Charles Arthur Vance was born March 4, 1891, in Orient, Iowa. His father was Albert Theophilus Vance, a farmer, and his mother, Sara Elizabeth; He was their fifth child. When he was young, they moved to a farm in Pleasant Hill Township. Located in Webster County, Nebraska. Webster County is very near the Kansas state line. Vance attended high school but made his baseball reputation pitching for a semi-pro team…
Our next subject is RHP Billy Loes. William Loes was born on the 13th of December, 1929 in Long Island City, NY. His parents were James and Filo Loes. He was an only child. His parents were Greek immigrants who had according to Loes, shortened their surname. He was raised in Astoria which was about a half-hour away from Ebbets Field. His family lived in a small apartment, and they…
I thought I would go back and see who had the best individual seasons in the history of the team. Won’t do all of the categories. That would be an incredibly long post. So I will try to stick to the main stats. WAR This is a relatively new way to gauge a player’s worth. WAR, or wins above replacement. Gives you an idea of how many wins a player…
Well, we all know about Babe Ruth. He was probably the greatest player the game ever knew. And there was Babe Dahlgren, who replaced Lou Gehrig at 1st base in New York. In 1925, while Ruth was plying his trade with the Yankees, 22-year-old Floyd Caves Herman made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He would turn 23 early in the season. Babe was born in Buffalo, New York. However,…
If you want a sure fire way to start an argument, just pick the best players ever for your team. Everyone has their own ideas of who are the greatest players in a team’s history. And the Dodgers have a long and colorful past. 67 years in Brooklyn as a part of MLB, and 62 in LA. So, choosing the best ever is a hard task. In this case, I…
I got to thinking about this the other day when I was discussing Steve Garvey and why I did not think he belonged in the hall with a friend of mine. He is a Dodger fan who lives in San Diego and Garv was one of his favorite Dodgers ever. I thought it would be interesting to go back in time and check out all of the players who have…
I have had over the years many favorite comedians. Red Skelton, Robin Williams, Richard Prior, George Carlin, just to name a few. But there have been some people connected to baseball who I found to be very funny also. Probably the first I remember was Joe Garagiola. As most of us know, Joe played for the Cardinals and Pirates. He was a decent catcher, but not as good as his…
Until the Dodgers moved west in 1958, Los Angeles was home to two AAA PCL minor league teams. The Los Angeles Angels, and the Hollywood Stars. The PCL formed in 1903. The first six teams were the Angels, Portland Beavers, San Francisco Seals, Oakland Oaks, Sacramento Solons and the Seattle Indians. The Angels played in those days at what was known as Washington Park. It was also known as Chutes…