I started to think about this after Yoshida was signed by the Red Sox. The Dodgers were one of the first teams to dive into the Asian market. The Giants were the first team to ever have an Asian player when they signed Masanori Murakami back in 1964. He saw some success as a reliever. His last season with SF was 1965, It would be 30 years before another would…
Burleigh Arland Grimes was born on August 18, 1893, in Emerald, Wisconsin. He was the first child of Cecil Grimes and his wife, Ruth. Cecil was a farmer and a former day laborer. His wife was the daughter of a former Wisconsin legislator. Cecil managed the Clear Lake Yellow Jackets and taught his son to play the game early in life. Burleigh also boxed as a child. Later they moved…
I got to thinking about this the other day after I saw a post on Twitter where a fan of another team, I think the Padres, was gleefully reveling in the fact that we had lost a pitcher to free agency with another team, AKA Anderson. Now, the Dodger-Giant antagonism goes back to the days the team was in Brooklyn. The two boroughs basically did not like each other. But…
If you want to see fans lose their collective minds there is one place you absolutely have to visit. TWITTER. My foster father would have referred to it as a place where real twits go to meet. There are some intelligent posts there, don’t get me wrong. But after awards, series, trades, and even when nothing is happening in the baseball world, you will see some of the most idiotic…
Carl Reginald Smith was born on the 2nd of April 1945 in Shreveport Louisiana, His parents were Lonnie and Nellie Smith. His dad had played one year in the Negro American League as a catcher for the Jacksonville Red Caps. Both of his parents were capable musicians. The family moved to Los Angeles when he was a child. Their new neighborhood, known then as Zone “61”, is now South-Central LA….
One of our posters said he would like to see a story on Rube Walker. Rube was Campy’s caddy for several years. But I thought it would be more interesting to profile all of the catchers who played second fiddle to the best catcher in Dodger history. Mike Piazza would have easily been that guy had he not been traded. With a bat anyway. He was Campy’s equal when it…
I was wondering the other day how many players who took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers are still living. According to what I have read, there are only nine. The most prominent is Sandy Koufax. Sandy is in his 80’s and when seen at the playoffs, he looked pretty good for a man his age. A couple of the names on the list would be completely foreign to most…
One thing an early exit always means is that the next few months are going to be very long. At least it will feel that way. I will have the weather to deal with as we get real winter weather in Colorado. But once the World Series ends, I will check the baseball news daily. Free agents and non-tenders will be the main news those first few days. Trades and…
Fred ” Dixie ” Walker won a batting title, played in two world series, and won an RBI title, and yet he is most remembered by fans for being charged as the man who tried to keep Jackie Robinson off of the Dodgers. He was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, on September 24th, 1910. He was the firstborn son of Ewart and Flossie Walker. Villa Rica is a small factory…
I have many memories of Maurice Morning Wills. Most of them involve his stealing a base. He was one of my favorite Dodgers in my childhood. He inserted energy into an aging team and helped them towards a pennant, and World Series wins. And the journey to that first year was a long one. He was born on October 2nd, 1932, in Washington, D.C. He was the seventh of thirteen…