Over the years, many times the Dodgers have brought in MLB veterans who were very good at one time and were acquired by the Dodgers when the end was near. And it happened in Brooklyn many times too. Lefty O’Doul was 34 when he joined Brooklyn. The guy was a great hitter as shown by his .349 career batting average. In three years with the Dodgers O’Doul hit .340. He won his second batting title at age 35 in 1932 as a member of the Dodgers with a .368 mark. He played 43 games for Brooklyn in 33 before being traded to the Giants.
Hack Wilson was another. He joined the Dodgers at the age of 32 in 1932. Although not completely done, he was not the prodigious hitter he had been in Chicago. Wilson, who still to this day holds the major league record for RBIs in a single season with 191, played parts of three seasons with the Dodgers. He averaged .280 over those seasons with 38 homers and 201 RBIs. But his best days were far behind him as his drinking excess took its toll. Wilson and Jimmy Foxx were the inspiration for Tom Hanks, Jimmy Dugan character in the movie, A League of Their Own. Both of those great stars drank themselves out of the game.
In the late 30’s and early 40’s the trend continued. Paul Waner, aka Big Poison, actually joined the Dodgers two times. In 1941 he joined the team at age 38. His 11-game stay was not memorable, and he hit .171. He joined them again in 1843 and this time he hit .311 in 82 games. In 1944 he played in 83 games and hit a solid .287. He finished his Hall of Fame career in 1945 playing in one game with the Yankees. His brother, Lloyd Waner, also played a short time for the Dodgers. At age 38 in 1944, he played alongside his brother in Brooklyn for 15 games getting 4 hits in 14 at bats. Paul was elected to the Hall by the writers in 1952 with 83% of the vote. Lloyd was elected by the veterans committee in 1967. Paul’s career average was .333, Lloyd’s was .316.
The war years forced many teams to add aging stars to their rosters. Brooklyn as we have seen with the Waner brothers was no different. But they also brought back and old fan favorite in 1945 in 42-year-old Babe Herman. Babe would play in 37 games for the Brooks that year hitting a respectable .265 with a homer and 9 RBI’s. Leo Durocher, the manager, played in 2 games that year at second base. Ray Hayworth, a catcher, and Curt Davis, a pitcher, were the other two 40 plus year old players.
Things began to return to normal after the 45 season as many stars began returning from military service. In 1938 though, another soon to be Hall of Famer spent his last big-league season with the Dodgers. Outfielder, Kiki, pronounced Kai, kai, Cuyler, played in 82 games for Brooklyn. He hit .273. He was elected to the Hall by the veterans committee in 1968. Through the rest of their time in Brooklyn, the Dodgers did not add a fading veteran to the mix. They played their own vets and worked some talented kids into the starting lineup, the bench and the pitching staff. When Brooklyn won the World Series for their first and only time, their two oldest players were Robinson and Reese, who were both 36 at the time. 1956 would be Jackies last season with the team. He was traded to the Giants after the season but refused to report and he retired. In 1958 they moved to Los Angeles.
The first aging vet added to the Dodger roster in Los Angeles was outfielder, Elmer Valo. Valo was a decent hitting outfielder with no power who would end up playing 20 years in the majors. He got into 65 games that year hitting .248. It was also Pee Wee’s last year at age 39. He would coach in 59 and move to the broadcasting booth for NBC after that. Through 1967, they did not add veteran players over the age of 33 and the ones they did add were not really stars. Bill Skowron was 32 when they got him from the Yankees. In 1968 they added two stars at the tail end of their careers. Ken Boyer, the former Cardinal star, and Rocky Colavito, the slugging outfielder. Colavito played in 40 games hitting .204 and was released. He signed with the Yankees and finished his career there that same season. Boyer would play in 83 games and hit .271. He also spent 25 games with the team in 1969.
Maury Wills, 36 now, returned to the team in 68 also. Camilo Pasqual, the pitcher, got into 10 games in 1970. But for the bulk of the time, the Dodgers committed to their own youth and veterans in the 70’s. Frank Robinson, 36, spent 1972 with the Dodgers before being flipped to the Angels in a blockbuster deal after the season. It was rumored that he butted heads with Alston quite a few times. That was also 39-year-old Maury Wills last season with the team. 37-year-old Juan Marichal pitched in 2 games for the 1975 team. Of all the players who the Dodgers ever brought in, I thought he was the least likely to ever wear blue.
Usually through the 70’s the oldest player on the team was their own, Manny Mota. In 1977 when he was 39 years old, he got into 49 games and hit a robust .395. He and Reggie Smith were the only Dodgers with an OPS over 1.000. Also added that year were 35-year-old Boog Powell. The former Oriole slugger played in 50 games and failed to hit a homer. It was his last season. Mota had a homer and one less RBI than Boog. Also joining the team and hitting over .300 at age 37, outfielder, Vic Davalillo. Davalillo and Mota were both on the team in 78 and once again, both hit over .300.
Davalillo would stay with the team until 1980 when he was 40. Mota stayed as a coach and part time player until 1980. They again stuck with their own vets and prospects through the early 1980’s. Mark Belanger, a slick fielding SS was an exception in 1982 when he was brought in to backup Bill Russell. Jose Morales was a backup 1st baseman and pinch hitter from 82-84. He was in his late 30’s at the time.
In 1985 they brought in 3 over 34 players, Enos Cabell, Al Oliver and Bill “Mad Dog” Madlock. Madlock hit .360 while Cabell hit .292. Oliver, now 38, hit .243. Madlock was the regular 3rd baseman in 86, Cabell a reserve. The also added 35-year-old Ceasar Cedeno, who played in 37 games before he was cut loose. Eddie Murray was 33 when he joined the team in 89. Other stars would follow, usually in free agency. Willie Randolph, Brett Butler was 34 when he joined the team and spent several years patrolling the Dodger outfield.
But the aging veteran star, at the end of a very good career came with less frequency. In 1991 Gary Carter, the Hall of Fame catcher, played in 101 games as a Dodger and hit .246/6/26 in his next to last season. guys like Otis Nixon, Bill North, Fred McGriff, just elected to the Hall, Robin Ventura, Steve Finley, who would hit a memorable walk off Grand Slam against the Giants in his only year with the Dodgers, Luis Gonzalez, Manny Ramirez, who was 36 when he came to LA, and we all know how that turned out. Jim Thome had a less than memorable 17 game stint in LA. He was homerless. Greg Maddux who they got twice. Garrett Anderson, the Angels stalwart, short 80 game stint with the team in 2010. Colletti added veterans several times during his time as GM, usually as depth on the bench or when he felt a veteran presence was needed. Bobby Abreu, Jerry Hairston Jr. , Juan Rivera, Ted Lilly.
At the end of the 2014 season, Andrew Freidman took over as the President of baseball operations. One of the first things he did was trade for a veteran SS, Jimmy Rollins, who was definitely on his way down. He managed to hit .224 in 144 games. He did add some pop hitting 13 homers that year. But perhaps one of his better trades brought veteran 2nd baseman, Chase Utley to the team. Utley was the consummate professional hitter and player. He brought fire to the clubhouse. He would spend parts of 4 seasons in LA. For parts of two of those seasons, he was the starting second baseman. Freidman would also bring in greybeards, Rich Hill, Curtis Granderson, David Freese, Russell Martin, and finally, Albert Pujols with varying degrees of success. Pujols perhaps was along with Hill and Utley, the most popular of that bunch. I have never seen an opposing player get as loud an ovation as Albert did last year when he popped #699 and 700 in the same game.
For the upcoming 23 season, that guy is JD Martinez. Let us hope he has a stellar year in blue!
Back to baseball. Love the game, love this site. Writing makes me feel alive. And at my age, that is a good thing.
We agree!
Great positive start to the week – being an old fart myself, really enjoyed this read. Looking very forward to see what JD will bring.
Thank you, Gerald. Baseball is and always has been a way to release tension and then create it. I have seen so much change in the game, and this year we get some more. I am really interested to see if getting rid of the shift, and enlarging the bases actually increases scoring. I know two players who will get some boost from this, Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger. Also, it will be great to see Machado actually have to play on the left side of the infield and not become a short fielder in right anymore. Made the game feel too much like slo-pitch softball. Never a saber-metric fan, I live and die with the old type stats. ERA, RBI’s HR’s BA, that is what we saw on the backs of our baseball cards. Read on Jeff’s blog where old friend 2D2 has retired from writing. Always enjoyed his stuff. Rob is a true Dodger fan.
I always liked 2D2’s posts on Dodger’s history, but you’ve done an excellent job in that department. I almost thought you were the same person for a while. Good luck to 2D2 to sit back and watch the games.
Thanks BP. I love the memories. First Dodger game I ever saw in person was at the Coliseum in 58. Players looked like ants we were so far away.
I feel that way watching from the Upper Deck at Dodger Stadium. Only sat up there once. I think I got vertigo being up so high and looking straight down, watching the game through my knees.
Been up there a couple of times. Since I am older, I really do not like the General Admission section. My knees hurt walking down the steps and there is just not enough leg room. I need to stretch my knees out to enjoy the game.
First game I attended was the Angels vs White Sox at Dodger Stadium. Jim Fregosi and Bobby Knopp came to our Little League opening ceremonies and presented the whole league with tickets. We took over the left field bleachers. I doubt parking was $25 a car at that time.
It’s funny Bear. You mentioned Bill Skowron in your article. Almost everyone in NJ & NY knew him as “Moose”. Now that you’ve mentioned it I remember that his name was Bill, though I hardly remember that he was a Dodger.
He had a very forgettable year. Moose as he was called by most of his teammates did though have a stellar World Series. He hit .389 with a homer and three RBI’s. His HR in the fourth inning of game 2 put the Dodgers up 3-0. Podres cruised to a 4-1 win. He was hitless in only game 4. The Dodgers swept the Yankees in what for me was their best World Series win ever. Stan Williams, who he was traded for, pitched 3 scoreless innings in his only appearance. Remember, the year before, Williams’ meltdown against the Giants in the 9th inning of Game 3, cost the Dodgers the 1962 pennant. No doubt a huge reason he was dealt. Oh, his homer came off of future Dodger 20 game winner, Al Downing. Who was also the guy who gave up Aaron’s 715th homer.
CT3 Dodgers Nation Interview…
On Andrew Friedman and Co. – “We know that those guys have one goal in mind and that’s to win a World Series and it’s the same as us. We trust that those guys are going to put us in a position to do that and they’re going to make the moves necessary to do that and if they don’t make the moves it’s because they believe in the guys we have. And I think that’s the case this offseason, is they’re like we have one of the best minor league systems in all of baseball and it’s time to utilize that. I think a lot of our guys that have been in AAA or even some of the guys that have been in the big leagues but up and down or coming off the bench and not playing as much. If they were on other teams I truly believe they’d be Superstar players and they just haven’t got that opportunity.”
This is why I disagree with the notion that we need some old vet to add to the outfield rotation. AF has already made that move in Jason Heyward. This is why I disagree with other notions, Lux can’t play SS, Vargas and Busch can’t defend. I just don’t think we’ve seen enough of them to make those decisions.
I watch nearly every inning of every game, every year. I don’t just look at numbers. I watch interviews with people who scout players. I listen to what players say about their teammates. I look at scouting reports, not just scouting grades. I watch video of minor leaguers, more so on defense, than on offense.
My biggest concern in the infield isn’t Lux, or Vargas, or possibly Taylor. My biggest concern is whether Muncy can handle 2B. He just looks stiff to me. But, I realize that he has good hands and makes the plays that are hit to him. I’m hoping he’ll be around league average. But, he’s not going to make many athletic plays and his range is limited. His strong arm will make up for some deficiencies in other areas. With Lux, Vargas and Busch, I still think there’s room for improvement and I also think that Freddie will turn throwing errors into outs.
I also think that LF is probably the least important defensive position on the field, and is even less important when you have guys in CF and RF that have plus range. It’s a luxury to have a plus defender out there LF. But that position only accounts for around 2 outs per game on average. If you need to, Vargas or Busch can certainly handle LF if a hot bat warrants it.
Most likely, the Dodgers won’t be depending on 3 full-time rookies as some suggest. But, it isn’t unheard of either. We’ve seen the Astros and Blue Jays bring up multiple rookies in the same season, and it took a year or two to click, but those teams didn’t have the level of veteran production around them like the Dodgers have. The year, the Dodgers will have three rookies competing for playing time. They aren’t just handing it over to them. They have enough flexibility to move people around if one or two don’t work out. They might lose a game or two until they acclimate. But, if they begin to perform like CT3 thinks they can, the lineup will be filled with stars once again.
Totally agree. I think a great many fans underestimate the players they do have. JD is an improvement at DH over both Turner and Muncy. More power and with a great deal of opposite field power, he is a doubles machine. 85 over the last two seasons and Dodger Stadium is a great doubles park. Oh he will hit his homers too, but the guy is an RBI machine and one of the few who has clubbed four dingers in a game at Dodger Stadium, so he obviously likes hitting there. He an Mookie, along with Freddie who has had an entire season to get comfortable in that clubhouse, will be the team leaders.
It amazes me how some fans don’t think JDM can’t have another great year. He’s been a top 5-10 best hitters over close to a decade with just one sub-par, not even bad, season where he played through a knee injury.
The great thing about this season, is we don’t seem to have any position players recovering from injuries this past offseason. People tend to forget that CT3 had elbow surgery after the 2021 season, Muncy was dealing with rehab that offseason, Belli was dealing with rehab that offseason. JT is always dealing with something each offseason for the last few years trying to put his knees back together.
This year, everyone is fairly healthy. No surgeries, no rehabs.
Again I agree totally. The guy is a pure hitter, and being back with the man that turned his career around has to be rejuvenating for him.
Excellent points B&P!
The current roster is talented, healthy, and capable of winning the division. I also think that JDM can add value this year. He was an all star in 2022, and at the end of June after 73 games he was hitting 329 with 400 OBP and 924 OPS. I think injuries impacted him the rest of the season, and he has been a proven hitter when healthy.
I really wanted Dodgers to retain Justin Turner and I think they should always try to retain in-house players first, especially those that are such a positive influence in the dugout and in the community. However, the details of JT contract show he is not only guaranteed $21.7 million for 2 years, but he is guaranteed $15 million this year if he turns down player option. The JDM contract is much more affordable for a younger player who has been a better hitter the last 5 years. With little room under luxury tax, I understand now why Friedman chose JDM over JT and why JT chose the Red Sox over the Dodgers.
I love JT and wish him the best. But, he went from a hero in previous Post Seasons to zero the last couple of years. All good things must come to an end and it’s better to let a guy go a year too early, than a year too late. I love that he’s active in the community, but that isn’t a reason to keep him on the field.
Also in the CT3 interview. CT3 said he could see JT coaching and managing in the future. Maybe he’ll be Doc’s eventual replacement. Maybe we haven’t seen the last of JT in Dodger’s Blue.
Fun read! Thank you and keep those grey cells firing!
Thank you OC, I shall attempt to do just that. Never seen a brain in person, are the cells really grey??? LOL.
They don’t call it grey matter for nothing. 😉
Bear –
Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane! You brought up names I have not thought about in decades. You are really good in making history interesting. Keep up the good work!
Can’t wait for sprimg training to begin!
Thank you Tom. It is great to know that the work I put in is appreciated. Former Dodger Tim Locastro signs with the Mets.
Bear
Your work is very appreciated!