What does this game we love really need? Interesting question. More action? More runs? Shorter games? MLB has tried numerous things to get all of these in play. And in reality, I believe some of all of these would be a good thing. I also think the game could use a few more personalities.. Players who are just a little bit out there.
I would have loved to have a guy like Kevin Millar on the Dodgers. Very outgoing guy, and a real clubhouse guy. I remember well when Jay Johnstone was a Dodger. He kept the mood light. He and Jerry Reuss teamed up for some memorable moments including dragging the infield during a game.
“There are a lot of people in asylums who are saner then Jay Johnstone.” — Tommy Lasorda
Over the last few seasons, that guy was Kike Hernandez. Or as some called him, the Banana man. Kike was always very animated on the bench. And even when not in the game he kept himself engaged in the action. He was a talented defender and sometimes had a huge impact offensively. Sadly not as often as fans would have liked. But he will always have a place in the hearts of fans for his huge performance in game 6 of the 2017 NLCS blasting 3 HRs against the Cubs and driving in 7 runs.
When I was growing up and just learning the game, there were some larger-than-life players. There were also a few who were a bit quirky. And the nicknames at the time were great. The Say Hey Kid, Commerce Comet, Stan the Man, Sal the Barber, Bad Henry, Duke, Pee Wee, and some I can’t remember. But the game was fun to watch. Oh, there were pitchers duels, and HR’s were not as prevalent. You had some great hitters and some very good pitchers. Salaries were very low when placed next to what players today earn. Old pitchers were the dominant personalities in the pen, since the pens were not nearly as important as they are today.
That began changing a bit in the late ’50s. Larry Sherry won 2 and saved 2 in the 59 series and was the MVP of the series. The first time a reliever won that honor if my memory serves me right. But you had guys like Marvelous Marv Throneberry, who for all practical purposes was not all that Marvelous. He, like Dick Stuart, Dr. Strangeglove, was a pretty bad fielder.
There was Jim Piersall, who battled mental illness to come back and have a decent MLB career. He was a .272 career hitter and had a 29 WAR for his career. Most famously he ran the bases backward after hitting his 100th homer. He had a couple of decent years at the end of his career with the Angels. Then there was Ryne Duren. Few hitters today would feel very comfortable hitting against the bottle cap glasses-wearing Duren, who usually did not know where his 90 plus heater was going. And uncorking his first warm-up to the backstop was not confidence-inspiring.
There was Yogi Berra and Casey Stengel. Two who were cultural phenoms all by themselves and had their own languages. Stengelese, and Yogism’s. Casey was something to watch. Numerous times he was caught on camera napping in the dugout during games. With the Yankees, he was a genius, with the Mets, the class clown. But he never did anything but love the game. Listen to Yogi talk and one was immediately confused unless he understood Yogism. I really miss him.
Others came later, Dock Ellis, Bill Spaceman Lee, Mickey Hatcher, Moe Drabowski who once tried to order a pizza from Japan from the bullpen, and notably was blown off of the mound at Candlestick by the wind. Rick Dempsey, who was on the 88 World Series champs was one who could lighten the mood also. The clip of him simulating hitting a HR during a rain delay has been a favorite of fans for years. And there also was Ryan Dempster, a former pitcher who did a spot on Harry Carey impersonation.
There have been some characters in the booth too. Carey was one, so was Red Barber who also seemed to have his own vocabulary, sitting in the catbird seat was one. Dizzy Dean, and Hawk Harrelson. Of course, Vin was the best of the bunch, and even he had a few of his patented phrases, butter and egg man for Adrian Gonzalez, and when someone came up he would always alert their Marching and chowder society. Classic stuff.
I do not really see that kind of guy on the Dodgers right now, but Bauer is about as close as they can get. Controversial for sure. Some may not agree with me, but the last real off-the-charts personality on the Dodgers was Yasiel Puig. Love him or hate him, the guy was entertaining and maddening to watch. I always felt that if he had enough maturity, with all those skills, he would have been a superstar instead of an enigma. And finally, there was Manny. Ramirez, not Machado. Manny being Manny was also a must-see thing. He had some of the best bat-to-ball skills I have ever seen. And he had a brick glove. But he was so fun to watch. Too bad he ruined that for himself and his fans. Who will be the next huge personality? He might be in the system, or even already on the team. Only time will tell.
It was pointed out to me that I missed one of the most out there personality’s in baseball, so I am editing this post to include him. Bob Uecker. Uecker was a catcher with the Braves and Cardinals back in the day. He always had a sense of humor and a lot of it was directed at himself. He has become one of the better announcers in the game, and has had success on TV, Mr. Belvedere, and in the movies with the Major League franchise. His Harry Doyle character is on of my favorites. One of my favorite Uecker story’s was when he was asked how to catch a knuckleball. His answer, let it roll and when it stops, pick it up. Classic stuff. And no list of characters would be complete without some mention of Yogi’s life long friend, Joe Garagiola. Catcher, analyst, announcer and author of one of the better baseball books, Baseball is a Funny Game.
Moar mental illness pls
Thanks for the chuckle this morning Bear. There is always a place in the game for those who do not take themselves too seriously. Yogi was/is my most favorite Yankee and I don’t have many.
Moe Drabowsky is a favorite too even though he was a pain for the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series. I actually saw him pitch in 1955 and 1956 in the old Halifax and District Baseball League in Nova Scotia. The league was comprised mostly of young college players from new England. Moe was born in Poland.
He was perhaps the king of the pranksters, always keeping everyone on their toes.
“Drabowsky’s years in the bullpen gave him time to plot practical jokes. He tormented his teammates with snakes, once placing a boa constrictor inside the uniform of Orioles catcher Charlie Lau while it was hanging in the clubhouse. During a game at Kansas City in 1966, he phoned the Athletics’ bullpen. He knew the number because he pitched for them the year before and ordered Lew Krausse, his former teammate, to warm up. Krausse did so, presumably figuring that the voice was that of Manager Al Dark. That puzzled the A’s starter, Jim Nash, who was pitching a shutout.”
Julio was really bad right out of the gate yesterday and that was all she wrote. Dodgers lineup without Muncy, Corey and Cody was exposed yesterday against Darvish.
Hope we get a W tonight.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Totalmente de acuerdo Ram, desde el elevado de Pham que fue mal fildeado por el jardinero Mcinstry se le vió molesto, añade esto a los conteos mal juzgados por el umpire principal jamás pudo recuperar la concentración en el montículo y de ahí el resultado.
La Gerencia debe trabajar el aspecto mental de Julio para que no se moleste tanto con los malos conteos de bolas y straike del umpire principal, porque creo que ha demostrado anteriormente que puede realizar el trabajo.
That was an entertaining post Bear, but I’m surprised you didn’t highlight Bob Uecker.
Last night was a real bummer. Urias picked a really bad time to have that bad first inning again. Snell goes tonight and has been pretty bad this year, but he’s left handed so we’ll make him look like Cy Young. I sure hope Kersh is up for the task.
Apparently Muncy will be activated today. I would expect him to play second base with Albert at first to try to generate some offense against lefty Snell.
Doc said Belli would return first, so it makes sense he’ll be activated tomorrow.
That was a hell of a bomb that that Smith hit last night. He’ll most likely sit tonight with Kershaw on the bump.
Our horrible bullpen finished the second half of the game without allowing a run. Kelly gave Tatis something to think about, but ultimately walked him. He was lighting up the radar gun.
Sometimes timing is everything. The Padres are getting really lucky with the schedule and timing when they play us. I’m disappointed with the loss, but realize that we’re going to be a different team very soon.
It’s easy to hate the Padres. Did you see that ridiculous celebration after Machado’s homer? Was that a wall clock attached to security chain? I wonder how much they spend on hair bleach and eye black. What a joke of a team. Jorge has it right!
You are so right about Uecker. I totally forgot him. But sometimes when I am doing a story like that, I am not doing research and most is from memory. Of course the ole mem is not what it used to be. But Uecker is unique among baseball personality’s since he not only played the game, and has become one of the more beloved announcers and characters in the game, he also plied his comedy on TV and in the movies as we all know. His Harry Doyle in the Major League movies is classic. I also forgot Yogi’s life long buddy, Joe Garagiola. He was one of those guys who could tell some great stories.
Son odiosos, sobre todo machado que está ardido porque no lo firmaron los Dodgers de nuevo, ojala hubiese jugado en su estancia aquí como lo hace ahora vs los Dodgers. Ojalá y pronto regrese al dogaut una personalidad alegre como los que hubo en el equipo en el pasado.
Except for the first inning “batting practice” that Julio pitched, not a horrible game. Yeah, we did not hit, but Darvish was kind of “no-hitterish” sans Mookie most of the night. His stuff was as good as I have seen it, TONS of balls right on the corner over and over. Fun to watch unless you are a blue fan & still impressive.
It is still bball and today has nothing to do with yesterday. Go Blue.
Cheers
When I saw Darvish pitch yesterday I was depressed why he did not have that stuff in game 7 of the 2017 WS.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would have been nice if Darvish brought half that intensity and focus for the Dodgers during his time with the club. He certainly has no problem rising to a high level when he’s facing the Dodgers. Seems he’s intent on proving to the Dodgers he’s a great pitcher now after he let them down so immensely. Too late now Yu.
Exactly. Impressively depressing.
How about Kirk Gibson? I loved kike when he performed otherwise his antics did nothing for me. If u want those kind San Diego should b your team. I can’t stand to watch them but we seem powerless against them. They seem to get up for us and we seem to play scared against them. We need a brash hard nosed leader. Doc sure isn’t mb he can talk them out of it.
I will repeat and I said this way back. Our starting pitching is very concerning. Losing May was huge. He was a star mb superstar in the making. Urias is in uncharted territory. U cannot count on Gonsolin and gray is unavailable. Kershaw , Bauer, and buehler are all stars but in past years we have had to use 9-10 starters over the course of the year. It is not quality it is quantity. Even though we have some weak bullpen spots we have arms we can shuttle in and out. The offense is inconsistent but there is hope when we get healthy. The rotation is going to need some serious attention.
We need to trade for Berrios of the Twins. One more year of control after this year.
Meh, lost nothing to the midgets & Darvish pitched outta this world. Julio seems to have reverted to last year where he seemed to struggle in the 1st inning. After that, we played them “even”. And YES, they get up for us. One thing I don’t see mentioned here enough is that WE ARE THE CHAMPS! Everyone gets up for the champs. IMO, it just shows how good we are regardless of our “revolving AAA door” as every team gets up when playing #1 as they should.
They lost half a game, they are 2 out instead of being 1 if they had won. Darvish just pitched out of his mind, and the Pads had lost his last 2 previous starts. Good pitching beats good hitting.
Dodgers: Max Muncy to Start At Second Base on Tuesday
The Dodgers are getting a big bat back tonight in SD.
by Brook Smith
06/22/2021, 7:00 AM
Not to Worry!
1. Max will allegedly be back today.
2. Cody is next allegedly on Wednesday.
3. Corey is maybe a week or so away.
4. Alexander will be back shortly… leaving guys like Uceta at AAA.
5. The Bazooka is pitching better at AAA and Vesia has been outstanding.
6. Corey Knebel is getting closer… probably Mid-August.
By August this team will look dramatically different. I think Julio Urias may need a little break. He has already pitched more innings than any other year. He pitched 79 in 2019 and 55 last year. He is sitting at 88 right now and this is uncharted ground.
The upside of all of this is that Garrett Cleavinger, Phil Bickford, Mitch White, Alex Vesia are going to be improved by the experience.
I can see AF trading for a reliever, but what he has may be all he needs.
How is Urias going to get a break Mark? We don’t have anybody to replace him. I’m serious trading for a reliever now is not necessary. They need to kick the tires on an innings eater who is healthy. With Gonsolin questionable how do you give Urias a break? They had to c this coming and I am sure there is a plan.
You skip a start for him. You have a bullpen game.
De acuerdo Mark, con los tres titulares de nuevo ( espero no vengan muy oxidados ) será otro el escenario, creo que la parada del juego de estrellas sacará del ritmo ganador a los Gigantes, se van a caer en la segunda vuelta.
Burns or Reks, who gets sent down today? Then when Cody comes back tomorrow, who goes? Souza, Burns and Reks are all vulnerable. I think Souza has the best chance of being the last man standing. Although Burns versatility might keep him on the team. With 2 lefty hitters coming back, Reks has no shot.
I would guess Reks, simply because another LHH (Muncy) joins the team and Burns is RH and more versatile. I think Burns goes down when Cody returns.
The Dodgers haven’t been good against good teams this year. They are 20 – 23 against teams .500 or better and that won’t get it done.
Bear, just what I needed this morning after a disappointing performance last night. I really don’t like losing to the Padres and Machado, my least favorite player in the league. Way to keep it loose.
I might add Mark Fidrych to the list despite his short career and Gene Conley who grew up next door to my parents and I played golf with a few times. My old friend Hot Rod Hundley had a couple of gems about Gene who was a kind of Bill Walton, long before Bill. As you know he played in the NBA and MLB. Gene and Pumpsi Green supposedly got off the Red Sox team bus in a traffic jam in NYC. They had a few pops in a bar and when they returned, the bus was gone. Conley and Green checked into a hotel, with Green rejoining the team the next day in Washington, D.C., but Conley didn’t and attracted attention, attempting to fly to Jerusalem.
I can’t remember the MiLB players or ballpark, maybe someone does. As I recall the story, the team sponsored a give away night and the prize was a pickup truck. In the 7th they rolled out the truck for the raffle. To the astonishment of one of the hometown pitchers in the bullpen, it was his truck.
One of the things you miss the most when you stop playing is this kind of stuff. I confess, I had my hand in many of the shenanigans. Thanks Bear, you did a great job remembering plenty of the classic characters.
Dodger Chatter, the story of Drabowski calling the opponent’s bullpen and getting a pitcher up is an absolute classic especially when Nash was throwing a shutout. Great share.
Thanks for imporoving my morning boys.
Johnstone pulled some classic’s in spring training. Like taking a rope and attaching it to Lasorda’s door so he could not open it. He was also a nut during the season, sitting on Tommy’s birthday cake in his birthday suit. And wearing a uni with the #2 and Lasagna on the back. Putting a pillow in the shirt and strutting around the field. One spring, I cannot remember who the player was, the guys got together and took all his tires off of his truck. Classic. And I should have really mentioned Lasorda. Tommy had some classic moments. Like cussing out Doug Rau as he was removing him from a game, his classic confrontation with the Phillie Phanatic. and his interchange with Ron Luciano in the World Series.
Do owners count? What about Bill Veeck?
Veeck would definitely qualify as an out there personality. He did some wacky things as owner, probably the most infamous was when they blew up all those disco records. Sox ended up forfeiting the game.
Red Sox called up Connor Wong today. Cardinals called up a guy named Lars Wootsaar. Gotta love a guy with a handle like that. No moves by the Dodgers yet, but sometime in the next couple of hours they will activate Mad Max.
Whoops, his name is Nootbaar not Wootsaar. Still a pretty cool handle.. Joey Luccesi will undergo TJ surgery. Big story tonight is the debut of Wander Franco with the Rays.
Reks optioned back to OKC, Muncy activated….good guess Mark…
Some of us called that as soon as Recks was called up. Mark gets partial credit.
He left a guess on my last comment, so he gets the worm…….
DODGERS ACTIVATE IF MAX MUNCY
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers activated infielder Max Muncy from the 10-day injured list and optioned outfielder Zach Reks.
Muncy returns after missing 10 days with a right oblique strain. Prior to the injury, he was slashing .264/.418/.528 with 14 homers and 33 RBI in 60 games. He is in his sixth Major League season and has hit .240 with 101 homers and 254 RBI. On May 30 against the Giants, the Texas native clubbed his 100th career homer. Of his 101 career round trippers, 95 have been with the Dodgers. The 2019 All-Star was originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the fifth round of the 2012 First Year Player Draft out of Baylor University.
Reks made his Major League last night, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout. In 288 minor league games, he batted a combined .305 (314-for-1031) with 40 homers and 164 RBI. This season, he was hitting .341 (42-for-123) with five homers and 19 RBI for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Chicago, IL native was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 10th round of the 2017 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Kentucky.
Could that even be called a cup of coffee for Reks?
I think we need to call that a spill.
5 hour energy
Call me surprised. I did not expect Will Smith to be in the lineup tonight with Kershaw pitching. Chris Taylor is at SS, which I’m not surprised about and I don’t expect Lux to be starting much against left-handers going forward. I don’t necessarily think he’s getting the Joc treatment going forward, he’ll get another chance at it next year. Muncy is the only lefty in the lineup and I’m guessing that the only reason Belli wasn’t recalled today is because of Snell on the bump and they want very badly to beat the Padres no matter how often Doc tries to claim that they’re just another team.
I’m not feeling too great about the infield defense with Albert and Turner’s diminished range at the corners with an additional corner infielder playing second and a utility man at SS. The price to be paid by not handling left handed pitching all year.
I’m interested to see how Snell responds to facing the Dodgers and to see why he’s so horrible this year. I’m wondering which is stronger, the Dodgers kryptonite (left handed pitching) or Snell’s kryptonite (right handed hitting).
Betts CF
Taylor SS
Turner 3B
Pujols 1B
Smith C
Muncy 2B
Pollock LF
Souza Jr. RF
Kershaw P
Smith is hitting .600 against Snell. Makes sense he would start against the guy.
Perhaps Cooperstown should add a wing for characters.
For many years, the Dodgers were frankly a pretty bland bunch of players. But they still had one of the great characters in the game in Lasorda. He followed in the tradition of Durocher and Stengel. Would Lasorda would be in the Hall based only on his skills as a manager? Maybe. But it was his entertainment value that won over the fans, and baseball writers.
This post had me flashing on a childhood memory: News accounts and photos of Angels pitcher Bo Belinsky frolicking with starlets. The Wikipedia entry (I just looked it up) refers to Belinksy’s wit and “unapologetic womanizing.”
Belinsky was certainly a character. When he concentrated on it, he was not a bad pitcher.
And that reminds me that Steve Garvey was never really Mr. Squeaky Clean…
As the bumpersticker in San Diego would say, “Steve Garvey is not my Padre.”
Wander…….WOW
Snell’s ERA over 5.5 to start the game but he shuts them down.
Dodgers with 7 LOB in 5 innings and 0 for 5 RISP.
This game defines frustration. How can a team see nearly 20 pitches per inning and still have no runs after 5 innings? And watching an incompetent umpire behind the plate.makes it even worse.
Clayton victimized by the long ball (once again) and zero offense to this point. Giants winning in Anaheim. A Dodger loss and a Giant win puts us three games behind. This team needs Belli, Muncy and Corey in the line-up. Seen enough of the stop gap players like Souza, Beaty, Reks, Raley, Neuse, Tsutgo and AJ.
It’s gonna be good to see Lux back at 2b, Corey at SS, CT3 in LF, Cody in CF, Betts in RF with those listed above getting a spot start from time to time.
Tingled got to the ump in the pujois bat. Taylor is having a fine year but he is a k machine. Kershaw has 1 pitch the slider. He might as well pocket the curveball. Homer homer homer he is good but a 3 starter at best. 0-2 pitch terrible!!
Offense non existent. When is the last time pollock got a key hit for the dodgers? Anybody really against the Padres but pollock is hard to watch. Both games over in the first inning. The giants are just playing like world champs. Angels just lay down against giants.Betts gotta leave with stomach problems . What next for mookie back, allergies, stomach, foot mb?
Just frustrating pads just seem better than us in all areas: pitching, hitting, base running, managing. Replay is a joke, right call this time but they wouldn’t have changed it even if they were wrong. Pollock my gosh goodnight!!
Don’t slit your wrists yet. They have plenty of time to get it together, and SD even if they win are still 1.5 behind.
Fish sticks screwed the pooch again
The last out of the game was a perfect example of what happens when things are going bad vs. going good. It’s an out when you’re going bad, and it gets past the outfielder when things are going you’re way. I sense that when Seager, Belli and Muncy find their grooves we will begin to see a resurgent Dodger lineup. And I also expect to see significant contributions from Pujols if he’s in a limited role against left handed pitching, and from Gavin Lux as he continues to grow. And of course let’s wait and see what the Dodgers do in the trade market.