What I remember of Eric Gagne is a pitcher who, when he came out of the pen to close a game, you were pretty sure he would shut the opposition down. And he was very good at it for about three years. From 2002-2004, there was not a more dominant closer in the majors. Eric Serge Gagne was born on January 7, 1976, in Montreal in the province of Quebec…
I was watching the HBO miniseries, The Pacific. In the next to last chapter, the Marines are engaged in the battle for Okinawa. It was a horrific fight, and the US suffered the highest casualties of any battle in the Pacific. It got me thinking about one of the people responsible for me loving the Dodgers and the game as much as I do. In June of 1958, about a…
Believe it or not, there was a time when singing cowboys roamed the silver screen. Most were pretty talented singers. The first, John Wayne, was not. His voice was dubbed for his part as Singing Sandy. Some did songs for movie tracks we have never forgotten, such as Tex Ritter’s “Do Not Forsake Me” in High Noon. That tune won an Oscar. One of them, Gene Autry, recorded one of…
I was watching an old movie, yeah, a baseball movie. It starred James Stewart and June Allison. True story. It was about Monty Stratton. Stratton was a RH pitcher who pitched for the White Sox for parts of five seasons. He had a 36-23 record with a 3.71 ERA and 196 K’s. He won 15 games in 1937 and again in 38. His future with the Sox looked bright. He…
It is August, and the annual let’s get crazy season has started. It never fails this time of year. Fans begin to lose their collective minds. Why? Well, I really have no clue. I just sit back and watch. What amazes me most is that fans who have followed the team and the game for years really have no idea how the roster is set up or how it is…
Mickey Owen was a very good defensive catcher. In his best season, 1941, he made four errors. Three during the regular season and one in the World Series that labeled him a GOAT for the rest of his days. Mickey Owen was born Arnold Malcolm Owen on April 4, 1916, in Nixa, Missouri. Mickey’s parents divorced when he was seven. Because of that, his mom moved to Southern California. While…
What I remember first about Willie McCovey was his size 6’4″. It says 198 in his bio, but he looked heavier and probably was towards the end of his career. The second thing I remember is how he OWNED Don Drysdale. At least it seemed that way. I remember him taking Big D deep many a time. McCovey hit 41 career homers against LA. Most of those off of Big…
Mike Scioscia. Many images come to mind, and moments also. Like when he took Dwight Gooden deep late in game 4 to tie the Mets. Gibby would eventually win the contest with a homer of his own in the 8th. The other would be the number of bone-jarring collisions at home plate he was involved with. To this day, I still think he was the best they had at blocking…
On December 13, 1963, the Chicago Cubs, looking for a RHP, traded Jim Brewer and C Cuno Barragan to the Dodgers for Dick Scott. The trade would be very one-sided in the Dodger’s favor even though Barragan never played a single game in L.A. Scott spent 1964 with the Cubs and was gone. Brewer would go on to be an integral part of the Dodger bullpen for 12 seasons. A…
Joseph Michael Medwick was born on November 24, 1911, in Carteret, New Jersey. He was the 4th child of Joesph and Elizabeth Medwick. He was of Hungarian decent. His parents immigrated to the US in 1893. His obituary stated that he was a four-sport star in high school, track, football, basketball, and baseball. He won all-state honors as a half-back in football and had many offers from colleges to play…