You go back to 1958 when the Dodgers moved west, and I would bet without going to the Dodgers baseball reference page, few here could name their starting rotation, let alone the guys in the bullpen. And the same would be true of most of the pitching staffs going back, say, 15-25 years or more. For the record, they finished 7th that year, 21 games behind the pennant winners, the Milwaukee Braves.
They used a 5-man starting staff that year, at least on paper. Drysdale, Podres, Koufax, Stan Williams, and Danny McDevitt. Drysdale started 44 games, Koufax 40, Podres 39, and Williams 37. McDevitt made 13. They had five shutouts and 26 complete games between them. Erskine, on his last legs, started nine games and had two complete games and a shutout. Koufax at 11-11 and Williams at 9-7 were the only starters at .500 or above.
Don Newcombe made eight starts that year and was so bad he was traded to the Reds early in the year. The pen was made up of some holdover Brooklyn guys, Labine, Erskine, Roebuck, Birrer, Bessent, and Craig. Sherry and Giallombardo were the kids. Klippstein was the new guy on the block via a trade. But that was it. The holdover Brooklyn guys were just not doing well in LA.
Anyway, I got to thinking about all the pitchers who have come through the organization and had a moment or two where we looked at them and thought they might become something special or at least a big part of what the team wanted to do. Then I also thought about those guys whose cup of coffee in the majors was so short no one even remembers them being on the roster.
1958- Bob Giallombardo. Bob was 21 when he made his MLB debut. He pitched in 6 games in 1958, going 1-1 with an ERA of 3.36. He had earned the promotion by going 12-9 at AAA Montreal. He never pitched in the majors again. He went back to AAA and was done at age 24 in 1961. No mention as to why he retired so young. By the way, I have his 1959 Topps card.
1959- Chuck Churn. Churn was 29 years old when the Dodgers called him up in August of 59. He had been originally with the Pirates and had made his MLB debut in 1957 against the Dodgers. Obtained in a trade with the Reds in May, he went to AAA Spokane for a while before his call-up. Churn was unscored upon in his first three appearances out of the pen, and on September 2nd, he won his first MLB game, pitching 4 1/3 innings of 1-run ball as the Dodgers beat the Cardinals. His second win came against the Pirates. He pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief as the Dodgers came from behind. The loser was Elroy Face. He was 18-1 that season. That game was his only loss. Churn continued to pitch well, garnering a 3-2 record with one save. He pitched 2/3rds of an inning in the World Series giving up six runs, 2 of which were earned. He never pitched in the majors again.
1960-The Two Ed’s. In 1960, two guys named Ed made their debut with the Dodgers. Their careers would take different paths after that first year. Palmquist was 27 when he made his debut. He made 22 appearances out of the pen, losing one. He had a decent ERA, but his strikeout-to-walk ratio was not very good. He pitched in 5 more games for the Dodgers in 61 and was gone. He finished up going 1-1 for the 62 Twins. Rakow was a spot starter and reliever for the 1960 team. He got into nine games, starting two of them. He also lost one, and his K-to-BB ratio was worse than Palmquist’s. Rakow was traded to the A’s after the season. He became a starter there. He would pitch until 1967, when he pitched for the Braves. The Dodgers received Howie Reed, a reliever, in the trade.
1963- Dick Calmus. Calmus was a star athlete at Webster High in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was the basketball player of the year in 1962. He and his teammate and future big leaguer, Carl Morton, pitched for the baseball team and earned two state titles. Calmus was signed after graduation and was a bonus baby, so he had to stay on the Dodger roster the entire 1963 season. He won his first MLB game on May 12th, pitching three innings and allowing one run in relief. Ron Perranoski got the save. His next win did not come until August 18th when he pitched five innings of shutout relief for Pete Richert and beat the Mets 3-2. Five days later, he made a start against the Braves and was knocked out in the first inning. Om September 1st, against the Giants, Ron Perranoski had a rare blown save. Calmus pitched the 8th inning, holding SF in check, then the Dodgers scored 3 in the bottom of the 8th and beat the Giants, 5-3. Podres pitched the 9th and got the save. The Dodgers won the pennant and swept the Yankees. Calmus finished 3-1. He would develop arm trouble in the minors and be traded to the Cubs after the 1966 season for lefty Fred Norman. He never won another game.
There were others in the mid to late 60s. Nick Wilhite. Gone in 1967 to the Angels. Phil Ortega was used as part of the trade that brought Claude Osteen to LA. Mike Kekich, who was penciled in as Koufax’s replacement in 1967. He ended up going to the Yankees for Andy Kosco. He gained notoriety for his famous wife-swap with Fritz Peterson. Then there was Jack Billingham. Billingham pitched in 50 games for the Dodgers in 1968; He had a 3-0 record and a very good 2.17 ERA. He also had eight saves. For whatever reason, the Dodgers did not protect him in the draft that winter, and he was selected by the Expos and immediately traded to the Astros. It was a trade where the Expos were supposed to receive Donn Clendenon. Clendenon refused to report. Later he joined the Mets and was part of their Championship team in 69.
Billingham pitched for Houston until the winter of 1971 when he was part of the blockbuster trade that sent him, Joe Morgan, Ed Armbrister, Cesar Geronimo, and Dennis Menke to the Reds for Tommy Helms, Lee May, and Jimmy Stewart. A huge part of what would become “The Big Red Machine.” Billingham would go on to a decent career, winning 145 games. He was a double-digit winner in every year he was with the Reds and won 15 his first year in Detroit. He won 19 in back-to-back seasons, 73-74, and was in the top 10 in Cy Young votes in both of those years—one who got away.
The late ’60s and early 70’s had guys like Camilo Pasqual, way past his prime, Hank Aguirre, Pete Mikkelson, Alvin McBean, and Alan Foster. Doyle Alexander, who, after a 6-6 campaign with LA in 1970, was shipped with three other players to the Orioles for Frank Robinson and Pete Richert. Alexander would have a good career finishing with 194 wins. He would be involved in another trade late in his career that would affect the Braves’ fortunes for years. He was traded by the Braves in 1967 for John Smoltz.
By the mid-70s, the Dodgers were more into trading for pitchers than growing their own. Take, for instance, the 1974 staff. Don Sutton and Doug Rau were the only home-grown pitchers in the starting rotation. The other three were Andy Messersmith, Al Downing, and Tommy John. The bullpen had Hough, Zahn, Rhoden, Shanahan, Solomon, and Hudson, who were home-grown. But the big bull in the pen was Mike Marshall, who had been obtained for Willie Davis. Jim Brewer was also obtained via trade, but he had been with LA for many years.
1977-Doug Rau-Rick Rhoden. Doug and Rick were integral parts of the 1977 pennant-winning Dodgers. Along with Don Sutton, Tommy John, and Burt Hooton, they formed a very strong Dodger starting rotation where every starter was in double-figure wins, and all pitched more than 200 innings. Rhoden would eventually be traded to the Pirates for Jerry Ruess. Rau would play for LA for five full seasons and parts three others. He had double-figure wins in each of those five seasons. Arm trouble eventually ended his career. But for me, what I consider the All-time greatest Tommy Lasorda rant (directed at Rau) during the 1977 World Series has cemented him in my mind. And if you do not like profanity, well, close your ears.
In the years since many pitchers have come to the Dodgers for short times. Juan Marichal had a very short stint in LA. Hall of Famer Greg Maddux was obtained for stretch runs by Ned Colletti twice, in 2006 and 2008. Scherzer, in 2021 had maybe the best two-month run by any pitcher I can remember in that short of a time with the team. He was 7-0 in 11 starts. He was 0-1 in the playoffs with a save. The only reason he lost his start in the NLDS was the terrible weather at Dodger Stadium that night. The wind cut down several Dodger drives at the wall. Scherzer gave up one run in 8 innings pitched and lost.
But like most things in baseball today, the way the staff is assembled and the innings and pitches a pitcher can throw are totally different from the way the game was even back in the 90s. Pitch counts are a huge part of the game. Any pitcher gets to 100 pitches, and it doesn’t matter if it is only the 5th inning; he is gone. I am sure somewhere down the road, there will be a pitcher or two who will have a brief cup of coffee with the team, do something to help them win, and then move on to another team or into retirement due to an injury. Look at Hung-Chi Kuo, and he was out of the game at 29.
I am looking forward to seeing the Dodger’s young arms this spring. I know what to expect from Urias, Gonsolin, Kersh, May, and Thor. What they get from Stone, Miller, and Pepiot is of more interest to me.
The Rau Rant was epic! Lots of flashes from the past.
This was on Miguel Vargas yesterday:
How Miguel Vargas adapts to second base will be key this spring. On Thursday, the 23-year-old offered a glimpse of why the Dodgers are optimistic that he can be an above-average defender at the position.
Vargas, who was shaded over closer to the second-base bag, took a handful of steps to his left and made a sliding play on a Miguel Rojas grounder that was headed to right field. Vargas then got up and threw a perfect strike to first, retiring Rojas. Betts and the rest of the team mauled Vargas in celebration.
Lasorda had more than one. Though I think he said the eff word more in this rant than any other. His feud with Kurt Bevacqua was classic too. And also, his rant when asked what he thought of Dave Kingman’s three home run performance against the Dodgers. Another favorite of mine is when he went ballistic over Reggie Jackson sticking his hip out and deflecting Russell’s throw to Garvey.
I only wish that we could have had a recording of Tommy and Jo at the dinner table during an argument! And the young arm I’m most interested in seeing this spring is Lux’s!
…”the young arm I’m most interested in seeing this spring is Lux’s!” Ain’t that the truth?
Great article in The Athletic about Freddie and Jason.
Bear is right; Heyward is making the team.
Doug Rau, 5 straight years of 198 or more IP. $175K back then. $30 million today.
I predict Lux’s arm won’t be a problem. Can’t say the same about Gonsolin, May and Buehler. Urias often looks like he is doing aerobics in a sauna, but his arm should be ok. Kershaw may not reach 130 IP, and it won’t be his arm that puts him on the IL. Syndergaard? May be the best arm in the rotation.
“Syndergaard? May be the best arm in the rotation.”
Huh?
If that’s true, then it’s going to be a long season.
Your opinion. Not surprisingly I disagree.
I said “may be”. I anticipate Urias to be our best pitcher, but Syndergard being better doesn’t necessarily mean a “long season”. I think it would be terrific.
I wonder if Arizona is getting this winter storm that we’re getting in LA, thus cancelling this weekend’s spring games?
Looks like rain is predicted for Sunday. Today and Sat look ok
They say every team uses at least 7 or 8 different starters every year. Forget how many dodgers used last year but it was a bunch so we’ll see plenty of Pepiot,Grove, Stone, Miller and maybe more. Gonna be fun. Need two or three of all used to be elite or close to come playoffs
One young pitcher that I will always remember is Alan Foster. He was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated (I had a gift subscription as a young fan) in 3/68 – The cover story was “The Best Rookies of 1968”. Others on the cover were Carlos Cisco, Don Pepper, Mike Torrez (who had a nice career) – oh, and a young catcher named Johnny Bench. Foster never did much – he was traded to the Indians for Duke Sims (who was horrible) and then to the Cards.
I went to a game that Foster started against the Pirates. Stargell hit one out of Dodger Stadium over the RF Pavilion roof. He would do it again against Messersmith in 75.
I want to say sorry about my rant about ‘karma’ yesterday. Whatever ones faith is yours and I have no right saying it’s wrong regardless of how I feel about it. 20 years ago yesterday my Dad died in my arms and that was the 1st thing that came to mind waking up. Yesterday was my birthday. I didn’t party.
Cheers, man
I don’t think you need to apologize.
And Happy Bday!
Happy belated birthday. No need to apologize.
I was more offended by Bluto being a Commie pinko. (SARCASM ALERT!!!! SARCASM ALERT!!!)
Karma is just action reaction, a law of nature. As for reincarnation, depending on where you look, nearly half the world believes in it. I do. Just makes sense to me. And, if fits with the laws of nature. Action reaction.
Sorry about what happened on your birthday Quas. I won’t say happy birthday.. I will say I believe consciousness continues.
I don’t doubt Heyward could make the team, but if the Dodgers carry him, Peralta, Thompson, they have 3 guys that hit only RHP with 1 platoon partner (Taylor). And Thompson is a question mark hitting anyone good, I don’t expect him to come anywhere near what he did against RHP last year. He had a career year against RHP that everyone has in their career.
And if the Dodgers do that, like they’ve done several times in the past, they are going to find out that it isn’t going to work and will have to make a move (trade or minor league promotion). Hopefully their mistake doesn’t cost them games and bite them in the ass at the end of the season. Or I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
How can you be so sure that those guys are going to fail? By all reports, Heyward is crushing the ball. He has completely changed his swing. Peralta’s problems last season were because he had a disc problem in his back. As for Thompson, that was the first season he has been totally healthy in years. Sometimes players have enough drive and desire to improve. Your crystal ball just might be a bit murky. If any of them does not produce, I am sure they have back up plans in the works. Give guys a chance to show what they can do this spring before you make any blanket assumptions. There is not one person on this blog or any other blog who knows how the hell the season or a player’s stats are going to turn out. One off season totally turned around Justin Turner’s career. And he was no kid when that happened. Who is to say the same thing won’t happen for Thompson, Peralta or Heyward. They are all low risk high reward signings.
Keith Law on the Locked on Dodger Podcast:
https://youtu.be/ef8ZsdwWauE
I really enjoyed that!
Pretty much what I believe.
Lasorda had an eye for talent he could see that a player was going to be a good ball player. There’s guys that can do that one is Bruce Bochy another Jim Leyland Lou Pinella. They could just tell a ball palyers was going yo be good or had the skills. Now you get these guys like Gabe Kapler Dave Roberts Rocco Baccelli they manage by a computer and numbers to tell them who to play and not to play. Shoot the other day they already had predictions out on the guys to be on the Dodgers. Lasorda never had that he went by is you saw I guy in spring training and said who is that you gave him a shot. There was no computers back then or bench coaches telling the manager what to do or guys up in the booth telling what pitches to throw. The game is now all based on a computer rather then on skills and manager coaching. You want yo see good baseball go watch a junior college game where there’s one manager and one pitching coach and two coaches a first base coach and a third base coach. That’s how you watch baseball the right way. And like it used to be with no computers.
I firmly believe that knowledge is power. Lasorda would have to learn the sabermetric side, or he would die.
Bruce Bochy has a .497 winning percentage.
Dave Roberts has a .632 winning percentage.
How in the hell can you even put them in the same sentence?
Bochy is not qualified to carry Roberts’ jock!
Bochy won three rings
Bochy won nothing. His players won the rings.
Ok
Tell that to the Roberts bashers.
Bochy got rings too.
But it’s the players. Always. It’s the players.
Finally a sane mind.
Managers may not be able to win a championship.
But they certainly can lose them.
Obviously Bochy is a good manager.
No one says he wasn’t but his titles are more a product of a good organization than of any brilliance on his part. His San Diego teams were not that good.
Per Passan:
Time of game for Padres-Mariners: 2 hours, 29 minutes.
Time of game for Rangers-Royals: 2 hours, 33 minutes.
This is spring training and a minuscule sample. But it’s hard to understate how drastically the pitch clock is going to change baseball.
I think it depends upon who is pitching!
Machado had the first pitch clock violation of the spring.
In the Dodger intrasquad game on Thursday, it was interesting that Heyward and Thompson were in CF, while Peralta and Taylor were in LF. Zimmer and Duggar were also in the lineup. However, Outman did not appear in either lineup. I was surprised to see Heyward in CF, and not to see Outman in the lineup at all.
Maybe Outman was just nicked up, or possibly we have overrated the likelihood he makes the big league team right away. We still have the entire spring training to decide roster spots, but the competition should be fun to watch.
Bear was convinced early on that Heyward would make the team, and it looks like he has a very good chance.
Roberts said he was a frontrunner. Heyward is a gold glove outfielder. I think he can handle any of the three positions. He has played 204 games in center in his career.
Outman has earned a shot. And so has Busch.
Outman, I think, recently turned 26. Busch is 25. They have worked hard to get to the majors. Zimmer and Duggar already reached The Show, but have proven themselves to fourth outfielders. You’d think that the Dodgers would provide Outman and Busch more of a chance to prove themselves at the highest level.
Sometimes I hope Juan Toribio of MLB. com is just a bad reporter. In his latest review of Dodger OF options, he completely ignored Outman and Busch while listing Zimmer and Duggar. Toribio is a lot closer to Dodger brass than we are, so I find the omission troubling.
At the very least, Toribio should explain why Outman and Busch are not perceived as really being in the mix, since there is obvious confusion on this point.
Right now, however, it really does seem like the Dodgers’ 2023 “youth movement” is named Vargas… because the other newcomers (JDM, Peralta, Rojas, Heyward) are all in their mid-30s.
And weren’t told they were trying to “get younger”?
Earning a shot and getting it are two different things. This management still wants to win, and having 3 rookies at three different positions is not happening.
Whew. Finally get a game today. Be it only spring but how sweet it is. I’ve heard a few players now say there’s a chip on shoulder behind padre series, I like that
Potential lineup….
Betts, age 30
Freeman, 33
Smith, 27
Muncy, 32
JDM, 35
Heyward, 33
Vargas, 23
Peralta, 35
Lux, 25 (Under the second lead-off hitter strategy.)
Bench: Barnes, 33; Taylor, 32; Rojas, 33; Thompson, 31,
The pitchers are generally younger. On the 40-man roster, Kershaw, Hudson, Shelby Miller, Jimmy Nelson and Syndergaard are in their 30s, and the rest in their 20s.
Duggar could be a very good under the radar signing.
I could see a poor mans 2017 CT3 season out of him. He is good depth….