He isn’t a product of the Dodgers system; he was actually drafted by the Astros in the 6th round in 2009. He started his pro career in the Gulf League, a rookie level team. He was 17 years old. He showed versatility from the beginning playing SS and 2B primarily. He played in 53 games his first-year batting .295/1/27. He had 8 steals, 12 doubles and 3 triples. He struck…
Last week when the Dodgers faced the Giants, their all-time record against each other was tied at 1,288-1,288. What you did not see were the 17 ties that they have had. So, I thought it would be interesting to see how they have fared against the teams in the National League. Arizona: The Diamondbacks joined MLB in 1996. Since then, they have played 478 games against each other, not counting…
On the Dodgers last road trip, they first went to Colorado, a team with the worst record in the majors. They got a stellar starting performance from Tyler Glasnow who went 7 innings and allowed just one run on two hits and two walked. Dreyer then came in and pitched two innings striking out 3 and walking just one. Glasnow struck out 7. On the offensive side, in extreme cold…
It seems like every season lately the media talks about the depth of the Dodger organization. It also seems like every season that depth is tested. The beginning of this season seems to be no exception. The depth of the starting rotation is already under scrutiny because of the performance of Sasaki and Sheehan, To his credit, Sheehan has looked better his last couple of starts. His ERA after 4…
I got to thinking about this earlier today when I was watching an old Miller beer commercial on Facebook. The player in the commercial was none other than “The Penguin”, Ron Cey. Back when I first began following the game, there were so many players with nicknames. Some were always identified by that nickname on their baseball cards. Duke Snider, Yogi Berra, Smokey Burgess. The Dodgers first Babe was Babe…
Over the years several players could be counted on to be in the lineup on opening day. In my last post, I chronicled the foursome of Garvey, Lopes, Cey and Russell. The infield that was together longer than any other foursome in MLB history. In this post, we will look at the players who were in the lineup the most on opening day. Catcher For 10 seasons, the Dodgers opening…
June 23, 1973: Dodger Stadium Los Angeles, opponent, the Cincinnati Reds. In the second game of a doubleheader, Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey, and Bill Russell, started a game together as an infield for the first time. They would make up the infield for the next eight years. Their actual first game together had come on June 13th against the Phillies. Garvey entered the game in the fourth inning,…
Over their long and storied history, the Dodgers have had some very good left-handed hitters. One of the first was Wee Willie Keeler. Keeler played 19 years in the majors. His nickname besides Wee Willie, was Hit Em Where They Ain’t. He was very good at that. He played from 1892-1910. He spent 5 years with the Dodgers. A career .342 hitter, he hit .352 in his five seasons in…
Saturday, June 1, 2019, Dodger Stadium. Dodgers playing the second game of a three-game set against the Phillies. Kershaw was facing Jose Alvarez of the Phillies. His catcher that day was rookie, Will Smith, who had been called up and made his debut just 3 days earlier on May 28th. Kershaw was having a vintage Kershaw game. The Dodgers scored in the third on a single by Kike and Kersh…
Well, we are three games in. Last year’s team won 8 straight out of the gate. The sweep of the Tokyo series against the Cubs, then sweeping the Tigers and the Braves in LA. The biggest question mark heading into the season was the bullpen. So far, so good. The pen has been nails and Diaz has 2 saves already. Also, all three of the wins have been of the…