Eddie Mathews was born on October 13th, 1931, in Texarkana, Texas. His family moved to Santa Barbara, California, four years later. Eddie got his love of baseball from his father. His dad was a Western Union telegraph operator and former semi-pro ballplayer. His mother got in on the action too. She would pitch to him, and his dad would shag balls. If he hit one up the middle close to…
Last week baseball lost another legend. Henry Aaron. Though he never played for the Dodgers, I had a deep respect for him as a man, and a ballplayer. I cannot imagine how it was for him growing up a black kid in the south. Nor can I imagine the hate directed at him when he was closing in on breaking the all-time HR mark set by Babe Ruth. He had…
From 1950 to 1998 there was one constant with the Dodgers. Ownership. Walter Francis O’Malley took control of the team as it’s primary stockholder and owner in 1950. Branch Rickey’s contract was expiring in October of that year. He had purchased a 25% ownership of the team in 1944. Rickey and John L. Smith were also part owners as were the heirs of McKeever who had owned the team with…