Charles Lenard Neal was born in Longview Texas on January 30th, 1931. After WWII the Dodger system churned out infield prospects like weeds. Many went to other teams, Chico Carrasquel, Bobby Morgan, Bob Lillis, Chico Fernandez and Billy Hunter to name a few. Robinson, Reese, and Gilliam were impossible to dislodge. But Neal was a keeper. His game was speed. But he was the invisible Dodger, overshadowed by a roster…
Old Habits…
Dodger fans have watched Cody Bellinger for the past couple of seasons now and many have concluded that “he doesn’t listen to his coaches,” “he is not coachable,” “he is stubborn,” and many other superlatives that may come to mind. After less than 30 at-bats, they have condemned Cody Bellinger to the baseball bone pile. The same is true with Andrew Heaney – he is already being counted upon to…
Player Profiles: Rube Walker
Alfred Bluford “Rube” Walker was born on May 16, 1926, in Lenoir North Carolina. He was the son of Alfred and Buelah Walker, the oldest of three boys. He was raised in a typical middle-class family of the era. His father was a semi-pro catcher in his younger days. He would bring string home from his job at the cotton mill to wrap around golf balls until they were as…
Things That Make You go Hummmm…
Yesterday was a day where the Dodgers collectively could not jump out of a boat and hit water. Never speak of this again – Move along… nothing to see here folks. It’s just like that some days. Did you know that the other Max Muncy who is the Oakland A’s #4 prospect is not related to the Dodgers Max Muncy, but they share the same birthday – August 25th? You…
Player Profile: Stan Williams
Stanley Wilson Williams was born on September 14, 1936, in Enfield New Hampshire. His dad Irving, was a construction worker, and his mom a housewife. The census showed that by 1940 they had moved to Denver. Stan was the baby of the family with older brothers, Irving and Gordon, and an older sister, Doris. He grew up on Denver’s East side. He starred in baseball and football for Denver’s East…
Do the Dodgers Need More Starting Pitching?
Let me start this by saying “You can NEVER have enough starting pitching”. That much is true, simply because you never do have enough starting pitching. There will always come a day when you could use another one. That is because of injury, especially issues related to repetitive stress injuries and just the dangers and problems associated with throwing a baseball. I just ain’t natural, I tell you. Do the…
Player Profiles: Norm Larker
Today’s profile is former Dodger first baseman Norm Larker. Norman Howard John Larker was born on December 27, 1930, in Beaver Meadows Pennsylvania. A small mining community. His father, Lewis Larker, worked in the mines. His mom was Susan Zalaznock. He was of Slovak-German descent. His dad played second base and pitched in the county semi-pro leagues. His brother, Melvin, was a year older than he, and Lewis was born…
Don’t Let Lamb Pull the Wool Over Your Eyes
See what I did there… If you look at Jake Lamb’s bio, you will see it says he plays 1B, 3B, and outfield. Trust me, he does not play those positions very well. He has a .963 Fielding Percentage as a 3B and where he has played the most and has proven to be a defensive liability. He has 47 games at 1B and 25 in the outfield. Of course,…
Player Profiles: Billy Cox
This is a series I have been thinking about doing for a while. I want to profile players who played for the Dodgers in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles, who were not huge stars, but players who contributed to the team while they were members. The first spotlight is on third baseman Billy Cox. William Richard Cox was born on August 29, 1919, in Newport Pennsylvania. His father Fred worked…
0′ Fer
Yawn! The Dodgers can’t win. Milwaukee can’t lose. Neither can KC. I guess it is time to throw in the towel… unless Spring Training Records don’t mean anything… because they don’t! I have always said that your Spring Training record means nothing, but you can observe the “game-within-the-game.” The Dodgers lost yesterday (again), but what have we learned so far? What have we seen that is not reflected in the…