No-Hitters: Soon to be extinct?

June 30, 2022

The last Dodger no-hitter was a combined effort by Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore against the Padres in Mexico City, Mexico on May 4, 2018. It was the first combined no hitter in team history, and it was also the first no hitter thrown outside of the United States or Canada. In their long history, Dodger pitchers have thrown 26 no-hitters. They have been no-hit 20 times….

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Player Profile: Bill Singer

June 27, 2022

On July 20, 1970, righty Bill Singer threw what was the 18th no-hitter in Dodger history and the first since Koufax’s perfect game in 1965. In doing so he accomplished something that Dodger legends like Don Drysdale and Don Sutton never did. He threw a no-hitter in a major league game. It would be 10 more years before a Dodger pitcher, (Jerry Ruess) would throw another. William Robert Singer was…

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Player Profile: Bob Welch

June 24, 2022

My most memorable memory of Bob Welch was his confrontation with Reggie Jackson as a 21-year-old in the 1978 World Series game two. He struck Mr. October out to win the game. Epic battle. The slugger against the fireballing rookie. The Dodgers would end up losing the series, but that is probably the best memory of that series I have. Robert Lynn Welch was born on the 3rd of November…

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Player Profile: Yogi Berra

June 14, 2022

What comes to mind when the name Yogi is mentioned? For some it is a cartoon character bear. But before that show, there was a guy named Lawrence who as a youth was tagged with that nickname. He was small in stature, but one of the best there ever would be at his given craft. Lawrence Peter Berra was born in St. Louis Missouri on May 12, 1925 to Pietro…

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Player Profile: Mickey Hatcher

June 6, 2022

Mickey Vaughn Hatcher, born March 15, 1955, was one of my favorite players to watch. Mickey genuinely had fun playing the game and it showed. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio but spent part of his life in Mesa, Arizona where he graduated from Mesa High School. He went from Mesa High School to Mesa Community College. He was named All American twice in baseball and football. His #81 was…

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Player Profile: Dick Allen

June 1, 2022

Richard Anthony Dick Allen was born on March 8, 1942, in Wampum Pennsylvania. The family actually lived in the small hamlet of Chewton. Wampum is 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Dick was one of 9 children and was raised by his mother, Era, who supported the family by working as a domestic. As a child, Dick would spend hours hitting rocks as he announced every hitter in the Brooklyn Dodgers…

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Notes From the Couch

May 19, 2022

Baseball is a funny game. It is also a very frustrating one and can leave you totally discombobulated. There are more ups and downs than an elevator in a high rise in the Big Apple. Take the previous series the Dodgers played against the Phillies last week. They had so many chances to win the first two games and fell short both times. That clutch hit eluded them for the…

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Dodger Fans Melt Under Pressure More Than the Team Does

May 16, 2022

Dodger fans as a whole are an emotional lot. They do tend to go off of the rails when the team slumps. I am guilty of this myself sometimes. But let the team hit a cold streak and the boo birds and naysayers emerge from the depths of one’s psyche, and the bad vibes begin. No player or front office person is immune. The finger-pointing and name-calling begin. The blame…

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Player Profile: Claude Osteen

May 10, 2022

Game 3 of the 1965 World Series at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers are down 2 games to none to the powerful Twins. Their vaunted 1-2 punch of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax had lost the first two games by scores of 8-2 and 5-1. Koufax had refused to pitch game one because it fell on Yom Kippur. The flight back to L.A. was tense. Claude Osteen, the Dodgers # 3…

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Player Profile: Manny Mota

May 5, 2022

It was said, and I do not remember who exactly said it, that Manny Mota could wake up on a cold December morning, get out of bed, and hit a line drive. He was that kind of hitter. Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo was born in the Dominican Republic on February 18, 1938. He was the sixth of eight children in a blended family. His mother, Fredesvinda, had four children with…

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