” drug use in MLB common? With 4 or 5 admitted users on one ML roster comprised of 25 players might be a trend and not random or happenstance.
NorCal … you are on target. The problem is much deeper than MLB, it is part of our society and culture. We have been headed downhill for many years on many fronts. As I am now 75 myself, I can still hear my Grampa talking about things like character, honesty, no such thing as a free lunch. Unless and until we, as a society, get back to the basics of what founded this “grand experiment” … MLB will simply be the highly visible expression of where we are headed as a civilization.