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…
And they are off and running! The 2026 MLB season is officially on its way. The Dodgers open at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks and begin their pursuit of a third straight Championship. Miggy Ro is in the starting lineup despite there being a right hander starting for Arizona. We will get our first look at the powerful first eight of Ohtani, Tucker, Betts, Freeman, Smith, Muncy, Teo and Pages….
First chance this new season to put my foot directly in my mouth. I really suck at this, but what the hell. There are many ways to look at the new season, new players, and new rules. One prediction already shot to hell with Kim being demoted to AAA. I was absolutely sure Freeland would be sent down after his absolutely awful performance at the plate this spring, so I…
No, this post is not about Eliot Ness and his bunch, it is about baseball records that probably will never be surpassed. Records are made to be broken. No one ever thought Ruth’s 60 homers would be topped. Yet in 1961, 13 years after the Bambino died, Roger Maris did just that. The pressure of the chase caused him to lose some of his hair. They thought no one would…
Sunday, the 2nd of October 1966. The Dodgers were playing a double header in Philadelphia. When the day started, LA was 1.5 games ahead of the Giants. If the Dodgers lost both games and the Giants beat the Pirates, they would finish in a dead heat and there would be a playoff. Don Drysdale got the start in game one against Larry Jackson. In the bottom of the 1st, John…
The Dodgers slugged 244 homers last season, led by Ohtani’s 55. That was 20 more than the second highest, the Mets had. The Mets lost a major power source with Alonso leaving in free agency for Baltimore. LA replaced the 12 homers hit by Michael Conforto with Kyle Tucker, who hit 22 in Chicago. The Dodger starting outfield has three players capable of 30 homers or more, Pages, who hit…