Our next subject is RHP Billy Loes. William Loes was born on the 13th of December, 1929 in Long Island City, NY. His parents were James and Filo Loes. He was an only child. His parents were Greek immigrants who had according to Loes, shortened their surname. He was raised in Astoria which was about a half-hour away from Ebbets Field. His family lived in a small apartment, and they had limited means. His father suffered a debilitating injury while serving in the Merchant Marine in WWI and did not work. His mother provided for the family by working in a furniture store.
By the time he was a teenager, Billy was obsessed with baseball. He worked to save some money and attend an occasional big-league game. Like other kids, he would play on local sandlots and pretend he was pitching to Joe DiMaggio and Bill Dickey. He also began playing on a local YMCA youth team.
He emerged as one of New York City’s best pitchers in his last two years at William Cullen Bryant High School in Long Island City. After his junior year, he led the Astoria Cubs to the Kiwanis League State title in the summer of 1947 and was selected most valuable player. He was 6’1″ and weighed only 150 lbs. Loes possessed a wicked curveball which allowed him to fashion 5 no-hitters, 4 in his senior year. The last one came in the semifinal game of the 1948 Public School Athletic League championship with a flock of big-league scouts in attendance.
The overly confident teenager often tooted his own horn, angering friends and foes alike. “I was misunderstood in high school,” he said. There is a difference between cockiness and confidence. Loes finished his prep career by tossing a one-hitter and knocking in the winning run to lead coach Vince Starace’s squad to the title. He won a week-long tour with the New York Giants for his MVP performance. Upon returning home, the legend of his head-scratching comments was cemented when he compared himself to Giants pitching star, Larry Jansen and boldly announced “ I forgot more ( about pitching) than he ever knew“.
In post-war baseball, Loes was angling for a big payday with teams lining up to sign him. Tom Yawkey, owner of the Red Sox had been fined for trying to sign a teenager while he was still in high school, a serious transgression at the time. Loes was pitching for the Brooklyn Eagles All-Star team after high school and was competing in a tour against other all-star teams from D.C. and Canada. He was one of the most sought-after pitchers in the New York area. After a great performance in a game where it was said, scouts from all 16 teams were in attendance, he was offered $18,000 dollars by the Indians. But he hesitated. The Dodgers, sensing an opportunity, jumped in and he was offered $21,000 by Branch Rickey and he signed. It was the largest bonus given by the Dodgers at the time.
“ I knew I wasn’t worth no big dough” Loes said, ” but I figured those other kids weren’t worth it either“. Rickey seemed to agree, but he knew it would be a public relations nightmare had a New York kid signed elsewhere. He is about a $10,000 dollar player he said. “But Loes is a local boy and I just cannot let another club sign him.”
In his first year in the system, Loes started at Class-B Nashua in the New England League. He went 11-3, including a no-hitter before being promoted to Fort Worth in the AA Texas League. His combined line was 16-5and a 2.69 ERA. Loes was added to the big league roster in mid-October. Under the bonus rule in effect at the time, he would have been eligible for the amateur draft in November. With that rule, he would have to spend the entire 1950 season with the team.
Obviously not ready for the big time, Loes languished at the far end of Shotton’s bench and pitched only BP and got a total of 12.2 innings and yielded 11 earned runs. His already rusty skills took another hit when he was drafted into the Army in February of 1951. He was stationed at Ft. Devens in Massachusetts. He pitched for the base team in the semi-pro Blackstone Valley League and against other base teams. In mid-October, he received a hardship discharge citing the financial support of his parents. Two years later he would purchase them a house with his World Series earnings from the 52 series.
Loes was itching to play baseball, but only at the big league level. He reportedly told manager Chuck Dressen that he had learned all he could from minor league managers and he would be wasted in the minors. Already considered insufferably conceited by beat writer Roscoe McGowen, Loes had a surprisingly productive spring. He shocked the team with 5 scoreless innings of 2-hit ball to get the win on April 18th against the Giants. In his first big league start against the Pirates on May 15th, he threw a 6 hit shutout. Pitching in relief and starting he was one of Brooklyn’s most effective pitchers sporting a 13-8 record with a 2.68 ERA and four shutouts.
It was during the 52 series that more zaniness was added to the Loes legend. He started a controversy before the series when he was asked about his quote that the Yanks would win the series in 6 games. He responded, I never said that, I said they would win in 7. He almost had a chance to foil his own prophecy when he pitched in game 6 and held the Yanks scoreless for 6 innings. His downfall started in the 7th when he was charged with a balk after dropping a ball in his windup. He then misplayed a grounder back to the mound leading to a run. Berra had homered at the beginning of the inning to tie the game at 1. Afterward Loes explained his miscues in his strong NYC accent and gruff profanity-ridden language ( which sportswriters liberally edited ): “I might have had the ***** thing if it wasn’t for the low sun shining in my face!”. Yep, he claimed he lost the grounder in the sun. What a character.
To some fans, he brought back memories of the Daffiness Boys in early Brooklyn history, Casey Stengel and Wilbert Robinson. Babe Herman would have to be on that list too. He was the Dodgers resident RH weirdo. Loes was credited with having a lot of talent, but he could be moody and had a hard time with reporters. He got hit with a paternity suit just weeks after the series and had a warrant issued for his arrest. The team brushed it off and said it was just blackmail. It was thrown out four years later.
He was the Dodger’s best pitcher early in 1953 and had 10 wins by the end of June. But then he was completely lost for two months and started to have shoulder pain that would bother him for the rest of his career. Loes finished 14-8 and started game 4 in Ebbets Field against Whitey Ford. Ford was knocked out after one inning and Loes allowed 3 runs in 8 innings to earn his only World Series victory 7-3. With Billy Martin leading the way, the Yanks won the next two games and had their 5th straight championship.
Called by some a crazy mixed-up kid, he caused another stir in spring training in 54 when he said, “ I hate baseball” and implied he would rather have a 9-5 job. He suffered a severe elbow injury in April and pitched sporadically and poorly afterward leading new Dodger skipper, Walter Alston to chastise him publicly as a “mystery” whose pitches were half-dead. Just when it appeared he had lost it, he threw an overpowering complete-game victory over the Pirates, striking out a career-high 11. He then defied expectations and won his next 8 decisions including 5 in August, keeping the Dodgers in a tight race with the Giants. But he slumped in September, reaggravating his shoulder and elbow injuries. Alston was exasperated and questioned his preparation and commitment as the Dodgers finished 2nd, 5 games back of the Giants.
He had his last productive year as a Dodger in 1955, but his start in the Series was a total flop. His arm was killing him in the spring of 56 and he threatened to quit baseball. He didn’t and the Dodgers finally cut ties with him, sending him to Baltimore on May 14th in a waiver sale. 1956 was basically a lost year as he went 2-8 with a 5.59 ERA. In 1957 he was one of the feel-good stories in Baltimore. With no expectations, he would go 12-7 with the Orioles winning 8 consecutive games at one point. That was the longest winning stretch of his career.
Billy’s good days were now well behind him. The next two seasons he could not repeat the success of 1957 winning a total of 7 games and losing 16. He was traded along with lefty, Billy O’Dell to the Giants for Jackie Brandt, Gordon Jones, and catching prospect, Roger McCardell.
He was a little better with the Giants, going 3-2 in 1960 and 6-5 in 61. After being purchased by the Mets in November of 61, he was returned to the Giants in April and released the same day. His MLB career was over. Overall Loes had an 80-63 record with a 3.89 ERA. As a Dodger, he was 50-26 with a 3.86 ERA in 136 games. Loes wanted to coach, but he had antagonized so many that there were no takers. His transition from baseball was not easy. He did odd jobs including driving a cab. In July of 2010, Loes passed away in Tucson Arizona. He had been ill and suffering from diabetes for several years. His last time in the spotlight was when he was inducted into the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame at the Brooklyn Museum. That was in 1990. Loes will always typify for me the talented player who just did not have the work ethic, but had the tools to be one of the game’s best.
I confess that I knew very little about Billy Loes. I had an oldtimer tell me he was an “A-Hole.” That’s all I knew. He was surely an interesting fellow… to say the least.
Well, Lamb did not pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, but he could be back…
There are 12 Position Players on the roster, who have made the team (barring injury):
I would think they will have 13 position players, not 16 pitchers, but I have been wrong before.
That leaves Eddy Alvarez, Kevin Pilar, Jason Martin, and Miguel Vargas as possibilities.
Opening Day Power Rankings:
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-opening-day-power-rankings-2022
Guess who is #1… even after going 4-8 this Spring….
Well, when they still had AJ Pollock and didn’t have Kimbrel, there weren’t enough healthy pitchers for 16. Now there are. The trade changed things.
I can’t be the only one noticing how thin it is in the outfield after trading AJ. I would think that would make it a high likelihood of Pillar being on the roster. Am I missing something?
Yeah, the iffy starting pitching is going to mean heavy bullpen usage, but it’s not like the Dodgers weren’t ever able to have bullpen games before with a 26 man roster. Doesn’t it seem reasonable that there would be 13 position players and 15 pitchers? Why the insistence on 16?
Interesting that they rank the Blue Jays #2. They’ve slowly been assembling a really good team the last three or so years, with a good mix of farm system talent and signing veterans. Aside from signing Hyun Jin (in retrospect, the Dodgers should have just kept him instead of signing Bauer), they were also apparently interested in signing JT to inject some veteran leadership.
I was hoping Jake Lamb would be #13. I like his bat versus righties off the bench. Not being on the 40-man roster hurt his case. I don’t see Alvarez at all with Alberto. Pilar looks like #13 now to me.
Afterward, Loes had an explanation for failing to snare Raschi’s comebacker: he said he had lost the ground ball in the sun.
As for losing the grounder in the sun, Loes’s explanation was backed up by his fellow Dodger pitcher Carl Erskine, who told Peter Golenbock in his 2000 oral history “Bums” that the sun peeked through from between the two decks behind home plate for a few minutes on October afternoons at Ebbets Field.
“When Loes said he lost it in the sun everybody laughed, and the fact is, if you ever pitched in Ebbets Field, you know that’s possible in October with a ball that’s hit with a little bounce on it,” Erskine said.
So, maybe he was less silly than we thought.
It seems possible as I don’t think Carl Erskine would ever say anything he did not believe to be true. If there is baseball and life character it is Carl Erskine.
Billy Loes was different than many of the the Boys of Summer. From all I have read and remember, he certainly was quirky and like Jay Johnstone did not take himself too seriously.
I just was watching a video that was shot at Anaheim last night. Big fight in the stands between Dodger and Angel fans. Then another in the parking lot after the game. That to me is idiotic. Fighting at a spring training game? Fans like these are getting Dodger fans a bad name and the kind of reputation they do not need.
Apparently it all started with a comment about a hair style followed by a slap.
The jury is still out for me on the Pollock trade. And that was before Saturday. Yesterday I watched the White Sox on MLB. They showed an interesting graphic during the game while Steve Stone and Jason Bennetti raved about what a quality player Pollock is.
The graphic was: In the last 162 games played:
Mookie Betts BA .272, doubles 32, HR’s 35, OPS .872
AJ Pollock BA .285, doubles 32, HR’s 34. OPS .871
They failed to mention Mookie played last season with his injured hip and had one of his poorest seasons.
But they are extremel happy with picking up Pollock and claimed that American League fans don’t know much about him but will soon become aware of his value.
I mention this because I’ve been amazed throughout AJ’s time in LA just how little appreciated and liked he has been by a big portion of Dodger fans. I don’t understand it.
Hopefull this trade will work out for both teams but initially I don’t like the trade.
Dodgers need the Kimbrel he was with the Cubs last season, then the trade will be a good one for us no matter what AJ does in Chicago.
I agree with MT that the Dodgers probably will carry 15 pitchers and 13 position players.
Treinen ,Kimbrel, V-Gone, Bazooka, Anderson, Bruihl, Price, Hudson, Vesia , Phillpps plus the 5 starters.
After sending Lamb down Nr. 13 of the position players iMHO will be Pillar .
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think the Dodgers will definitely miss his bat in the lineup, and it is downgrade to CT3. Not only was he productive, but he was relatively cheap for his productivity. I’m not quite sure about this trade, either. The Cubs version of Kimbrel is exciting. The Sox version, not so much.
This was broken down on one of the shows, I think it was MLB Network.
They said that CT3’s bat was a slight downgrade, but will be made up for on the bases and in the field.
I should have seen this coming. They signed CT3 for 4 years, so you know he was going to play. I thought at the time that a lot of that would be in LF. Now, if you’re going to play CT3 in the same lineup, Pollock would be the DH. It makes no sense to do the opposite. At DH, you have to weigh him against Muncy, Rios and JT.
There is no hole there. They have enough outfielders with CT3, Belli, Mookie, Outman and possibly Lux, Pillar and Lamb, who will most likely be playing some left field in AAA. There was, however, a hole at closer. It came down to spending that $15M on a closer where there was a clear need, or an oft injured, part-time outfielder which is what he was for the entire contract.
I don’t know. Starting the season in Colorado you can never have too many pitchers. I don’t know about anyone else but I love Rob Manford. If it wasn’t for him we’d have to put up with more of spring training! Tho if we look back a year ago we were all pretty critical ( I sure was) at the end of spring training and that team ended up pretty good. Looks like another slow start but this team will figure it out.
Fangraphs came out with their positional rankings on bullpens. They have the Dodgers at #5, which is about what their WAR ranking was last year.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2022-positional-power-rankings-bullpen-no-1-15/
They make an interesting point about the Pollock trade, and it’s something that crossed my mind, too. They weren’t all that high on the trade for Kimbrel, and wondered why they didn’t just extend Kelly. I was thinking something similar with respect to Kenley. If you consider Kenley and Kimbrel to be more or less a wash, why not just re-sign Kenley and keep your productive starting left fielder? Was it to save 3 million? Were they really hoping to sign Kenley, and when he bolted for the Braves it forced the issue?
I mentioned a few days ago that I thought the Pollock for Kimbril trade was plan B. I think plan A was to trade Pollock for a less costly player and then sign Jansen. I read in several places that they were trying to trade Pollock for two weeks before they made the Kimbril trade.
I think the Dodgers are trying to get to 2023 with Lux, Vargas, Pages, and Hoese mixed into the active roster. Getting Lux a big look this year is part of that plan. It will be easier to get Lux more at bats with Pollock off the team. I also think that Lux’ performance this year will influence what they do with Trea’s contract.
Sure looks about right. You forgot about Outman. After giving Recks and Raley time last year, I’m sure Outman will get a look as well. Hell, he might have to play Center the way Belli’s bat is progressing, at that is slowly and not surely.
Yeah, I think you’re right, and I remember reading (maybe your post) about shopping AJ around prior to the trade, which explains the Dodgers asking Kenley to wait until they get their ducks in a row. Kenley didn’t wait, so the trade was for a closer.
If true, I wonder who the Dodgers were initially shopping for.
Kimbrel!
I thought it was cIMbRuL
Only spelled that way when he pitches well and my way when he last pitches illy.
Bellinger looked overmatched again with his first at bat yesterday but I thought looked like the good Bellinger with his second at bat when he made a contact swing and grounded out to second. I didn’t see his third at bat.
He grounded out then too. Sharp grounder to second. They are going to open the season with 16 pitchers and 12 position players. Roberts announced that today. Only pitcher with no options left, Even Phillips. As a matter of fact he is the only Dodger out of options. All the pretenders sent to the minor league side today. There will probably be a couple with the team until Tuesday. One of my boyhood hero’s passed away. Tommy Davis at the age of 83. Met him a couple of times. RIP T.D. Last Dodger to win a batting title in the NL while playing a full season with LA. Trea Turner did the bulk of his work with DC last year. C.W. McCall passed away too. He was 93.
Okay, I hate losing AJ Pollock. The Dodgers will miss him. They will miss the bat and the clutch hits. He also played pretty well in the outfield. I recall one game he made two spectacular catches, also had a homer and a double. Someone will need to step up.
No secret that Dave Roberts isn’t impressed with the Dodgers this spring. He said so in an interview a few days ago. So what’s the problem?
Mookie looks physically okay, but his bat doesn’t look right. Cody Bellinger? No one seems to know, a fingers crossed situation.
But I feel good about Trea , Justin , Freddie, Will and Chris. I’m hopeful about Cody, but I wouldn’t bet the house on him. I’d he goes sideways early, he may fall off a cliff, process or not. Mookie should be okay, right?
As I’m looking forward with a glance back, I’m still wondering how the Dodgers gave up Yordan Alvarez in a trade for Josh Fields. Obviously they had no idea. But they paid a really good signing bonus so somebody had to know something. Unfortunately the Astros apparently had someone who liked his talent. Oh well. Things that could have been. Will this be Roberto Clemente all over again? Just read a good story about Yordan.
Back to the trade. I hope Craig Kimbrel is lights out. Honestly, I don’t think the Dodgers felt comfortable moving forward with Kenley Jansen. Otherwise they would have simply signed him. Not about the $290 million mark. They’re past that now. Maybe Trevor Bauer is suspended and solves the issue or it’s not really an issue like we were led to believe.
I have to admit, I didn’t know much about Billy Loes. Interesting piece, Bear.
Kevin Goldstein, who was with the Astros at the time, has spoken about this.
Fields had long been a darling of the analytical set.
I also think there were a couple of other players Houston asked for first before settling on Alvarez.
This final point is the one I am least confident in, I think it was Farhan not Friedman who was the point person on that trade in specific.
As a prospect, he didn’t rate as highly as he’s performing now, and he doesn’t really play any position really well, so, without a DH, the Dodgers were ok with letting him go.
It’s a similar scenario to Oneil Cruz, who’s now one of baseball’s top prospects. The Dodgers traded him away for Tony Watson. He’s huge, like 6-8, but his official position is SS.
Willie Calhoun was another, but it worked out in the Dodgers favor.
Well Bear, your motivational tactics seem to be working with Lux. Keep up the good work!
I’m concerned about Buehler’s fastball speed dropping, he’s no longer the 97-98 pitcher who hit 99 mph at times; he is young and the Dodgers in the past have taken good care of him and have been very cautious with workloads so I can’t explain why that slowdown that started last season where he had an excellent season because it was known adapt, he became an astute pitcher and sought out contact more which allowed him to save pitches and go deeper into games, yesterday he was 93-95 and only once did he touch 96 MPH, that’s very similar to where he was last year, but It’s hopeful that it’s still very early and he’s already at that speed so he could pick up speed as his arm gets stronger.
I’m worried about that old scouting report that questioned his long-term durability because of his physical size, I hope he’s not the next Tim Lincecum who started out as a hurricane and quickly turned into a breeze.
I would not put a lot of stock in fastball speed until May. Syndergaard was 2 or 3 MPH lower too. Hopefully, Buehler is not throwing as hard as he can.
For every Tim Lincecum, there is a Pedro Martinez.
Timmy was 5-11, 170 – Walker is 6-2 and listed at 185, but I hear he is over 200.
If Buehler had thrown 98+, Trout would have had enough help to sneak two fly balls over the fence yesterday.
Roberts is quoted on the Dodgers’ website as saying that they are keeping 16 pitchers to start the season.
My Dad pitched against Billy Loes in high school. He was known to be good but a little nuts in HS too.
He famously said that he didn’t want to win 20 games because then he would be expected to do it every year.
Yes he did. He did not want to have to live up to the expectations that would come with that.
Remember in 20 when we couldn’t trust Kenley to Close out games in the WS – luckily Julio stepped up.
He certainly was better last year, but he always had me on tenterhooks.
That was why I predicted the trade for Kimbrel – I don’t think AF was ever gonna resign KJ – he has peaked- he was just waiting for the Sox to agree on the right piece, and unfortunately it was for my favourite player, AJ.
I think it will pay off over the season however.
Still think Mookie should’ve gone under the l knife. Gotta feeling we haven’t heard the last of his bum hip.
Knives, backs, and hips don’t play well together. Just don’t seem to be able to get along.
Buehler was in that 95-96 range last regular season as well.
R.I.P. Tommy Davis – Dead at 83!
One of the nicest guys to ever wear The Blue.
First autograph I ever got. He was leaving the Coliseum parking lot behind the wheel of a huge white Cadillac. My friend Stevie Castro stood in front of his car and pointed at me standing next to his window. Tommy was laughing as he rolled down the window and signed my program. I think it was 1960, maybe ‘61.
I met him a couple of times. When I was living at the Home for Children in Highland Park, he, along with the Sherry Brothers came to the dedication of our recreation center. Norm and Larry lived a couple of houses away from the home on Ave. 66. Tommy talked hitting with me for about 45 minutes. Later in life I met him again at Dodger Stadium on one of those Sunday’s when players would be up in the stands signing autographs. He signed my first baseman’s mitt I used when I was playing softball.
Lamb and Pillar will not make the Dodgers opening day roster. Interesting
Both have minor league opt outs if they aren’t promoted within the next couple of months.
Pillar already had one which he didn’t exercise but has others coming later.
That’s one ugly lineup with their ST batting averages! Hard to believe it all turns around in 3 days. I look for a slow start again this year.
Will Hagenman go back to Drillers or end up in OKC to start season ( have not seen it posted) ?
It may be a numbers game. The Dodgers have a lot of AAA arms, so he may end up with the Drillers, but he certainly is really for AAA.
Hagenman is showing on the Tulsa roster as of now, but I guess guys could always be moved around this week.
Players of interest on the various rosters:
OKC: Pepiot, Jackson, Burrows, Moronta, Nunez, Fulmer, Alvarez, Amaya, Leonard, Vivas, McKinstry, Outman, Pillar, Lamb (not official yet)
Tulsa: Hagenman, Miller, Knack, Grove, Yadier Alvarez (for those still interested), Beeter, Robertson, Busch, Vargas, Yurchak, Hoese
Great Lakes: Choi, Taylor, Lewis, Valera, Pages
Rancho: Cartaya, Ramos, Vogel
I find it hard to believe that they’re starting Pages at Great Lakes again, considering he had over 400 at bats there last year and did very well.
Also extremely surprising to see Leonard and Vivas on the OKC roster considering their lack of experience. I’m sure some changes are coming over the next couple of days.
Since I posted this, the OKC roster has Leonard and Vivas removed and Vargas and Lamb added.
No doubt, other changes to come.
You will see a lot of movement between today and tomorrow and the days afterward.
As of today, he is on the Drillers roster.
Tonight’s Lineup at Dodger Stadium vs the Halos:
Confirmed Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
DH F. Freeman L
SS Trea Turner R
3B J. Turner R
1B Max Muncy L
C Will Smith R
LF Chris Taylor R
CF C. Bellinger L
2B H. Alberto R
SP Julio Urias L
looks like the Varsity.
Plays like the freshman team!
I agree with phil on the Pollock trade – I don’t understand it either. Trading the most reliable hitter in the lineup for the last two years I think is going to hurt Dodger run production this year. And, if Kimbrel falters as a closer a lot more fans are going to be asking about this trade too!
And if Pollock gets hurt in 2022, like he is most years, a lot more fans will agree with this trade.
Pollock is a really good player, and a great dude, but he is hurt quite often.
Where again is the light switch? Or is it a clapper?
I think the Lakers have that switch?
They aren’t using it so why not give it to the Dodgers?
When do we replace our starters with the OKC group?
OK except for Gonsolin!
Wrong again!
Can we bat Bellinger 10th? His OPS wouldn’t even be a good BA!
Starting pitching is going to be a problem in 2022.. Buehler and Urias logged a lot of innings last year between the regular season and playoffs. Kershaw looks ready to start the season ,but will have to handled with kid gloves. Gonsolin has not proven anything this Spring to me. Will Heaney be anything other than the Heaney of last year? This is the first time in a long time the Dodgers go into the start of a season with so many starting pitching issues. I’m sure AF knows the situation and will figure out a solution .