#8 on your scorecard, RF, Reggie Smith. Carl Reginald Smith was born on April 2nd, 1945, in Shreveport Louisiana. His dad Lonnie, caught for a single season for the Jacksonville Red Caps, a Negro American League team that folded after one season.
Both his father, and his mother, Nellie, were capable musicians. When Reggie was a young child, they relocated to Los Angeles. The neighborhood where they lived was known then as Zone 61. It is better known today as South Central.
South Central had many intensely competitive baseball teams. One of the better teams was the Pirates, formed by former Negro League star pitcher, Chet Brewer. After his playing days ended, Brewer dedicated himself to working with children and using the game as a social magnet to get them more involved in the community.
Brewer recruited Smith to the Pirates when he was just 15-years old. Reggie could only play on Sundays as the rest of the week he was helping his father with his egg delivery service. He worked with the team enough to get some very useful training for the professional baseball playing way of life.
Former teammates of Brewer would drop by and work with the youngsters, and chat with them about their experience’s on and off of the field. Their influence would rub off on Smith whose post playing career would mirror that of his mentors.
Reggie played sports at Centennial High School. He was an All-California baseball pick at shortstop and earned the same honors in football. After graduation, he was signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Twins in June of 1963. Smith’s dad was very ill, but he wanted Reggie to go to college. Reggie though wanted to help his family out with the money he could make playing baseball.
Reggie was assigned to Wytheville of the Appalachian League. In 66 games he hit .257 with 8 homers and 37 RBIs. Left unprotected in the draft and was picked up by Boston in December. He was sent to Waterloo in the Class-A Midwest League. He batted .318/15/60 in 87 games and was promoted to AA Reading in the Eastern League. In 17 games he hit just .128. He played 48 games that winter in the Florida Instructional League and hit .258/3/29.
In 65, the Sox sent him to AA Pittsfield in the Eastern League. In 130 games, Smith batted .259 with 8 long balls and 64 driven in. He moved to AAA Toronto in 1966, Boston’s top farm team. His manager there was Dick Williams. The team won a championship, and Smith led the league with a .330 average. He hit 18 homers and drove in 80.
” Smith had one hell of an arm” Williams said, “even for a shortstop.” His arm was so good, Red Sox manager, Billy Herman, wanted to make him a pitcher. He played CF for Williams, and he was very good. At the same time, he was just learning to switch-hit. He was a hell of a player Williams would say, moody at times, but I had a good time with Reggie.
He got called up to Boston for a cup of coffee. He hit just .154 in six games. He went to spring training with the Sox in 1967 and made the team. He was part of the team’s youth movement. Williams took over the reins of the sorry team after their 9th place finish in 66. He planned on using Reggie in center, but new acquisition, Mike Andrews, injured his back, so Smith was the team’s 2nd baseman for the first six games of the season.
Reggie would bat .246/15/61 in his rookie season. He made some solid contributions to the Red Sox championship run in the AL. He was second in the ROY voting to Rod Carew of the Twins. He had 2 homers and 3 RBIs in the Sox losing effort in the World Series against the Cardinals.
In 1968, he led the AL in doubles with 37. He earned a gold glove for his work in the outfield. He hit .265 with 15 homers and 69 driven in. 1969 would be his breakout year. At the age of 24, he hit .309 with 25 homers and 93 RBIs. His OPS+ was 142. He had decent speed, but was caught almost as much as he was successful on the basepaths.
Over the next four seasons in Boston, Reggie kept maturing as a player and his stats showed that. He was cutting down his whiff rate, and his OPS+ kept ascending. He had his first 30 homer season in 1971 and hit 20 or more five straight years for the Sox.
But while all of that was happening, there were social challenges that Boston threw at African Americans. In the arena of Boston sports, the pressure was amplified. The Sox had been the last team to integrate. When Reggie made the team in 1967, he was the first black brought up with star potential. Black athletes were caught between chronic racism and bigotry from above and below.
The team’s ownership was notoriously bigoted. Jackie Robinson, who played alongside Williams in the Dodger organization, and knew Williams was not bigoted, said he had to root against the Sox because team owner, Tom Yawkey, was one of the most bigoted men in baseball. The Boston Globes oped page editor, Marty Nolan, sarcastically referred to the Red Sox as “The Klavern”, a term used by the Ku Klux Klan to refer to their chapters.
The team itself was cliquish, but not along racial lines. Reggie’s best friend and fishing buddy was Carl Yasrezemski. Pitcher John Curtiss said that he could not recall a teammate ever saying anything racial to Reggie. The city of Boston and the front office were the main source of the bigotry.
Bill (Spaceman) Lee recalled Smith receiving hate mail that started out racial and got worse. Smith wore a batting helmet in the outfield to protect himself from objects thrown by his own teams’ fans. Reggie was not prepared for the abuse. Unlike some players, he refused to suck it up and take it.
In October of 1973, the Sox traded him to the Cardinals along with Ken Tatum for Bernie Carbo and Rick Wise. Challenges always come when changing teams. There are new social structures, different rules, and of course different fans.
St. Louis was a better environment for him. Helped by the fact that he had two very proud individuals to look up to, Lou Brock and Bob Gibson. Reggie had always felt he was a National League player trapped in the AL.
Bob Gibson, maybe the most fiercely competitive black player in the game, Gibson was able to provide cover for Smith’s intensity and indeed reveled in it. Curtiss, who would later join Smith with the Cards said that Gibson called Smith “Spike”. A reference to the ferocious guard dog in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.
His first season with the team he hit .309/23/100. He was moved to RF since the Cardinals had the speedy Bake McBride, who would win ROY in 74 playing center. With players like Brock, Gibson, Joe Torre, the team also had some great role players like Ted Sizemore, Tim McCarver, Ted Simmona and pitchers like Bob Forsch and Al Hrabosky, the Mad Hungarian. The finished just a game and a half behind the Pirates.
Smith earned a place on the All-Star team. His third time, he would eventually play in 7. His pitchers admired his outfield skills and especially his strong throwing arm. His teammates appreciated his skill and his competitive nature, they noticed he had a short fuse at times, but his competitive fire was contagious. Sizemore actually said something very prophetic, that because of his theories on hitting, that someday, he would be a great hitting coach.
Unlike 74, 75-76 were down years for the Red Birds. Reggie’s production went down some in 75, he still hit .302 with 19 homers and 76 RBIs. He got off to a bad start in 76, as did the whole team. The front office was not sure they could sign him as a free agent, so on June 15th, the trading deadline in those days, they sent him to his hometown team, the Dodgers for Fred Tisdale, a minor league outfielder-first baseman, Bobby Deatheridge an outfielder and Joe Ferguson.
The Dodgers were just what the doctor ordered. Over the next 65 games, Reggie hit .280/10/26 and helped LA in their vain chase after the Big Red Machine. He was back in the outfield after spending time at first base for the Cardinals.
1977 would be a historic year for the Dodgers. For Reggie, he was the team’s leader offensively. He led the league in OPS+ with a career best 168. He joined three other Dodgers, Baker, Cey and Garvey, and became the first quartet in baseball history to hit 30 or more homers. Garvey led the team with 33, Reggie 32, Baker and Cey 30 each. Baker hit #30 on the last day of the season off of JR Richard.
His .307/.427/.576 is a little less gaudy than it looks, but make no mistake, it was a high offensive year. He played in 148 games and had a WAR of 6.1. He made the All-Star team and was 4th in the MVP voting behind George Foster, Luzinski and Dave Parker. His .427 OBP led the league.
In the playoffs, he hit just .188 in the win over the Phillies but had 3 homers and 5 RBIs in the loss to the Yankees in the series. His 3 homers were overshadowed by the other Reggie, Jackson’s 3 homer game, and 5 homer series.
The environment in LA was much easier for him. He could relax and pursue some other passions including playing instrument, seven different, and then becoming a pilot. As one teammate put it, Reggie does not do anything half-assed. Another difference was that most of his teammates called him Carl, his real given name.
The Dodgers would win the pennant again in 78, Smith’s numbers declined a little,162, but his OPS+ was 162, good enough for 2nd in the NL. At age 33 his range in the outfield had declined some. But his arm was still strong. He hit .295 with 29 homers and 90 driven in. He did not have a good post season going a combined 8-41 in the LCS and series. He had 1 homer and 6 driven in combined. LA lost to the Yankees again.
In 1979, he was injured in mid-July, truncating his season. He still had an OPS+ of 123, but that was a disappointment considering his recent accomplishments. In 60 games he hit .274/10/32. LA finished a distant 3rd in the NL West.
Both he and the team rebounded in 1980. He hit .322/15/55. His OPS+ 151. But by July, he was a part time player. He would not be a regular again. In 1981, he had just 44 plate appearances for the Dodgers. He was 0-2 in the LDS with Houston, 1-1 against the Expos in the LCS, and 1-2 in the World Series win over the Yankees. He finally got his ring.
He was a free agent after the 81 season and he signed with the Giants. He got into 106 games with the Giants and had a resurgence of sorts batting .284/18/56 with a 134 OPS+. His manager with the Giants was Frank Robinson, who coincidentally was the only other player in MLB history to play in All-Star and World Series games in both leagues.
Smith then moved on to Japan and played with the Yomiuri Giants. In a strange twist of fate, he landed in another hostile environment for blacks. The team owner said Reggie’s contributions helped the Giants to the pennant. But on field issues like beanball incidents, and on-field brawl, disputes with umpires over their strike zone that seemed to be wider for black players, and racial epithets that escalated to a physical attack on Smith, cast a huge shadow on his accomplishments. 84 would be his last year, and it was injury filled. So, he retired and came back to the US.
In 1993, he became the Dodgers field coordinator for their minor league operations department. In 1994, he became the teams hitting coach and would stay in that job through 1999. In 2000, he coached for the US Olympic team that won the gold medal. In 2006, he was the batting coach for the US team in the WBC.
Reggie has turned down several coaching opportunities in the majors to focus on educational work. He stated a baseball youth camp in 1995, then opened the Reggie Smith Baseball Center in Encino in 1998. It was still operating at a high level in 2016. In following his mentor, Chet Brewster’s footsteps, he volunteered to help MLB’s launch of the Urban Youth Baseball Academy in 2006.
Tulsa was the only affiliate in action on Monday, playing a rare Monday scheduled game against Northwest Arkansas. Wyatt Crowell started for the Drillers and gave up two first inning runs. In the bottom of the first, the Drillers struck back.
Arkansas starting pitcher was pulled before he made a pitch and was replaced by Brandon Johnson. George flied out to center and then DePaula doubled. Johnson then issued 4 straight walks to Sirota, Hope, Hainline and Nevin. It was now 2-2. Johnson was replaced by Zack Cawyer. Cawyer walked Lockwood Powell making 3-2. Vetrano struck out swinging. Sean McLain then hit a 1-1 pitch over the right field wall for a grand slam. 7-2 Drillers. Hope lined out to right.
Crowell was not much better in the second inning; He gave up 4 runs and left with 2 outs and a runner on first. Kevin Ramirez replaced him and gave up a single before getting Connor Scott to pop out to third.
In the bottom of the second, Tulsa went to work again. DePaula and Sirota walked. Hope struck out and Hainline singled scoring DePaula with Sirota moving to 3rd and Hainline to 2nd. Nevin singled scoring Sirota. 9-6. Nevin stole 2nd and Lockwood-Powell singled to score Hainline. Vetrano then hit his 5th homer to center scoring 3 runs 13-6 Tulsa. McLain grounded out for the 2nd out of the inning. Molsky replaced Cawyer. George reached on an error. He went to second on a disengagement violation. DePaula singled to right and George scored 14-6 Drillers. Sirota flied out to center to end the inning.
Newell took over for George in center in the top of the third. Tulsa would not score again the rest of the game. Driller’s bullpen allowed just 5 hits and 2 runs, walking 3 and striking out 9. Ramirez got the win, his 2nd. Four Drillers had 2 hits, DePaula, Hope, Nevin and Lockwood-Powell. Sirota and George were the only Drillers who failed to get a hit. Drillers are off tomorrow before resuming their series against NW Arkansas. Their record is 27-19, currently 2nd in the Texas League’s North Division.
Nice win. Took a while but we did it. Mookie with the key sac fly.
Padres lost to the Phillies, 3-0. Lead now at 2.5 games.
Braves are next to catch.
Do not play them again until late August in Atlanta. Maybe they will have cooled off by then. 1-2 against them so far this year. Dodgers not worried about Atlanta right now.
Freeland against Lauer tomorrow. Two lefties. No pitcher yet listed for the Rocks against Ohtani on Wednesday.
dePaula with 2 more hits yesterday. Now batting .302 with an .900 OPS. Time to move him up to AAA ?!
I would let him “cook” until he gets that OPS above 1.000!
I would move George up first, ONLY because I think he could be that late season call up, pinch runner/defender type in October, ala Justin Dean last year
It was awesome to see Reggie on the field before the game with his good friend, Doc. Reggie Smith had a reputation early in his career for being intense, guarded, and sometimes angry, especially with the media and fans. But, as Bear explained, there’s important context there.
A lot of writers at the time described him as “moody” or “difficult,” but many teammates and later historians felt he was more accurately serious, proud, and unwilling to play the smiling entertainer role some expected from athletes then.
He was also extremely intelligent and thoughtful. That sometimes clashed with reporters looking for easy quotes and clubhouse comedy. He didn’t hide his frustration when he thought something was unfair. Tommy Lasorda once called him one of the smartest players he ever managed, even if Reggie could be intense enough to light the dugout air like a shorted-out transformer. He was Kike Hernadez-Like… only not as crazy!
A lot of Dodgers fans from that era remember him less as “angry” and more as quietly dangerous: the switch-hitter with thunder in the bat and eyes that looked like he already knew how your at-bat was going to end. I loved watching Reggie.
This team just has a different Vibe when the Wildman plays!
… and everyone knows who that is – no one has to ask!
I remember Reggie. Opposing pitchers remember him too.
Had Rockies with 3 right yesterday. Dodgers 3 for 12 WRISP against a not so good pitching staff. That needs improvement. Team with only 8 hits against a not so good Rockies staff. Betts 0fer. Again. Sheehan 6 and 2, 92 pitches. Good night for him but man he sure looks like he’s working hard out there.
Tonight could be interesting. Both pitchers 1-5, Freeland with 7.04 ERA, Lauer 6.69.
DePaula? I already traded him for Skenes. Might as well include Kim in that package. Let him fly around the bases in Pittsburgh. They might could use some excitement there, I thought the Pirates would be widdershins but a look at the standings finds them over .500. The NL Central has every team over .500. I find that surprising. And no team in the AL West is over .500. Weird.
You’re a good writer. Rare to see in this dark corner of the internet where bloated voices tend to dominate by sheer volume.
Thanks, but I think I often need an editor. Don’t see the mistakes until later.
I remember those 4 – 30hr guys. I also remember Dusty declaring he was going to “Scald One!” I just read an article that explained Dave’s sitting Will Smith so he “Can get his swing straightened out.” Starting Rushing instead due to Smith’s offensive struggles. If you watch any Dodger podcast or a recent
Dave Roberts interview the question being asked is why don’t they drop Mookie in the order. Dave says Mookie is not confident, his swing is not right, also says he’s pressing & trying too hard. Yet, he remains in the 2 hole. Dave sees what everyone sees, but he is the only one that can do something about it. Come on Dave take some pressure off, move him down or give him the same treatment as Will and give him a day off. To acknowledge a problem and do nothing to solve it is undefendable. Typically if a player is hitting the ball hard, locked in, but just hitting in bad luck leave him alone. But, Dave identified multiple issues with Mookie, yet there he sits at 2. I’ll come down off my soap box now.
How does one straighten his swing out sitting on the bench?
I keep reading that Mookie’s exit velocity is considered good. Savant has it at 91.2, above average but not great. So I asked AI “what is the average exit velocity of a MLB fly ball”, which Mookie hits a lot of, and was surprised to see it is 91-93 mph. With a bat speed listed as “ below average” and fly balls listed as league average, add in his 14th ranked OAA at short, Mookie, at this point in the season anyway, is an average MLB player with a BA markedly below the Mendoza line. Does any of that suggest a o#2 hitter in a top ranked offense? I don’t think so.
So who should hit second? Old school, which I obviously am, says a left handed pull hitter with wheels. A contact hitter who can take advantage of the hole on the right side with Ohtani being held on at first and fast enough to stay out of a GDP. There is no hit and run in baseball anymore so that’s no longer in the calcs. It would be helpful if he’s kinda big to block the catcher’s view of the man on first and somewhat interferes with a throw to second. Who is that dude on the Dodgers. My gut, and the stats, say it isn’t Betts. Not presently anyway. I’m looking and Savant tells me there isn’t one that meets all of the criteria but spray charts say the answer is Tucker or Freeman, without the speed of course. Ohtani, Freeman, Pages, Tucker, Teo, pull the rest of the names out of a hat. Or flip Freeman and Tucker and pull 6 through 9 out of a hat.
All that said, I think Doc likely leaves Betts where he is.
,
Ohtani fits your description of a #2 hitter.
Will Smith should bat second as he did in the last game of the World Series last year. Do all us remember what he did in that game?
I’m with you Badger, I don’t think Doc will move Mookie down in the order. But as I said yesterday, I would for now. Maybe Edman is the guy for the 2 hole? Freddie would not be my pick as he’s best when he’s using left field. Smith is a thought.
Wash my mouth out with soap but after multiple failed situational hitting a bunt is in order to advance runners?
I was at Dodger Stadium that last game of the 77 season. Dusty hit his 30th off of JR Richard. LA lost 6-3 that day. Two other Dodgers hit their only homers of the year that day, Manny Mota, and Glenn Burke.
Tuesday Dodger Affiliates’ Schedule
4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Sterling Patick) at Dayton [Reds] (Ovis Portes)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Christian Romero) at Sugar Land [Astros] (TBA)
6:35 p.m.: Ontario (TBA) vs. Visalia [D-backs] (TBA)
No Tuesday game for Tulsa after playing on Memorial Day.
Tommy Edman is expected to start his rehab assignment for Oklahoma City today.
4 of the 6 division leaders are in the bottom 3rd in team payroll at the one third mark of the season
I am pretty sure Reggie Smith either coached or consulted at Harvard Westlake.
We ended up going with another school, and my son is more bookish than athletic, but the school community was appreciative of him (if it’s the right guy)
Per Dodgers Daily:
https://x.com/dodger_daily/status/2059084186040807683
Easton Shelton hit his Cal League-leading 10th HR of the season on Sunday, and I’m not sure it’s landed yet. When he gets hold of one, it goes for a RIDE! He also has his average up to .267, his OPS is .884 & he now has a 14-game hit streak. In that streak, he’s 22 for 56 (.392) with 3 doubles, 6 home runs & 19 RBIs in that span as well.
Longenhagen (or maybe the other guy?) spoke highly of him in a chat.
There’s actually some great progress being shown by the team’s IF prospects:
Kellon Lindsey has reworked his swing and is now showing the benefits. Lindsey is hitting an eye-popping .455 with an OPS of 1.213, he has hits in 8 games in a row & he’s 18 for his last 37 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 8 RBIs and 9 runs scored in that span.
Beyond those two, the previously discussed Harlan and glove-first Noah Miller have really improved their plate discipline.
Finally there’s the all-star of GREAT names, Mairoshendrick Martinus AKA Mairoshendrick Nathan Jackson Martinus, who also has retooled his swing and showing good power. Plus he’s playing 3B as well now.
That said, Morales is fighting it a bit, over the last ten games….. 20 SO!
Ho-Hum. The Dodgers get another comeback win.
They had to wait until the 7th, but better late than never.
Thru 5 innings our situational hitting was pathetic.
Mookie had 3 brutal at bats, the first 2 failing to move a lead off double to second with 2 lame pop ups to center. The 3rd ab with Kike on first, he finally hit a ball to the right side, sadly a pop up to right.
Tucker had another popup to center in the 4th after Pages’ double to start the inning. Smith and Kim left 2 stranded at 2nd and 3rd.
We made this Gordon, look like Cy Young.
Stephen and Eric were questioning what the Dodger would to if Miggy had to come out of the game after being hit on the foot. Would they move Freddie to 3rd and put in Muncy?
The bigger question for me what who Doc do if Will got dinged? Rushing was spent as a pinch hitter and Kike was out. Who’s the 4 catcher?
Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edgardo Henriquez was a catcher earlier in his career.
So was Kenley Jansen.
Baez was 3b?
Pedro? Yes, he was. Years ago, the Cardinals had a pitcher who became an outfielder.
George got injured by a dog.
YES! As per the excellent Eric Stephen:
Leadoff man Kendall George batted three times in those first two innings, and scored the 14th Tulsa run of the game, but in doing so appeared to get injured while trying to avoid a bat-retrieving dog near the Drillers dugout.
George came out of the game after that, replaced in center field by Chris Newell.
Check out the inconclusive video on the lamentable BlueSky:
https://bsky.app/profile/jaredjmassey.bsky.social/post/3mmppym6ri22l
Damn mutt!
These are the Dog Daze
Too soon
Kendall George…
The Dodgers are winning. Why mess with that. “Hey ya’all, watch this!” That’s no reason…
News from around the majors: A’s calling up LHP, Gage Jump. Orioles DFAd Dederich Enns. Mets activated AJ Mintner, Jared Young and selected the contract of Eric Wagaman. Nick Morabito and Jonathan Pintaro optioned, Tyrone Taylor placed on the 10-day IL. White Sox called up RHP Eric Sandlin to make his MLB debut. Rays signed RHRP, Craig Kimbrel, who was just DFAd by the Mets and opted for free agency. Guardians called up Will Dion. Wander Franco was found guilty but did not receive any prison time in the retrial. Court decided he was both the offender and the victim. Girl’s mother was found guilty of trafficking a minor and got 10 years. Chances of him ever playing in the majors again are slim. Doubtful the US would issue him a visa. Spencer Turnbull signed with a Mexican League team. Cubs resigned Ty Blach to a minor league deal. Cubs sent Nicky Lopez to AAA and called up Kevin Alcantara. Astros released OF Daniel Johnson.
10:10 PM ET
Rockies (20-35)
Dodgers (34-20)
SP Kyle Freeland L
1-5 7.04 ERA
SP Eric Lauer L
1-5 6.69 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
CF Andy Pages R
1B F. Freeman L
SS Mookie Betts R
RF Kyle Tucker L
LF T. Hernandez R
C Will Smith R
2B Miguel Rojas R
3B E. Hernandez R
63° Wind 11 mph Out
Thet finally listened and moved Mookie down in the order.
They did that in the World Series, and it worked.
Reggie Smith was definitely my favorite player on those 70’s teams and their best player. that 1980 season was cut short by an injury and he was raking at the time. He had to get stitches after an argument with Derrel Thomas. He punched a cooler. He then injured his throwing shoulder later in the season.
Speaking of injury. I saw a video of Kendall George getting injured avoiding the bat dog that took off to retrieve the bat at home plate while George was returning to the dugout after scoring.
“Max Muncy is currently day-to-day with a right wrist injury after being hit by a pitch on May 22, 2026.Initial X-rays were negative for a fracture, providing optimism that he avoided a long-term injury. As of May 26, 2026, he has missed four consecutive games but is showing progress:Recovery
Progress: Muncy has seen reduced swelling and has been observed playing catch and taking ground balls at third base while wearing a protective wrist guard.Next Steps: He was expected to begin swinging a bat again on Tuesday, May 26.
Target Return: Manager Dave Roberts expressed optimism that Muncy could return to the starting lineup as early as Wednesday, May 27, for the series finale against the Colorado Rockies.While the Dodgers have not yet placed him on the Injured List (IL), they remain cautious and haven’t completely ruled out a brief IL stint if his recovery stalls. In his absence, the team activated Kiké Hernández and utilized Miguel Rojas to cover third base”.
Thanks for the Reggie Smith piece, Bear.. I learned a lot…
Loved him and his arm in RF for the Dodgers, and also at the plate.
That was a good era for Dodgers baseball, with that quartet hitting 30 HRs.
I wonder whether Boston’s racial issues were a factor in Mookie’s exit–something that still haunts Red Sox fans….
Case in point: Up in Maine, Senate candidate Graham Platner, running against incumbent fossil Susan Collins, ran a TV ad during a Red Sox broadcast. Maine roots for the Red Sox, and Platner’s ad including a shot at Red Sox ownership and even said something like, “Mookie never should have been traded.” Or whatever… YEARS after the trade! ..I haven’t seen it, but it sounds funny–and ownership refused to air it a second time!
That’s the report I heard, anyway….
Your welcome Duke. Isn’t it amazing the number of outstanding arms the Dodgers had playing in right field? First, it was Furillo, called the Reading Rifle. They had signed Clemente but lost him in the rule 5 draft. Then Reggie came along, and Joe Ferguson, who also had a rifle arm and made one of the more memorable World Series throws ever. Then Reggie, Mondesi, and of course, Puig, who had an absolute cannon out there. Just did not know where he would throw all the time. Mookie in his couple of years out there has 54 assists as a right fielder. Pages also has a cannon, and I have to believe that at some point, he will move to right.
From Associated Press….
PORTLAND, Maine — Graham Platner, Maine’s presumptive Democratic Senate nominee, began Memorial Day weekend by releasing an ad on the cable station that airs Boston Red Sox games accusing team owners of ruining the storied franchise. He then ended it by criticizing the team’s ownership for pulling the critical message from the air.
It was a move designed to appeal to the team’s devoted fanbase and provoke its wealthy ownership. And within hours of the network’s decision, Platner has been all too eager to capitalize on the removal, using it to push his populist message as he campaigns to unseat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine.
“We ran an ad during last night’s Red Sox game exposing how private equity is making everything in our lives worse, and it got pulled midway through the game by a station owned by Red Sox ownership,” Platner said in a statement on Saturday. “And of course, the Red Sox blew a 4-0 lead to lose the game.”
Platner’s 15-second ad about the Red Sox includes the oyster farmer promising to “reverse the private equity curse” if elected and stating that he missed Mookie Betts, a nod to the simmering rage that Boston fans have held after FSG traded the homegrown superstar to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. (“Reverse the curse” was a popular slogan among Red Sox fans in the 1990s and 2000s that referred to the team’s long-running failure to win a World Series prior to 2004.)
It also accuses private equity of “buying up our homes, our sports and our lives” while referencing a March 2021 Axios report detailing that RedBird Capital Partners, a private equity firm, would have an 11% stake in FSG.
This is dangerously close to blowing up this blog.
No response is warranted.
Is Mookie the smallest #4 hitter ever?
Mookie dropped in the order… and it worked!
Doc must be a Freaking Genius!
Kike?
Now we understand!
That’s not Reggie’s picture though on the home page. Leron Lee? Not sure who that is for sure.
It’s styled to look like Reggie Smith as a Dodger, but it’s AI-generated and not guaranteed to be an exact authentic likeness. The jersey era, mustache, batting stance, and overall vibe are very “Reggie Smith 1977-81 Dodgers,” but AI sometimes blends facial features like a baseball card in a washing machine.
Gotcha
Is this guy Freeland really a major league pitcher?
No
He was actually a pretty good young prospect years ago when he first hit the majors. He’s terrible these days.
Who knew it was all Roberts fault for batting Mookie 2nd and not cleanup!
Kike be gone! Oh well, he’s only hitting 1.000!
Can they bring back Espinal?
Or is Freeland on his way?
Only if he is not claimed and clears waivers. Freeland is an option, so are guys like Tyler Fitzgerald.