He was signed to a $5,000 dollar bonus in the spring of 1952 after being invited to tryout while the Dodgers were in Cincinnati, by scout, Hugh Alexander. His hosts for his weekend were Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe. They treated the wide-eyed 19-year-old to a room service steak. “This is the way I want to live.” he thought. He would later regret not going to college.
He was born May 13th, 1933, in Ashland, Ohio. His birth certificate reads, John Junior Roseboro. It should probably read, John Roseboro Jr. His father, John Sr., was a chauffeur and auto mechanic who married Cecil when she was 15. She took in laundry and later worked for JC Penny. John was the oldest of 2, his brother Jim would play fullback for Ohio State in the 1955 Rose Bowl.
The boys grew up in a small community with little obvious prejudice. John’s friends were mostly white. He remembered the solidarity when his white teammates walked out of a restaurant that would not serve him. He became a catcher in high school because nobody else wanted the job. He preferred football even though he broke his leg his freshman year. He recovered enough to become a speedy first-string half-back and won a scholarship to Central State College in Wilberforce, Ohio. After playing freshman football, he could not play baseball because of poor grades, but Alexander saw him working out with the Central State team, and that was when he offered the tryout.
Roseboro was assigned to Class-D Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He broke his finger and played the outfield while he was recovering. He hit .365 there in 68 games. He moved to Class-C, Great Falls for the 53 season. In 82 games be batted .310 with 8 homers and 63 RBIs. He played CF while there. He was drafted into the Army in mid-53.
When he returned from his 2-year hitch, the Dodgers told him he was a catcher again, explaining they were looking for a replacement for 34-year-old, Roy Campanella. Soon after he came home, his brother introduced him to Geraldine Fraime. A student from Ohio State. She became his first real girlfriend. He said he did not remember proposing to her. When he was promoted to AAA Montreal in 1956, he and Geraldine got married during the season. He played 125 games batting .273 with 25 homers and 78 driven in. Her photo in 76 Union Roseboro booklet in 61.
He started 1957 with the Royals, batting .273 in 48 games. The Dodgers called him up in June, shortly after his 24th birthday. Since Hodges was injured, he played 5 games at first and 14 catching. The rest of the year, he rode the bench or was the catcher in the pen. He hit just .145 in 69 at bats. He did have 2 homers and 6 RBIs.
His time on the bench was not wasted, his roomie was Campanella. He taught him how to act like a major leaguer, and he would take Rosey and his wife out on his boat. He was schooled by Campy and his backup, Rube Walker, on the philosophy of catching rather than the mechanics. He learned how to set hitters up and what they looked for in certain situations. It became like a chess game for John.
The 1957 season was the Dodgers final season in Brooklyn. Wanting a new state of the art ballpark, Dodger owner, Walter O’Malley, was locked in a duel of sorts with the Director of Planning for the city of New York, Robert Moses. O’Malley wanted the stadium to be located in Brooklyn. He had found a spot near downtown Brooklyn that was perfect for the team’s needs.
Moses wanted the team to build the park in Queens, on the spot where Shea Stadium once stood. O’Malley would not budge and neither would Moses. So, Walter started looking around for a city to move to. Unknown to many was the fact that O’Malley had purchase the rights to the Los Angeles area from the Wrigley family that owned the Cubs. He also got Wrigley Field in LA as part of the deal.
He signed a deal with the City of Los Angeles, and the move was announced on May 3rd, 1957. He also convinced Giants owner, Horace Stoneham, to move the Giants to the west coast. The owners gave their approval, and the rest is history.
With the team ready to move to LA, on January 28th, Campy was paralyzed in an accident coming home from closing up his liquor store in Jersey. Already completely involved in the move, to LA, the team did not really try to trade for a replacement.
So, they decided to go with what they had. The green Roseboro, light hitting Walker, and Joe Pignatano who had all of 8 games experience in the majors. Walker would catch the first game played against the Giants in San Francisco. After about a month, he won the starting job. They more or less threw him into the pool and said sink or swim. John wore #8, but in 59-60, he wore #44.
He made the All-Star team as a reserve. He had caught opening day at the coliseum and his nerves were showing. He fired the ball back to the pitcher and almost hit him in the face. Carl Erskine, the starter that day, told him, “John, the catcher is not supposed to throw harder than the pitcher.” Walker retired early in the season to become a coach. So, Rosey was the starter and Pignatano his back up.
He hit .271 with 14 homers and an OPS of .788. He got some of the blame when the Dodgers pitching staff dropped towards the bottom of the NL, and they slipped all the way to 7th place, but no doubt the coliseums’ 251-foot left field screen was part of the problem.
The team added some youth to the mix in 1959. Maury Wills, Roger Craig and Larry Sherry helped the team surge to the top in September. A 3-game sweep of the Giants put them in first with a week to go, but the Braves caught them forcing a playoff. Rosey’s sixth inning homer in game 1 in Milwaukee was the winning run in a 3-2 win.
LA won game 2 in extra innings, 6-5 with Furillo driving in Hodges for the win at the coliseum. The big question heading into the World Series was could Roseboro stop the Go-Go Chisox runners. They had led the majors in steals. They won game 1, 11-0 blowing LA out. They did not test Roseboro until game 3 in LA.
Landis stole second in the 1st. But Roseboro threw out Jim Rivera in the 2nd. He cut down the # 1 base stealer, Luis Aparicio in the 4th, and for good measure, he threw out Nellie Fox in the 5th. They would try just once more in the next 3 games. LA won the series, 4-2. Sherry was the MVP winning 2 and saving 2. John only had 2 hits and 1 driven in during the series, but his handling of the staff was exemplary.
The Dodgers had a down season in 1960, finishing 4th in the NL. Roseboro hit just .213 with 8 homers. In 61 he improved to .251 with 18 homers and 59 RBIs. It would be the last time he hit in double figures. He never his more than 9 in any season after 61. His new back up was Larry Sherry’s brother Norm. Norm would play a huge part in the development of Sandy Koufax from a thrower to a pitcher.
The NL expansion draft was held in the winter of 1961. The Dodgers lost six players in the draft that stocked the new Houston Colt-45s, and New York Mets. The Colts picked Aspromonte, Jim Golden, Norm Larker and Turk Farrell. The Mets chose Gil Hodges and Roger Craig. The Dodgers traded Charlie Neal to the Mets for Lee Walls and later sent pitcher Willard Hunter to the Mets to complete the deal. Joe Pignatano and Don Zimmer were also former Dodgers who were with the Mets in 62. Future Dodger Bob Miller was also on the team along with former Dodger reliever, Clem Labine.
The 45s had Larker, Lillis, Aspromonte, Carl Warwick, Golden and Farrell as the former Dodgers on their team. Warwick had been signed by Brooklyn in 1957 and traded to the Cardinals in 61 with Lillis for Darryl Spencer.
The 62 Dodgers would win 102 games, and finish second after losing a 3-game playoff with the Giants. Rosey hit .249 in 128 games. One of the reasons LA would be caught by the Giants was the injury to Sandy Koufax. Drysdale won 25 games and the Cy Young, but LA basically had a 1-2 punch in the rotation. They were 4 games ahead with 7 to play, and they lost 6 of their last 7 games. They lost game 1 of the playoff 8-0 behind a greatly diminished Koufax, won game 2, 8-7 in a walk off, and blew game 3, 6-4. They were leading 4-2 going into the 9th, Alston opted to leave a visibly gassed Ed Roebuck in the game and refused pleas from Duke Snider and Big D himself to let Drysdale go to the pen and pitch the 9th. His logic, he was saving Big D for game 1 of the World Series. He forgot, you have to get there first. Roebuck and Stan Williams allowed 4 runs in the 9th and LA went home.
63 would be a great year for the team. John played in 136 games; he batted just .236 with 9 homers. Koufax would win the Cy Young award, and Tommy Davis won his second batting title. Williams was traded to the Yankees for Bill Skowron. Moose would not have a great year but redeemed himself with a great series against the Yankees. LA swept the Bombers in four games. Koufax won games 1 and 4. Ron Perranoski, the Dodger closer, pitched just 2/3rds of an inning. The starters, Podres, Drysdale and Koufax did the rest. John again had just 2 hits, but one of them was a 3-run homer off of Whitey Ford in game 1 in the 2nd inning that helped LA build a 4-0 lead in an eventual 5-2 win for Koufax. He struck out 15 Yankees to set a new World Series record.
The Dodgers slipped again in 64, once more, Koufax was injured. Roseboro hit .287, a career high. But he hit just 3 homers and drove in 45 runs in 134 games. He posted a 3.7 WAR, by far the best of his career. In 1965, the Dodgers, Giants and Pirates, were all locked up in a heated pennant race.
It would stay that way all the way until the 161st game of the year. With just a 1.5 game lead on the Giants on August 22nd, they were playing the 3rd game of the 3-game series with Koufax facing Marichal. Wills led off the game with a bunt single and came around to score. When he came up again in the 2nd, Marichal knocked him down.
The unwritten rules call for retaliation, but Koufax was notoriously unwilling to throw at a batter. He retaliated sort of by slinging a ball over Willie Mays head. In the top of the inning, Marichal low bridged Fairly. Rosey told teammates, “I’ll take care of it.” When Marichal came to bat, Roseboro, when throwing the ball back to Koufax, buzzed it within inches of Marichal’s face.
Marichal insisted it clipped his ear. They started barking at each other. Marichal said John made a crude remark about his mother, when Rosey rose up out of his crouch, Marichal hit him three times on the side of his head. With John bleeding, the angry Dodgers charged towards the plate. Tito Fuentes, the Giants on deck hitter, advanced towards them with his bat raised. All hell broke loose.
There was no shouting match, several of the Dodger players had murder on their minds. Lou Johnson, the left fielder, was intent on getting to Marichal, but he felt himself being lifted up and carried away in a huge bear hug by Willie McCovey. Meanwhile, John was trying to get to Marichal, but Willie Mays pulled him back and shielded him as he led him to the Giants’ dugout with a towel on his bloody head.
Mays was weeping because he thought John’s eye had been gouged out, all he could see was blood. The fight lasted about 14 minutes, John had a 2-inch gash in the back of his head, but he refused stiches. Torborg replaced him behind the plate. He would return to the lineup 2 days late. LA lost the game, 4-3 when Mays hit a 3-run homer off of Koufax not long after the field was cleared. That cut their lead to one half game. Marichal was fined 1,750 dollars and was suspended for 8 playing days. The Dodgers thought that was less than a slap on the wrist because he missed just 1 start. Marichal insisted he was just defending himself because he thought John was going to hit him with his mask.
Roseboro sued Marichal for 110,000 dollars. When they settled about 7 years later, John said he got about 7,000. The photos made John famous, and Marichal infamous. LA would win the pennant by 2 games finishing with a 97-65 record. John hit just .233 with 8 homers and 57 driven in. He played in all 7 series games against the Twins, and had 6 hits in 21 at bats, driving in 3 runs. He even stole a base.
In 1966, he rebounded to have a good year, batting .276/9/53. He had a 3.7 WAR. LA won the pennant but were swept by the Orioles in the series. Like most of the Dodger hitters, John did not fare well. He had 1 hit in 14 trips to the plate.
1967 would be his last year as a Dodger. With Koufax retired due to his arthritic arm, the team won just 73 games. Maury Wills was also gone, traded to the Pirates after leaving the teams trip to Japan early. He had said he wanted to get his aching legs a rest, but when he was spotted playing the banjo in Las Vegas, O’Malley told Bavasi to get rid of him.
John hit .272 in 116 games. He hit just 4 homers. After the season, the Dodgers, looking for a good SS and a starting pitcher, traded John, Bob Miller, and Ron Perranoski to the Twins for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versailes. He hit .213 his first year with the Twins, and .262 his second. He was released and signed as a free agent by the Senators in 1970. He played in just 46 games, hitting .233 and decided to retire.
His career line was .249/104/548. His career WAR, 22.5. He played for 14 seasons. His strength was his defense. He won gold gloves in 61 and 65. His caught stealing percentage was 42.2. Bavasi gave him a parting gift before the trade to the Twins; he signed him to a 60,000$ contract. That was a bit rich for Twins owner, Calvin Griffith. ” The least likeable person I have ever met in baseball.” John said. After his .213 performance in 68, Griffith cut his salary to 48,000$.
John coached for a while, but his wife could not take the huge cut in salary, and they separated. His unemployment did not make things any better. He would claim that his wife turned his kids against him. He had tried to get involved in several businesses, but that had not worked out too well. As a ballplayer with a little money and no business savvy, he was an easy mark.
Every failure made it harder to meet his child support obligations. He was bankrupt and cut off from his children, so he decided to solve his troubles with a gun, he couldn’t decide between suicide or robbery. ” I would have killed myself if it hadn’t been for Barbara.” he said.
Barbara Fouch was a friend he had met in Atlanta. A former model, she owned her own PR firm, she was also going through a divorce, so she and John cried on each other’s shoulder. Barbara gathered up her daughter and moved to LA and started PR agency and took in John as her partner.
With her charm and professionalism, she soon had many clients and connections in the film industry and politics. So, they soon married. John still wanted to get back into baseball, and in 1978, the Dodgers gave him a low-level job as a minor-league hitting and catching instructor. At least he had his foot in the door.
Then he shot himself in the foot. His autobiography, Glory Days with the Dodgers and Other Days with Others, became a minor sensation. He did not pull punches in his book about his own failings, and those of his teammates. He even angered Maury Wills, a close friend. He also aired his grievances with the baseball establishment.
He wrote it because he needed money. He said nobody helped him when he needed it, so screw it, he did not care if people liked him or not. One person who read the book was Dodger owner, Walter O’Malley. A reporter spotted the book on O’Malley’s desk. He was very upset. John’s contract was not renewed.
That episode ended his chances of ever getting a managers or coaches job in the majors. He related that there was a lot of cronyisms in baseball. The same guys kept getting hired by the white owners. He never claimed racism, but he was very jaundiced about the whole thing.
Before an Oldtimers game at Dodger Stadium, John and Juan Marichal, who finished his career in LA, the two made peace more than a decade after the Battle of Candlestick Park. When Marichal became eligible for the Hall in 81, he received just 58% of the vote, as a way of twisting the knife, his rival, Bob Gibson was elected. Their career stats are nearly the same.
Marichal thought that some of the writers had refused to vote for him because of the incident with John. In 82, he got 73.3 %. After that, a discouraged Marichal called John and asked for his help. At another Oldtimers day at Dodger Stadium, John hugged him before they were introduced. He also flew to the Dominican Republic to play in Juan’s charity golf event. The next vote, Marichal made it in. He called John crying and just kept saying thank you over and over.
John and his wife kept running the business and he occasionally found jobs in baseball, only on the fringes. When Walter died, Peter O’Malley rehired him as a catching instructor. MLB hired him to a part time post as an umpire evaluator.
His health began to fail while he was in his fifties. Several strokes, prostate cancer, and heart disease led to 51 emergency room visits in 14 years. He was close to death in the summer of 2002, but phone calls from friends, including Marichal, helped him hang on for another two months. He died from a massive stroke on August 16th, 2002. Juan Marichal spoke at John’s funeral, his words showed exactly how he felt about the man he attacked in 1965. ” One of the greatest things that ever happened in my life was John Roseboro forgiving me.”
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Comets 20 – Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado) 8
The mashing continued in Albuquerque. With 2 out in the 1st, 1B Ryan Ward singled. DH James Tibbs III (14) and RF Jack Suwinski (13) both hit run scoring doubles.
LHSP Logan Allen gave the runs back in the bottom of the 1st. A 1-out double, single, and 2-run double tied it up.
In the 2nd, SS Noah Miller homered (4). With one out, C Chuckie Robinson doubled (1), 3B Alex Freeland walked, and 2B Kiké Hernández hit a run scoring double. After a 2nd out, Tibbs III hit his 2nd double (15) of the game scoring Freeland and Kiké. Suwinski was walked intentionally and LF Tyler Fitzgerald responded with a 2-run double and an 8-2 lead.
In the 3rd,CF Zach Ehrhard singled and Robinson doubled a 2nd time (2) scoring Ehrhard.
In the 4th, Tibbs III and Suwinski led off with BB. Ehrhard was HBP, and with 2 outs, Robinson had a 2-run single. During the inning, Ryan Fitzgerald ran for Ehrhard and stayed in the game.
In the 5th, Kiké reached on E-6 and 2B Austin Gauthier ran for him. Ward drew a BB and Tibbs III singled home Gauthier and Ward to 3B. Suwinski followed with a RBI single with Tibbs III moving to 3B. T. Fitzgerlad hit a sac fly. R Fitzgerald doubled (11) home Suwinski and Robinson hit a 2-run HR (1).
With Allen still on the mound, he gave up a 3-run HR in the bottom of the 5th.
In the 7th, RHRP Jordan Weems surrendered a 2-run HR.
With RHRP Jerming Rosario on the bump in the 8th, he gave up a solo HR.
In the 9th, Miller hit his 2nd solo HR of the game in the 9th. Robinson hit a 2-out single and Freeland hit a run scoring triple (2). Freeland scored the 20th run on a balk.
- Chuckie Robinson – 5-6, 3 runs, 6 RBI, 2 doubles (2), HR (1)
- James Tibbs III – 3-4, 2 BB, 4 runs, 4 RBI, 2 doubles (15)
- Noah Miller – 2-6, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 2 HR (5)
- Jack Suwinski – 2-4, 2 BB, 3 runs, 2 RBI, double (13)
- Alex Freeland – 2-6, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, triple (1)
OKC scored 3 runs total in the first two games, both losses. They scored 59 runs the last 4 games, all wins. OKC was 4-2 in the series.
Correction, Chuckie had 5 hits.
Tulsa Drillers 9 – Springfield Cardinals 3
RHRP Roque Gutierrez started his 2nd game this year. This was also his longest and best outing of the season. He went 5.0 innings, 1 single, 1 BB, with 3 K.
While Gutierrez was dealing, the Tulsa bats went to work. In the 2nd, RF Chris Newell walked, stole 2nd and scored when 1B Joe Vetrano doubled (4).
In the 3rd, CF Kendall George singled and stole 2nd. DH Josue De Paula drew a BB, and after a WP, Tulsa had runners on 2nd and 3rd. 3B Kyle Nevin hit a sac fly. LF Zyhir Hope slugged a 2-run HR (8). Newell and C Frank Rodriguez drew 2-out BB, and Vetrano singled to score Newell.
RHRP Joel Ibarra relieved Gutierrez. He faced three batters and threw 14 pitches…12 balls and three walks. LHRP Myles Caba relieved Ibarra. He induced a sac fly and force out for 2 runs. After a single, Caba struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Tulsa put up 4 more in the 6th. SS Sean McLain had a bunt single, followed by another George single. De Paula had an RBI single with George moving to 3rd. Nevin’s sac fly scored George. Hope hit his 2nd 2-run HR (9) of the game.
Caba back to the mound in the 7th. A 2-out single, SB, and a RBI single and Springfield had their 3rd and final run.
- Kendall George – 2-5, 2 runs
- Zyhir Hope – 2-4, 2 runs, 4 RBI, 2 HR (9)
- Frank Rodriguez – 2-3, 1 BB
- Joe Vetrano – 2-4, 2 RBI, double (4)
- Kyle Nevin – 1-2, 1 run, 2 RBI, 2 Sac Fly, double (5)
After losing the first 4 games of the series, Tulsa won the last 2.
Great Lakes Loons 4 – West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit) 0
RHSP Brooks Auger (4.0 IP), RHSP Jacob Frost (3.2 IP), and RHRP Nicolas Cruz (1.1) pitched a combined 3-hit shutout, 3 BB, and 15 K. It was a masterful pitching performance.
In 11.2 IP, Auger has lowered his ERA to 0.77, 0.94 WHIP, and .190 BAA. In 28.1 IP, Frost lowered his ERA to 2.54, 1.06 WHIP, and .140 BAA. Auger has 20 K against 3 BB. Frost has 37 K against 17 BB. Frost still needs to work on cutting his BB down.
It was a pitching dual with the only run scored before the 8th being a solo HR (4) by LF Jose Meza.
GL had a nice 8th inning opening up the lead to 4-0. CF Charles Davalan and Meza led off with singles. 3B Eduardo Guerrero walked to load the bases. After a K, LF Samuel Munoz was out on a ground ball with Davalan scoring and the other two runners moving up. SS Jose Izarra doubled (5) home both and a 4-0 lead and eventual win.
Great Lakes had 5 hits, and 3 of them from Jose Meza, including his HR.
This was Great Lakes 5th straight win. They were 5-1 in the series.
Ontario Tower Buzzers 11 – San Jose Giants 5
RHSP Mason Estrada started his 2nd game of the series against San Jose. Just like on Tuesday, Estrada went 4.0 innings. After allowing 1 run on Tuesday, he did not allow a run in this one.
3B Emil Morales crushed a no-doubter in the 1st, giving Ontario a 1-0 lead.
In the 4th, CF Landyn Vidourek hit a 1-out single, and scored on SS Joendry Vargas’ double (10).
In the 6th, Morales singled and was forced at 2B by DH Ching-Hsein Ko. RF Mairo Martinus was HBP. Vidourek hit into a force out. Vargas reached on an error with Ko scoring. 1B Easton Shelton then slugged a 3-run HR (7), increasing the score to 6-0.
Ontario needed all the runs. After RHRP Javier Bartolozzi went 2.0 scoreless innings, Ontario brought in RHRP Ricardo Montero. HBP, single, RBI single, out, BB, and 2 run single. Montero faced 6 batters, and 5 reached. He left with 3 runs across and runners on 1st and 3rd for RHRP Jholbran Herder. A WP, BB, run scoring WP, and sac fly, and the two inherited runners scored. San Jose cut the lead to 6-5.
Herder pitched a scoreless 8th, keeping Ontario up by 1.
But Ontario got all 5 back and took the lead back up to 6. Vidourek drew a BB, Vargas singled, and Shelton walked to load the bases. C Conner O’Neal walked to force in a run, and LF AJ Soldra hit a 2-run single. 2B Kellon Lindsey singled home a run, and Soldra scored on a ground out.
RHRP Jhonny Jimenez finished the game with a scoreless 9th to give Ontario a series win of 4 games to 2.
- Kellon Lindsey – 2-5, 1 RBI
- Emil Morales – 3-5, 1 run, 2 RBI, HR (6)
- Joendry Vargas – 3-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, double (10)
- Easton Shelton – 1-3, 1 BB, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (7)
- AJ Soldra – 1-4, 1 run, 2 RBI, double (2)
Ontario was 4-2 in the series.
I enjoyed the John Roseboro article. I remember him well and the Marichel incident. It was heartwarming that they reconciled years later.
Now, I will be the first to say this:
I was a dumbass to doubt the Dodgers’ plans for Roki Sasaki. They actually saw something that we didn’t, which kept them from sending him to the minors. I was a moron. I admit it!
As a 12 year old Little League catcher I wore #8. Johnny Roseboro was one of my favorites.
Is Noah Miller considered a Major League candidate shortstop? He’s batting 7th in the order at AAA, OPS’n over .800.
Eric Lauer huh. Well, he was pretty good last year. The Dodgers must see something in him. Hope they’re right.
Ok, the 3 game scrimmage with the Junior Varsity Anaheim Angels is over. Time to cowboy up against the team that is determined to take the West. 2 of 3 will work. They will face two starters with ERA’s under 3. Doubt there will be any double digit scoring against these guys.
I loved the guy. He was a grinder. We all like that Will Smith catches runners at a 25% rate for his career, he is down to 13% this year so far; but Roseboro was at 42.2%. Campanella was the best ever in the majors at 57.4%. The first time I saw Rosey play, he was wearing #44. He switched to 8 in 1961.
Just replayed yesterday’s game after being back from Scarsdale New York. Sasaki was exceptional. I was one of the few here who preached to give the kid a chance. There are many adjustments to make when coming to the USA from Japan. Hopefully he will build on this performance.
Sure is quite here after a 5 game win streak……
*quiet
BEAT SD
Their bullpen is scary, especially Miller. Need to get an early lead off of their starters. Their offense is awful. They woke up a bit in Milwaukee. They are hitting .224 as a team. Three guys in the starting lineup are hitting below .200. Fermin, Machado, Cronenworth, who is on the 7-day concussion protocol IL. Tatis Jr has not homered at all this year. Bogaerts, Sheets and Andujar are the team’s best hitters. Sheets leads the team with 9 homers. Their starting catcher, Campusano, is on the IL. Two of their starters have ERAs below 3. The rest of the staff is 4.50 or higher.
They don’t scare me.
They should. Miller has been lights out, and he has a couple of 2-inning saves.
I think they should be more scared of Yamamoto, Ohtani and Sheehan…and the Bullpen Dog Tanner Scott.
According to Machado, the Dodgers should be afraid. He says they are going to hit.
You scared now? Dude walked the first two batters and still got out of trouble.
Sasaki did a great job. I was happy for him. I was really impressed with the fact that the Dodgers scored 10 runs without the aid of a homer. Some more great outfield play by Pages. He is really maturing as a player. The Angels have more holes than a block of Swiss cheese. What was more amazing was the number of Dodger fans in the stands the entire series. It was a sea of blue. Yesterday, there was a young boy behind home plate whose voice was picked up by the field mic. Orel and Nelson spoke about this kids’ enthusiasm. He kept up his “lets go Dodgers!” chant for most of the game. He was wearing a white LA cap that had what looked like rhinestones on top. His dad was wearing Angel gear, mom, LA Dodger gear.
WOW – Bear, what a great article!!
I know it is your passion but I sure appreciate the opportunity to read your articles.
Keep it up!
Thanks Shawn. History in most of its forms are a true love of mine. I think we preserve it or lose it. When I was in the Army, I was on a TDY assignment to Ft. Lee in Virginia. Ft. Lee is in the town of Petersburg, about 80 miles from D.C. It is also adjacent to the Petersburg Battlefield where the last major battle of the Civil War was fought. We could actually walk onto the battlefield from the fort. I took a 3-day trip to D.C while I was there. I went to as many historical places as I could. The White House, all of the memorials, the Smithsonian, Ford’s Theater. I also went to the National Archives where the Declaration of Independence is on display. It was raining that day, and I got really lucky. Usually there is a long line, that day, there was no line and only a couple of people there. So I was able to stand there and read the Declaration for quite a while. Gave me the chills.
Fabulous article Bear. Thank you. Class guy!
Thanks Cassidy. I am glad there is so much information available out there. A lot of the small facts like his wife cutting him off from his kids, is not on Wikipedia.
According to AF, at some point Lauer will join the rotation, but he probably gets some relief work in before that.
Terrific piece on Roseboro, Bear. I really didn’t know much about him other than the classic confrontation with Marichal. Not a happy ending for Roseboro but I’m glad there was some reconciliation in the end.
Wow, a $1750 buck fine and one start for an act that now might draw a lifetime suspension and millions in damages. Stunning.
I’m happy to see Sasaki perform well yesterday. But I’m going to need to see a few more successful outings before I fire up the grill and marinate the crow. I’m rooting for him.
We have to remember the era in which they played. 1750 is chump change to the players of today, in 1965, Marichal was making $60,000. The other thing is in today’s game; he could have been criminally charged for assault with a deadly weapon. I am surprised that did not happen back then. The suspension was light. He should have been out for longer than 8 days.
Oh I remember, Bear. My first year of pro ball, we got $2.50 a day for meal money. You were expected to eat and pay the clubhouse attendant with that generous sum.
Much changed financially after the Implimentation of free agency. Not much for me.
When I went in the Army, pay for an E-1 was 93 dollars a month. My first raise when I made E-2 was up to 105 a month. Never made more than 665 a month.
Glad to see many hitters looking like they are breaking out of slumps. Ohtani, Tucker, Teo, Betts all swinging the bats better.
Question – how much of that is because the Dodgers were playing 2 of the worst teams in MLB? Will they keep hitting against the wanna be rivals? Let’s hope so.
From an article in The Atlantic on Misiorowski and his 103 mph fastball:
“Teams covet velocity; it’s now more common to see a pitch break a hundred than to see a double play. The obsession with a hundred has something to do with our attraction to round numbers, but, at that speed, every mile per hour does make a difference. Last season, fastballs thrown at ninety-eight miles per hour or faster induced a strikeout rate of nearly thirty per cent; fastballs thrown at ninety-seven m.p.h. or below produced a rate of only seventeen per cent. Hitters bat less than .200 against fastballs thrown faster than a hundred m.p.h., compared with .237 off fastballs thrown at ninety-eight and .267 against fastballs thrown at ninety-five, which was formerly the standard for good heat.
In 2008, there were just two hundred and fourteen pitches thrown at a hundred miles per hour or more. In 2025, there were 3,701 of them.”
Yep, throw 100 mph, make generational money in one year, get reconstruction surgery, paid for by someone else, rehab a year, then do it again. Retire at 30 if you want, travel the world, eat at $1,000 a plate restaurants, or drink beer and fish all day if that’s your druther. Good gig if you can get it.
Or you can learn how to pitch, throw that heater only once in a while and hang around for a few hundred more million.
What a strange world I’m now living in. Everything is out of whack. But you know, my dad, a WWII Master Sergeant in the Marine Corps, said the same about my generation. And maybe he was right. Sometimes I do feel I owe an apology for what we Baby Boomers have done to this world. It must be our fault
Morales has been promoted to High-A. They should have quite a lineup with him joining Sirota and Quintero
Sirota needs to move up too.
No doubt. They’re going to have to figure out the log jam. They keep adding reclamation projects to AAA so it seems tough to promote someone from AA. Moving George up makes the most sense to me. Let’s see if his small ball game flourishes there. 3.6 to first base from home.
And Davalan
If you guys have a favorite player you would like profiled, or a specific subject, let me know, and I will do my best to oblige. Finally got the police report on my accident. Lady who hit me said it was her fault. Keston Hiura who was with the Dodgers in spring has signed with the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBL. Yoshi vs King in the opener tonight.
I always tried to get #8 for Reggie Smith.
I can do one on Reggie
Siani claimed off of waivers by the Orioles.
Good for Siani. He will have a better shot in Baltimore. I hope he makes the most of it. Colton Cowser isn’t exactly shining in that backup CF role. Siani can take his spot as the backup CF to Tavares. Cowser still has 2 options.
Gio Urshela announced his retirement from baseball. He is 34 and was in the Guardians system.
Matchups for Padre series Tonight: Yoshi vs King, Tomorrow: Sheehan vs Canning Wed: Ohtani vs Vasquez.
Sweep
Nope, they were totally shut down.
9:40 PM ET
Dodgers (29-18)
Padres (28-18)
SP Y. Yamamoto R
3-3 3.60 ERA
SP Michael King R
3-2 2.63 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
RF Kyle Tucker L
C Will Smith R
3B Max Muncy L
CF Andy Pages R
LF T. Hernandez R
2B Hyeseong Kim L
66° Wind 8 mph Out
Seagr to the IL with lower back inflammation. Lauer not added to roster yet.
New BA Top 30:
1. Eduardo Quintero
2. Josue De Paula
3. Mike Sirota
4. Zyhir Hope
5. Emil Morales
6. Charles Davalan
7. Zach Root
8. Chase Harlan
9. Kendall George
10. River Ryan
11. Jackson Ferris
12. Christian Zazueta
13. James Tibbs
14. Brendan Tunink
15. Ching-Hsien Ko
16. Patrick Copen
17. Joendry Vargas
18. Kellon Lindsey
19. Aidan West
20. Cam Leiter
21. Zach Ehrhard
22. Nicolas Perez
23. Noah Miller
24. Marlon Nieves
25. Brady Smith
26. Adam Serwinowski
27. Landyn Vidourek
28. Elijah Hainline
29. Jose Rodriguez
30. Sterling Patick
Dodgers sign Jonathon Hernandez to a major league contract McDermott to AAA Casparius to the 60 da IL
MLBTR:
The Dodgers announced the signing of reliever Jonathan Hernández to a major league deal. Chayce McDermott was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move. L.A. transferred Ben Casparius to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Hernández spent the first six weeks of the season with the Phillies on a minor league contract. He was granted his release yesterday after triggering an opt-out provision. Philly opted not to give him an MLB look, but he’ll get his first major league opportunity since 2024 with the two-time defending champions.
The 29-year-old Hernández has spent the majority of his career with the Rangers. He pitched his way into a late-inning role in Texas in 2020 but underwent Tommy John surgery the following April. The hard-throwing righty pitched well upon his return in the second half of ’22. He ran into trouble over the next couple seasons, combining for a 5.40 ERA over 62 appearances between 2023-24.
Texas waived Hernández late in the ’24 season. He had a brief stint with the Mariners and spent last season in the Rays’ system on a minor league contract. An injury kept him out until September and limited him to 12 Triple-A appearances. The sinkerballer has been healthy this year, working 15 innings of eight-run ball with Philly’s top affiliate. He has recorded 22 strikeouts against five walks while getting ground-balls at a lofty 57% clip.
Hernández has a standard sinker-slider combination, sitting in the 96 mph range with the heater. He’ll be available in middle relief as the Dodgers enter the 12th day of a two-week stretch without an off day. Hernández hasn’t pitched in five days and should be at full strength. He’s out of minor league options, so it could be a brief stint on the roster if L.A. needs to swap him out for another fresh arm later in the week.
Casparius has been out since April 13 with shoulder inflammation. The transfer officially rules him out of MLB action until June 12. Casparius has yet to begin a rehab assignment so he might not be ready by then either way. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, he was throwing at the club’s Arizona complex earlier this month.
Dodger offense in snooze mode. Kim should have scored on that play, and why did Mookie swing at the first pitch? 9 Ks tonight so far, some very fat pitches missed. Situational hitting has sucked.
Weak.
Dodger hitters.
What? We’re expected to hit good mlb pitching?
If you want to win championships, you need to dominate the weak teams and be very good against the great teams. King is a very good pitcher, but their approach against him left a lot to be desired. Double plays over the last several weeks have killed this team. Ebel stopped Kim on that weird play in the 8th, but with 2 outs trailing by one run, I send him. Betts in only his first week back is not really killing the ball yet. He has had some nice at bats, but in that situation, I send Kim.