One of my most memorable moments as a young Dodger fan was when Chuck Essegian hit a pinch -hit homerun in game two of the 1959 World Series, to tie the game. I was only eight years old at the time, but I could tell from the excitement in Vin Scully’s voice that this home run was a very dramatic and important moment for the Dodgers. I can also remember that watching him circle the bases gave me goose-bumps of excitement. I thought that was so cool, and I began dreaming that I might too hit a dramatic home run for the Dodgers.
Chuck Essegian’s time with the Dodgers was short-lived (he only played 76 regular season games for the Dodgers and, mostly, he is just remembered for those two pinch hit home runs in the 1959 Series. I’ve come to learn, however, that there is much more to Chuck Essegian, and because today (Sunday when I write this) is his 89th birthday, I thought I would share what I’ve come to learn about this remarkable man.
Charles Abraham Essegian Jr., who is of Armenian descent, was born in Boston on August 9, 1931, in a family of five children. When Chuck was 5 years old his family moved to Los Angeles, California. Essegian attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. He was an All-City selection in both baseball and football at Fairfax. After graduation, Essegian chose Stanford University from the many college offers he received. He continued his athletic success for the Cardinal: In football he was a three-year starter at linebacker, and was named All Pacific Coast Conference twice. Essegian also set an intercollegiate record with 13 home runs during his senior year at Stanford.
While at Stanford, he played in the 1952 Rose Bowl, a game won easily by Illinois, 40-7. Essegian was a linebacker on that team. Essegian is one of only two players to have played in a Rose Bowl and World Series. The other is Jackie Jensen, who starred for the University of California in the 1949 Rose Bowl and was a role player for the New York Yankees in 1950. He pinch-hit in Game Three of the World Series against Philadelphia.
Essegian earned a degree in biology and considered pursuing a career as a doctor or dentist, but first tried professional baseball. When Essegian graduated, he had the option of trying out for professional football or baseball; he decided on the latter because for one, it paid better, and also, the likelihood of injury was less in baseball. He figured that if he failed at that game, he could still attempt football, but if he got hurt playing football, it would also prevent a baseball career.
He signed with Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League in 1953. From 1953-55, Essegian played mostly for unaffiliated minor-league clubs. In 1956, he led the Northwest League in hitting at .366 for Salem (Ore.). Essegian, showed a propensity to hit the long ball at the minor-league level as well. He totaled 31 homers in 1954, 27 in 1955, and 28 in 1956, playing for multiple teams each season, mostly on the West Coast.
Essegian asked the National Association, overseeing minor-league baseball, to declare him a free agent because of irregularities in the handling of his 1956 contract. They ruled in his favor. Essegian was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1956 minor league draft. However, the following day, he was granted free agency and he then signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. He would bat .355 with 20 home runs in 80 games for Schenectady of the Eastern League. Two years later, Essegian was in the Phillies’ Major League Spring Training camp. He was their starting left fielder on opening day. He hit a pair of doubles in that gam. Thirty-eight games later, he was sent down to the Phillies minor league affiliate in Miami. In total, Essegian hit .246 for the Phillies, with five homers and 16 RBIs.
“I really enjoyed my brief time with the Phillies,” recalled Essegian, “There were some great guys on the team, Robin [Roberts], Curt [Simmons], Stan [Lopata] and Solly [Hemus]. Harry Anderson was a young outfielder. He had a beautiful swing from the left side. I had a lot of respect for those guys.“
Solly Hemus was traded by the Phillies following the 1958 season. He was a player/manager with the Cardinals in 1959, then managed them from 1960-61. “Solly and I became good friends in the short time we were together with the Phillies,” Essegian said. “When he became the Cardinals’ manager, he called and said he hoped to work out a trade for me.” That trade did indeed happen. Essegian was dealt to the Cardinals for a young shortstop, Ruben Amaro Sr., in December 1958.
Essegian’s time in St. Louis was shorter than his Phillies career, lasting only 17 games. The Cardinals sent him to Rochester, where he hit four home runs in 10 games. Then, he was traded again, this time to the Dodgers (for Dick Gray), who sent him to Spokane.
“At that point I thought about going back to Stanford and getting my degree. Pre-med student and dentistry entered my mind. But I decided to go to Spokane,” he recalled.
After 48 games in Spokane, hitting 295, with nine home runs, because of injuries to Duke Snider and Carl Furillo, the Dodgers recalled Essegian in August. He played in 24 games, with 50 at bats, hitting .304, with one home run and 5 RBI. But alas, the Dodgers won the pennant, and Essegian found himself in a World Series. A Dodger for only six weeks at the start of the World Series, Essegian was an unlikely October star.
A Dodger for about six weeks when the World Series opened in Chicago, Essegian was an unlikely October star. The Dodgers lost game one of the series 11-0 as the White Sox beat up on the visiting Dodger pitchers Roger Craig and Chuck Churn. Essegian pinch hit for Clem Labine in game one and struck out.
In game two, the Dodgers were trailing the White Sox 2-1 in the top of seventh inning. With two outs, Manager Walt Alston sent the Essegian in to pinch hit for starting pitcher Johnny Podres. Bob Shaw was pitching for the White Sox. Shaw was finishing up a strong season wherein he went 18-6 and was very stingy in allowing homeruns. Nevertheless, Essegian smashed a 3-and-1 breaking ball halfway up the left-center-field stands, starting a three-run rally that carried the Dodgers to a 4-3 victory. Jim Gilliam followed with a walk and Charlie Neal then hit his second home run of the game, giving the Dodgers the lead, which Larry Sherry protected with three strong innings of relief.
“We were a run behind, there were two out, and it was getting late,” said manager Walt Alston. “I wanted somebody who could hit the ball out of the park. I like the way Essegian swings a bat. He doesn’t hit very often but I thought he might hit one out.”
Essegian pinch-hit again in the ninth inning of Game 6, this time with the Dodgers leading, 8-3. This time Essegian batted for future Hall of Famer, Duke Snider, who had hit a two-run home run in the third inning. That can be an intimidating experience. In a later interview, Essegian recalled;
“On my way to the plate, Duke was walking back to the dugout and he said, ‘Not too many guys have ever pinch-hit for me, let alone in the World Series, so go hit another one.’”
And so he did. He broke his bat on the home run. After the game, coach Pee Wee Reese bragged to the gathered reporters,
“Hey! How about that bunch of muscles called Essegian? He broke his bat on that homer today, you know. How about that for power?”
Just like that, Essegian jumped into the record books, becoming the first player ever to hit two pinch hit home runs in a World Series. Bernie Carbo would later tie that record in 1975.
Apparently, not everyone was excited about his second pinch hit home run.
“I can’t tell you how many letters I got from people all over the world chastising me because I changed their pool scores,” Essegian laughed. “They were counting their money, right? I thought, ‘Well, I’ll be darned.’ I got letters from Japan, from Canada, people all over the world, saying, ‘You didn’t have to do that. You had the series won and you cost me $100 in the pool.’”
While his two pinch-hit home runs helped the Dodgers defeat the Chicago White Sox, they also might have impacted his role as a player.
“I’m not sure,” said Essegian looking back on his career, “but I think those home runs probably hurt my career. You know, you kind of get labeled as a certain kind of player. If you’re a pinch-hitter, you’re a pinch-hitter because you’re not good enough to play every day….”
He may have a point. Baseball-reference.com lists two positions for Essegian: left fielder and pinch-hitter.
Essegian spent 1960 season with the Dodgers playing in a very limited role. He only hit 3 home runs and batted a paltry .215. Of his 79 at-bats, 37 were as a pinch-hitter. Ironically, he did hit another pinch hit home run on opening day that year. After the season, his rights were sold to the Baltimore Orioles. But after only appearing in one game for the Orioles, Essegian was on the move again. He was traded, along with Jerry Walker, to Kansas City for Dick Williams and Dick Hall on April 12. Three weeks later, Essegian was sold to Cleveland.
Essegian found a much better role in Cleveland. He started in all three outfield positions and was not looked on as just a pinch-hitter. He hit 12 home runs and drove in 35 runs while batting .289. In 1962, Essegian was named the s Indians’ starting left fielder. Essegian responded with 21 home runs, tied for second best on the team.
“Everybody feels he should be a hitter,” Essegian said. “That’s part of the battle – your attitude. When I go up there, I’m just swinging a bat. I’m not choosy.”
But once again, Essegian was on the move. In February 1963, the Indians traded Essegian back Kansas City for pitcher Jerry Walker. Kansas City manager Eddie Lopat gave Essegian the starting left-field job. But after a half-season of hitting only five home runs, Essegian was back to his familiar position as a bench player. The 1963 season was Essegian’s last in the major leagues. He finished with a career batting average of .255, 47 home runs and 150 RBI. In 141 at-bats as a pinch-hitter, Essegian batted .248. He would play one more year of professional baseball, with Kintetsu of the Japan Pacific League in 1964.
After baseball, Essegian went to work as a production trainee in a motion picture studio in Hollywood. He had appeared in an episode of the Western Television show called “Sugarfoot” in 1960. He decided that “Hollywood” was not in his future and instead went to school and obtained a law degree. He graduated from Beverly Hills Law School in 1974. As a lawyer, he started out as a prosecutor in Pasadena, and then opened a private practice in 1977. After 30 years of practicing law he retired. After his retirement from the practice of law, Essegian handled the occasional mediation or arbitration case “just to see if my brain still works.” A father of three and grandfather to five, he lives in Canyon Country with his third wife, Holly.
Couple of little known facts about Essegian are: He has been inducted into the Armenian American Sports Hall of Fame; and he was a roommate to Frank Howard and gave Howard his nickname “Hondo.” Essegian was also a bit of a Renaissance man who played the violin, and initially studied to be a doctor. “If he could belt a tune the way he batters that baseball, the Philharmonic missed a hot bet,” the Los Angeles Times reported after he made his selection of which college he would attend.
Essegian’s baseball career certainly epitomizes the many travels of a “non-star” players. The demotions, promotions, and trades can add many stickers to one’s suitcase. Essegian had many travels in a short career. Nevertheless, his memory will live on in Dodger lore for many years to come. I want to leave you with a link to an article written by the LA Times about Chuck Essegian and his relationship with a Brave’s fan. Because of its length, I don’t want to cut and paste it here. For me, it sums up a lot of who Chuck Essegian is as a man.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-12-sp-1580-story.html
I will quote a small portion of that article:
“In a world where every rock star is a genius and every neighbor’s child is gifted, the word hero is thrown around just as loosely. But Chuck Essegian would seem to be the genuine article.
He may be a piece of baseball trivia, but, ultimately, his contribution to baseball is anything but trivial.
He reminds us of something we’ve really known all along: that a heart of gold is more important than a Gold Glove, that simple gestures are more important than grand slams, that human contact is more important than a big league contract. And any ballplayer today who has forgotten that should remember–or turn–a Little Red.”
You’ll have to read the article to learn who Little Red is.
Some Random Thoughts:
● I strongly dislike watching the Dodgers lose to the Giants. Particularly when they look foolish against someone like Johnny Cueto. Not saying he’s a bad pitcher, he’s not, but come on, even Badger says he can hit off of him.
● The Clayton Kershaw that serves up three home runs in a game, including two to Austin Slater, is not the Kershaw that I enjoy watching.
● Please raise your hand if you knew that Donovan Solano would be leading the majors in batting average at this stage of the season. Why would the Dodgers ever let him go?
● Thanks to Jayson Stark, I learned that Mookie Betts is the first player to ever hit a home run that traveled over 300 feet(375) and throw out a runner on a throw that traveled over 300 feet(305) in the same game, since Statcast has been keeping those statistics. We have him for another 12 years folks! He is fun to watch.
● I’m hoping it’s not true, but it appears that the Dodgers left all of their offense in Summer Camp. Other than Betts, Seager, Pollock and perhaps Rios, anemic comes to mind when I think of the other hitters. I’m currently at the office “watching” the Dodger vs Giant game on Gameday, as I finish writing this article. It doesn’t help my observation of the Dodger offense when I read “Cody Bellinger grounds out softly to first baseman Brandon Belt.”
● Injuries happen in baseball. I don’t for a minute think that Seager is a “soft” player that is injury prone. He’ll be back soon, and he will have a big year. You can take that to the bank.
● I think it won’t be long before Gavin Lux is recalled. The Dodgers need a spark to ignite them, and I think he is capable of being that spark. I also look forward to Josiah Gray making his first start for the Dodgers real soon. Why not, he can throw four innings just as easily as the other starters do.
Discussion (125)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Who had the 11-49?
Time for Roberts to go.
Free Gavin
And RVS can go too, get a real hitting coach
Well at least we’re better than the a Giants! I think
The Dodgers season is starting to look like
a slow leak in a tire.
#FireRVS
.196/.327/.391-Joc
.169/.224/.268-Bellinger
.174/.296/.377-Muncy
That’s all we need to know about having an 11-7 record.
What an at bat by Muncy. Pitcher throws 6 straight balls. Max swings and misses 2 of them and one week foul ball. Sums up his year to date.
I feel a sweep coming on
I don’t know what Will Smith did wrong to deserve to be sitting out this game.
Barnes is at .087 now.
I said it last year and I say it now, Bellinger is not MVP, I would trade him to another team while he still has something of value.
And it doesn’t matter if other players are the same or worse than him, I’m only interested in my team!
We already have who is supposed to be the franchise player, and it will not be him or Seager, who would also trade him, many criticize Pollock because he is injured a lot, but they do not realize that Seager can not stay healthy either…
Why does my comments go to awaiting moderation?
Plenty of time for a comeback!
M
V
P
!
It doesn’t matter if the Dodgers win this game, they suck!
Thanks MVP, 2 at bat, 4 out!!
The thing that I’ve noticed about stripling is that he gives up a lot of hard hit balls and I looked it up and he’s got a career .413 slugging percentage against him.
Give me Gonsolin in the starting rotation.
This just in: Dodgers option entire 30 man roster to SC.
It seems that they already found a new way to lose ….. Errors!!
Well, this game is over, maybe it’s time to give Bellinger and Muncy some rest. See you tomorrow!
I’ve not had a drink in 4 months, but this inning may make me start up again
What the heck was Taylor attempting at home plate? That was about as bad a slide as I can imagine. Can it, and use it as video on what NOT to do sliding home. Or sliding anywhere for that matter.
Nice play Strip. You too Turner. Good thing defense doesn’t matter. Right?
Well crap. Ross ain’t gonna make 5.2 tonight. 4 unearned.
More Good News, Bad News:
Good News: Kike blasted a double off the wall
Bad News: CT3 is out at the plate.
Ross Stripling Music:
Good News: Bellinger hit the ball
Bad News: He made two outs
Just a thought. The ball doesn’t seem to be juiced this year. I’ve had a lot of things going on in my life so I haven’t paid much attention to baseball news. Did MLB unjuice the ball?
I still think Muncy needs to sit a few days.
Today’s powerful lineup:
Joc
Mookie
Belly (1b)
JT
Pollock (CF)
Muncy (DH)
CT3 (SS)
Kike (2b)
Barnes
Strip
Bring up Lux. He cannot be any worse than what we have at second now.
Bring up Lux. He cannot be worse than what we have at second.
No College football on Saturdays!!! That’s a killer for me… No ND, no UCLA after a bastardized MLB season!!! Just not fair Batman. When I married my wife, I told her I’m hers all week except Saturdays… That is the the day I convert my computer room into a pseudo man cave…
Speaking of baseball cards… I pulled out one of my can’t miss, bona fide superstar cards that would have aided me in retirement…. Drum roll….. Oakland A’s Todd Van Poppel… Can’t miss!??! My posterior…
I for one am happy with the Blue for now and once a few bats heat up, were gonna embarrass some teams… As M.T. would say, “Patience butterfly” or something like that!!!
My favorite TV series Yellowstone!!! Beautiful country.. The most ‘F’ bombs in a prime time show ever…
My least favorite sports airing is Professional Corn Holing!!! I didn’t make that up!!! If your Pops in the circuit do you take him to school to share his occupation???
Happy to see Verdugo is playing every day… I feel blessed to see young talent like Tatis Jr. and Yaz’s kid…
The base is burning down the house in Sturgis…
And there goes college football.
Bear, please reread posts above from Badger and me regarding that knee flex you reference.
New Top 30 for each club posted on MLB.com. Highest rated newcomer for the Dodgers is Miller at #10. I checked, and Plesac and Clevinger still getting paid while on the restricted list. I get my first Topps official Mookie Betts card today along with the rest of series 2 Dodgers. Yea! Had to get a new MP-3 player too. My trusty fishing buddy died on me. I love listening to my tunes while fishing. Time for a Zack McKInstry and Keibert Ruiz sighting. Barnes is not so noble and needs to be returned to the barn. I also appreciate all the responses to my story’s I have written lately. I will also endeavor to not use the word hate in any future postings. Bend the knees Cody, Duke Snider had a slight bend in his knees. So did Willie Mays and The Mick. If it was good enough for them, it should help you rather than standing there like a totem pole.
So we’ve been discussing our concern about our starting pitchers not going farther into games. Maybe we don’t want them to. Eno Sarris has a great article about how this season is different from past years and what has happened to the offense in The Athletic today.
Here’s a brief quote from the article: “But here’s the bottom line, via independent analyst Ethan Moore: “Hitters in their third plate appearance of the game facing the starter for a third time did 123 percent better than hitters in their third plate appearance of the game facing a fresh arm for the first time that game.”
Many of you here already don’t like what numbers have done to the game. You can just add that stat to the chorus.
For those of you who subscribe, here’s a link to the article. Well worth a read:
https://theathletic.com/1986808/?source=twitterhq&redirected=1
A’s – Astros brawl – Cintron gets 20 games, Laureano gets 5
Totally agree on the quality start Badger. 6 innings and 2 runs. The Dodgers are just messing with us. For years we’ve had a good offense and good starting pitching and it was the bullpen that let us down. Now they are showing us they can win with just a good bullpen.
The Dodgers are hard to watch right now. We have the best lead off player in baseball and he is not leading off. Joc and Muncy are not good lead off players. Move Bellinger and Muncy to the 7th and 8th positions. Doc just keeps blowing my mind. It is hard to see this much talent going to waste.
Maybe, just maybe the Dodgers are trying to do the opposite from last year. Instead of being good all year, limp into the playoffs and then turn it on like a finally tuned Porsche. It’s a thought, albeit a lame one.
I only watched a few innings of last nights game due to work and the missus wanted to watch Episode One of the new season of Endeavor(which, I might add was as bad as the Dodger game). What I did see, other than Treinen’s Alexander’s relief performances(which were very good) was not at all fun to watch.
I read a headline somewhere this morning that the Dodgers will continue to discuss whether or not Dustin May will remain in the starting rotation. Say what? Aren’t he and Stripling the only starters regularly giving the Dodgers quality starts?
After 3 years, Cody Bellinger has 11 HR and .911 (SUPERSTAR STATUS) OPS.
Not bad for a guy who can’t hit!
I think all this worry is just silly!
I still say it is “urgency.”
All, each player has to focus on is…
This game
This inning
This AB
This pitch
Simple is better.
Hit like there’s nothing but what is in front of your right now!
In answer to Jeff’s question up top about whether the Cards should be disqualified for the season because of not following Covid protocols, do we actually know the full story as to why so many were infected? If team management was lax and that caused it, then maybe the team should be disqualified, if not, any player who broke protocol should be.
I’ll tell you whom I would disqualify for the entire season, Plesac and Clevinger who specifically broke baseball protocol to go out with friends the other night. Plesac was caught when he came back to the hotel and was immediately sent home to Cleveland, but Clevinger flew back with the team and didn’t fess up until they got back. That is totally irresponsible, both the sneaking out of the hotel and in Clevinger’s case taking a chance of infecting the entire team. Those two should definitely be suspended for the remainder of the season because their selfish actions have jeopardized the season for the Indians and possibly other teams as well. My opinion anyway, others of you might disagree.
It’s hard to know what to make of this season. It is nice to be able to follow it, but it is obviously very unusual. It is hard to know how motivated various players are. Some are playing as if it is a regular season; while others are probably distracted, or just wanting to get through the games and go back home. Now, as to the Dodgers, they do not look right, but on the other hand, we are 11-6, which would get them about 38 wins, easily enough to make the playoffs. What would happen there is a big question. The way we have played so far does not give us much reason to expect a title, but I suppose that things could suddenly come together, though I don’t know why they would. Seager’s return would of course be a big plus.
Right now, we resemble some teams I have seen in baseball and other sports , where there is a lot of talent, but the team does not jell. In basketball, we might say that they do not play together as a unit. Baseball is of course more of a single batter vs. pitcher game, not as much need for cohesive team play; but there is still the issue of a lineup fitting together, the need for the right players to be in at the right time. Right now, we have plenty of players with star power or potential, but somehow we have trouble manufacturing runs, and we miss many opportunities with two or three men on base.
Of course we can look at the batting averages and other stats to show why we have trouble scoring, but how much of that is cause, and how much reflection of other problems? The SF Giants in their title winning years did not have too many high BAs, but they had this amazing knack for getting key hits, moving runners along, picking up the runner on third with a fly ball, or slow grounder. Situational and smart hitting. We have not done much of that, nor did we in the playoffs last year, and certainly not in the World Series vs. Boston. Strikeouts, lazy fly balls are common for us. Once SD took the lead last night, it looked as if we would lose, even only down 2-1.
What is going to have to happen is for Roberts to rather quickly figure out who his best players are–this year, not last year or next year–and not play the other guys very much. I know that 11-6 is not bad, but we wasted seven home games with SF, the worst team in our division, and that will hurt us later. It looks as if San Diego is hungry, may want it more than we do. We’ll see, of course. But when this season ends, not all that far away, and we go into the playoffs, how confident can we be that our pitching staff, so far without any real ace, and our lineup, will give us the edge in short series? if I had to predict now, i would not see us going that far. But of course there is time to start playing really well, if we actually have that capability, and not just on paper.
I have been reading LADT, faithfully, each day this season and have enjoyed everyone’s comments on the Dodger baseball 2020. That being said, here are my observations from my couch.
Thank goodness for the bullpen. The starters have been a disappointment so far this year. May is the most enjoyable to watch. He works quickly and throws strikes and therefore, (surprise) has been successful. Kershaw and Buehler have been underwhelming so far. I’m really disappointed in Buehler’s preparation for the season. I have a feeling he thought the season wasn’t going to happen and therefore, wasn’t ready when the season began. I’m really turned off by his cavalier attitude and I think he needs a good kick in the ass. Stripling has been what a team needs out of a 4 or 5 starter. He’s always prepared (Buehler?….. Buehler?) to do what’s asked of him. And then you have Julio Urias. We had Maeda and now we have replaced him with Urias. Boring and frustrating to watch. Like Maeda, Urias has major league stuff. Why he has to take forever to make a pitch and then nibble with the strike zone. I know a lot of his stats look good, but he puts too many guys on base. Just get the ball, get the sign and throw the damn ball (preferably over the plate). I know Mark thinks Urias is a ace in waiting, but until he attacks the hitters he’s a 3-4 at best. He’s too talented not to be a 1 or 2. He’s the Cody Bellinger of the pitching staff. Lots of wasted talent.
And, speaking of Cody, what a mess he’s dealing with right now. I’ve said this since he arrived with the Dodgers, Cody will never be a successful playoff hitter until he reduces the velocity and arc of his swing. Again, why the need to swing out of your shoes damn near every time? A single is a single and a home run is a home run no matter how hard you hit the ball. And, why the swing change? Someone mentioned that yesterday and I agree. Why? You just had a trifecta season (MVP, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove). And, then after spending the off season making the change scrap it after a couple of weeks. What, you want to swing hard from a different stance? Stupid. Pitchers, throw a fastball just below the letters or a slider down and inside and Cody will never get another hit (or maybe never make contact). He’s so athletic and talented it’s a shame he can’t maximize his talent at the plate. I know he can feast on average or mediocre pitching during the regular season, but that’s not what you see in the playoffs.
What has happened to Max? He revealed that he broke a finger in summer camp. So, with all the depth we have why was he playing. I could see giving it try to start the season. But, with his failures where is Beaty and Rios? You have an injured player who’s injury is affecting his performance. You have two capable players on the bench who could use the AB’s and you continue to send out the injured player. I mean WTF? That makes no sense.
Will Smith should be catching at least 5 games a week. He has been making good contact and has hit the ball hard all season. He just was hitting for outs at the start of the season and now he is getting them to fall in. Sure his average doesn’t look good, but the way he was hitting the ball I wasn’t concerned. Many posters were down on him for his poor hitting and average defense. Barnes needed to be behind the plate because he was a superior defender. Barnes has to catch for Kershaw. Yeah, how did Kershaw’s last outing go? And, for a bonus we got to watch Barnes go hitless (again). Awesome! Last year Kershaw complimented Smith for his catching so that notion that Barnes needs to catch Kershaw is BS.
Then there’s Mookie Betts. My new favorite Dodger and human being. What a rock star! I feel something fun is going to happen when he hits or has a ball hit to him. I love his attitude and I’m thrilled he will be a Dodger probably longer than I will be alive. But, it sure would be nice to watch him retire a Dodger!
Many of us are frustrated at the lack of “old time” baseball strategy and execution. It just seems to make sense, doesn’t it? Well, the fact is that that type of baseball is probably long gone. Like the saying goes “chicks like the long ball” and we don’t want to upset the ladies. So, the three outcomes are most likely here to stay. A sad deal indeed. Carry on.
Good article, 2D2, thank you. I remember reading about Chuck Essegian but never got to see him play. What a thrill those two home runs in the 1959 series must have been for the team, the fans and Chuck himself. Your article does highlight the many teams, the moving for a family, and adjusting to a new city and manager that some players experience. But, Chuck Essegian seems to have risen above all those changes to his life and career.
I thought Dustin May pitched well. Unfortunately, he got almost no support. So many fly ball outs with players trying to hit it over the fence. Ironically, we could have used one of those fly outs to score a run when we had the bases loaded and no outs. I think we really miss Seaver’s doubles and terrific hitting. Looking forward to a better game today. Go Blue.
I really like Bellinger, but lets be honest in our assessment. After his torrid start last year he was average in the second half and he has been horrible this year. His swing has a huge hole in it right now and needs some work. Call me skeptical but I sense this is who he is. He’ll connect once in awhile and hit some light tower HR’s, but for some reason I see a .260 hitter who K’s often and doesn’t play great situational offensive baseball. He is in love with the long ball and swings from the downs every AB.
No adjustment made and a HUGE disappointment so far. Needs to sit a couple of games.
These guys have had a laser focus on winning the championship and that’s good – keep your eye on that, but let’s change the focus to right-here, right-now, not the ultimate goal, but rather the goal needs to be:
4. This game
3. This inning
2. This at-bat
1. This pitch
Focus on that and the rest will take care of itself.
Great read Rob – Chuck played his last year, the first year I got interested in baseball and Chuck was long-gone from the Dodgers. I only remember him through stories from people like you who are older than me. 😉
They won the World Series that year (1963) and I believed that is the way it would always be. Sandy won 25, Big D won 19, Johnny Podres won 14, and Ron Perranowski won 16 out of the pen. That was all they needed. I knew I picked the right team to root for. So, that was the way it all started.
On last night’s game:
1. Dustin May is learning to pitch and even when he doesn’t have his best control, his stuff is so filthy, they don’t hit it. He has been a Godsend.
2. When 7 of the 9 batters in your lineup has a BA of .229 or less, you are not likely to score many runs.
3. Something needs to shake up these guys. I don’t see that it is important that certain players should hit in certain places in the batting order, like “Mookie should bat leadoff.” Bloom where you are planted. Work the count, but be ready to hit the damn ball… especially on the first pitch. It might be your best pitch.
4. You wanna’ light a fire under these guys? Send Beaty and Barnes to USC and bring up Raley and Ruiz. Something to wake them up. Do something… even if it is wrong.
5. Hopefully, Seager will be back tonight.
6. Even Pollock who was off to a hot start has cooled. He’s hitting .211 in his last 7 games. Joc is at .136 over the past 7 games. Max Muncy is at .120, Kike is at .200, as is JT. Betts is over .300, Smith is .294, CT3 at .222, and Bellinger is .214 over those past 3 games.
7. There is another RHP tonight. Roll out this lineup:
1. CT3 SS
2. Bellinger CF
3. Betts RF
4. Seager DH
5. Smith 3B
6. Raley 1B
7. Hernandez 2B
8. Rios LF
9. Ruiz C
They can’t do any worse!
I agree with Jeff, ( Theres a first, ) Something needs to be done, and quick. Before you know it, the season is going to be half over. The one good thing is that they still have 10 games with the team ahead of them, and 8 teams from the NL are going to the playoffs. The top 2 teams in each division and the 2 teams with the best record of the rest. Solano is not leading the majors in hitting anymore. Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies is hitting .484. Solano is down to 458. Blackmon also leads the league in hits with 31.
Hell, I would take Luke Raley over what they are getting out of these guys now. Question, does anyone know who exactly is on the Dodger IL besides Kelly and Wood? I know back just before the start Thomas was supposedly placed on the IL. Also which players are at USC and available for call up? When your top 3 power hitters are all below the Mendoza line, you have a real problem with your offense. And this has been going on for more than a week, so it is reaching critical mass. Az does them a favor and beats the Rockies, and they cannot score. Even Mookie did not look like himself tonight. Belli did hit his single very hard, but everything else was weak, and then there was that really lame K. Rios hit one ball hard and it went into Hosmer’s glove. His other at bats were not impressive. Beaty has not hit a ball hard since his homer. No one is trying to go the other way at all. Without Corey Seager, the offense has lost a lot of it’s bite. They need to win these next 3 games. You do not want the Padres believing they are in your class. Not going to say anything negative about Ol Doc tonight. But sometimes I do question his decision making. Why was Ferguson not in there to pitch to Hosmer. Great article 2D2. I always though Essegian was one of those guys who would have contributed a lot more if Alston had just let him play more. It would have made sense in 1960 with Furillo getting released. But they were starting to play Fairly a little and Howard was the ROY that year.
BTW, Baseball should disqualify St. Louis for the season. Lessons must be learned.
I’ve got a big bag of blame to lay at someone’s feet, but I can’t decide who to donate it to.
Doc-Are you even watching these games? Mookie not leading off? Have you gone off your rocker??
Belli & Muncy& Joc-Please take leaves of absence for the sake of your teammates.
Rios & Beaty are not answers to anything at this point. Next……….Not Lux. McKinstry & Kike, give them PT.
Without Corey, the Dodgers seem dead. Who’s going to wake them up? Doc?
Dodgers don’t bunt or steal bases. Pretenders!
First of all 2d2, excellent article on one of the heroes for my first real memories of the Dodgers, the 1959 WS.
My first Dodgers hero was the other hero that got the WS MVP, Larry Sherry.
Now to the game. There were several who said they liked the lineup before the game. I guess it was because it replaced AJ Pollock and Kike’ Hernandez with Edwin Rios and CT3. And I guess because Beaty got back to back starts. However, the problem is not with AJ Pollock and Kike Hernandez. It remains with #1, #3, and #5. Rios and Beaty each left 4 on while Muncy, who is supposed to drive in runs, left 2 more. Joc and CT3 also left 2 on.
1 for 8 WRISP.
August 4 – Dinelson Lamet takes a no-hitter into the 6th
August 8 – Johnny Cueto takes a no-hitter into the 6th
August 9 – Kevin Gausman takes a 2 hit shut out into the 7th
August 10 – Dodgers get 4 singles against one of the worst bullpens in MLB.
Until the three power laden sub-Mendoza line boys begin to hit, this offense is going nowhere.
Post Game YTD BA and OPS:
Joc – .182/.694
Mookie – .279/.907
Belli – .176/.512
JT – .250/.753
Max – .182/.702
CT3 – .229/.706
Beaty – .111/.478
Rios – .211/.987
Smith – .200/.792
2 hitters, JT (12) and Mookie (10) are the only two with double digit RBIs.
At this point, yes, bring up Gavin Lux. He really cannot do any worse than what is going on right now. Maybe he will be a spark, but chances are it is going to need to wait until Corey gets back. And please put Mookie as the leadoff. He wants the job, and nobody else seems to be able to handle it. What’s the big mystery here? Make an adjustment. Either Joc or Max are obviously hurt (wink, wink). Give McKinstry a try. Do something different. Belli is the reigning MVP so he gets the benefit of the doubt. Keep putting him in there. He will eventually figure it out and get his timing back. If not, it will be another wasted season with so much talent. Joc is a luxury, but Belli and Muncy are necessities.